World Oceans Day: Good News and Food for Thought for Cruise Lovers

On World Oceans Day, I’m taking a moment to bask in awe, and reflect on the vast, majestic, inspiring and mesmerizing seas that have inspired generations of our ancestors around the world to take to the water and seek new horizons.

And reflect on our responsibility to our “Blue Planet.”

Nearly three-quarters of our Earth is covered in oceans, and whether you live on one of the world’s coastlines, or cruise, the oceans affect us all.

Covering over 70% of the surface of the planet, oceans help regulate the entire world’s climate and weather by absorbing heat and storing carbon dioxide.

Did you know oceans produce half of the oxygen we breathe, through microscopic marine plants - phytoplankton? The heat and movement of oceans also affect weather patterns, rainfall, and temperatures that affect farming and freshwater supplies far beyond coastal regions.

Protecting the ocean is not just an environmental issue; it is essential for human health, food security (land agriculture as well as seafood), economic stability (including shipping, which delivers most of the goods and fuel that sustain our daily lives), and the future resilience of our planet.

As a cruise lover, I’m proud that cruising stands up for oceans and our Blue Planet.

The cruise industry has a collective goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. According to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), every new generation of cruise ship is 20% more energy-efficient than the previous class of ships. So new cruise ships are about more than new design, dining, and entertainment experiences!

Every advance makes a difference: more sustainable materials, fuels, fewer emissions, energy saving technologies, repurposing waste heat from machinery to warm water for showers and pools, innovations in recycling and repurposing waste water and materials, protecting marine life, and using clean, onshore power to virtually eliminate fuel use in ports.

(Did you see our behind the scenes video of shore power? Click here to watch us dockside as MSC World America is plugged into shore power in Port Miami.

If, like me, the more you cruise, the more you fall in love with, and want to protect the oceans.

On World Oceans Day, we can learn more about how cruise lines are being part of the solution, and what we as individuals can do to make a difference.

Wishing you fair winds and following seas - on World Oceans Day and always,