Big Ships, Small Towns: Understanding Cruise Port Development in Falmouth, Jamaica

Abstract

Cruise ships and associated developments are topics of growing scholarly and public interest. It is increasingly important to understand how these developments affect the local community. The Historic Port of Falmouth was developed through a partnership between Royal Caribbean and the Port Authority of Jamaica in 2011 and is the largest purpose-built port of call in the Caribbean. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand the impacts of the new development in Falmouth, Jamaica from the perspective of those who live there. Three subthemes emanating from data analysis are: big promises, big disappointments; access denied; and all is not lost at sea. After presenting these themes, we introduce the overarching theme of “big ships, big bubble” and further develop Weaver's notion of “containment” as a way to capture the mix of powerlessness and hopefulness as it was expressed by members of this community.