THINGS JUST GOT WAY WORSE

THINGS JUST GOT WAY WORSE.
The protests going on in places like Barcelona are starting to have an effect. But not the effect they may want. Cruise lines are now talking about avoiding Spain altogether. Saying there are other places that are more welcoming to guests and we don;t want out guests to me harrassed. Maybe the officials in Spain need to come up with solutions before they lose the billion dollar industry altogether.
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Just Don

[yms]

I would rather do sea days than go to a destination that looks upon my money with

[bluescrubsn]

Remove Barcelona from a port destination. I have been to Barcelona a few times and If I and my family are not welcome, I will not be back.

[MarilynMcphail]

Cruise ships are being built too large. When once three ships would bring in about 6000 passengers, now three ships are carrying more than 18000. The infrastructure and businesses cannot keep up and those living in the area are adversely affected. Targeting cruise passengers by the protesters is not right, but I can understand their frustration. On my upcoming cruise (on a smaller ship) I’ve looked at how many ships are in port. If there are a lot, I am planning to stay on board.

[truckbomb]

Cruise vacation in Saudi Arabia? Seriously? I held a business visa in the Kingdom for twenty years. The last place I would vacation save for India is the Kingdom. Don, your clients might have some life changing experiences there and none are good. Say the ship docks in the port of Jedda. He takes some alcohol drink with him from the ship while disembarking to see the sites like the market place (Souk). The religious police who are everywhere sense the booze, arrest your client and take him to the Jeddah jail. I had to visit the Jeddah jail once armed with Saudi gourmet docs for the release of a company employee with booze. That is not a fun place. Prisoners are NOT fed. Relatives and friends bring his food every day. Or, your client may visit the Souk on a Friday afternoon to buy some gold jewelry at the market price of gold itself. Your client gets rounded up with everyone else there, then forced into the Mosque to witness punishment of criminals found guilty. Some criminals leave with an appendage removed by sword. Theft results in the criminal with a new nickname, “Lefty.” My advice: Avoid this destination at all costs. There is nothing to see there and your client may suffer a bad experience or worse, get into serious trouble for doing what was normal at home.

[davidtripp]

Hi Don! We can definitely go elsewhere but don't expect me to come back when they decide to change their minds.

[shanagaskill]

This is a result of greed. As someone who left the Florida Keys due to overtoruism ruining the area and harming the eco system…yay !

[ivanmorley]

There are far too many large cruise ships visiting small ports, and the towns just can't cope with the huge influx of people. Although, removing cruise ships from the equation will not necessarily reduce the number of tourists, just look at Venice.

[sharonhumphrey]

Cruise ships are too big. Too many people on board!"! I see why countries tired of ships. Greed ship companies!!!! Greed. Money😮

[nigelcartwright]

I agree with the statement from the UK. When I visit a foreign country I respect their ways and customs, I don't cause trouble, I don't get drunk. What I do is spend money, but I'm quite willing and able to spend money in other, more hospitable, places.

[Mtl]

Dubai and Saudi Arabia have nothing in common with southern Europe, maybe the heat but that’s all.

[truckbomb]

I cannot justify local residents shooting water on cruisers. I do understand their frustration in having hoards of people dumped into their community wreaking havoc and discontent due entirely in the great numbers.

[clarkjeschke]

Don, you hit the nail on the head. If places dont want tourists, we'll go where they do. There are a number of places that never thought they could compete as cruise destinations that are rethinking that.

[martincampbell]

I have mixed feeling about this. While I too will not travel to places I am unwelcome, I can see where many large cruise ships at once is overkill. WE need a balance, as some ports are doing, by limiting the passengers per day permitted from cruise ships. Poor administration by the ports/ countries and by cruise lines.

[nancyeckerman]

The world does not exist for tourists...people live and work in ports and destinations There is a tipping point for for everything.

[bemiggy]

Sorry Don, you didn't get to the root of the problem. The problem for the locals is not the cruise passenger. The problem is the disruptive tourism concepts like AirBNB who make investors buy property in a massive way so massive that locals see prices for apartments go double or more. Now imagine that you rent and your landlord can make up to 5 times the amount you pay for rent by letting tourists stay there. And he throws you out. As long as locals were just renting their spare room there was no issue. But now international investors buy apartment buildings to rent to tourists on different platforms to rich tourists. And locals with a normal job (who make a lot less money in Spain than in Germany for example) cannot find housing anymore at a rate they can afford. So they started protesting to their government, but in many places not much happened... So now they do whatever gets the attention to flag the problem. And this before hotels and restaurants have no staff anymore that can afford a place to live with an acceptable travel time. In top of that the cruise passenger is not always valued to his spending, because it is spread and differentiated. And for a local it is difficult to see how much cruise passenger bring in wealth. Ik those cities they get bombed every day by always bigger vessels dropping 10 thousands of people into the traffic and into the daily life that for locals it get hard. Don't forget that most people in those cities have jobs that have no connection with tourism and now have a Trafic jam of 1, 5 hours going to work because there are so many excursion busses on the road . I agree with you that it is a bad move, but there is more behind the protests than what reaches the eye.
Note form a tourism professional

[lltpgh]

NO to Dubai. No to China!
It is ashamed regarding Barcelona . My husband was there for work & has always wanted to return especially to see the completed Cathedral !

[daff]

Not sure suggesting dictatorships like Saudi, china and UAE thst have appalling human rights, as alternatives to Europe is a good idea.

[monikalandsvik]

The protests is about tourism in total, not just from cruices.

[Jon-yowj]

I stopped going to France for over 15 years now due to animosity that I received. I can't believe that Spain where they are very welcoming is now changing their feelings. I guess we'll just ignore Spain going forward. Even the thought of some locals not wanting me and my family there is enough for me to never go.

[karenross]

It has to be overwhelming to get 2 or 3 cruise ships into port that have 3, 000-5, 000 people in them. It’s good money but that’s alot of people to these small towns. Crazy times. Thanks Don.