Jump to content

Key West Voter Referendum to Limit Daily Passengers and Ship Size


FSUNole
 Share

Recommended Posts

8 minutes ago, Cienfuegos said:

It's possible the legislature will step in and "clarify" the intent of the referendum.  They've taken that step as recently as last year.  The voters chose to restore the vote to felons who had completed their sentences. The legislature clarified that to mean that all fines and restitution had to be paid before voting rights could be considered.  In spite of the fact that some counties had no way to determine what, if any, fines and restitution remained.

 

If the city leaders and the powerful hospitality industry in Key West seek to overturn the referendum, I'd say the odds of the legislature becoming involved are pretty good.

 

The legislature resumes activity in March 2021, I believe.

I doubt if the city leaders will oppose a referendum that passed with such big margins.  As to the hospitality industry the hotels/motels get nothing from cruisers.  A few of the bars near Mallory Square and on Duval Street will take a mild hit.   Also consider that Key West is only the 103rd most populous city in Florida with about 25,000 residents.   My goodness, even the entire county only has about 75,000 residents.   Will the cruise lines care and try to use their political power?  I am not sure they will even care as the larger mass market vessels are all about "maximizing onboard revenue" and ports are really not that important.   With Biden as President I would think the cruise industry will use their lobby power to push for Cuba to be reopened for cruising.   When you look at the facts, Key West is just not a very important cruise port.

 

Hank

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Silvery Seas Cruiser said:

Doesn't the state of Florida have some say in this? Gov. DeSantis placed strict limitations on municipalities to impose restrictions on behavior such as COVID-19 mask mandates, curfews, closures of certain businesses, etc.  The state of Florida has other limitations on municipal powers reserving that certain rulings can be made only at the state level. I don't know if anyone in Tallahassee has weighed in on the cruise ship limitations approved in Key West.  I do wonder if the municipality of Key West does enjoy unrestricted ability to make such a broad policy.  

 

I don't think anyone truly knows what is going to happen at this point.  The legislature may very well not get involved, and the referendum may be legal, or not... who knows!  I would point out, again, the California Prop 8 that was voted in then overturned by the courts, despite the wishes of the voters.

 

I think it ultimately depends on whether those affected feel the impact to their businesses will be worth the fight, notably the cruise companies themselves.  And we'll need to wait and see how they respond, if they respond at all.  They may very well look at it as a good excuse to skip the port and not really care. We'll see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know if anyone has considered whether Key West is an "essential" destination for cruise passengers.  Would a prospective passenger choose one cruise over a similar cruise based on a stop at Key West versus one more sea day?

 

It may be that a significant number of passengers would just as soon skip Key West for a slightly lower price, or another sea day.  Or not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am going to beg the indulgence of the CC Mods and push the rules by posting a link to a terrific story about this Key West referendum.  Some of the details go beyond what I have previously posted or even knew,  

 

https://skift.com/2020/11/11/key-wests-big-ship-ban-signals-a-major-shift-ahead-for-cruise-tourism/

 

Hank

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/18/2020 at 11:28 AM, Cienfuegos said:

I don't know if anyone has considered whether Key West is an "essential" destination for cruise passengers.  Would a prospective passenger choose one cruise over a similar cruise based on a stop at Key West versus one more sea day?

 

It may be that a significant number of passengers would just as soon skip Key West for a slightly lower price, or another sea day.  Or not.

Only speaking for us, without a doubt, we would pick Key West every time over a sea day. The fewer sea days the better. We both have always enjoyed our cruise Key West stops. 

Edited by davekathy
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

After a very well-worn debate, any info on what the cruise lines will do going forward will be helpful.   Please post any intel.  I'd like to book Summit with remaining FCC, but am wary without first knowing what they'll do to sub for KW.

Edited by marieps
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, marieps said:

After a very well-worn debate, any info on what the cruise lines will do going forward will be helpful.   Please post any intel.  I'd like to book Summit with remaining FCC, but am wary without first knowing what they'll do to sub for KW.

