Green Cruises is part of our Back to School: Green Travel Basics series.
Cruises are known for being some of the least environmentally friendly ways to travel. But, cruise lines have made huge leaps in the past decade to become greener.
Here are some of the best green cruise lines:
- Carnival
- Celebrity Cruises
- Costa
- Disney Cruise Lines
- Holland America (You can read our previous posts about the Ryndam Holland America.)
- Royal Caribbean
- Norwegian
Both Treehugger and Natural Home Magazine have some good articles further exploring these cruise lines if you’re looking for the nitty gritty about what makes them green.
How to be a Green Cruise Passenger
If you’ve got your cruise booked and are ready to go here are some tips for being a greener passenger
Tour the Kitchen
Many cruise ships offer a “kitchen tour” as part of the onboard activities. Take the tour and check out how much food goes to waste while your down there.
Take only What You can Eat
If you take a kitchen tour you’ll be amazed at how much food goes to waste on cruises. To help lessen the amount of food that’s wasted, don’t pile your plate too high when going through the buffet line.
ground food waste on our Holland America cruise
Take the Stairs
Cruise ships are tall. Frequently 8-14 flights of stairs that the passengers can take. Instead of wasting electricity on the elevator, opt for the stairs. It will help burn off all the buffet line food you ate too.
Conserve Water
It’s estimated that in one year, the average cruise ship generates 1 million gallons of grey water. That’s a lot of water for just one ship. Do your part and take shorter showers and turn off the water when brushing your teeth.
Recycle
Most cruise ships have recycling. Take your recyclables to the proper recycling bin.
Watch an Environmental Presentation
Some cruise ships offer an onboard presentation about the ship’s efforts to be more eco-friendly. If your ship offers one, watch it. The one we went to was fascinating.
Recommended Reading:
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There’s a lot involved in planning a cruise. Between booking flights, finding the right accommodations
for everyone in the family, and staying within your budget, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But you don’t have to do it all on your own. That’s where cruise travel agents come in.
Hi Elizabeth,
I love your article. Nowadays, it’s really important to do our own little part in helping preserve our environment. Your tips are really going to help a lot of cruise passengers to be more eco-friendly. I’ll be sure to pass your article to a friend. Thanks for the tips.
Hi Elizabeth,
I m taking a class where we need to create a fake cruise and we have 18 projects we complete throught the year i have read your cruise tips but how do you be eco friendly if your the staff of the cruise please im desperate for help and need good tips now . I havent ben on a cruise but it seems like you have please leave a reply and comment at my blog website hannah emily green.com [pen to paper]
this project is due next tuesday . And havent even started thank so much ur number 1 fan
hannah
thanks so much your really useful when it comes to classes like this especially since the world is attempting to make a green change
Love to spend my holiday on a cruise ship. I’m saving my money for travelling with the Oasis of the Seas
I travel on a number of cruises every year and it does always concern me how much waste there is, particularly with the food. If we all cut down on consumption then it would make a big impact.
Thank you for this insightful information, great website! We all need to do our part even when on vacation.