Key Aspects:
- What should cruise guests do with trash as they’re walking around a Carnival cruise ship? There are no trash cans in sight.
- John Heald, Carnival Cruise Line’s brand ambassador, has explained why it’s easier for the cruise line to not have public trash cans available to guests.
- Guests have different options available for trash disposal, depending where on the ship they are and what type of trash they have to discard.
While everyone’s standards for cleaning up at home may be different, consider this: would you leave dirty dishes of half-eaten food in the hallway? Drop towels on the floor for someone else to pick up? Discard an empty paper cup on a random surface or corner and walk away?
On a cruise vacation, these things are not only commonplace, but expected as dedicated crew members work diligently to tidy up, deeply clean, and effectively sanitize the ship.
One curious guest reached out to John Heald, Carnival Cruise Line’s brand ambassador, with a question about trash collection and why a very commonplace item is absent from Carnival’s ships.
“I’m currently on the Paradise for the fifth time and yesterday I noticed something that I haven’t noticed before. I’m sure there is a reason for it but why are there no trash cans around?” the guest asked.
“I went from the United States Bar on Deck 9 to the gym on Deck 12 carrying an empty coffee cup from Java Blue. Finally found a can in the men’s locker room. It’s not a big deal – just curious.”
That’s a questions I’ve been curious about myself, and it isn’t confined to Carnival Cruise Line. While some different cruise lines do have discreet trash cans, often near elevator banks, most ships lack this simple and seemingly basic accessory.
Carnival Paradise, currently homeported from Tampa and offering 4-, 5-, and 6-night itineraries, is one of Carnival’s smallest ships but even with just 2,124 guests aboard, that can still lead to a lot of trash on every sailing.
Heald, however, carefully explained why trash cans aren’t available. It’s not about making the ships seem as though there is no trash about: every cruise guest has seen discarded trash on tables, in hallways, and even in the corners of elevators.
“The answer is very simple,” Heald noted. “Through various government agencies we have very strict policies on garbage separation. It is a mammoth task and if we failed to separate the garbage correctly, there are big fines for us to pay.”
Okay, that makes sense. Different countries would have different regulations on how trash is separated, treated, and disposed of, from food waste to contaminated paper to broken glass to all manner of little things. Plastic tags taken off souvenirs, candy wrappers, empty sunscreen bottles, it must all be treated carefully.
“While the crew are trained in garbage separation, the guests are obviously not,” Heald continued. “It would cause us so much more work if we allowed guests just to throw their garbage away.”
Crew Member Sorting Trash (Photo Credit: Mundofoto / Shutterstock)
It’s a simple explanation but one that does make sense. If a trash can were to become contaminated, all the refuse might need to be further sorted and treated in different ways before it could be properly and safely discarded, creating even more work for the crew.
How Should Guests Dispose of Trash?
Without trash cans every few feet, what should guests do with any garbage? Of course, trash cans are available in every stateroom and restroom, and as the original poster notes, in the locker rooms.
Heald has previously confirmed that guests should put dirty room service plates in the stateroom corridors for crew members to pick up. Not only does this keep food waste trash separated from say, bathroom waste, but it also ensures the dishes are cleaned and put back into service as quickly as possible.
If guests are carrying disposable cups, napkins, or other trash, they can stop by a bar to ask for it to be thrown away, or place the items on a closed bar surface or nearby table so it can be easily seen and collected for disposal.
Read Also: Are Paper Newsletters Wasteful? Carnival Cruise Guests Respond
Preferably, trash should not be placed in tucked away corners (I’ve never understood leaving dirty cocktail glasses in an elevator) where crew members might not spot it right away. This should not be a game of hide-and-seek with trash.
Of course, no trash should ever be tossed overboard, and guests would face strict consequences such as fines and other penalties if they discarded garbage in that way.
What do you do with trash onboard a cruise ship? Share your thoughts on the Cruise Hive boards!
Appeared first on: Cruisehive.com
