Referendum battle heats up between CPR and ACT
(CNS): Grassroots activists from the Cruise Port Referendum (CPR) campaign and those from the cruise industry’s lobby group, Association for Cruise Tourism in the Cayman Islands (ACT), are locked in a battle that the well-funded pro-cruise group, even before the government begins pouring public cash into the fight, thinks its winning.
However, the CPR members aren’t giving up, despite being massively outspent by the cruise lobby, as they fight to stop the next government from getting a blank cheque to develop piers for the benefit of the bloated cruise lines.
On Election Day, the electorate will have the opportunity to take part in a referendum covering three topics, all of which could be considered controversial. Voters will be asked if they support the decriminalisation of the consumption and possession of small quantities of ganja and if they want to see a national lottery.
But at the top of the referendum ballot will be a question on cruise berthing facilities. While all three questions are vague, the local activists say the lack of any details on the cruise port question is the most problematic. CPR has consistently called for a fair referendum process in line with good governance principles and best international practices.
But following a release by ACT this week in which the wealthy lobbyists called all of those who care about the environment “noisy fringe entities” who do not reflect the best interests of Cayman, CPR has once again explained its position and the inequity of this national vote, and said their calls for a modern fair and efficient referendum process “will not be silenced”.
The activists are again stressing the problem with holding a referendum on a concept rather than a specific project but have confirmed they will not fight this in court. Instead, they are doing all they can to educate people on the dangers of a ‘yes’ vote to the environment, the public purse, the country’s infrastructure and the quality of life for all those who call Cayman home.
CPR continues to advocate for a sustainable tourism future that balances high-value overnight visitors with a thriving boutique cruise sector, ensuring cruise operators continue to benefit from a model that enhances Cayman’s unique appeal rather than prioritising unsustainable mega-ship volume.
Once again, CPR pointed out that while general elections are governed by the Elections Law, which covers candidates’ expenses, advertising and disclosures, the minority UPM government, with the help of the PPM members, passed the Referendum Bill without any regulations for that national vote.
“Modern democracies have carefully crafted referendum regulations to ensure fairness and efficiency of the process and outcomes,” CPR said Wednesday in a release. “In the UK’s Brexit referendum, all campaigners were required to register and complete campaign spending returns if spending was over £10,000.
“The Canadian Referendum Act requires the registration of referendum committees and prohibits contributions from persons who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents, corporations that do not carry on business in the country, and foreign governments or their agents.”
The activists said they were now focused on ensuring that voters have access to the information available to equip them to make an informed decision, despite the vague referendum question and flawed process that has been approved.
Comparisons of the 2019 and 2024 cruise arrival data show clearly that whether or not there is a pier is not the factor leading to Cayman’s decline from the record high cruise arrivals of 2019. St Kitts and Nevis, St Marteen, Jamaica and Puerto Rico all have piers but have experienced significant declines since 2019.
Grand Cayman has had the highest drop in arrivals in the region since 2019, but we are still at over 1 million cruise arrivals. Cayman is still number six in the region for cruise arrivals, despite its small size and population. Some islands experiencing growth since 2019 are still far below Cayman’s current numbers.
“In 2019, we were at an arguably unsustainably high number of 1.8 million arrivals, pushing our Island’s carry capacity, and the pro-port lobby was still demanding a pier,” the CPR stated as they reminded people of the impact on their lives during that year.
The activists questioned what the ACT is really campaigning for, saying that the lobby group is pushing for these piers when Cayman is even less able to manage even the 2019 numbers.
“This begs consideration if the real motivating factor is to increase cruise numbers or to push our Islands into a hugely expensive cruise pier construction experiment,” CPR said. “As a result of Covid-19 and erosion of Seven Mile Beach, our island has lost a significant number of attractions, leading to the logical conclusion that our Island’s capacity for cruise tourism has further decreased from 2019.”
CPR said they are in favour of enhancements and improvements to the existing cruise infrastructure, adequate shade, and assistance with wait times.
“Cayman has the opportunity to be a leader in responsible tourism, ensuring thoughtful, community-centred development that protects our economy, environment, and quality of life for generations to come. By working together, we can create a future where local cruise operators continue to thrive, tourism flourishes, and growth and preservation go hand in hand,” the activists added.
