Florida Governor signs bill that kills chances of building new Tampa cruise port for bigger ships

Tampa won't see a mega Carnival or Royal Caribbean ship anytime soon. 

Hopes of the Tampa Bay area welcoming bigger cruise ships seemed possible for a while after one company proposed turning an undeveloped tract of land next to the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge into a terminal. 

However, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill that blocked the proposed cruise port in Manatee County near Tampa on Thursday, March 19, according to The Herald-Tribune. 

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Although the main purpose of Senate Bill 302 wasn't to kill the cruise port, State Sen. Jim Boyd added an important amendment that effectively made it impossible, granting specific protections to the Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve. 

This move, in turn, squashed any chance of building a cruise terminal beyond the Skyway Bridge’s height restrictions.

As such, only smaller vessels, including Carnival Paradise, Rhapsody of the Seas, and Margaritaville at Sea's Islander, will continue offering sailings from Tampa. 

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Those looking to embark on newer mega-ships will have to travel to Port Canaveral, Port Everglades, or PortMiami when sailing from the Sunshine State.  

"Florida remains an important destination for cruise expeditions... There's not really a need to add another port in the middle of a conserved area and aquatic preserve," said DeSantis. 

"This would be an absolute disaster for the environment"

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Although many cruise enthusiasts were hopeful that Tampa could one day accommodate larger cruise ships, many locals violently opposed the SSA Marine's proposal. 

"I [don't] understand how people can claim to be green or environmentally friendly and support cruises. They are absolutely terrible for the environment," shared one opponent on Reddit. 

Someone else added, "Yeah, sure, go ahead and destroy the most pristine inshore fishery west of the skyway."

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That said, SSA Marine had recently acquired the adjacent 710-acre Rattlesnake Key property and aimed to prevent private commercialization and ensure long-term conservation of its expansive mangrove forests, bird rookeries, and more. 

Moving on, the company estimates that the cruise port project would have had a significant economic impact, generating more than 31,000 jobs in industries directly and indirectly related to the port.

Still, many remain unconvinced that the potential economic benefits outweigh the environmental impacts. 

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"This would be absolutely devastating to Tampa Bay. This is the last shoreline that [is] undeveloped in manatee county and it should stay that way. Such a critical part of bay that is already over developed and over pressured. It would also kill my business as a local fishing guide," said a local resident on a Change.org petition in opposition to the new Tampa cruise port. 

Someone else commented, "These coastal environments are critical for Florida’s biodiversity, water, quality and coastal protection, and without these Florida will slowly be destroyed by each storm that comes through, and it’ll be less and less special of what it used to be uniquely diverse. The short term economic benefit will not outweigh the environmental disaster that destroying these places will definitely cause. STOP SELLING OUT FLORIDA!"