Joanne Loctov lives in Portland, Maine.

It's a city that prides itself on that quintessential New England vibe.

You know, rocky islands, lobster boats.

On a rainy day, I guarantee it you are going to hear a foghorn.

I think that our harbor is beautiful.

I think Casco Bay is one of the thin places.

It's where, you know, the heavens and the earth meet, and it's very special.

Joanne moved here in 2021 from the West Coast.

It was a quiet first year.

Joanne and the rest of the world were still thawing out from the pandemic.

But then, life started to return to normal, and in Portland, that means cruise ships.

The massive cruise ships that we have, the cruise ships that are up to 4,500 passengers plus crew,

are such a menace to our harbor.

And this is a very personal bias that I have.

Not everyone shares this opinion.

But when I see them, I see nothing but corporate greed.

Cruise ships, it turns out, do not fit Joanne's vision of Portland.

And we are talking about big ones here, 19 decks with casinos and full-on amusement rides on the roof.

Joanne, she used to work in Venice, Italy, and she had seen these exact ships do some

serious damage to the old city. The constant waves coming from big ships had literally

started to erode the city's lagoon. So I've witnessed firsthand what the cruise ships can do

to a historic port city.

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