Those who are pushing for a ‘yes’ vote in the non-binding poll are focused on berthing facilities, regardless of the negative impacts, and seem happy to give the next administration an open-ended mandate to build what they want, where they want.
The only clue that voters have in relation to what a ‘yes’ vote could mean is the unpopular and grandiose project that the PPM-led administration was pursuing in 2019 with Verdant Isle before CPR secured a people’s referendum and COVID upset the cruising applecart, leading to the cancellation of the costly proposed project.
However, the ACT lobbyists insist that piers will lead to more money for cruise operators, so the cost to the country financially, socially and environmentally is worth it. They accuse those who care about these issues of actively obstructing much-needed development, “harming the very working-class Caymanians they claim to represent”.
As the campaign heats up, ACT accused CPR of running from robust debate.
“Their job is easy — they simply make statements and ask questions designed to create doubt, without the responsibility or scrutiny of offering real solutions,” said ACT Executive Program Manager Ellio Solomon. “But Cayman’s future demands more than just criticism; it requires vision, action and investment in long-term progress. Empty rhetoric does nothing to secure economic stability or improve opportunities for our people.”
See the opposing press releases below:
ACT Cayman Shores Up the Truth on Cruise Tourism, Leaves CPR Adrift
Check out the CNS Election Section interactive map to see who is running in each constituency.
See the list of candidates and their party affiliations here.
Category: Referendum
Change writes: Every constituency has the same issue when their MP becomes a minister. It is not that they stop caring about their area, but Cabinet members have no choice but to tackle issues at national level, and that takes budget, meetings, reports, travel, conference calls, sitting with lawyers to streamline bills and laws — all […]
Executive Program Manager, Ellio Solomon – nuff said
Foolio is a clown
Since back in 2015 I concluded Cayman would be much better off with boutique cruises. Create day packages that include tourism attractions or cruise operator activities, a cultural event — quadrille dancing, a Long Celia half-hour skit, for example — and a sunset beach-side dinner featuring strictly Caymanian cuisine. Arrival at 8am, departure at 10pm. Tweak it and tailor it with the boutique cruise lines to ensure the tourists have time to shop; AND, souvenir stores, start sourcing locally-made merchandise. Feature our entrepreneurs. Wean yourselves from buying mass-manufactured stuff that only has our islands’ name printed on it but it is made in Panama, or Jamaica or Japan or wherever. If we all work together, we can create a superb tourism product, without damaging our environment any further.
I’ve heard of Cpr, who’s ACT?
Grass roots got us the dreaded one man one vote and an incompetent independent government. Say no to grass roots
Association for Cruise Tourism. In other words, business owners, operators, and employees in the cruise tourism industry who believe more passengers = more income for them.
A bunch of delusional lunatics that play the rac3 card recklessly.
They have convinced themselves that others do not love Cayman and Caymanians unless you sign up to a phantom berthing project with zero details, designs, EIA and breakdown of costs and financing.
Their ignorance and venom is off the charts.
The crazy bunch with zero grasp of reality
The Adeptus Ridiculous Declares: The Cruise Lines’ Billion-Dollar Propaganda Machine—A War of Attrition Against Logic and Sanity
Oh, citizens of the Imperium, prepare thyselves! For lo, the cruise industry, an empire built upon relentless corporate greed and environmental disregard, has once again returned from the depths of irrelevance to demand that Cayman surrender its shores to the glory of industrialized mass tourism!
The previous attempt to install this floating megalith of mediocrity was met with fierce resistance—a referendum rejection, overwhelming public outrage, and the undeniable truth that the economic benefits were nothing more than gilded lies.
And yet, like a horde of plague-ridden Nurgling spawn, they persist! Their hunger to reshape the Cayman Islands into a mass-tourism dumping ground is insatiable, their tactics escalating from persuasion to full-blown psychological warfare!
What shall they do next? Will they drown the island in a billion-dollar flood of glossy brochures? Will we awake one morning to find pro-cruise propaganda projected onto the side of Mount Trashmore, blinding the populace with carefully crafted corporate deceit?
The signs of madness are upon us. The Great Cruise Industry WAAAGH! is in full motion.
