French Cruise Ban Hits Rocky Start

A ban on large ships in both Nice and Villefranche announced back in March that was supposed to go into effect on July 1, 2025, got off to a rocky start last week when the captain of Voyager of the Seas ignored it.

As reported by the Maritime Executive, the arrival of the ship was both scheduled and pre-approved, as confirmed by port officials. Nevertheless, Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi (who is also president of the region) took to the water in a police boat to stop the ship from anchoring and disembarking passengers. With a TV news crew accompanying him, he attempted to deliver a notice of violation to the captain of the ship but was not permitted to board or deliver his notice.

As part of the notice, Mayor Estrosi also demanded that the ship depart immediately without disembarking passengers.

A video, posted by the mayor and the Maritime Executive, shows the mayor being denied boarding and told to go away.

Though Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas has capacity for 3,600 passengers, it was only carrying 3,114 at the time of it’s visit to Villefranche on July 3, putting it 614 passengers above the maximum of 2,500 passengers permitted daily in Villefrance-sur-Mer. (In Nice, the ban limits ships to no more than 450 passengers.)

Mayor Estrosi said he will take action against Royal Caribbean and all other ships that try to flout his ban.

CLIA has called the Mayor’s actions illegal:

“While constructive dialogue with local authorities is central to CLIA’s mission, for safety and security reasons, access to ships in operation is strictly limited to registered passengers and crew members, visitors with pre-approval, and officials with proper authority.  

“In this context, the Mayor of Nice’s attempt to board a vessel anchored in the Bay of Villefranche-sur-Mer without prior authorization is unlawful.

“The ship in question was anchored on July 3 at the southernmost point of the bay, in full compliance with the authorization granted by the Alpes-Maritimes Prefecture. This stopover had been approved by the Nice Metropolitan Authority and has not been subject to any objection since.

“We believe that the actions in question demand urgent attention from the French national government, particularly given the apparent illegality of Mayor Estrosi’s behavior and the clear contradiction with the commitments outlined in the Sustainable Cruising Charter for the Mediterranean signed on June 6 by CLIA and its member cruise lines.

Such conduct is deeply regrettable, as they undermine efforts by the cruise industry to build cooperative relationships with municipalities—relationships rooted in mutual respect and open dialogue, not threats.”

The incident raises concerns for future visits. According to Seatrade Cruise News, 14 more calls are currently scheduled for ships that carry more than 2,500 passengers.