Passengers who booked trips have been told refunds will be issued in monthly installments
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Life at Sea Cruises’ first three-year sailing was announced in March and promised passengers willing to fork out at least $29,999 per year
Cruise ships really need to disappear if we are gonna keep this planet somewhat livable. Mega polluters.
The problem isn’t the ships it’s the insane amount of diesel they suck down. We already run giant ships powered by nuclear reactors.
Honest question: do the use diesel? A lot of big ships when they are not in a nation’s waters burn bunker oil which is significantly worse.
While googling this, it seems like there is an international cap on marine fuels for 0.5% sulphur.
https://www.cruisemapper.com/wiki/752-cruise-ship-engine-propulsion-fuel
A lot of ports and shipping areas require 0.1% sulphur content.
A lot of places I’ve read say things along the lines of “cruise ships run on diesel, specifically MDO or MGO”.
E.g.
https://luxurytraveldiva.com/what-does-a-cruise-ship-use-for-fuel/
Here’s a thing about MDO and MGO.
https://maritimepage.com/what-are-mgo-and-mdo-fuels-marine-fuels-explained/
MGO is 0.1% sulphur content.
MDO is 2% sulphur content.
For comparison, car diesel sulphur content is like 0.001%.
Best source I can find for bunker fuel is 3.5%.
So, MDO/MGO are better than bunker fuel, I guess. Feels like a rebrand with minor improvements, so everyone can say “yeh, it’s just diesel. Not bunker fuel”.
But 2% MDO is still a 40% improvement over 3.5% bunker fuel.
Seems like there is a lot of changing and outdated information on this.
And it being related to international trading, laws and standards… There doesn’t seem to be a reliable definitive source on it.
My takeaway is “yeh, it’s not bunker fuel. It’s diesel. But it’s not diesel as we know it from driving cars, trucks, tractors and other plant”
I was surprised to learn that many cruise ships burn diesel rather than bunker oil.
Cruise ships are pretty big polluters, yes. Cruise passengers have about 8x the emissions that they’d have from a comparable land-based vacation.
But when people talk about ship pollution, they’re usually talking about non-carbon pollution.
For example, ships often burn heavy fuel oil, which produces tons of sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain, and NOX, which depletes the ozone and causes smog and asthma.
Cruise ships are bad for the environment, but there’s honestly bigger fish to fry. Gas power plants are way, way worse for the planet.
From the comparisons I’ve made in the past, they’re also relatively cheap compared to land based vacations. For some reason, it’s cheaper to make your hotel float.
Then there’s places where ships are more inherent to the experience, like transiting the Panama canal, or coastal regions of Alaska or Norway. Places that are too remote to get to by most other means.
But fuck Caribbean cruises. That’s a boat taking you from one tourist outdoor shopping mall to another.
We’re already forced to burn oil to power air conditioners so our elders don’t die in heatwave. Just imagine the inside of a giant Vegas casino without electricity.
Cruises oughta be banned for how polluting they are. Rich folks can have em back when theyve cleaned up their climate mess.
No they may not. We acknowledge they’re filthy, rife with noro and other viruses, and aside from other pollution, dump raw sewage into open water.
Acquaintance went on a cruise. I made “covid cruise” jokes before he left. Well he came back and guess what.
I went on a cruise before COVID. The cruise line stressed washing hands to the point that it became annoying. (They have a “washy washy happy happy” song that they sing.) They had good reason to even before COVID as norovirus spreads like wildfire on cruise ships.
Overall, my cruise was a fun experience, but I don’t think I’d do it again - even setting COVID concerns aside. I’d rather go to some destination and walk around seeing the sights than be trapped on a giant boat with all those people.
when theyve cleaned up their climate mess.
Ah, a doe eyed optimist, I see.
This oligarch party ain’t stopping until everything that can burn does. At this point hope is irrational, a side effect of rational despair.
No one tells the wealth class anything. They tell us, and we obey like good lil capital generating livestock.
Nations won’t stop using oil as long as it is economically viable.
Banning cruise ships doesn’t matter if we still burn up the oil anyways.
You are correct. Not using oil in one place, will only make it MORE AFFORDABLE for China and other mega pollution providers.
Except 1) we sent our rubbish there and dumped it in the water, air and dirt, and it doesn’t stay put, 2) it doesn’t stay put, 3) we sent manufacturing there to avoid paying people minimum, let alone livable wage. How shallow thinking is amazes me.
Refund paid in monthly installments seems like a huge red flag too…yikes. Hopefully these passengers can come out of this mostly okay at least.
Was wondering if I floated a bad thousand dollar check if my restitution would be allowed in monthly installments.
(with a few extra steps) yes
Wage garnishment, repayment plans, etc. The difference is for you it typically requires litigation before you’re “allowed” to. Technically it’s probably the same for them if someone challenged it, but they have the benefit of litigation costing less than all the paid lump sums, where your proverbial thousand-dollar check would not.
So they sold tickets to a cruise… But they didn’t have the ship ready.
Mmmm. What fun. Stewing in a disease-ridden floating money-sponge for three years. Marvellous.
Idk man. You go hang out on a cruise for a bit you will find some old people who have made cruising their entire retirement plan. Basically just staying on boats going from port to port until they die.
Which actually doesn’t sound all too bad. I’d think it’d get old after the first few weeks (I never heard Cupid Shuffle so many damn times in one week), but hey, whatever floats your boat.
It’s cheaper than a lot of retirement homes in America. Cruises outside of Caribbean voyages in peak season are like 90% retirees. It’s a more viable option for a lot of people. If this 3yr cruise was a lot cheaper per day, it would make a lot of sense for them.
Plus if you tick that little box, you (your estate/ descendants) save on funeral fees with a ‘navy burial’ at sea. The cabin boy-things garb your corpse in whatever finest they discover in your wardrobe/suitcase and slip you off a Teflon-coated plank into the gentle deep and sharks.
Not my idea of a good time either but it was appealing to some people. Cruises are incredibly popular. I’d only go if it were free and I was unable to sell the ticket(s).
I don’t think I’d go if it were free. I have other things - productive things I could be doing.
But you’d still go? Like… if I bought you a ticket on a shitty cruise, you’d go just because you have to use up free things?
Who’s saying no to a free holiday? I went away this year for the first time in a decade and it was heavenly. I’d never chose to go on a cruise, but I’d jump at the chance for a new experience, some sun and relaxation - especially over winter when I having to chose between heating and eating ffs.
