For years, Monterey—tucked along California’s Central Coast—was one of those easy, crowd-pleasing cruise stops. Ships anchored offshore, tenders brought guests in, and before long Cannery Row and Fisherman’s Wharf were buzzing.
Then something unexpected happened. A handful of local teenagers helped push Monterey into becoming the only city in California where cruise ships have effectively stopped calling altogether.
The Vote That Changed Everything
In late 2023, the Monterey City Council made a narrow but powerful decision. By a 3–2 vote, the city stopped providing the services cruise ships need to land passengers—things like security screening and processing at the dock.
It wasn’t a direct ban. Legally, the city can’t tell ships they’re not allowed in the bay. But without city-run landing services, cruise lines would have to arrange and pay for their own staff at the public dock. Faced with that extra friction, cruise operators quietly backed away.
Two years later, no cruise ships have returned.
The Teen-Led Push That Changed The Conversation
The push didn’t start with politicians or business leaders. It started with local students who grew up around the water.
Through a group called Protect Monterey Bay, teens argued that even a small number of cruise calls carried outsized risk. Monterey Bay sits inside the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, one of the most biologically rich marine areas in the country. Whales, dolphins, sea lions, turtles, kelp forests—it’s all right there.
Their concern wasn’t everyday operations so much as the “what if.” One mistake. One fuel spill. One mechanical failure in the wrong conditions. To them, that was a gamble not worth taking, no matter how few ships showed up each year.
That framing resonated with city leaders who worried aboFrom Poop Cruises to Pirate Attacks: 18 Cruise Disasters (And How to Survive Them)ut low-probability, high-impact disasters and the long-term consequences they could bring.
The “Black Swan” Fear Behind The Vote
The city manager at the time, Hans Uslar, backed the change and leaned hard into a risk-management argument. He described the kind of rare, high-impact disaster that no one expects—until it happens—and warned that a single error (mechanical issue, tech glitch, plain human mistake) could lead to something Monterey wouldn’t recover from easily.
He also asked a blunt question that sticks: if any amount of spilled fuel or discharge ends up in the bay, what’s an “acceptable” spill supposed to look like?
From a cruiser’s point of view, a port day is just a few enjoyable hours ashore. For locals, it can feel like taking the same risk over and over again next to a protected ecosystem.
Read more: From Poop Cruises to Pirate Attacks: 18 Cruise Disasters (And How to Survive Them)
The Cruise Industry’s Counterargument
Cruise lines didn’t stay quiet. Monterey heard directly from CLIA, which urged the city to let the area’s limited cruise season continue as planned. Their point was basically: cruise calls already operate under layers of oversight, and the U.S. has enforcement mechanisms in place.
They also pointed to the economic upside. CLIA cited its research showing passengers spend about $125 per port visit in the U.S.—and even if a lot of that is small purchases and quick tours, it adds up fast when you’re talking about a ship’s worth of people arriving in one day.
And they didn’t frame it as “trust us.” Their argument was that cruise operations are already treated as a tightly regulated activity, with enforcement that includes agencies like the Coast Guard, and that major lines set internal standards for safety and environmental practices they say can go beyond baseline international rules.
From their perspective, Monterey wasn’t reducing a realistic threat—it was making a routine, regulated port call so difficult that ships would simply skip the stop.
What Monterey Looked Like Before
Before the pandemic, Monterey typically saw seven to twelve cruise calls per year. It was a seasonal stop—more common in spring and fall—often slotted into longer Alaska or Mexico itineraries.
In 2023, projections suggested more than 20 ships might visit. That never happened.
Cruise guests were tendered ashore, funneled straight into the most walkable parts of town. Restaurants on Fisherman’s Wharf could feel the difference instantly. Shops stayed busy. Tour operators filled seats.
The Ripple Effect on Shore
When the ships stopped coming, some locals said the impact was immediate.
Restaurant owners talked about lost foot traffic. Tour operators said fewer bookings. Even newer businesses that opened after the pandemic felt the absence of a customer base they’d been counting on.
Others, including city officials, argued the opposite—that Monterey’s broader tourism economy absorbed the loss without noticeable damage. Hotel stays, aquarium visits, and road-trip tourism continued to bring in visitors.
How This Fits Into A Bigger Trend
Monterey’s move is unusual, but it’s not totally alone. Around the U.S., some destinations have decided they don’t want cruise traffic growing unchecked—especially in small towns where one ship can overwhelm the waterfront.
Take Bar Harbor, Maine, for example. Locals voted to cap the number of cruise passengers who can come ashore at 1,000 per day, which effectively squeezes out the bigger ship calls and forces schedules to change.
Then there’s Juneau, which has gone the “managed volume” route: a five-ships-per-day limit kicked in, and a daily passenger cap starts in 2026 (with different limits depending on the day).
Key West is a great reminder that it can get political fast. Residents voted for tighter cruise limits, but the state later passed a law that blocked local governments from enforcing those kinds of port restrictions.
What This Means For Future Cruises
Monterey hasn’t permanently banned cruise ships. They can still anchor in the bay, and the policy could always be changed later. But right now, the city has made it harder to land passengers, and cruise lines have decided it’s not worth the extra hassle—so they’re choosing other ports instead.
This is the bigger pattern cruisers keep seeing: some destinations are drawing firmer lines to protect what makes them special, even if it means fewer cruise visits.
And in Monterey’s case, local teens played a real role in pushing that outcome.
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