Not sure we need a crystal ball for this issue.  The next step is up to the courts.  If a court (State or Federal) blocks the referendums we assume cruises will continue with their planned itinerary.  But if the courts leave the referendums intact and enforceable you will not see any ship with more then 1200 passengers stopping at KW.  What is interesting about that 1200 number is that Oceania has two ships with a capacity of 1250...and one of those has KW on a future.  We happen to be in Key West at the moment (where I am responding to this post) and walking around this afternoon was quite nice without the streets being full of cruise passengers.  I accept the will of the locals and only time will tell if there will be a lot of local regrets.  I have posted this before but will say again that we have visited KW on numerous land trips (where we generally stay 3-5 nights) and on several cruises.  We do enjoy being here on a land (driving trip) much more then just a brief cruise visit (that does not let us enjoy dinner and evening entertainment in KW).  Part of the land experience is the drive from Florida City to KW along the picturesque Overseas Highway.  Today did not disappoint as the skies were clear blue and the views gorgeous.  It was a bit chilly and windy but we still enjoyed the drive and a nice lunch at Lorelei (Islamorada) on the deck with a spectacular water view.

 

Hank

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The suggestion that the cruise lines might focus their considerable firepower on trying to re-open Cuba to some kind of tourist cruising is a good one.

 

The political situation in Cuba appears to be more volatile than usual, so the Party might not be as interested as they might have been six months ago.  We'll see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The questions that I have for anyone are simple...as a cruise ship passenger in May 2021, my itinerary shows Key West as our 1st port.  1) Will Key West still be available or will the cruise lines just drop it from the schedule?  I was looking forward to seeing Key West. and 2) If KW is eliminated as a port, would Carnival replace it with another port or just shorten the cruise?  Any insights that you may have would be appreciated.  Thanks. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, dfminor said:

The questions that I have for anyone are simple...as a cruise ship passenger in May 2021, my itinerary shows Key West as our 1st port.  1) Will Key West still be available or will the cruise lines just drop it from the schedule?  I was looking forward to seeing Key West. and 2) If KW is eliminated as a port, would Carnival replace it with another port or just shorten the cruise?  Any insights that you may have would be appreciated.  Thanks. 

It's anybody's guess at this point. Nobody knows whether KW will actually be an available port once cruising restarts. What Carnival would do might be better asked in the Carnival forum - there may be historical precedent for missing a KW stop.  I do see that Royal Carib. offers 5 days that go to Cozumel and Bahamas, or Cozumel and Grand Cayman (which is actually a nice itinerary) so there are some options.  Carnival may also opt to just stay in Cozumel an extra day.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

54 minutes ago, CT Sean said:

It's anybody's guess at this point. Nobody knows whether KW will actually be an available port once cruising restarts. What Carnival would do might be better asked in the Carnival forum - there may be historical precedent for missing a KW stop.  I do see that Royal Carib. offers 5 days that go to Cozumel and Bahamas, or Cozumel and Grand Cayman (which is actually a nice itinerary) so there are some options.  Carnival may also opt to just stay in Cozumel an extra day.  

When we were in Key West (last week) we asked several locals a similar question (not specific to Carnival).  Two folks (one who said he is an attorney) said that under Florida law those referendums immediately become part of the City Charter which makes it law.  That being said, it is likely to be litigated in the Florida courts (the referendums had been in the court prior to the Nov 3 election but the Judge did not rule on the legality at that time).   Whether what we heard in KW is true, of we were misinformed can be addressed by others, but this does sound like the likely scenario.  

 

There is also the issue of whether Carnival or any other cruise line will be operating out of US ports by May.   At this point the burden is on the cruise lines to comply with the CDC's Published Guidelines and then seek a certification from the CDC.  Nothing in those guidelines binds the CDC to issue a certification that would allow any ship to cruise out of a USA port.  While many of us just assume that Carnival, RCI and perhaps some others will seek the CDC's blessing nothing is guaranteed.   One might also want to speculate that the incoming Biden administration has stated, on several occasions, that they will follow the science.  So far, there is little to no science that would support the safety of cruising in this COVID world.

 

Hank

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Although the state legislature is  more than happy to over ride the will of the voters,  it's not clear at this point that anyone in power is actively seeking that outcome.

 

My guess is that the dive business will do fine, local hotels, bars, and restaurants will do fine, and everyone in Key West  will have a good winter season. Without big ships

 

The cruise lines failed miserably in their efforts to get passengers and crew off their ships in March. I doubt they would want to waste whatever political capital they have forcing their way into Key West.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
2 hours ago, stitchcreek said:

LOL The fix is in.  I assume if the Legislature voids the referendums the locals will do their best to make cruise ships and cruisers feel welcomed :(.

 

Hank

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...