Cruise Ships Have Made Bar Harbor Popular. But Have They Ruined It?<br />But in recent years, the number of cruise ships has sharply escalated, aggravating tensions between residents whose livelihoods depend on tourists — and want to cater to the cruise ships — and others who may or may not depend on tourists but who worry<br />that too many could spoil what draws people here in the first place.<br />The conflict stems from competing visions over Bar Harbor’s future<br />and how much the town should adapt itself to the cruise ship industry, which has magnified Bar Harbor’s standing as a top tourist destination.<br />The cruise ships would still anchor in the bay, but smaller boats could deliver their passengers to the new marina, where they could board tour buses.<br />“Before the cruise ships started coming to Bar Harbor, our tourist season ended after<br />Labor Day,” said Kristi Bond, who owns and operates four restaurants downtown.<br />Among the uses for the terminal proposed by the town’s consultants was a large berthing<br />pier where the cruise ships could dock directly, allowing passengers to walk ashore.<br />In November, as the last of the tourists left Bar Harbor for the winter, the committee agreed that it did not want a big berthing pier.<br />Many residents rejoiced, saying that the people, not the cruise ship industry, were controlling the town’s fate.<br />“But the goose is already sick.”<br />Outsiders have been flocking to Mount Desert Island, home to Bar Harbor<br />and the national park, since the mid-1800s, when painters from the Hudson River School discovered its natural beauty.
