December is cougar season on San Diego cruise

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Women of a certain age and vigor will leave San Diego in December on the first “cougar cruise” to hit the high seas. Singles Travel Company and singles group The Society of Single Professionals are collaborating on this three-night experience … and they’ll be packing the ship with younger men for the cougars on board to hunt. For a change, man becomes prey and cougar the prowler.

In case you’re unaware, a cougar is an older women who happens to enjoy the … ummmm … “company” of younger men.

The appropriately named Carnival Elation leaves the harbor on December 4, 2009 – unlike the action on board – it will actually make a stop (in Ensenada, Mexico). For $125, not including government and port fees, guests will enjoy three nights of cougar coupling. For young men eying the ultimate trophy, Miss Cougar America 2009, Gloria Navarro, will be on board. But, if you think you call the shots with her young man, you’re out of your mind.

Overcrowded Venice may ban day-trippers

by Katie Hammel on

There’s no question that Venice is a city overrun with tourists. 20 million people visit the sinking city each year, yet only 60,000 Italians call Venice home. It’s no wonder then that the city starts to feel more like an open-air museum, a well-preserved relic of the past, rather than a living, and lived-in, city.

The residents of Venice put up with a lot (though or course, many of them profit greatly from the massive tourism industry too), and many are fed up with the overwhelming crush of tourists that descend on the town each year. And they aren’t above fighting back. Last year, the city created a (short-lived) locals-only vaporetto line from the Grand Canal to Piazza San Marco. Technically, anyone with a 3-year Carta Venezia pass could ride, but at 40 Euros each, most visitors wouldn’t buy one.

The latest tactic in the battle of locals vs. tourists is to ban day-trippers. Only about 30% of Venice’s annual visitors stay there overnight. The rest stay outside the city, stop by on their way to or from other destinations, or come for the day by cruise ship. The proposal would limit visitors to the city to those people who have a pre-booked hotel reservation.

Enrico Mingardi, the head of public transportation in Venice, is the mastermind of the proposal. He says that Venetians can “no longer tolerate the discomforts” caused by the influx of thousands of tourists each day. He didn’t say exactly how the system would work, what rules would apply to cruise ship visitors, and if those without proof of hotel reservations would be locked out of the city.

Proposals that would limit the number of Venice’s tourists have been brought up before, but always defeated. If the policy does take effect, I have a feeling Venice will feel even more like a historical theme park. What’s next – turnstiles and a ticket window?

Why even the environment hates cruises

by Aaron Hotfelder on

As if the cramped cabins, lame entertainment, and superficial shore excursions aren’t enough for you to hate cruises, here’s another reason: they’re pretty bad for the environment too.

A new article on Slate, “A Supposedly Green Thing I Might Do Again,” (get it?) details the disturbing amount of damage that cruise ships do to our air and water. From the smokestacks spewing pollutants on top, to the noxious bilge water that is released (usually treated, but not always) below, cruise ships are some of the modern world’s biggest floating polluters.

And don’t forget about the sewage. According to a report from the non-profit advocacy group Oceana, “the average cruise ship with 3,000 passengers and crew generates about 30,000 gallons of human waste and 255,000 gallons of non-sewage gray water every day.” Yet United States law allows cruise ship operators to dump as much raw sewage as they want into the ocean as long as it’s not done within three miles of the U.S coast.

In addition, Oceana reports that cruise operators are permitted to dump ground-up garbage into the ocean as long as they are three miles from shore. Once they’re 11 miles from shore, the cruise ships may even dump garbage that hasn’t been ground up.

Check out more from Oceana on cruise ship pollution here. Nina Shen Rastogi’s full article on Slate is here.

On a more positive note, several months ago Treehugger wrote about 7 Ocean-Friendly Eco Cruises Hitting the High Seas.

Cruise ship arrives in port with dead whale on its bow

by Katie Hammel on

On Sunday, the Vancouver Sun reported that the Princess Cruises ship that arrived in port the day before brought with it something unexpected, and a little disturbing. Stuck to the bow of the boat was a 21 meter (about 69 feet) long dead fin whale.

The Sapphire Princess was returning from Alaska and most likely picked up the whale north of Vancouver Island, as fin whales, which have been designated as an at-risk species, don’t often inhabit the waters off Vancouver.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans plans to do a necropsy to determine if the whale was alive when it was struck by the boat or if it had been floating dead on the water. Whales are generally too small to show up on a ship’s radar, so captains rely on sightings and information from other boats in the area to help avoid them. While ship collisions with whales aren’t common, this isn’t the first time a ship has arrived in Vancouver with a fin whale stuck to the bow. In 1999, a Celebrity Cruise ship had a similar incident.

The whale was removed from the ship’s bow with the aid of two tugboats. After it is examined, it will be dropped back into the ocean where it will become an important part of the underwater ecosystem, providing food for fish and other sea creatures.

Antarctic tourism to get safer, more environmentally friendly

by Kraig Becker on

The 20th Annual Meeting of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) was held last month, with marine safety and the impact of travel on the Antarctic environment being the main topics of discussion. Attending members adopted measures that will hopefully ensure that travel to the region becomes safer, while also forming a working group to study ways to reduce the carbon footprint of tourism on the fragile ecosystem there.

Over the past couple of years there have been several high profile incidences involving Antarctic cruise ships, including the sinking of the MS Explorer back in 2007, and two ships running aground in December 2008 and again in February of this year. In response to these accidents, the IAATO passed a series of actions to enhance marine safety. The changes include mandatory participation in a satellite tracking program for all IAATO members, the conversion of all open lifeboats to partially or fully closed boats, and a new rule that stipulates that all ships sailing below 60º South have “a captain or appointed ice pilot with Antarctic experience.” The final new rule is in direct response to an investigation earlier this year that found that the inexperience of the captain directly played a role in the sinking of the Explorer. In the report that the IAATO released on the conference they indicated that G.A.P. Adventures, the company that held the charter for the Explorer, acknowedged the negative impact that the sinking of the ship had on the entire Antarctic tourism industry, and they encouraged the changes to restore confidence with travelers.The more than 100 IAATO members, from 14 countries, that attending the meeting also acknolwedged that global climate change was the greatest threat to the Antarctic continent, which led to the forming of the working group to explore more options for sustainable travel to the region. The new group intends to find ways to raise awareness of the threats to the frozen continent, as well as explore options for reducing the carbon footprint of travel to the area.

Personally, I think that the measures adopted are good steps for the Antarctic tourism industry. Clearly there are safety concerns, and it seems that operators have been playing with fire, especially since no one has been seriously hurt or died from the accidents that have occured there in the past few years. The changes are not likely to prevent further incidences however, but they may help to ensure that passengers continue to be safe and that they can be located more quickly by rescue crews, should the need arise.

The fact that that the IAATO is thinking about sustainable travel to Antarctica is encouraging as well, as it shows that they are moving towards becoming better stewards of the environment and ensuring that the continent remains in pristine condition for future adventure travelers to enjoy as well. It remains to be seen what kind of plans they put in place in this area however and how it’ll impact the industry as a whole.