Most of the big cruise lines that do business here have spotty labor and environmental records and some questionable business practices. In his history of the cruise industry, Devils on the Deep Blue Sea, Kristoffer Garin paints a picture of a rapacious industry operating offshore and, in effect, beyond the reach of the law. In an interview with The Bollard, Garin said big cruise lines can be seen as “borderline scoundrels or models of third-world employment,” depending on your point of view.
“They have labor that’s almost free, customers that are happily paying prices that are more or less in line with what you would pay in the U.S., and none of it is taxed,” he said. “There’s no sales tax, no payroll tax, and everything taken aboard is considered an export. Taken together, it’s basically a license to print money.”
State Rep. Herb Adams tangled with the cruise lines in 2004, when they opposed a bill he sponsored to prevent ships from discharging partially treated sewage and wastewater in state waters. “You’d think there wouldn’t be a big lobby in favor of dumping human waste into the ocean, but there is,” Adams said. “I knew there would be a fight, but I didn’t realize the amount of power they could put behind their punch.”
The industry’s international trade group dispatched high-powered lobbyists, including retired Coast Guard and Navy officers, to pressure lawmakers, threatening that the industry would pull out of Maine if discharges were prohibited, Adams recalled. “They walked in with brass knuckles and started using them straightaway,” he said. “They didn’t strike me as the sort of people who distinguished between a crossed looked and dropping an atomic bomb.”
Ultimately, the law passed, making Maine the first East Coast state to regulate cruise ship discharges. The cruise ships, of course, came back anyway.
Below is a list of cruise ships visiting Portland this year, with some notes on past incidents gathered from news reports and court and government documents…
Explorer of the Seas (138,000 tons; 3,114 passengers): This is one of the largest cruise ships afloat. After pleading guilty to 21 felony counts related to intentional marine pollution, Royal Caribbean’s executives had this ship built with two oceanographic labs, where University of Miami scientists conduct research during Caribbean cruises. In town: July 9, Aug. 6.
Grande Caribe (99 tons; 100 passengers): The closest thing to a “hometown ship,” this humble vessel is owned by Luther Blount, who built it at his Warren, Rhode Island shipyard. One guidebook describes the Caribe as “closer to a hostel than a hotel” and “half-a-notch above a ferry boat.” The clientele is aboard for the journey — to small U.S. and Canadian ports — not the amenities. July 10, 18, 26; Aug. 4, 12
Grandeur of the Seas (74,000 tons; 2,446 passengers): Illegal dumping (and a corporate cover-up) by this and other Royal Caribbean ships in U.S. waters led to an $18 million fine in 1999. Ships were intentionally and routinely dumping oil and wastewater in state waters. July 12, Aug. 9, Sept. 20, Oct. 4
Maasdam (55,451 tons; 1,258 passengers): Slightly higher end, Holland America Line has positioned the Maasdam — and its New England cruise, in particular — as family-friendly. Unlike most of its rivals, this ship is registered in a Western nation: The Netherlands. Aug. 10
Jewel of the Seas (90,090 tons; 2,501 passengers): Arriving in Saint John, New Brunswick, in September 2004, a 60-foot finback whale was found impaled on the bow of this Royal Caribbean liner. Sept. 21, 28; Oct. 5, 12, 19
Carnival Victory (101,509 tons; 2,758 passengers): Once the world’s largest ship — now just “pretty big” — this is one of Carnival’s Las Vegas-themed “fun ships.” Last year, returning from New England, it slammed into New York’s Pier 92, “causing minor damage to the ship and pier,” Carnival said. Sept. 8
Celebrity Constellation (91,000 tons; 1,950 passengers): This higher-end vessel, with a 40-something clientele, is owned by Royal Caribbean. A significant norovirus outbreak occurred during an October 2006 cruise to Portland and Canada. Sept. 25, Oct. 7
Queen Mary 2 (151,400 tons; 3,056 passengers): One of the largest and most expensive cruise ships ever built, it’s part of Carnival Corp.’s high-end Cunard brand. In January 2006, its well-heeled passengers considered mutiny after they learned several port calls would be dropped due to a minor accident, a fact Carnival withheld until after they cast off. Refunds were offered only after unflattering press accounts were published. Oct. 1
Saga Ruby (25,000 tons; 655 passengers): Small by today’s standards, this 25-year-old ship caters to a wealthy, older clientele (you have to be at least 50 to buy a ticket). It’s said to have a British flavor and passenger base. Oct. 3
Royal Princess (45,000 tons; 1,200 passengers): Princess Cruise Lines was fined $500,000 after passengers filmed the crew tossing plastic trash bags into the sea off the Florida Keys in 1993. Oct. 15, Nov. 4
Sea Princess (77,000 tons; 1,950 passengers): Had to return to Southampton, England, in 2006 after 200 passengers became ill. In 2000, longshoremen in Alaska tipped off federal immigration officials that the ship was routinely using foreign crew (who are 40 times cheaper) to handle baggage, leading to a fine against Princess Cruises, another subsidiary of Carnival Corp. Oct. 20
— Colin Woodard