A Campaign of Economic Deception and Narrative Corruption
The cruise lines and their local collaborators have deployed three primary tactical stratagems to wear down the opposition. Let us examine them in all their repugnant absurdity:
Tactic 1: The Great Economic Lie – “Cayman Needs the Cruise Berthing to Survive!”
They claim that the cruise berthing project is essential for economic survival. That without it, the island will descend into ruin, the people will starve, and entire industries will collapse.
• Reality Check:
• Boutique tourism generates far greater revenue per visitor than mass cruise arrivals.
• Overnight visitors spend exponentially more than the average cruise passenger, who drops a few dollars at the port before vanishing back into the abyss of their floating megacity.
• Destroying reefs for the sake of “more cruise arrivals” is the economic equivalent of selling off your farmland to build a parking lot.
This is not about economic growth. This is about corporate greed, dressed up as “progress.”
Tactic 2: The Absurd “Sustainability” Lie – “We Can Build It Without Harming the Environment!”
Ah yes, because when has the phrase “Don’t worry, modern construction is sustainable” ever gone wrong?
• The reefs? Doomed.
• The natural ocean currents? Disrupted.
• The stability of the coastline? Altered forever.
Every so-called “study” that claims to “minimize environmental impact” is as useful as a servitor’s brain after a lobotomy. They promise mitigation while refusing to acknowledge the irreparable destruction inherent to the project.
• Their argument: “We will destroy the reefs, but don’t worry, we’ll build some artificial ones!”
• The reality: This is like burning down a forest and replacing it with plastic trees.
The science is clear: Once the ecosystem is disrupted, it does not return. But the cruise industry is counting on the people to ignore this in favor of shiny PowerPoint presentations and paid-off “experts” who say otherwise.
Tactic 3: The Propaganda Blitz – “We Will Break Your Will Through Advertising Alone!”
Ah, but we are entering the next phase of warfare now. The direct lies have been challenged, so what remains?
Overwhelming, relentless, suffocating propaganda.
• Newspapers suddenly filled with “independent experts” who miraculously support the cruise berthing project.
• Billboards preaching the “benefits of development.”
• A campaign of “public information sessions” carefully designed to gaslight the population.
• Sponsorships, influencers, and subtle messaging infiltrating every aspect of daily life.
Their objective? Wear down the people until they give in. Make the opposition so exhausted, so drowned in PR spin, that they simply stop fighting.
This is not a debate. This is a siege. A war of attrition designed to grind down resistance until only compliance remains.
The Ultimate Goal – A Blank Check from the People
Let us be absolutely, brutally clear about what the cruise lines actually want:
• A YES vote is a blank check.
• There are no fixed costs, no restrictions, no guarantees.
• Once they have approval, they can shape the project however they please.
They are not asking for public input. They are demanding unrestricted control. And once the public is fooled into saying “Yes,” the floodgates will open:
• Massive, unchecked spending.
• Backroom deals and sweetheart contracts.
• Irreversible environmental devastation.
• The conversion of Cayman’s tourism sector into a mass-market, low-value factory line.
The people of the Cayman Islands are being asked to approve their own irrelevance.
And if they refuse? The cruise lines will return. Again. And again. And again.
For they are eternal in their greed, endless in their persistence, and unwavering in their pursuit of turning paradise into yet another disposable cruise stop.
The Adeptus Ridiculous’ Final Verdict – Reject the Deception, Resist the Siege!
This is not about progress.
This is not about sustainability.
This is not about economic survival.
This is about control.
And the moment the people surrender it, they will never get it back.
So let the propaganda machines roar. Let the cruise lines burn their billion-dollar marketing budgets trying to reshape reality. Let them try to drown resistance in brochures, ad campaigns, and corporate-backed narratives.
For as long as the people see through the lies, resist the manipulation, and demand accountability, the forces of corporate greed shall not prevail.
The war is not over. The Adeptus Ridiculous watches.
And to those who would sell Cayman’s future for the price of a berthing dock?
May your brochures be as empty as your promises.
Final Note from the Adeptus Ridiculous:
While the characters depicted above are purely fictional, the threat to the Cayman Islands’ environment is very real.
I needn’t remind you what happened when those floating plague vessels vanished during the pandemic—the sea was thriving with life once more, an ecosystem rebounding the moment humanity’s recklessness took a pause.
• The reefs began to heal.
• The waters were clearer than they had been in years.
