Princess Cruises is proud to introduce its new digital video series, Ocean Treks Conservation Connections, featuring short stories about environmental management, wildlife conservation, and sustainability.
This weekly series will highlight not only stories of how the cruise line is promoting greater sustainability, but also the importance of conservation across the globe, including in popular ports of call the cruise line visits.
New Series Debuting on Princess Cruises’ YouTube Channel
The first episode, which is now available on Princess Cruises’ YouTube Channel, was filmed in Princess Cays, the cruise line’s private destination in The Bahamas. The 5-minute video is a candid discussion between Environmental Ambassador Jeff Corwin and Princess Cruises President John Padgett, noting the importance of sustainability for the cruise line as well as how reducing waste is essential for minimizing environmental impacts.
“As president of Princess Cruises, it’s a huge responsibility,” said Padgett in the introductory episode. “It’s just our intent to raise the bar on how we think about our environment, sustainability, minimizing our impact.”
“Beauty is our business, so we want to do everything possible to make sure it stays that way,” he said.
The first episode goes on to discuss some of the $25 million worth of investments in environmental systems on Enchanted Princess, including the state-of-the-art technology on board, as well as the cruise line’s policies, supply chains, and people committed to sustainability.
“Just about every element of the cruise experience has connected to sustainability,” said Corwin.
For example, Princess Cruises has reduced single-use plastic consumption by 50%, including the use of straws, toothpicks, cups, and other items that are more challenging to recycle. Food waste has also been reduced by 30% in recent years.
The new series will build on the brand’s popular and successful Ocean Treks series, which debuted in 2016 as part of Carnival Corporation’s Ocean Originals slate of television programs.
The original series has been honored with 7 Daytime Emmy nominations and 44 Telly Awards, which recognize the best in broadcast and cable TV, digital, and streaming.
“In keeping environmental protection as one of our top priorities, we’re eager to leverage our popular Ocean Treks brand and its library to create new videos to share important sustainability stories about our fleet,” said Padgett.
Ocean Treks is also available on-demand in staterooms on board Princess ships and via OceanView, and it is likely that the new Conservation Connections series will also be available on the line’s ships.
More Episodes to Come
The series is composed of 28 short episodes, each to address a different topic of how the cruise line is committed to sustainability and protecting the environment. Upcoming episodes will discuss recycling, food waste reduction, energy efficiency, wastewater treatment, air quality, cleaner fuel options, and wildlife conservation.
Episodes will focus on different parts of the world, visiting different popular ports and integrating how the cruise line and its ships work with local communities to protect the environments we all share. Locations to be highlighted include the Dominican Republic, Alaska, New Zealand, Iceland, Japan, French Polynesia and more.
Past Environmental Problems
The cruise line is not shying away from its somewhat dubious past with respect to environmental compliance, however.
“Compliance issues of the past became a catalyst for everything we do focused on the environment, whether it’s people, process, and technology. It’s all now considered when we’re thinking about minimizing our impact to the environment,” said Padgett. “It is a journey, and it’s one that we’re going to continue on.”
In 2017, Princess Cruises was found guilty of environmental crimes, including irresponsible waste discharge and falsifying paperwork to hide the practice. Delays in internal investigations to address the issue were a violation of the cruise line’s probation, and as recently as January 2022, the company was continuing to face repercussions of that incident.
With these new videos, Princess Cruises is not only highlighting its own environmental commitment, but is also hoping to inspire guests to make changes in their own lives and communities to spread sustainability far beyond cruise ships and ports of call.
