While it may seem a little like something Captain Obvious would say, travel (truly does) love the ocean.
As travel has expanded and our world has gotten smaller, becoming responsible for the world we travel in and the “footprint” we leave, has never been more important.
June is National Ocean Awareness month and Magical Memory Planners decided to do a “deep dive” (see what I did there) on what travel is doing to ensure the ocean is as beautiful a destination in the future, as it is now, for us.
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines
With an estimated 31.5 million people cruising in 2023, a lot of pressure is on the cruise industry to conserve, reuse and recycle. Here are a few of the things Royal Caribbean Cruise Line is doing.
Repurposing Water
While it’s keeping you cool, the condensation from the air conditioner is treated and repurposed to clean laundry. And Perfect Day at CocoCay has a water specialist that uses treated water from Thrill Waterpark for the private island’s landscaping.
Waste
Royal Caribbean has reduced single-use plastics, like straws, plastic bags, water bottles, stirrers and picks, by 60%. Food waste has been reduced by 24% through the Win on Waste project, which helps ships calculate exactly how much food they’ll need through the use of both technology and a Food Operations Excellence Controller on board.
Sustainable Sourcing
The goal is to source 90% of wild-caught seafood and 75% of farmed seafood from suppliers certified by the Marine Stewardship Council and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council—a first for the cruise industry. Sustainable sourcing gives time for certain species, like tuna and salmon, to regrow their population.
Karisma Resorts
Karisma Resorts has many sustainability efforts, but the one we LOVE the most is their efforts to protect the sea turtle. They have been given the distinction of “Hotel amigo de la Tortuga” (Turtle Friendly Hotel) by the Mexican government.
Here are a the policies they have enacted to ensure the safety of sea turtles:
- Protecting 4 specific species of sea turtles that inhabits Karisma beaches
- build registered turtle camps at El dorado Royale resort which has released 34K+ sea turtles hatchlings
- minimize straw use: only provide a straw when asked
Uniworld River Cruises
Uniworld is a boutique river cruise company originating from England. With 17 river cruise ships in 8 different nations, a small travel footprint is extremely important. Uniworld has developed a plan to help eliminate single use plastics from on board. One such way they are implementing this plan is by offering every guest a reusable water bottle.
Uniworld is also dedicated in reducing marine pollution and providing sustainably sourced fish on board.
Cabo Adventures
Cabo Adventures is an excursion company in Cabo, Mexico. As a member of the RABEN team, they have rescued 10+ whales from net entanglement.
Cabo Adventures is also a member of PROFEPA (Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente (PROFEPA) is a mexican administrative body related to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment ), and has aided in the rescue of 60+ mammal species that have been rescued, rehabilitated and re-released back into their ocean home.
AMA Waterways
AMA Waterways is a river cruise company that has made protecting the oceans and waterways a (serious) goal!
In early 2020, the AMA ship AmaKristina became the first river cruise ship in the industry to be honored with prestigious Green Award* certification for industry-leading safety, quality and environmental performance. Soon after, 19 additional ships in their European fleet were also recognized with Green Award certification.
To earn this award, AMA Waterways river cruise ships were evaluated on the environmental impact of their engines, fuel consumption, waste and maintenance, pollution prevention and more.
Many ports, such as the Port of Amsterdam, offer substantial benefits to certified ships to promote safer, cleaner inland navigation and to advocate for an integrated approach for European inland waterways.
The Zambezi Queen, one of AMA Waterways ships has taken this a step further than most in the industry with:
- A water jet propulsion system replaces the conventional propeller system, causing no damage to the riverbed.
- Only the latest fuel efficient and low emission generators are run during daylight hours, with the boat operating on battery power through the night.
- Hot water is provided by a solar heating system.
- Energy-saving lights throughout.
- Water-saving taps and showers.
- Onboard sewage processing plant.
- Cleaning detergents and soaps are biodegradable.
- Five-stage water purification plant, using river water in showers and tap.
Sea World
You may think Sea World is just a theme park with animals, simply put, an aquarium. But this isn’t true. Sea World has been one of the biggest proponents of protecting the oceans.
Sea World’s commitment to protecting/rebuilding corral reefs is substantial.
SeaWorld Orlando aquarists operate the Florida Coral Rescue Center (FCRC), a state-of-the-art facility caring for Florida corals rescued by wildlife authorities from diseased reefs. Home to 18 species and more than 700 individual corals, the FCRC provides a safe environment for coral colonies to receive world-class care and propagation from a team of experts as part of the future restoration of Florida’s Coral Reef.
Sea World & Ocearch have renewed their commitment to partner to share research on tagged animals to make that knowledge widely available and utilize this science to protect and preserve the ocean and marine animals. Ocearch has an app that allows you to follow and learn about tagged sharks/turtles. Download the Ocearch app! Learn more about Ocearch HERE
Real Solutions
We at Magical Memory Planners love the ocean. We also believe in real solutions and practical ways that we can help show that love.
Shopping
One way we can show love to the ocean is by shopping! Yes, you read that right. Doing something we all love to do. One of my favorite gift giving locations is 4Ocean. 4Ocean “is an ocean cleanup company dedicated to ending the ocean plastic crisis.” Check out their fun SHOP.
Travel Choices
Another way we can show the love to the ocean is by the choices we make in our travel. While this may not always be practical, when it is, we encourage travelers to travel through travel companies that do support keeping the ocean beautiful.
We are so thankful that travel loves the ocean and these companies have committed to keeping the oceans beautiful and because as Sarah Kay says:
“there’s nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it’s sent away.”
If you’d like to book your next “ocean” vacation, please reach out to your MMP agent.