• Marine life returned in greater abundance, unbothered by the endless churn of industrial tourism.
Now, they seek to bring back the destruction—permanently.
This is not fiction. This is not an exaggeration. This is the irreversible cost of greed.
The choice remains in the hands of the people. Will you safeguard what makes the Cayman Islands unique, or will you let the profiteers carve up the future for their own gain?
Choose wisely. Because once the destruction begins, there is no turning back.
Amen brother preach the gospel of truth!
Summarizing this for anyone that didn’t make it to the end of this very well-written and very true piece:
Essentially, voting ”yes” to a cruise pier on referendum day is:
The PEOPLE of the Cayman Islands (and their children, their children’s children, their children’s children’s children – will pay a dear price for this madness!)
Or, as Ambassador has said above:
”Let us be absolutely, brutally clear about what the cruise lines actually want:
• A YES vote is a blank check.
• There are no fixed costs, no restrictions, no guarantees.
• Once they have approval, they can shape the project however they please.”
Claptrap’s Romantic Interest on the Grand Cruise Berthing Referendum Battle
Oh, you have got to be kidding me.
Here we go again—another round of Absurdistan’s finest political theater, starring the Cayman Islands government, a referendum that makes absolutely no sense, and an electorate that’s somehow supposed to make an “informed decision” based on deliberate vagueness. Fantastic.
Let’s break this mess down.
Three Referendum Questions – But Only One Is a Stealth Trap
The upcoming referendum is set to ask voters three things:
1. Decriminalizing ganja? Reasonable, overdue.
2. A national lottery? A debate worth having.
3. Should the Cayman Islands develop cruise berthing infrastructure?
Wait… hold on a second.
“Develop cruise berthing infrastructure”??? That’s it? That’s the entire question? Not a single word on cost, location, environmental impact, or who’s funding it?! That’s not a referendum question, that’s a scam in broad daylight!
This is like handing a blank contract to a known con artist and asking them to “fill in the details later.” Spoiler alert: you will not like the details.
The Two Sides – Let’s Meet Our Contenders
On one side, we have CPR Cayman, a group of people frantically trying to wave red flags and scream, “Don’t sign the blank check!” Their argument is simple:
• There are no details. The government is asking people to approve a major, high-risk project without telling them what it actually entails.
• The environmental concerns are massive. Destroying reefs, disrupting marine life, and altering wave patterns in a hurricane-prone zone? Oh yeah, what could possibly go wrong?
• The economy doesn’t need it. Boutique cruise tourism works just fine without a mega-port, and overnight visitors bring in far more revenue anyway.
On the other side, we have ACT (which might as well stand for Absolutely Clueless Tourism). Their key arguments:
• “We need cruise berthing for long-term sustainability.” No, you don’t. People are still getting off ships just fine.
• “Modern construction will minimize damage.” That’s rich—considering the government’s track record on any major infrastructure project (cough airport cough landfill).
• “This will benefit locals in tourism!” Meanwhile, the same government trying to push this is actively raising the cost of living for those very same people.
One side is screaming “Think about the consequences!” The other side is essentially saying “Trust us!” (A phrase that has never ended well in history.)
The Real Scam – A “Yes” Vote Is a Blank Check
CPR Cayman is absolutely right to be alarmed—because this referendum question is so vague, it could mean anything.
• A YES vote doesn’t mean “approve a carefully planned port.” It means “approve whatever the government wants, whenever they decide to tell you what it is.”
• There’s no commitment to a cost estimate, meaning this could balloon into a financial disaster.
• There’s no mention of how this will be paid for, meaning you could wake up one day and find out that your taxes are suddenly covering a multi-million-dollar private deal.
• And worst of all? Once they have a YES vote, they can say ‘the people approved it’ and bulldoze ahead with whatever they want.
This isn’t a referendum. It’s a con.
Claptrap’s Romantic Interest Verdict: A Masterclass in Political Trickery
Oh, this is next-level deception. Cayman’s leaders must have taken a masterclass in “How to Trick the Public into Agreeing to Their Own Doom” because this is some peak political dishonesty.
The game is clear:
1. Make the referendum question as vague as possible.
2. Hope voters don’t notice the missing details.
3. Use the YES vote as a blank mandate for whatever backdoor deal they’ve already lined up.
And when the public finally realizes what happened? Too late! The government will just say, “Well, you voted for it!”
