This summer, more than 100 cruise ships will visit the small city of Portland, Maine, dropping thousands of passengers onto the city’s commercial waterfront for lobster rolls, local souvenirs and a quintessential New England experience. 

But as Portland has rapidly become a landmark destination for cruise lines, a group of activists are calling into question the long held narrative that cruise ships provide a dependable economic boom. 

Producer Marina Henke spent the months leading up to the 2025 cruise season charting these muddy waters. For small coastal cities like Portland, are cruise ships really the economic generator that the industry claims them to be? 

Featuring JoAnn Locktov, Jack Humeniuk, Joe Redman, Jacques de Villier, Zach Rand, Brian Fournier, Kevin Rodriquez, Martha Honey and Dan Kraus.

Produced by Marina Henke. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.

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Martha Honey is the co-founder of the Center for Responsible Travel. She’s the editor of the book “Cruise Tourism in the Caribbean: Selling Sunshine” which includes much of her own research on the economics of cruise ships. 

You can find Portland Cruise Control on Bluesky or at their website portlandcruisecontrolmaine.org. 

In 2019, Colin Woodward published “Pier Pressure”, a three-part series out of The Portland Press Herald documenting the rise of the cruise ship industry across Maine. 

Are you a Portland local? You can see a schedule of all cruise ship arrivals at maine.portcall.com

Portland is not the only city to face rapid cruise growth. Check out Cruise Boom, a PBS documentary focused on the cruise industry's footprint in Sitka, Alaska.