Royal Caribbean Int'l

Royal Caribbean Int’l - Final Grade: "D-"

Royal Caribbean International (Royal Caribbean) was founded in 1997. A Norwegian/American company with headquarters in Florida, Royal Caribbean is a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group (RCG) which is incorporated in Liberia. Royal Caribbean’s fleet totals 28 cruise ships, including the largest cruise ship ever built—the Icon of the Seas. Icon joins the Wonder of the Seas, Harmony of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, and Symphony of the Seas as the largest cruise ships on the planet – all accommodate more than 8,800 passengers and crew and Icon of the Seas can accommodate 9,950 passengers and crew. Over half of Royal Caribbean’s cruise ships were built in the last 2 decades, and 18 ships have carrying capacities of more than 5,000 passengers and crew.

All 28 of Royal Caribbean’s cruise ships have installed advanced sewage treatment systems, resulting in a grade of C for the company’s 60% Sewage Treatment score.

Only 8 of Royal Caribbean’s 28 ships are plug-in capable, but only 4 dock at ports with shorepower hookups. Four of Royal’s Radiance class cruise ships (Brillance of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas, Radiance of the Seas, and Serenade of the Seas) burn fuel with a 0.1% sulfur content worldwide which is lower than what is required internationally. Royal received a D- in the Air Pollution Reduction category for its shorepower installation and cleaner fuel use. However, 2 of Royal’s ships (Icon of the Seas and Utopia of the Seas) burn liquified natural gas fuel which unfortunately emits significantly more life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions over the short-term than low sulfur fuel. Their use of LNG on its two newest ships lowered their overall Air Pollution Reduction grade but it remains a D-.

Twenty-three of Royal’s 28 ships have exhaust gas scrubbers installed giving Royal an F for Water Quality/Scrubber Use since scrubber use merely converts air pollution into toxic water pollution.

Royal was one of the cruise lines that responded to our inquiries about its environmental practices with specifics, but it didn’t fully respond despite multiple inquires. We awarded them a D for Transparency.

« Back to the cruise report card

Royal Caribbean Int’l - 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.
Brilliance of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 3,391 Alaska, Arctic, Canada, Caribbean, Europe, Mediterranean, Mexico, U.S. East Coast, U.S. West Coast, Florida, Belize, Transatlantic 05 09 00 00
Grandeur of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 3,206 Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, Florida 05 00 00 00
Adventure of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 4,992 Caribbean, Florida 05 00 00 00
Vision of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 3,279 Canada, Caribbean, New England, U.S. East Coast, Florida 05 00 01
Utopia of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 7,958 Caribbean, Florida 05 01 03
Icon of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 9,950 Caribbean, Florida, Miami 05 02 03
Allure of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 8,980 Caribbean, Europe, Mediterranean, Florida 05 00 00 00
Odyssey of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 7,122 Caribbean, Europe, Mediterranean, U.S. East Coast, Florida, Transatlantic 05 04 00 02
Serenade of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 3,381 Alaska, Canada, Caribbean, Central America, Europe, Mexico, U.S. East Coast, U.S. West Coast, Florida 05 09 00 00
Voyager of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 5,200 Australia, Caribbean, Europe, Mediterranean, Mexico, Middle East, North Africa, South Pacific, Southeast Asia, Florida 05 04 04
Enchantment of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 3,582 Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, Florida 05 00 00 00
Mariner of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 5,437 Caribbean, Texas 05 04 00 02
Quantum of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 6,405 Alaska, Australia, East Asia, Hawaii, Mexico, South Pacific, Southeast Asia, U.S. West Coast 05 07 00 03
Spectrum of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 6,255 East Asia, Southeast Asia 05 00 00 00
Independence of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 4,946 Caribbean, Europe, Florida, Transatlantic, Miami 05 00 00 00
Symphony of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 8,880 Caribbean, U.S. East Coast, Florida, Miami 05 00 00 00
Wonder of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 9,453 Caribbean, Florida 05 07 00 03
Explorer of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 5,475 Caribbean, Central America, Europe, Mediterranean, Mexico, Florida, Transatlantic, Miami 05 00 00 00
Oasis of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 8,952 Caribbean, Europe, Florida 05 00 00 00
Navigator of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 5,232 Mexico, U.S. West Coast 05 00 00 00
Radiance of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 3,395 Alaska, Canada, Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, U.S. West Coast, Florida 05 09 00 00
Ovation of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 6,405 Alaska, Australia, Hawaii, New Zealand, South Pacific, U.S. West Coast 05 00 00 00
Liberty of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 6,320 Canada, Caribbean, U.S. East Coast, Florida 05 00 00 00
Anthem of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 6,405 Alaska, Australia, East Asia, Europe, Hawaii, India, Middle East, South Pacific, Southeast Asia, U.S. West Coast 05 00 00 00
Jewel of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 3,554 Canada, Caribbean, Europe, Mexico, U.S. East Coast, Florida, Texas 05 09 00 00
Harmony of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 9,080 Caribbean, Central America, Europe, Mexico, Texas 05 00 00 00
Freedom of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 6,000 Caribbean, Florida 05 07 00 03
Rhapsody of the Seas Royal Caribbean Int'l 3,181 Caribbean, Florida 05 00 01

 

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.