With an increasing awareness surrounding the environment, sustainability at sea continues to be a top travel trend. From energy efficient cabins and abolishing single-use plastics to revamped carbon emission policies, the movement to make cruising eco-friendlier is stronger than ever. These five cruise lines are taking action.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Regent Seven Seas Cruises is going plastic bottle-free and will serve guests Vero Still and Sparkling water fleet-wide, resulting in the approximate elimination of two million plastic bottles annually and a substantial decline in its carbon emissions. Vero Still and Sparkling Water’s onboard purification and filling process will enable the cruise line to purify, chill and serve in Vero luxury glass bottles still and sparkling water on all its ships. Vero Water service will be implemented in two phases during the coming year with Phase One focusing on installing the water service in suites, restaurants, lounges and bars on board its three existing ships, and Phase Two focusing on providing guests their own eco-friendly reusable bottle.
Disney Cruise Line
To reduce plastic waste and minimize its carbon footprint, Disney Cruise Line will eliminate all single-use plastic straws and stirrers at all owned and operated locations across the globe, amounting to a reduction of more than 175 million straws and 13 million stirrers annually. In addition to its plastic-free initiatives, Disney Cruise Line also recycles 280 tons of water from its air-conditioning system to utilize for laundry and swabbing the decks, and in the future, the line also plans to reduce its number of plastic shopping bags and polystyrene cups.
Princess Cruises
Princess Cruises has equipped its entire fleet with state-of-the-art waste management technology and by 2020, plans to install exhaust gas cleaning systems. Princess Cruises’ two newest ships will be dual-fuel powered primarily by Liquefied Natural Gas, the marine industry’s most environmentally friendly advanced fuel technology and the world’s cleanest burning fossil fuel. This will significantly reduce air emissions and marine gas oil. Additionally, the cruise line works with suppliers to replace plastic packaging with biodegradable materials and incinerates, recycles or offloads all solid waste.
Holland America Cruises
To minimize its generation of wastewater, Holland America Cruises installed blackwater treatment systems that utilize start-of-the-art reverse osmosis and bioreactor technology. These systems employ a series of filters and disinfecting steps to treat the blackwater before being discharged to the sea, resulting in the mass-generation of clean water. Additionally, to aid in power reduction and reduce fuel usage, the cruise line takes shorter routes, uses silicone paint on the hull of the ship to reduce drag, utilizes scrubbers to reduce Sulphur oxide emissions and runs on plug-on power while in port.
