Did you see this: 2016 Cruise Ship Report Card

[Tonka's Skipper]

But if that's true (and I believe you) this shows the industry is already improving their standards and they continue to improve, as they should. Change takes time and money and is best accomplished through innovation and not burdensome regulation. Forcing change too quickly or making it too costly could obliterate the industry and put millions of people out of work. It also demonstrates the advantage DCL has since their entire fleet is less than 20 years old so they've been able to take advantage of newer technology. If you look at ratings ship by ship, the ones that are failing are the older ones. I also question the effectiveness of many of this organizations recommendations and also the sanitary/safety impact of others, like allowing solid and sewage waste to pile up on board until they get to an approved port for offloading. Should cruise lines continue to work towards improvement? Absolutely! Are this organizations recommendations the best way to make those improvements? Doubtful, especially since the latest consensus is that most ocean pollution originates on land. With that being said, pressure to improve is still a good thing and my comments on the matter are more in defense of the cruise lines who didn't answer than a diminishment of DCLs efforts to continually improve their practices. It's only fair to elaborate so the findings of this report card and the grades can be taken in context and with some disclosure.

Speaking of fairness, since this organization gave the cruise lines who didn't answer their questions an F, it's also fair to point out that this $7,000,000+/year non-profit organization failed to answer 3 of the 5 questions regarding board practices on their 990s, including one related to ethics and transparency. Perhaps they should give themselves an F as well. Why not answer the questions if they have nothing to hide, right?

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Works for ME!

But the bottom line is still, why not give them or any other groups the infomation???.. With it information out there, if they feel miss judged, they can say so. It still smells of hiding things.

FYI.Some ships have the most advanced system to handle sewage........to avoid putting it into the ocean, they dry it , bag it and when they arrive at a previously arranged port( they don't just wait until they find a port to handle.), it goes ashore and it used in compost. Cunard and I believe Disney does this as well, I do not know about the others.

As to changing things, as this is not a government agency, they cannot force anything, other then public opinion. Public opinion does work well sometimes and if the old Vessels need improvement or replacement (which seems the way things are going).so be it. As most pollution does come from ashore, it does not mean we should just let a industry go ahead ad continue to pollute because its inconvenient or will raise fares some.

Just for FYI........commercial cargo ships , especially Tankers, are under very strict rules and regulations. Tankers cannot even dump food scraps over the side, for no other reason then they are tankers.

I also agree with you on more details on the whole list would be good.


AKK