“It’s the cruise ship industry I dislike. The industry is rife with corruption, flags of convenience and abuse of its workforce. In addition they do everything possible to circumvent pollution and environmental laws to keep costs low. Bonuses are paid for keeping costs low leading to illegal dumping and use of lower cost higher polluting fuels. There are plenty of sources to read up on how the industry operates. They even blatantly falsified records and health reports to operate on schedule and avoid quarantine issues with covid.“

Add to what George outlines, negative cultural and economic impact. In the BVI, cruise shippers spend next to nothing and have chased away higher-spending charter and land guests. As noted, the only beneficiaries are government coffers and one family.

We ARE responsible for the decisions we make. Cruise ship passengers support the choices made by that industry.

Sailboats, on the other hand, have minimal environmental impact. Their spending supports local businesses and jobs. Were pump-out facilities available, their impact would be even less, but the government instead chose to build a giant cruise ship pier.

How do we travel? We stay at our own house, where we minimize the environmental impact. We have no air conditioning, no pool, no dryer, no dishwasher, no TV and no stereo. We use rainwater (no de-sal), gravity-fed without pressurization, and a well-functioning septic system. We have a small, efficient fridge, ceiling fans and LED lights. One advantage is a low electric bill, but since power in the BVI is generated from imported diesel, minimizing consumption is smart environmentally. We would love to go solar.