As I write this, I acknowledge that I posses an inherent hypocrisy as a first-world citizen who chose to travel via cruise to the third world. Travelling to these globalized world corners is both escapist and yet sobering because I understand that the closed confines of these islands are an altered reality. When I disembarked on the manmade beaches of Haiti, or the Cayman Islands it was clear that mere steps from the cruise ports are poverty-stricken local realities. Still, I basked in the glory of exotic waters and the a week of peaceful abyss. Months after my trip, I find myself grappling with this contradiction, and feel compelled to share some of my experiences on cruise-ship tourism.
Cruise Tourism:
The cruise industry is headlining billions of dollars, and I can attest to its pricy experience. Going on a cruise allows you to visit various ports-of-call, while experiencing the comforts of cruise luxury. It’s a highly organized, streamlined and almost regime-like in its operations. While I was on board the Harmony of The Seas cruise ship, I spoke with my cabin steward, a Belizean 40-something who had crossed many oceans and ended up on this ship after decades on various cruise lines.
One night when the Atlantic Ocean was rough, she explained that our next port-of-call was an island leased by the Harmony of The Seas. She explained that cruise lines have to pay a lot of money when they dock off at islands that they don’t “own” because they pay a per-head fee. Naturally, many choose to lease out an island because they pay a one-time fee for the amount of time they lease the island.
But if a cruise doesn’t invest in land, they will invest in port terminals. This means that the people who work at those terminals are essentially working for them. This proves to be lucrative to them because it benefits their own economic interests. Cruises also take advantage of local economies by threatening to boycott destinations if they raise local prices for goods and services.
The Illusion of Experience:
New aged ships are essentially floating mega cities, filled with countless amenities and bottomless activities. Ships of this magnitude have trinkets of undiscovered areas and provide passengers the illusion of being on land – that is, until you step outside to enthralling oceanic views. While you think you might be getting the authentic experience when you dock off at your destination, it’s unlikely that you truly are.
Most islands are wired by fences to keep locals out, and the problems associated with the countries you are visiting. I remember overhearing a conversation about how some tourists saw locals with guns on the other side of the island as they zip lined across Labadee’s waters.
Carbon Footprints:
Each passenger’s carbon footprint is three times what it is on land. Ships use diesel engines and gas turbines, which are linked to pollution because it produces nitrogen oxide. The high amount of sulphur content that is released by the ships carbon emissions is the main comportment of acid rain. Acid rain is responsible for deforestation, corroding buildings as well as destroying aquatic species. It is safe to say that cruise ships are not exactly eco-friendly.
Fuel Emissions:
The International Maritime Organization recently announced that all vessels must switch to cleaner fuel by 2020. This requires them to use fuel with a sulpher content of 0.5 per cent compared to the 3.5 per cent currently used.
But thousands of ships are using “emissions cheat” systems called scrubbers that pump pollutants into the ocean, in efforts to cheat the systems.
A scrubber allows ships to wash cheap fuel into the ocean because the fuel is washed on-board in the open-loop scrubber. In this case, the waste water is released into the ocean.
How An Open-Loop Scrubber Works:
- Exhaust gas in sprayed with seawater to wash out sulpher oxide.
- Washed water is monitored and treated.
- The water is then released into the sea.
According to a recent report, 400,000 premature deaths a year are caused by the emissions from shipping fuel. This also causes 14 million childhood asthma cases a year.
Human Waste:
The Harmony of the Seas carries more than 6,500 passengers and 2,400 crew – more than the number of people living in the City of London. If you’re looking for confirmation, just stand in line for the ship’s elevator.
At one point during my voyage, I remember wondering about the amount of potential waste created and how it is discarded. A trip to the ship’s main dining room had me questioning what happened to the left-over, perishables that couldn’t be recycled into the next day’s cafeteria menus.
There is a ton of liquid to deal with each day. Despite aeration systems that are in place to reduce the amount of water coming from bathroom shower heads and taps, the average ship uses around 40-50 gallons of water per passenger per day. The water from laundries and bathrooms is mixed in measured proportions with the lavatory waste, before bio reactors are put to work.
The bio reactors filter out all of the impurities and are digested by bacteria. UV radiation rather than chemicals that would be harmful to marine life disinfects the remaining liquid. This water is then discharged into the sea. There are around three tons (out of the 1,200 tonnes of waste produced each day) of solid waste that is either burned or contained until it can be offloaded.
