Eco Friendly Cruise Lines

It sounds like an oxymoron, right? Cruises in general are not at all eco friendly, but they are a lot of fun! Fortunately, in the past few years cruise lines have been doing their part to be friendlier to the oceans. If you are considering a cruise, I suggest you first educate yourself on some of the steps that vendors are taking to stay green; that way, on your next cruise you can be sure to support a company that shares your eco friendly attitude!

Here is some info on what various cruise lines are doing:

Celebrity Solstice: The Solstice is the first solar powered cruise ship! But aside from that, Celebrity has not done too much. All of their ships have environmental stewards on them to provide staff and guest education, and they also have advanced water purification systems so that they aren’t dumping so much grey and black water into the ocean.

Disney Cruise Line: Uses the water generated from the air conditioner to do laundry! They also mandate that their staff be educated on green practices.

Carnival: Aboard the fun ships waste is either recycled, incinerated, or off loaded for disposal on land.

Costa: This beautiful Italian cruise line has received the “Green Star” award for all 11 of the ships in their fleet! They meet all of the energy protection standards.

There is one cruise line though that goes above and beyond the industry standard and is truly an eco-friendly inspiration for all other cruise lines, and that is…

Holland America

They are by far the greenest of all cruise lines. They have gone above and beyond to be efficient and reduce waste.

· They have a black water treatment system, so they aren’t sending sewage directly into the ocean.

· They treat grey water as well before putting it into the ocean.

· They put NO waste overboard.

· They have environmental officers on each and every ship and the staff is eco educated.

· They have a towel reuse program so that they are not using water to wash 3,000+ towels per day.

· They have installed low flow toilets, shower heads and faucets.

· They use green, non-toxic cleaning supplies on all their ships, as well as natural detergents that are plant based.

· They create routes around tide schedules to maximize their fuel efficiency.

· They put their money where their mouth is by offering senior staff a monetary incentive to encourage fuel conservation!

For further information on this impressive cruise line, visit their website and check out their Sustainability Report! It is remarkable!!! Their work to be green as not gone unnoticed and they have won several awards including: Marine Environmental Business of the year 2010, Responsible Tourism Award, Gold Medal Best Eco Friendly “Green” Cruise Ship, ms Zuiderdam, Green Planet Award for outstanding environmental standards, and Best Eco Friendly Cruiseline from Porthole Magazine!

Our caps off to you Holland America, and I don’t know about you all, but I look forward to cruising with them real soon! They are currently offering 7 night Caribbean cruises starting at $549... Alaska cruises starting at $499...anddddd Pacific Coastal cruises starting from $249!

I hope you found this information useful and can use it when selecting your next cruise line!

Bon Voyage!

Tips to keep your travel green

1. Use your do not disturb sign!

Most of us do not change our towels and sheets daily at home, so why should we do that on vacation? If you don’t have a maid cleaning your room every day you will save the resources involved in cleaning the room, washing sheets and towels and vacuuming the floors. (The only excuse not to put the sign up is naturally on a cruise when they make you those cute little towel animals. ;-) )

2. Support vendors with a vision for the planet that is in alignment with yours! Do research; most cities have eco friendly hotels or hotels that are on the path to becoming eco friendly. Also, B&Bs are always an eco-friendly option and you have the perk of supporting a small, locally owned business.

3. Hike, bike and use public transit whenever possible while travelling. In most cities you can do walking tours. If you are physically able to do so, it a very healthy alternative to going on a tour bus or even using public transportation. Use public transit as opposed to renting a car. You can use the internet to figure out which form of public transportation would support you best.

4. Visit CarbonFund.org to learn ways to offset your carbon emissions.

5. Just because you are on vacation doesn’t mean your eco friendly practices should take a vacation too! It can be easy to take a 20 minute shower while you’re on vacation just because you have the time. Let us not forget that we are using the same resources; just because it is on someone else’s dime, environmentally it has the same impact as it would at home. The same goes for leaving lights on in your hotel room or cruise cabin when you leave for the day. If you wouldn’t do it at home, don’t do it on vacation!

