Cruise Ship Limits Become Effective on the French Riviera

The rules became effective to limit large cruise ships anchoring on the French Rivera (Disney Cruise Line)

Published Dec 16, 2025 7:47 PM by The Maritime Executive

The regional authorities governing the ports along the French Riviera signed the new decree, which makes effective the limitations on the number of cruise passengers at the popular ports, including Nice and Villefranche. It comes after a tumultuous year in which the local authorities attempted to impose their own restrictions on cruise ship calls.

While pressing the efforts at the local level, the local government had said it required the action of the regional prefects to set the policy for cruise ships. The efforts were driven by both concerns for the environment and overtourism, as well as the efforts to maintain an upscale image for the region. The local efforts specifically targeted the large ships in the broad market segment while welcoming the smaller, luxury cruise ships.

The Prefect of the Alpes-Maritime and the Maritime Prefect of the Mediterranean worked together to develop the new regional strategy for managing cruise ships. During the signing ceremony on December 9, they highlighted that the effort sought to reconcile the protection of the environment with the desire to maintain tranquility for the local populations while also recognizing the economic and tourist issues.

In August, the regional authorities highlighted that 52 cruise lines planned calls for at least one port of call on the French coast, including Monaco. They said it represented 2,030 port calls made by 147 cruise ships.

The joint effort by the two authorities included consultations that began in July and a plenary meeting in October. They highlight that a draft code was produced and ultimately received a favorable opinion from the federal government’s department that oversees environmental issues.

The inter-prefectorial degree became effective on December 9. It sets an average annual daily level of 2,000 passengers, but permits up to 3,000 passengers in a single day, provided there is strict compliance with the annual 2,000 passengers per day average. The passenger number is regardless of the number of ships.

There is also a limit of one ship per day per anchorage for ships over a capacity of 1,300 passengers. The limitations do not apply to ships that berth in ports nor the ferries that operate to destinations such as Corsica.

During the peak season from July 1 to August 31, the limitation increases to a total of 15 ships per month with a capacity of over 1,300 passengers. Again, this applies to all the anchorages.

The target of the restrictions remains the larger and mega cruise ships, which the local authorities do not see as keeping with their upscale image and which put too many people ashore at one time.  However, the local rules had been pursuing limits of 900 or 1,000 passengers per ship, which was relaxed in the final rules to ships over 1,300 passengers. One of the goals was to have some of the largest cruise ships, which often have 3,000 or even 6,000 passengers, move to the west, docking instead in the port of Marseille. 

Further seeking to encourage environmental responsibility among the cruise ships visiting the Riviera, the rules give preference for scheduling and port call authorizations to the lines that adhere to the Sustainable Cruise Charter in the Mediterranean. In 2025, they highlighted that 27 companies representing over 1,300 port calls had adopted the charter. It calls for reducing discharges at sea and the recovery of waste, as well as the reduction of noise and light pollution, and reducing greenhouse gas and air pollutants. The companies also commit to raising environmental awareness among their passengers.