So, dear voters of the Cayman Islands, let me spell this out for you:
• If you vote YES, you are giving them a blank check.
• If you vote NO, you are forcing them to actually tell you what they’re planning before they spend hundreds of millions on it.
Now, I know some people will still say, “But we need development!” And to those people, I say: great! Then demand a real plan, with real costs, real locations, and real transparency!
Because only a fool signs a contract before reading it.
And right now? The government is asking you to sign a blank contract—while smiling in your face.
Don’t fall for it.
If you do not support the port vote NO
If you are unsure about the port vote NO
Without the key information and facts how can anyone be sure to support it?
This is why we must vote NO and show the UPM/PPM and ACT that facts and information matters
By the gov’t not revealing more information, the clear choice is to VOTE NO! If you don’t have all the facts before the referendum date- just VOTE NO! We don’t need this RIGHT AWAY, we need to do it RIGHT! There’s too much at stake here! Why on Earth would they NOT ALLOW the DOE to attend these meetings??? How can they even do that? If that’s not a clear indication of how murky the waters will become if this goes through, I don’t know what is!
#voteno
Thank you CPR and Shirley Roulstone you are all heroes and history will remember you as such. VOTE NO
When will the people understand and demand that the UPM & PPM be honest with the public and confirm this is a NON-BINDING REFERENDUM?
This is an expensive exercise that cannot and does not bind any future government especially since the public have zero details and information about the scope, location and costs of any particular cruise berthing project.
Details matter yet elected politicians are playing fast and loose with the key details and the truth.
All the MPs did. They said it MANY TIMES, when they debated the referendum week before last. It is there for all to hear. Nothing hidden. Check YouTube.
Please, please. This is not a secret. All of the MPs stressed the fact. Listen to what they all said during the last parliamentary meeting and you will hear it from all of them. It is not binding and that is not a secret.
Had the misfortune of listening to both of Mr Bryan’s initial and closing contributions to the debate he has basically just wholesale adopted the PPM playbook from 2019. The lies, dishonest and bluster, swallowing entirely the idea that we are at the mercy of cruise lines and have no option but to comply with their ‘requests’.
Pretending that every business, operator or attraction exists solely on cruise ships and that without cruise ships ALL tourism related business will go bust which is a flat out a lie, one that basically no Opposition MP challenged him on from what I heard. The entire premise of the pier backers now is basically ignoring stayover visitors who spend more, do more local activities and actually have good experiences of Cayman past the Waterfront. They are for all intents and purposes now pretending that a vote against berthing is a vote to stop all tourism.
Of course, persons like myself who are against piers almost universal prefer that we focus instead on attracting and appealing to those same stay over tourists that Mr Bryan would prefer to ignore. Something that the government and Mr Bryan, should have been doing from the day the borders reopened following the pandemic closures, instead they have recommitted to this farce for one simple reason, the piers are not about sustaining the tourism industry – they are about shoveling as many people into duty free shops on the waterfront. The reason why they now act as if there is not clear alternative path (focusing on stayover tourists) is because at the end of the day, the primary driving force behind the piers is duty free merchants who want to essentially subsidise their businesses and line their pockets using a major public infrastructure project. I won’t pretend a transition to primarily stay over tourists will happen overnight or will be easy or painless, some businesses will close, some persons will leave the industry, but making the best choice for Cayman in the long term is worth more than simply taking the easy route and submitting to the will of corporations who do not have our interests in mind.
I did find it interesting that he admitted that the reason why they are so heavily pushing this vote now is because of the fact that there are no concrete plans – i.e the intention of the government and groups like ‘ACT’ and other monied interests is now to push this vote as hard as they can saying that its just about whether we are open to the idea, getting a win for yes without having to provide any details on a plan and then using that vote to years later push through something that will probably end up being similar to the 2019 proposal. They have no interest in a vote on a specific proposal because then they will have to defend the expenditure and destruction of the environment along with the return of clogged streets that no local dare venture during the day in George Town.
Don’t believe the lies, we can have a sustainable tourism industry without hundreds of millions pissed away in service of a few families seeking to line their pockets for a generation.
cras es noster
Dio
The cpr activists are right… this time.
