Arnie Weissmann
At the Seatrade Cruise Global conference earlier this month, CLIA CEO Charles "Bud" Darr said in his opening remarks that, while "customers love us, not everyone loves us."
I know that to be true. Some people, when they learn what my job is and begin talking about travel, will say, almost with pride, "I would never take a cruise."
I sought out Darr later that day to ask him what he might recommend that a travel advisor say to someone who has a strong negative reaction to the idea of taking a cruise. I told him that resistance I've heard is related to perceptions that cruising contributes to overtourism, concerns around labor or tax-related issues or that there's a presumption that the carbon emissions profile of a cruise ship is high.
His response indicated that perhaps the strongest resistance to cruising may come from those focused on greenhouse gas emissions.
"My first response [to a client expressing reluctance to take a cruise] would be, you really want to give this a try before you come to that judgment, because this is a very responsible industry trying to do the right things," Darr said.
While I have received press releases from cruise lines highlighting initiatives that reduce emissions, Darr went further -- much further -- than previous messaging would suggest.
Like most industries, cruise companies tend not to be fans of governmental regulation, so I was surprised when he continued, saying, "When you look at the bigger picture, it's taken us a long time to drag the regulators to catch up" with the industry.
"It's an interesting place to be, as an advocate for an industry, to find yourself asking governments to come along," Darr said. "We're not asking our international regulatory body, the International Maritime Organization, to repeal what's there. We're asking it to strengthen what's there and help us meet [our targets]. Although there have been other times we have gone out and actively sought regulation, it's kind of rare. This is one case where we have asked for it. We needed to ask for it."
CLIA lines' target is net-zero emissions by 2050. Although IATA, which is to the airline industry what CLIA is to cruising, is hedging on its commitment to be net-zero by 2050, Darr said he was confident cruising could meet the goal.
"We are well on the way," he said. "And I would ask people looking at other vacation options, have they thought about the carbon footprint of those, and are any efforts truly being made [to reduce emissions] with regard to those other options? I'm very proud of where the maritime industry and the cruise industry are."
Darr said that, unlike other industries, the maritime community is willing to make investments to reduce emissions. "We are sending the demand signal to energy providers that these molecules will be put to good use.
"We're calling for research and development that we would fund ourselves, but we first need to get governments to agree to a regulatory framework. We want to turn the objectives that the industry is already aligned with into regulations that would apply uniformly across the industry. It is a very strange situation to be in as one of the most recognized voices for industry advocacy to be saying, 'We need you to regulate us.' It's proven to be much more difficult than I wish."
Why, I wondered, would the IMO, a U.N. agency, resist stronger environmental protections?
"It's driven more by political dynamics than technical dynamics," he replied. "Keep in mind, it's a diplomatic negotiation at any U.N. body. When governments are talking about things like equity between developing countries and developed countries, the industry needs to be respectful, step back and let them all be heard."
It boils down to less-developed countries resisting the drafting of a requirement that they build technologically advanced ships that they can't afford to build.
"At its bare bones level, you have some developing countries that are struggling to feed their populations versus a very mature, industrialized country," Darr said. "And you know, as somebody who simply wants a good solution to the problem, it would be insensitive for a person who lives in a country like ours and works in a wonderful industry like this to not actually see the legitimacy of people who are just struggling to feed their families and saying, 'How about our turn?'"
In the end, Darr said he believes that there will be some sort of compensation, monetary or otherwise, to developing countries so that "whatever emerges is a balanced picture that treats everyone fairly."
Bringing the conversation back to its starting point -- consumers reluctant to cruise -- Darr concluded, "It's not helpful to hide the truth. There are a number of people in the policy space as well as our potential market that we need to reach. We need to educate them and show them what we're really doing."