Conservation initiatives

Royal Caribbean for example has set up an Ocean Fund aimed at supporting and encouraging research, education and other projects devoted to protecting the oceans. Holland American Line is one of the few companies that invested in a restoration project, following accidental damage to a reef by a cruise ship in 1996. The project included salvaging of coral fragments, removal of rubble and subsequent transplantation of coral fragments, and the monitoring of their health (25-30% survival).

Recognising the enormous environmental impact of cruise liners on coastal and marine habitats, the International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL), a trade association consisting of 17 passenger cruise lines and more than 60 cruise industry suppliers, adopted a new set of waste management practices in 2001. They include the introduction of more sustainable products on board, improving efforts at recycling packaging, glass and plastics, controlling the disposal of toxic wastes and processing organic waste.
Along the same lines, the P&O group produced a report setting a number of environmental targets to be achieved. Examples of such targets are the minimisation of fuel, reduction of 10% per capita in water consumption and the reduction of on shore disposal of oily-sludge by 10%.

Hapag Lloyd, which offers luxury cruises to such places as the Arctic, Antarctic and other pristine areas, has developed a "handbook to polar travellers". This handbook provides tourists with background and historical information about the Antarctic, and guidelines on how to behave in the new environment. The main aim of this handbook is to raise awareness amongst passengers of the fragility of the Antarctic environment. The handbook is handed to each passenger prior to departure and its content is reinforced and underlined through presentation given on board by ecologists, biologists, historians and others.