How can you vote for something when you have no idea what it is, where it is, what it will cost, what will be its effects, its consequences,.
No woman is going to accept “ will you marry me? “ from a stranger she cannot see, knows nothing about and has no idea what life she will endure if she says yes.
Our government of vote hungry amateurs needs to grow up and take their overpaid positions more seriously.. and act more responsibly .
The CPR group is absolutely right about the referendum being “disingenuous”, etc. But isn’t this exactly what the ministers want — to have a referendum that won’t bind them in the least? That way, they can do whatever THEY want, not necessarily what the people want. Yet another flagrant example of bad government.
ACT is an echo chamber filled with idiots and desperate con men
Desperate to sell more cakes and T shirts while ignoring to cost to Caymanians.
$350,000,000 cost of piers will have to be repaid, with interest, by everyone.
The already overcrowded beach will become a cesspit of higglers and dealers.
As the roads will not magically get wider, we will all be in log jam traffic.
More 3rd world placard wavers will be imported to disrupt town.
Cayman will suffer lasting damage to its tourism image due to pushy rude Jamaicans.
Da wa ya want..? Da wa you’ll get.
The video floating around on what’s app says it all.
Woman claiming 4 ships in Port and no one getting off because of port.
She got caught in a lie though as her post was at 4:47 pm. All passengers were back on their ships ready for departure.
Who was the woman..?
Need you ask..?
Cayman has to vote no because we don’t know what exactly we are voting for.
ACT are well funded but detached from reality. They have lost credibility by spouting nonsense and focused on emotional blackmail. They do not deal in sharing facts and legitimate data with the public.
ACT’s press release seems like kids in school yard waiting for a fight. How are we to take them seriously when they send out press releases written like this?
please Cayman, think critically, VOTE NO!
There is nothing credible in the public domain that gives thoughtful voters any justification to support the cruise berthing infrastructure referendum.
That fact makes it easy to VOTE NO
There is something that stinks which is driving the desperation of ACT and the government to push for a project with zero information about the scope and costs of the project in the public domain.
“ Comparisons of the 2019 and 2024 cruise arrival data show clearly that whether or not there is a pier is not the factor leading to Cayman’s decline from the record high cruise arrivals of 2019. St Kitts and Nevis, St Marteen, Jamaica and Puerto Rico all have piers but have experienced significant declines since 2019.”
This point made by CPR is the harsh reality and potentially spending 400-500m on piers will not address the what has occurred elsewhere. Cruise lines have blackmailed countries into similar infrastructure projects with no guarantees.
Cayman cannot afford to make the same mistakes.
Thanks CPR for standing your ground and challenging the lies and emotive drivel from ACT and those crazy enough to think cruise berthing is the solution for Cayman. Piers will be an expensive mistake for this country.
In the best year ever, 2019, cruise tourism brought in under $3mln in head taxes. More was spent on Xmas NICE programs that year.
We don’t gain anything by building a destructive cruise facility for Fortune 500 NYSE cruise liners, especially those grinding margins of the limited number of Caymanians still in that industry. The potential loss and maintenance of such a boondoggle is long and deep. We don’t work for the lobby group, the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association, and we really shouldn’t be electing parliamentarians that do. This minority government’s question, now approved thanks to the PPM, is designed to swing the “it depends on the proposal” camp into a “yes” vote.
Don’t fall for it. Vote NO and more importantly, do not return these crooks to our Parliament.
Public meetings are a waste of time without all the information the people deserve to have in order make a decision before the Referendum.
Does this Government, ACT and the Cruise Industry think the people of the Cayman Islands are that stupid? #VoteNo
How the HELL can a voter make an informed decision without the facts?
EITHER WAY?
Why does our Government think this is normal?
ACT have lost the plot and any credibility with their actions and senseless position. Their desperation and manipulation of the facts is off the charts.
But especially to vote in favor of a phantom project.
It has to be a NO vote without a doubt until Government presents ALL the facts, if only to delay the process for possible future consideration.
Plus this is a non-binding referendum!
Anyone considering voting yes would be foolish and it’s akin to asking someone to perform brain surgery on themselves without checking if they are even a doctor, if they have a hospital to do the surgery in, if they are going to sedate them and if they will be around afterwards for follow up visits……details matter when making BIG decisions.