Eastport weighs pros and cons of cruise ship visits

Cruises became a larger part of life for Eastport this year with 23 ships docking at the breakwater – the last of which will appear on Sunday, November 2. Their appearances have elicited a somewhat mixed review from local residents.

"All in all, it's sort of split," says Don Bailey, who works both at S.L. Wadsworth & Son as well as for the Eastport‑Lubec ferry. "These businesses have to pay rent – so this is good for them because it's really extended their season quite a bit."

Most business owners seem thrilled, although exhausted, from the influx of visitors. For some, the extra income will allow them to remain open during the winter or add extra services to their offerings.

On the other side are some of the fishermen, who encountered difficulties with the large ships that sometimes plowed through and destroyed their floating balloons, clogged the breakwater and snarled traffic in town.

"We do have some issues," Earl Small, an Eastport fisherman and a member of the port authority board, admits. "But we're going to have conflicts on anything we do." Despite the problems, he says, a positive side effect has been that the fees taken in by the port authority from those ships has kept the docking rates for boats berthed inside the breakwater stable for several years.

This year did see a large increase in the number of cruise ships in Eastport. Only eight ships docked at the island city in 2024 and 14 the year before, so 2025's total of 23 ships nearly doubled previous counts.

That doesn't mean, however, that Eastport is on an upward trend, according to Chris Gardner, executive director of the port authority. The cruise ship season "is very cyclical, and 2026 calms down considerably with only 14 cruise ships booked so far and all of those are small." That number is subject to change, Gardner says, as the year proceeds. He has promised, however, that there will never be more than one cruise ship a day allowed to come into port.

Some of the increased cruise traffic in 2025 came to Eastport when Bar Harbor chose to limit the size of the ships it allows into its harbor. It has decided not to allow more than 1,000 passengers a day, causing several to come to Eastport instead.

Gardner acknowledges that some local fishermen are upset with the number of cruise ships that come to Eastport, but says he's working closely with them to see if their concerns can be solved.

One of those he's met with is John Drouin, a lobsterman from Cutler and the chair of the Lobster Zone A Council. Drouin says lobstermen have difficulties with cruise ships, as the large vessels can ruin trawl lines and destroy the balloons that mark the trawls. He's met with Gardner, who has proposed that a cruise ship channel be created to lead ships to Eastport that could avoid some of the problematic areas.

"There are a lot of gadgets under the ships that can hook on our gear, and that costs a lot of money for our fisherman," Drouin says. "[Gardner] says we'll definitely talk over the winter." The Cutler lobsterman hopes a plan can be in place by the next cruise ship season.

Another concern is the extra congestion created at the breakwater when a ship docks. When cruise ships are in port, fishermen often have difficulty getting their vehicles close to their boats at the pier. In addition, the use of the cranes needed to load and unload their boats is often limited.

Small says the port authority is working diligently to obtain newer cranes and position them more effectively so they can be used even when cruise ships are at the breakwater. He also confirms there's talk about creating other places on the island to facilitate fishermen's access to their boats.

"One idea is to build another pier at Broad Cove on the site of the old Mearl Corp.," Small says. "We've identified that we have a problem, and we're trying to come up with solutions."

The response from Eastport's retail and restaurant community has been much more favorable to the cruise ships. Numerous social media posts through the fall when the cruise ships were most present heralded that retailers had chalked up record‑breaking days as visitors came in to buy wares.

"They're enabling me to continue to keep my employees during the winter," says Christina Jeffries, owner of A Boatload of Books. "On top of that, the income from them is allowing me to run programs out of the store without charging anything." Those programs include book clubs, teen poetry workshops and art projects.

Ann Dalton, owner of a gallery on Water Street, says that once she modified her offerings at the store, focusing on medium‑sized and smaller items, business has been brisk. "Now I've started a whole new thing, so I've been doing really well. I say, 'Bring them on.'"

Even S.L. Wadsworth & Son, not a retail store people might think would benefit from cruise ship traffic, has seen increases in sales. "You'd be surprised," Bailey says. "We sell phone chargers, cough drops, seasickness medication and all the impulse items. So many small businesses have gone out of business over the years, and this really helps them."

Restaurateurs are grateful for the increase in sit‑down customers. Jared Hagan, co‑owner of Picnic, says he's been very pleased. "We've decided we're going to be open year‑round, and I think this gives us a good base. We need this influx of people. These days are going to support us through the days that we only make $36."

At the Old Sow Grill, owner Pam Francis says the cruise ships offer a great opportunity for Eastport. "They bring a liveliness here, which we need. We really want to do more of this. It would even be nice if the ships could stay longer."

It's unsure whether the ships could extend their stays. In fact, Gardner says the time currently allotted to cruise ship stays, which is usually from morning until late afternoon, helps provide balance. "It allows us to have this influx of visitors without having to build parking lots, hotels and everything else needed for drive‑in tourists. This way we can keep our little community like it is all the other days of the year."