For those of you that would like to start supporting green hotels, here are some good questions to ask to gage how much effort the property is taking to be green:

1. Is the hotel locally owned and operated?

2. Is it staffed by local employees?

3. What kinds of recycling programs does the hotel have?

4. Do guests have the option to reuse towels and sheets instead of having them changed?

5. What programs does the hotel have in place in order to reduce consumption?

6. Do they have low-flow toilets and showers?

7. How does the hotel contribute to its local community?

June Blog Series!

Keeping the planet beautiful for future generations is something I am very passionate about, but travel is the greatest love and joy in life. To me there is nothing more amazing than waking up in a strange city somewhere half way around the world….not understanding the language, the people or the culture. Everything is a mystery! I thrive on that excitement when every moment is an opportunity to learn. The problem is, in general travel is not the most environmentally friendly hobby. As matter of fact, cars, planes, cruises and huge hotels create some of the greatest pollutants on the planet. I am committed to caring for and protecting our planet, but not at the sake of my travels. For this reason, I have decided to do a blog series this month on how to make your travel greener! I will be featuring blog entries that will include tips on keeping your travel green, info on which vendors are taking green initiative, and many other helpful topics . My hope is that by the end of the month people will have a better understanding of what vendors are doing to go green and what travelers can do to help.

I hope you all enjoy this series and I look forward to sharing lots of great info with you!

11 Changes in 2011

2011 brought with it some significant changes for both the travel industry and Dana’s Global Travel. Here are the top 11 travel changes of 2011:

DGT NEWS:

1. Dana’s Global Travel Partners with Orbitz Worldwide! Following a partnership with Travelocity in 2010, you can now take advantage of an even greater variety of travel options and prices! Another perk that comes with the Orbitz partnership is personal customer profiles. Store your info for expedited bookings!

2. Expedia and Orbitz no longer feature American Airlines Flights. Unfortunately, this means that DGT will not feature these flights on the website either. However, this does not mean that I will exclude them from my searches for international flights and packages. For the best competitive prices, please contact me directly at danasglobaltravel@gmail.com.

DOMESTIC NEWS:

3. The required TSA pat down. All passengers flying through TSA protected airports must be patted down….if you’ve flown recently, you know what this is…you are essentially hand scanned by a TSA agent in blue gloves!

4. Airport body scanners reveal ALL! Airport large scanners produce stripped down photos of the passengers to assure they are not hiding any weapons. Passengers are chosen at random for both scans and pat downs. While you have the option to protest, it may prolong or prevent your travel plans.

5. San Francisco Airport (SFO) opens Eco-Friendly Terminal 2 in April 2011! It will be the first LEED Gold-registered airport in the USA!

6. Overbooked? Delta says “Name your price!” Instead of passengers bidding how much they will pay for a flight, passengers bid how much money they want for being bumped from a crowded plane. Find out more here: http://bit.ly/i5p0Qz

7. Smoking banned in rental cars. Avis, Dollar, Thrifty and Budget have already banned smoking. Don’t test it, companies charge fees of $250 or higher if you’re caught!

DISNEY NEWS:

8. Disney Cruise Lines introduces the newest ship in its fleet, Disney Dream. The Disney Dream will sail 3-, 4- and 5-night cruises to the Bahamas beginning with its maiden voyage on Jan. 26, 2011. All cruises will depart from Port Canaveral.

9. Walt Disney World commences the expansion of the Magic Kingdom! The expanded area called Fantasy land will nearly double the Kingdom’s size and offer 9 new rides, show, restaurants and other attractions! They will start opening in phases in 2012.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS:

10. Cuba travel restrictions lowered for students, religious and cultural groups only. American tourists are not yet able to visit.

11. Europe lodging and dining now more affordable. Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Greece are the best in 2011. Unfortunately, international flights are less competitive due to the steadily increasing costs of fuel.