Nearly 120,000 yearly cruise passengers who visit Rhode Island are about to see their fees go up.
Photo 108380757 © Darryl Brooks | Dreamstime.com
Cruise passengers pay port fees for each destination the ship visits. The fees for calling on Newport, Rhode Island are set to go up after a new bill has passed in the state.
Rhode Island House Bill 8027 was passed last week, in a move that will raise passenger fees from $3 to up to $10 in the coming years.
The official description of the bill as stated on Legiscan is as follow:
“Increases passenger landing and boarding fees for passenger cruise vessels landing at a dock in Newport from three dollars ($3.00) to ten dollars ($10.00).”
This was a quick passage for the bill, which saw 65 representatives voting in favor and 10 abstaining. The bill is now headed to the senate.
The $7 increase in port fees will not happen all at once, however.
According to Newport Mayor Xaykham Khamsyvoravong, the port fee would not immediately be raised to $10 but would happen over the course of many years.
A separate RI Bill has capped the cruise passenger fee at $10 per person.
It should be noted that the current $3 fee is charged per passenger upon the ship arriving and departing the port. This means it’s $3 each way.
Essentially, it’s $6 per person, with a potential at $20 per person in the future.
If the Bill is passed fully, it will mean about $2.5 million for the Newport cruise port.
Mayor Khamsyvoravong brought up the need for infrastructure updates at the cruise port and the surrounding area.
“Well, a lot of it’s just the wear and tear on infrastructure. Eventually you hit that point where things need to be replaced and you wake up and say we’ve got to do something about this. We can’t kick the can anymore,” the mayor said, adding that there was a need for “new revenue streams”.
Khamsyvoravong added that while the city loves having the cruise visitors to their area, it causes a lot of extra wear and tear on the community.
The mayor hopes the extra revenue will help pay for a $98 million project which will replace the harbormaster building, fix the seawall, and other infrastructure needs.
“It’s called Perrotti park. That specific landing point needs a little over 20 million dollars in repairs. There’s an enormous amount of traffic that that little terminal and the accompanying restroom experience.” said Khamsyvoravong.
Newport, Rhode Island’s cruise port will see visits from Princess Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania, SilverSea Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises among other companies that send vessels to the New England port in the coming months.
Tomorrow, Holland America’s Zuiderdam will call on Newport. American Cruise Line also often stops at the iconic and historic town.
Outside of cruise visitors, Newport sees about 4 million visitors every year.
In 2023 Newport welcomed 56 cruise ships, and there are already 65 scheduled for this year.
