Popular tourist destinations such as Venice, Dubrovnik and Santorini sell themselves as being idyllic, romantic locales where vacationers can stroll through history or take a break from the rest of the world.

Not surprisingly, they have become popular on cruise itineraries. This was not a problem when the industry was in its infancy and its ships were small, and few in number.

But today, as mega-cruiseships grow larger in size and number, they are beginning to find themselves increasingly unwelcome.

On busy days up to a dozen ships, each carrying between 3,000 and 5,000 passengers, dock or drop anchor off these small, previously exclusive destinations, flooding them with tens of thousands of extra visitors.

Locals are fed up, claiming that the ships have left them overwhelmed. They are voicing ever louder complaints about human traffic jams — the narrow lanes on Santorini, for example, turn into human gridlock on busy days — as well as traffic jams caused by the hundreds of excursion buses needed to move the passengers around.

The residents of the historic city of Venice have long been campaigning to get the big ships kicked out of port. They have argued loudly that the larger ships are stressing the fragile infrastructure of their city and making life increasingly unpleasant for people that live in it.

So far, the temptation of cruise cash has held sway with city authorities, which have resisted restricting the cruiseships.

But elsewhere, action is being taken. Mato Frankovic, mayor of the Croatian city of Dubrovnik, one of the Mediterranean’s most popular ports of call, announced last week that the medieval walled city will limit the number of people allowed inside its ancient ramparts to 4,000 at any one time.

Mayor Frankovic added that he would cut the number of cruiseships calling, which until now has been uncontrolled.

Last year, 530 cruiseship visits resulted in 800,000 passengers being dumped on Dubrovnik.

This influx is being blamed, in part, for the city’s population falling from 5,000 in 1991 to 1,150 today, according to statistics quoted in the UK's Telegraph newspaper. It is also being blamed for other tourists shunning the city as a long-stay destination.

“I am not here to make people happy but to make the quality of life better,” Frankovic told the Telegraph. “Some of the cruise lines will disagree with what I’m saying but my main goal is to ensure quality for tourists and I cannot do it by keeping the situation as it is.”

The industry may find other popular cruise ports following suit as dissatisfaction from local residents continues to grow.