Heavy fog rolls out of the Halifax Harbour, presenting a familiar scene. Like ants tumbling out of a disturbed nest, human bodies move across the decks of a cruise ship, ready to make their descent. Just 40 minutes before this behemoth of a boat (think about the comparison of a modern cruise ship to the Titanic) docked, there was only the occasional jogger, maybe a dog walker or two, and of course, the fog—the usual quiet scene of a city waking up.
I’m waiting by our tour van, a block away, where I can be visible to our guests but far enough to obey a law (one I still don’t understand but will look into for another piece) that doesn’t let a tour operator with my type of license or insurance—or whatever bureaucratic misery it is—get any closer. This scene is exactly what I promised to avoid, and part of the reason I started Alternative Routes. But in a small Canadian province like Nova Scotia, where the tourism bureau seems to be pushing out passionate travelers who want authentic experiences in favor of a fast-food tourism model, I started to feel like I didn’t have much choice but to get on board—figuratively, of course.
And speaking of disturbed nests, as I started digging into the research on cruise ships, the mound grew bigger and bigger, and the facts more and more disturbing. The story started getting a little bigger than just this blog, so I’m hoping to expand this into a longer piece in the future, so stay tuned. But for now, here are some of the most shocking facts I’ve found so far:
1. Cruise Ships Often Avoid Paying Taxes by Registering Under "Flags of Convenience
Cruise ships dock in Nova Scotia’s ports, like Halifax, but register under flags of convenience to avoid paying Canadian taxes. While they take advantage of our infrastructure, they contribute little to local revenues. Cruise lines typically avoid stricter regulations and taxes by registering in countries with lenient laws and low or no taxes, such as Panama, Bermuda, or the Bahamas. In fact, over 70% of the global cruise fleet is registered under such "flags of convenience, meaning they avoid the higher taxes they’d face in the U.S., Europe, or Canada. On top of this, cruise ships can purchase fuel tax-free under international maritime law, reducing their fuel costs by as much as 40%, which boosts their profits.
2. Cruise Lines Pay Crew Members Just Pennies on the Dollar
While it’s true that jobs are created for Nova Scotians (I personally know a few musicians who play on cruise ships and earn a fair Canadian wage), many crew members are paid just $500 per month, plus tips, while working up to 12 hours a day for months at a time. Cruise lines often employ low-wage labor from countries with less stringent labor laws,, meaning these workers endure long hours and few benefits, while the companies avoid paying wages that would align with local standards—undermining the Canadian labor market. In September 2000, Premier Cruise Lines folded and left hundreds of workers stranded in Halifax.The Canadian court system repatriated them and awarded lost wages amounting to $745,000.
3. Local Communities Get Little Return from Shore Excursions
While many cruise passengers take part in shore excursions in Nova Scotia, most of the revenue from these activities goes directly back to the cruise lines. Local businesses often see very little of the money, as excursions are either organized and operated by the cruise lines themselves, or heavily controlled by them. This is the reason I have to wait a comfortable distance away when picking up passengers from a cruise ship—it feels like a clandestine affair, and I still don’t fully understand why.
Halifax welcomed roughly 370,000 cruise passengers in 2024, generating an estimated $136 million for the city and surrounding areas. I’d like to see more detailed reports to understand exactly where that money goes once it leaves passengers’ hands. What I could find is that those numbers basically come from thin air. It is a significant amount, but we also need to weigh it against what it costs the city to have these ships here.
4. The Cruise Industry Contributes to Overcrowding and Environmental Degradation in Port Cities
The sudden influx of cruise passengers creates congestion in Halifax and other small coastal towns like Lunenburg and Sydney. Local infrastructure struggles to keep up, and areas that rely on tourism face overcrowding, which drives up prices and damages the local atmosphere. The peaceful mornings of joggers and dog walkers are often replaced by crowds and chaos during the cruise season. Cruise ships bring thousands of passengers into port cities at once, often overwhelming local infrastructure and contributing to environmental damage. In places like Venice and the Galápagos Islands, cruise tourism has led to overtourism, where local communities face ecosystem damage, higher prices, and overcrowded attractions—all while cruise lines continue to profit. The growth of cruise tourism has put significant strain on local infrastructure in Nova Scotia. Take Peggy’s Cove, our most overtouristed location. The first phase of upgrades done in 2020 cost $9.7 million, and that’s just the first phase. It doesn’t account for wear and tear on our piers or the roads and bridges leading there.
5. Cruise Ships Are Often Exempt from Local Environmental Laws
Due to international maritime law, cruise ships are governed by the laws of the country under which they are registered, not the countries they visit. This allows cruise lines to bypass local environmental regulations, enabling them to dump untreated sewage and waste into sensitive marine environments. Despite regulations, cruise ships are responsible for dumping millions of gallons of untreated sewage, graywater, and toxic waste into the oceans each year. One cruise ship can discharge up to 210,000 gallons of untreated sewage, and some companies have faced massive fines for pollution violations. In June 2023, Canada introduced new restrictions that prohibit cruise lines from dumping treated sewage and graywater within 3 nautical miles of the shore. I plan to dig into this more—it’s one of those things that feels like disturbing an ant’s nest. The more I uncover, the more questions arise, and maybe it’s more like a hornet’s nest.
On top of this, cruise ships are major contributors to underwater noise pollution, bring invasive species into our ecosystems, and are significant carbon polluters. In fact, a cruise ship sitting in your harbor for a few hours can be like putting an extra 16,000 cars on the road. One cruise ship can emit as much sulfur oxide as 1 million cars. The global cruise fleet is responsible for around 4% of global marine emissions, and the engines often use heavy fuel oil, which is far more polluting than other types of fuel.
What started as a small inquiry into the way these ships impact Nova Scotia has turned into a much larger story—one that deserves a deeper dive, which I hope to tackle in the future. But for now, these six facts should be enough to spark some thought about the cost of mass tourism in our small, beautiful province, and the hidden truths that often get swept beneath the giant hulls of these cruise ships.
