Why cruise ships dump day-trippers who spend so little

HostI was sitting at a little cafe by the water last summer, in this tiny port town with narrow streets and quiet shops. Then, this massive shadow just blocked out the sun. It was one of those giant cruise ships. Thousands of people poured out all at once, and for four hours, you couldn't even move. But then, as soon as they came, they all went back to the ship for dinner. It made me wonder why these towns put up with the crowds if the people aren't even staying for a meal.

GuestIt's a strange sight. You see five thousand people and you think the local shops are about to have their best day ever. But the way a cruise ship works is built to keep as much of that money as possible on the boat. These ships are basically floating walls. They want to be the ones selling you the steak, the wine, and the jewelry. When those people walk down the ramp, they aren't really tourists in the way we usually think. They're more like day-trippers who have already paid for everything they need back on the boat. So, they walk around, take some photos, use the local bathrooms, and then head back to the free buffet.

HostBut they have to pay to park that massive thing, right? The town must be making a lot of money just from the docking fees.

GuestYou would think so. But many of these towns had to borrow millions of dollars just to build a pier big enough to hold a ship that size. The cruise lines often help pay for it, but there's a catch. The deal usually says the town has to pay the cruise line back over twenty years. Or the town promises that the ship will come back a certain number of times. If the ship doesn't show up, the town still owes the money. So the town is the one in debt, hoping the ship keeps bringing people who might not even buy a cup of coffee.

HostWait, so the town is paying for the privilege of being crowded? That seems like a bad deal. If I'm a local shop owner, I'm seeing all these people walk past my door. Someone has to be buying something.

GuestA few people do, but even that's rigged. Think about where those people go once they're off the boat. The ship gives everyone a map. On that map, certain jewelry stores or gift shops are circled in bright colors. The ship tells the passengers these are the trusted places to shop. What they don't say is that those shops have to pay the cruise line a huge fee just to be on that map. Sometimes it's a flat fee, and sometimes it's a part of every single thing they sell. If a local shopkeeper doesn't pay up, they don't get on the map. To the people coming off the ship, that local shop basically doesn't exist.

HostSo the ship is taking a cut of the sales on land, too? It feels like the ship never really lets go of the passengers. They're in this little bubble even when they're walking on a cobblestone street in Europe or the Caribbean.

GuestThat's a good way to put it. It's a bubble. And that bubble creates a lot of stress for the town. Think about the basics. Thousands of people need water. They create trash. They need police to watch the crosswalks and buses to move them around. The town has to pay for all of that. Some places charge a head tax, which is a small fee for every person who gets off the boat. It might be five or ten dollars. But when you add up the cost of cleaning the streets and fixing the docks, that ten dollars doesn't go very far.

HostIt sounds like the town is losing its soul just to break even. If the locals can't get to work because the streets are clogged, and the shops are all just selling the same cheap trinkets to people who are leaving in two hours, why keep doing it?

GuestThere's a lot of pressure to keep the ships coming. For a long time, the number of tourists was the only thing people used to measure success. If more people came this year than last year, the leaders felt they were winning. But now, some places are waking up. They're looking at the math and seeing that one person staying in a local hotel for a week spends more money than a hundred people coming off a ship for four hours. The hotel guest eats at the local spots, hires a local guide, and actually talks to the people who live there. The cruise passenger is just passing through a giant hallway that happens to be a city.

HostI suppose it's hard to turn back once you've built those massive docks. You're stuck with the giant ship because you need the fees just to pay for the pier you built for the ship.

GuestIt's a cycle that's very hard to break. Some cities like Venice or tiny islands in the sun are finally starting to say no. They're putting limits on how big the ships can be or how many can dock at once. They're realizing that their town is the product. If the town becomes too crowded and noisy, it's not a nice place to live, and eventually, it's not even a nice place to visit. They're trying to find a way to bring back the kind of travel where people actually spend time and money in the community instead of just walking through it to get back to a ship.

HostSome places are finally realizing that five thousand people who buy one magnet and a bottle of water aren't worth the cost of cleaning up the trash they leave behind.

GuestThose quiet streets I remember are starting to feel less like a town and more like a hallway leading back to a boat.