Why You Shouldn't Go On a Cruise Even When (If?) They Start Running Again

Are you a cruise kind of person? Not everyone is, but some people really seem to love the idea of hitting the open water with a couple thousand of their closest friends while aboard a colossal hunk of floating metal. It’s an experience, for sure, but it begs the question: at what cost?

Many of us who travel frequently (or who at least try to travel as often as possible) are aware that every time we hop in a car, step on a plane, or climb aboard a boat, our actions are impacting the environment — and not in a good way. While vehicles produce about one-third of all U.S. air pollution and airplanes are also known to emit huge amounts of carbon dioxide, it is cruise ships — the very huge kind, in particular — that do some of the worst damage.

There are certainly efforts being made to make all those giant cruise ships greener — including switching from diesel fuels to liquified natural gas and improving food and waste management — but you’ll never be able to completely offset the carbon footprint they leave behind every time they set sail. Even if more environmentally-friendly fuel sources become the norm across the cruise industry, there are several other issues to consider.

Carbon dioxide isn’t the only air pollutant cruise ships are responsible for; they also emit nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and particulate matter — complex mixtures of extremely small particles and liquid droplets that can negatively affect the heart and lungs.

Beyond what’s being released into the air, you have to consider the other waste products these ships produce. That includes black water, which contains human waste; grey water, which comes from showers, dishwashers, sinks, and other cleaning activities aboard a ship; bilge water, which contains engine oil and sludge; solid waste, including plastic and metal containers (which are typically incinerated); and hazardous waste, as in cleaning chemicals, paints, solvents, and dry cleaning chemicals.

Over the years, the cruise ship industry has taken advantage of loose environmental regulations to dump just about everything overboard. Shortfalls in enforcement extend to areas outside environmental protections, too.

“Cruise lines operate under a regulatory framework that is unlike any other sector of the travel industry,” wrote Skift contributor Rosie Spinks in an October 2019 piece. “Though cruisers board their ships in Miami or Southampton, once they set sail in international waters, the authorities that regulate most of what happens on board (including environmental, safety, and labor issues) are very often located in countries they’ve never visited.”

Another negative associated with gigantic cruise ships? The public health risks they pose to passengers vis-à-vis disease outbreaks. This dynamic was on full display in late 2019/early 2020 at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people on several cruise ships were left stranded at sea for weeks due to outbreaks of the disease onboard. And although the novel coronavirus could be seen as an outlier, the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program reports on the regular occurrence of norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships every year.

Last but not least it should be noted that large cruise ships can at times produce the negative effects associated with over-tourism. Just imagine thousands of passengers disembarking at a small port in the Caribbean: they easily overwhelm the place, no doubt leaving garbage behind in their wake. And yet bigger ships and bigger crowds are always the goal, aren’t they?

Other forms of travel aren’t perfect either; we know this. But if you have to give up one, the choice is simple: let the cruise ships die out.

-LTH