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DeSantis signs bill overturning Key West voter-approved limits on cruise shipsDeSantis signs bill overturning Key West voter-approved limits on cruise ships

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill that preempts Key West voter-approved limits on cruise ships.

Anne Kalosh, Editor, Seatrade Cruise News & Senior Associate Editor, Seatrade Cruise Review

June 30, 2021

1 Min Read
Credit: Seatrade Cruise News

S. 1194 states that a 'local ballot initiative or referendum may not restrict maritime commerce' in Florida ports.

This pertains to 'vessel type, size, number or capacity,' 'number, origin, nationality, embarkation or disembarkation of passengers or crew or their entry into this state or any local jurisdiction' and 'environmental or health records of a particular vessel or vessel line.'

Voters had approved limits by a wide margin

The law is retroactive, so it applies to the three measures passed overwhelmingly by Key West voters in November. Those measures capped the number of persons disembarking from cruise ships to a total of 1,500 per day and prohibited ships with capacity for 1,300 or more persons (passengers and crew) from disembarking.

Voters also supported priority for cruise lines with the best environmental and health records.

Florida lawmakers put the language into an unrelated transportation bill that cleared the House and Senate in April.

Busiest US cruise transit port

Key West is the busiest US cruise transit port, with 965,000 passengers on 417 calls in calendar year 2019.

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Florida

About the Author

Anne Kalosh

Editor, Seatrade Cruise News & Senior Associate Editor, Seatrade Cruise Review

Anne Kalosh covers global stories, reporting both breaking and in-depth news on cruising's significant people, places, ships and trends. A sought-after expert on cruising, she has moderated conferences around the world, including the high-profile State of the Industry panel at Seatrade Cruise Global. She created and led the acclaimed itinerary-planning case study for Seatrade's cruise master classes held at Cambridge and Oxford universities. She has been the cruise columnist for AFAR.com, and her freelance stories have appeared in a wide range of publications, from The New York Times to The Miami Herald.

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