Cannes Moves to Limit Cruise Ships Following Similar Efforts in Nice

The efforts to control the mega-cruise ships along the French Riviera continue with the city of Cannes announcing it would implement new restrictions at the end of the year. It follows a similar effort by Nice and Villefranche, which was aimed at forcing large ships to move to Cannes or possibly Marseilles, and the broader trend of major destinations to stop overtourism.

"Cannes has become a major cruise ship destination, with real economic benefits,” wrote the long-time mayor of the city David Lisnard in a statement. “It's not about banning cruise ships, but about regulating, organizing, setting guidelines for their navigation." He highlighted that they were responding to concerns about crowd management and environmental issues.

The city has worked to expand its image as a chic destination along the French Riviera. In addition to the world-famous film festival, it also hosts yachting events and concerts. 

The City Council voted on June 27 to adopt new regulations that limit the size of cruise ships to a maximum capacity of 1,000 passengers as of January 1, 2026. In addition, it is imposing a cap of 6,000 cruise passengers a day arriving in the city, and they are shifting the anchorage for large cruise ships further out to sea and away from the beaches and famous cove. Large cruise ships will be required to tender their passengers ashore, which has already been the practice because there are no docks for the largest cruise ships on the Riviera.

Nice started a similar effort after multiple protests by environmental and other groups. The outspoken mayor of Nice proposed at the beginning of the year a total ban on cruise ships. Nice and Villefranche settled on a compromise due to go into effect July 1 that calls for permitting cruise ships with up to 2,500 passengers to anchor in the bay and tender passengers ashore. Only cruise ships with under 450 passengers are permitted into Nice and they are limiting it to one ship per day. The goal was to move large cruise ships to Cannes or further away on the coastline. Marseille is approximately a two-hour drive to the west of the Riviera.

France is a popular cruise and tourist destination. Last year, it was reported to have received over 100 million visitors. The growth in tourism and the large number of passengers on the new large cruise ships are creating concerns in many cities and ports.

Venice implemented a ban in 2021 for large cruise ships entering the lagoon after protests from environmentalists and preservationists. Recently, plans were announced for a new regional cruise center in the industrial port to the east of Venice, while both Amsterdam and Barcelona have adopted rules to shift cruise ships out of the city center.