Royal Caribbean Cruise Report

I just returned from a Royal Caribbean cruise yesterday and I figured that I would write a blog about my experience and how it related to my ever increasing environmentally conscious life. Before I go into more detail I just want to say that I won this trip by entering a contest. I didn't go out and plan specifically to go on a cruise. My dad has a saying: If it's free, it's for me.

Before I left I looked into carbon offsetting my trip. In Sleeping Naked is Green she talks about carbon offsetting her vacation because she was taking quite a few airplanes to different places. She also mentioned an article she came across on treehugger.com comparing the purchase of a carbon offset to the purchase of an indulgence from the Catholic church to get into heaven. You can read the full article here. The idea of carbon offsetting didn't fit my ideals. In my opinion, offsetting does nothing more than clear a guilty conscious. So I went on my vacation well aware that I was going to add to my carbon footprint without offsetting, but I took some steps to reduce it as much as I could. I owe a lot to Vanessa Farquharson for providing these tips in her book. I fully intend to write her and let her know how much her book meant to me. (I finished the book on the plane... a little sad that it ended!)


For starters, I'm not so great at packing light. I usually like to dress by mood so I like to have a couple different options per day of what to wear. I realize it sounds ridiculous, but I can't just go with one dress, one swimsuit, a couple shirts/shorts and one pair of shoes. I take multiples of each. HOWEVER, this time I started packing early so that while days went by I could think more and more about what I had packed and trim the fat. To my surprise I was able to stuff everything into my carry-on. Also, I saved money by not checking a bag! On the down side, because I wasn't checking a bag that meant I had to abide by the 3oz rule for liquids. I could only bring 3oz of each liquid (shampoo, conditioner, sunscreen, lotion, toothpaste etc) in my carry-on. That meant that I had to buy little tiny bottles of those things. The only two that I can refill are the shampoo and conditioner. So the next time I travel I will be refilling them with my own products. I also brought my own headphones on the plane. I had never thought about it before, but they  each come in their own packaging and once you use them they get thrown away.

When we arrived at the hotel in Cocoa Beach, Florida there were a couple of environmentally friendly products in the room. Such as the toilet paper and shampoo (see below).

Also, there was this sign hanging in the bathroom which seems to be pretty standard at hotels now. 

While every change is a good change it seems like there is still a lot more that the hotel industry can be doing to become more environmentally friendly, but it depends on us to be accepting of these changes. We ate dinner at a restaurant on the resort that we were staying at and we took our leftovers and heated them up the next morning for breakfast. Sounds gross having pasta for breakfast, but I couldn't just throw that food away. Being away from my composter put a little bit of a strain on me. I'm not used to throwing food away anymore. (I'll be writing an upcoming blog about my composter).

Boarding the cruise ship I was bombarded with disposable this and "one-time use" that and while I feel like I fully enjoyed my vacation and was able to relax, that little tiny voice inside my head was wondering what kind of environmental initiatives this cruise line was taking. While I was on the ship I noticed that there were recycling containers for paper, plastic and cans throughout the ship. I also spotted them behind the bar for the empty glass liquor bottles. Aside from that there were a couple of these signs throughout the ship:

I figured that before I wrote a scathing review about Royal Caribbean and their minimal efforts towards environmentalism, I should do a little research on their website to see what other initiatives are going on behind the scenes. They've switched to fluorescent lighting and high efficiency appliances (among other things). You can read a full list of their changes here. They are on the right path towards saving energy and reducing their impact on the environment. Still, the best way to do that would be to not go on a cruise! Although... I don't feel like anything can compare to this either... 

I'm learning to accept that I can't do everything and that it's near impossible to be 100% environmentally friendly. That doesn't make the steps that I am taking any less important. I have accepted that this with be a life long work in progress for me. Constantly growing, learning and changing. I wouldn't have it any other way. I love nature and all it has to offer. I love the clear blue waters of the tropics and I want to keep them that way. I feel it's more of a balancing act, taking the good with the bad, changing what you can and accepting what you cannot. With that being said... I'll leave you with my beautiful view of the ocean from the dock on a beach in Nassau, Bahamas.