I attended ICRT-Belize this week and found a number of people who believed Royal Caribbean (RCCL) was an industry leader as regards responsible practices. I thought folks might be interested in accurate information.

Regarding environmental practices, In 2007, RCCL accounted for 100% of the air emission violations (20% air opacity) in Alaska (2 ships with one violation each). In 2008, RCCL accounted for 50% of 10 air opacity violations in Alaska (2 RCI ships had one violation each -- one of the ships was also cited in 2007; 2 Celebrity ships had violations: one had one and the other had two) -- see http://www.cruisejunkie.com/envirofines.html. Each violation is subject to a fine of $27,500 -- 7 X $27,500 = $192,500.

In addition, in 2008 Rhapsody of the Seas, Royal Caribbean International, "mistakenly broke state law in discharging about 20,000 gallons of wastewater into Chatham Strait in Southeast Alaska. Crew members mistakenly discharged gray water, wastewater from cabin showers and sinks, on June 10. The error was not discovered until a week later. The ship's captain and environmental officer were apparently suspended while a full investigation is conducted." This was the only violation of its type in Alaska waters in 2008. Violations in 2009 have not yet been made public.

While there were other 2008 violations in Alaska by other companies for violation of Alaska Water Quality Standards (end-of-pipe testing), RCCL had none. However, one of its two ships did not discharge in Alaska state waters because, as the company said publicly, they could not be sure it could meet Alaska Water Quality Standards.

There are also issues other than environmental concerns. Consider the following:

July 2009: The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/cruise-passenger-told-to-leave-in-art-auction-row-1765688.html) reports an American school teacher cruising with his family was ejected from the ship. His compulsory expulsion came after he produced and distributed a one-page flier to fellow passengers at one of the champagne-fuelled art auctions after he did an internet search of allegations made against Park West Galleries, which is facing a number of lawsuits accusing it of selling over-priced or fake prints on cruise ships for more than a decade. As a result, the passenger was told that he had broken RCCL’s guest conduct policy and would be ejected when it docked in Oslo July 26th. The dispute, which the passenger insists amounts to a breach of his right to freedom of expression, left him with a £450 ($750) bill for a hotel and air tickets back to London, where he was reunited with his wife and two children and his elderly parents, who had stayed on board to avoid the cost of extra flights. ."

March 2009: Disclosed that RCCL paid more than 50 people to infiltrate cruise discussion boards in order to disseminate positive comments about the cruise line (see: http://consumerist.com/5166291/royal-caribbean-caught-infiltrating-review-sites-with-viral-marketing-team)

May 2008: Expert Cruiser dot Com (http://www.expertcruiser.com/advice/royal-caribbean-says-get-out-of-here-to-couple/?loc=interstitialskip) reports on a couple that has been banned from RCCL's ships forever. The headline says they complained too much, but the details say they were banned after refusing to retract a negative on-line review at Cruise Critic. RCI had provided $500 in compensation for the difficulties experienced. The passenger "...had posted a negative review and had shared the compensation information on Cruise Critic’s boards. RCI asked Brenda to take down her review “at once.” She refused and cited her right to free speech. The following day the passenger received another phone call from RCI stating the couple was banned forever from the cruise line. They were stunned. They didn’t believe it was true until an official letter was delivered citing the ban. It also contained a $500 check — their additional promised cruise credit."

RCCL is not the industry's worst, but they are not an industry leader when it comes to responsible tourism among cruise lines.

Ross (Cruise Junkie dot Com)