Environmental Group Hammers Cruise Lines, Industry Hammers Back

The Friends of the Earth (FOE) environmental advocacy group has released a report card of the 16 top cruise lines, hammering the industry with poor grades.

And the industry is hammering back.

Taking a cruise can be more harmful to the environment and human health than other forms of travel, according to USA Today.

The group delivered the following grades in a scathing report:

– Disney Cruise Line: A-
– Norwegian Cruise Line: C-
– Celebrity Cruises: D+
– Silversea Cruises: D
– Royal Caribbean International: D
– Regent Seven Seas Cruises: D
– Oceania Cruises: D-
– MSC Cruises: F
– Seabourn Cruise Line: F
– P&O Cruises: F
– Costa Cruises: F
– Princess Cruises: F
– Holland America Line: F
– Cunard Line: F
– Crystal Cruises: F
– Carnival Cruise Lines: F

Friends of the Earth evaluated 16 major cruise lines and 185 cruise ships on four environmental criteria – sewage treatment, air pollution reduction, water quality compliance and transparency and flunked more than half the lines.

“It is regrettable that Friends of the Earth and other groups continue to issue misleading and inaccurate information about the cruise industry,” Megan King, spokeswoman for Cruise Lines International Association, a cruise industry trade association, told USA TODAY in an email. “The measures used by the FOE are very narrow and do not tell the true story of the leadership position that the industry has taken in these areas.”

“This is simply a fundraising tool, not a valid research study, since the report card lacks the appropriate level of research or scientific rigor and the categories are completely random on purpose to skew the results negatively,” Roger Frizzell, senior vice president & chief communications officer for Carnival Corporation, told USA TODAY in an email. “Our fleet includes advanced air quality systems on more than 70 more of our ships, and we have shore power capability on just under 50% of our fleet.”

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