COMMENTARY: Cruise Line Finds Yorktown A Bridge Too Far

Objections to multiple projects around region may signal decline of tourism influence

Appropriatrely sized boats dock near the George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge in Yorktown. (Image Credit: Getty Images Signature)

Back in April 2024, Princess Cruise Lines abandoned their planned stops in the quaint village of Yorktown. This comes after the company and local politicians initially sprung the deal on the community as fait accompli. But residents quickly responded with organized efforts to stop the boats from ever docking and apparently, the cruise line got the message to go somewhere else – Norfolk actually.

One group in particular, Preserve Yorktown, successfully led opposition to the cruise ships, but really shouldn’t have needed to do so. All one had to do was look at the images the group produced demonstrating the scale of the proposed massive cruise ships compared to the Coleman Bridge and the town’s cozy waterfront to know it was a bad fit. The concept of dozens of tour buses packing the narrow streets to cart people off somewhere else didn’t make much sense, either. B…