Employees of two cruise brands based in the UK have cleared trash from 10 beaches around the globe since March 2024, as part of a program designed to improve local environments.
In October 2024, crew members from P&O Cruises’ Britannia and Cunard’s Queen Anne held two coastal clean-ups in Lisbon, Portugal, a destination that often appears on the lines’ itineraries.
Two areas of the beach in Algés, a city beach in Lisbon, were cleared of 42 kg (92 pounds) of trash. The Lisbon project was the brands’ first in partnership with Blue Flag, a beach clean-up program organized by the prestigious Foundation for Environmental Education, an educational and advocacy group based in Copenhagen.
Earlier in 2024, P&O Cruises and Cunard team members held clean-ups on beaches in St. Kitts, Norway, Malta, and along the UK coast. In all, the employees, which often included crew and shoreside staff, removed 190,500 meters (625,000 square feet) during 2024.
In the UK, several beaches close to the headquarters of the two brands, both owned by Carnival Corporation, received major clean-ups, including Calshot, Netley Abbey Beach, Goatee Beach, and Lee-on-Solent.
“We’ve taken great pride in orchestrating the beach cleans along our UK coastlines close to our Southampton home, with so many of our passionate colleagues contributing their time to this important cause,” said Paul Ludlow, president of Carnival UK and P&O Cruises.
“This initiative is a reflection of our commitment to more sustainable tourism and our responsibility to help protect and preserve our vital marine ecosystems for future generations,” Ludlow added.
The UK beachfronts were cleared of 170 kg (374 pounds) of debris, such as plastic items, clothing, traffic cones, and even a refrigerator. The beaches are situated around Southampton and offer views of cruise ships and other vessels entering and leaving the popular port.
The clean-up projects in destinations that are important to the cruise lines help to not only keep beaches clean for cruise guests and local people but also shore up the lines’ goals to achieve reputations as environmental stewards.
Clean-Ups Part of Broader Environmental Strategy
According to the Environmental Highlights section of Carnival Corporation’s 2023 Sustainability Report, the conglomerate’s fleet of ships across nine brands have participated in beach clean-ups in Australia, Costa Rica, Grand Turk, Italy, Norway, Spain, UK, US, Bahamas, Mexico, and Honduras.
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Other initiatives outlined in the report show the progress of the Carnival Corporation fleet’s environmental commitment. It has, for example, reduced absolute greenhouse gas emissions by more than 10% from the company’s 2011 peak despite a 30% increase in capacity.
The fleet across all brands also achieved its 2030 goal for shore power capability 7 years early, with 64% of the fleet now shore power capable. Brands now have more than twice as many ships able to plug in as there are ports able to provide shore power, the report points out.
P&O Cruises is a leader in this area: It currently has two ships powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) — Iona and Arvia. Both ships can accommodate 5,200 guests, and by using LNG, have cut greenhouse gas emissions by about one-quarter compared to using traditional marine fuels.
Iona entered service in 2020 and Arvia in 2022. Iona is based year-round in Southampton and sails a range of Mediterranean and Northern Europe voyages. Arvia is deployed in the Caribbean through March 2025, sailing cruises from Bridgetown, Barbados, and St. John’s, Antigua. In spring 2026, she will reposition to Southampton for summer sailings in Europe.
Queen Anne, the 3,000-guest Cunard ship participating in the beach clean-ups, is currently based in Southampton, with some departures offered from Hamburg, Germany. The ship is the newest in the Cunard fleet and was delivered in April 2024.
