Maine’s cruise sector will dip slightly as Bar Harbor’s cruise ship ordinance plays out, but the details are nuanced
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Maine’s cruise sector will dip slightly as Bar Harbor’s cruise ship ordinance plays out, but the details are nuanced, says Sarah Flink, CruiseMaine’s executive director.
Bar Harbor’s numbers dropped significantly in 2025; the decline will continue. The reduction created opportunities for Portland and Eastport.
Eastport saw its busiest cruise season ever in 2025. Both cities are working to improve clearance times for customs and immigration processes.
Rockland has a cap on visitors but is exploring raising those as it undertakes infrastructure improvements.
The outlook for large ships is mixed.
“Maine’s overall cruise visitation dipped this year and is likely to drop a bit further in 2026,” Flink says.
The dip is due to two factors: Bar Harbor’s cruise ship ordinance and changes in customs and immigration processes in Portland, restricting where ships arriving from foreign ports can tie up and how the immigration process is handled.
“There is a collaborative effort to mitigate some of these impacts with better technology and internet connectivity, but those projects take time and cruise ship itineraries are generally booked two years in advance,” she notes.
Maine is also seeing a slight softening in the Canada-New England region. For Maine’s deep-water ports that accept larger ships, the outlook is specific to each port and how its geography and policies fit into larger itineraries across the region.
Maine will have a banner year with small, domestic ship company American Cruise Line; seven of eight ports expect see increased visitation.
“Maine’s domestic-only ports will all see record or near-record seasons,” Flink says.
