MAINE PUBLIC • August 17, 2022
Bar Harbor will limit the number of cruise ships and passengers under a new agreement reached with the industry, but the years-long debate over congestion in the downtown isn't over. The plan, born from months of negotiations between the town and cruise industry, would limit the number of daily cruise ship passengers to 3,800 people, with the exception of July and August, when daily caps of 3,500 people would be in effect. It will also set monthly caps on cruise ship passengers — 30,000 each during May and June, 40,000 each during July and August, and 65,000 each in September and October.Bar Harbor residents will have a chance to vote in November on another option, a citizens petition that would cap the number of cruise ship passengers entering town to 1,000 each day.