AIDA Cruises

AIDA Cruises - Final Grade: "D-"

AIDA Cruises is a German cruise line founded in the early 1960s and is a subsidiary of Carnival Corp. which is incorporated in Panama and controls almost 50% of the worldwide cruise ship market. Based in Germany, AIDA Cruises caters primarily to the German-speaking market and has a fleet of 11 ships that all sail under the Italian flag.

All 11 of AIDA’s ships have installed advanced sewage treatment systems, resulting in a grade of C for the company’s 60% Sewage Treatment score.

All 11 of AIDA’s ships have plug-in capability and 10 of their ships dock at ports with shoreside power hookups giving AIDA a C for Air Pollution Reduction. However, two of AIDA’s ships burn liquified natural gas fuel which unfortunately emits significantly more life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions over the short-term than low sulfur fuel, lowering their overall Air Pollution Reduction grade from a C+ to a C.

Eight AIDA ships have exhaust gas scrubbers installed giving AIDA an F for Water Quality/Scrubber Use since scrubber use merely converts air pollution into toxic water pollution.

AIDA is one of the cruise lines that did not respond to our inquiries about its environmental practices with specifics, awarding them an F for Transparency.

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AIDA Cruises - Cruise Ship Fleet

Ship Name Cruise Line Total Persons on Board Destinations Sewage Treatment

Sewage Treatment

Has the cruise line installed the most advanced sewage and wastewater treatment systems available instead of dumping minimally treated sewage directly into the water? In determining a cruise line’s Sewage Treatment grade, we compared the number of cruise ships in the cruise line that have installed advanced sewage treatment systems against the total number of ships in the cruise line. Ships with AWTS were downgraded in 2020 since no companies publicly report on the performance of those advanced systems.

 Air Pollution Reduction

Air Pollution Reduction

Has the cruise line installed shorepower or adopted cleaner fuel worldwide? In determining the Air Pollution Reduction grade for each ship in a cruise line, ships that dock at a port and plug in to available shoreside power hookups were graded. In addition, ships were given credit if they utilize low sulfur fuels continuously worldwide at levels lower than required by international law. Use of scrubbers is not considered since the scrubbers in use by the cruise industry simply convert air pollution emissions into water pollution through their scrubber wastewater discharges.

 Water Quality Compliance

Water Quality Compliance

To what degree did cruise ships violate water pollution standards designed to better protect the Alaskan coast? In determining the Water Quality Compliance grade for cruise ships, we used notices of violation issued for individual cruise ships to each cruise line by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation from 2010 to 2019. In addition, we downgraded ships for their use of scrubbers since scrubbers convert air pollution emissions into water pollution.

 Final Ship Grade
Curved Grading Scale
A 100-85 Excellent
B 84-70 Satisfactory
C 69-50 Needs Work
D 49-25 Poor
F 24-0 Unacceptable
N/A Not Graded No Discharge in Alaskan Waters or Scrubber Use

**For the 2021 Cruise Ship Report Card, we graded 18 cruise lines and 202 cruise ships of those 18 lines operating around the world. All cruise ships from each cruise line were included in this report card. Friends of the Earth relied on data gathered from the internet, government sources, the cruise line industry, and other public sources in order to determine the grades assigned to the cruise lines. Friends of the Earth did not independently verify that the technology graded in the report card was installed on the individual cruise ships.
AIDAdiva AIDA Cruises 2696 Europe, Mediterranean 05 07 00 03
AIDAperla AIDA Cruises 5250 Caribbean, Europe, Mediterranean 05 07 00 03
AIDAstella AIDA Cruises 3320 Asia, Africa, Mediterranean, Middle East 05 07 06
AIDAsol AIDA Cruises 3135 Africa, Arctic, Caribbean, Europe 05 07 00 03
AIDAnova AIDA Cruises 8300 Europe, Mediterranean 05 02 03
AIDAmar AIDA Cruises 3306 Arctic, Caribbean, Europe 05 07 00 03
AIDAblu AIDA Cruises 2799 Africa, Mediterranean, Middle East 05 07 00 03
AIDAbella AIDA Cruises 3146 Caribbean, Europe, Mediterranean 05 07 00 03
AIDAcosma AIDA Cruises 8100 Europe, Mediterranean 05 01 03
AIDAluna AIDA Cruises 2707 Caribbean, Europe, Mediterranean 05 07 00 03
AIDAprima AIDA Cruises 4200 Africa, Europe, Mediterranean, Middle East 05 07 00 03

 

Grading Methodology For The 2024 Cruise Ship Report Card

Friends of the Earth’s Cruise Ship Report Card ranks 21 major cruise lines and 243 cruise ships — AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Hurtigruten, HX|Hurtigruten Expeditions, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Oceania Cruises, P&O Cruises, P&O Australia, Princess Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean Int’l, Seabourn Cruise Line, Silversea Cruises, Viking Cruises, and Virgin Voyages—according to four environmental criteria: Sewage Treatment, Air Pollution Reduction, Water Quality/Scrubber Use and Transparency.

Sewage Treatment
To determine a cruise line’s Sewage Treatment grade, we compared the number of cruise ships in the cruise line that have installed advanced sewage treatment systems (AWTS) against the total number of ships in the cruise line. Ships with AWTS have been downgraded from As to Cs since 2020 because no companies publicly report on the performance of those advanced systems.

Air Pollution Reduction
To determine the Air Pollution Reduction grade for each ship in a cruise line, ships that dock at a port and plug in to available shoreside power hookups were graded. In addition, ships were given credit if they utilize low sulfur fuels continuously worldwide at levels lower than required by international law. Ships were downgraded if they have adopted the use of liquified natural gas which emits significantly more life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions over the short-term than low sulfur fuel. Use of scrubbers is not considered since the significant majority of scrubbers in use by the cruise industry simply convert air pollution emissions into water pollution through their scrubber wastewater discharges.

Water Quality Compliance
To determine the Water Quality/Scrubber Use grade we only grade cruise ships in the cruise line that have installed exhaust gas scrubbers. Many cruise ships have installed exhaust gas scrubbers to reduce smoke-stack emissions and comply with cleaner fuel rules in the US and worldwide. However, while scrubbers reduce some air pollution, most discharge contaminated, toxic wastewater–trading one dirty pollution source for another. We fail ships for their use of scrubbers since scrubbers convert air pollution emissions into wastewater pollution.

Transparency
To determine the Transparency grade for each cruise line we graded each cruise line based on whether it responded to our 2024 requests for information regarding their environmental practices. Companies that responded with full specifics were given As, those that didn’t received failing grades.

The grades for each of the four criteria were averaged to calculate the Final Grade for each cruise line.

Grades In Comparison: Report Cards From Previous Years

2024 Cruise Ship Report Card
2022 Cruise Ship Report Card
2021 Cruise Ship Report Card
2020 Cruise Ship Report Card
2019 Cruise Ship Report Card
2016 Cruise Ship Report Card
2014 Cruise Ship Report Card
2013 Cruise Ship Report Card
2012 Cruise Ship Report Card
2010 Cruise Ship Report Card
2009 Cruise Ship Report Card

**For the 2024 Cruise Ship Report Card, we graded cruise lines and 243 cruise ships of those 21 lines operating around the world. All cruise ships from each cruise line were included in this report card. Friends of the Earth relied on data gathered from the internet, government sources, the cruise line industry, and other public sources in order to determine the grades assigned to the cruise lines. Friends of the Earth did not independently verify that the technology graded in the report card was installed on the individual cruise ships. The grades are based on information understood to be accurate as of September 18, 2024. It is possible that changes in practices by a company since that date would warrant a different grade.