A long line of yellow taxicabs at Pier 91's Smith Cove Cruise Terminal greeted hoards of weary cruise ship passengers today as they disembarked the Carnival Spirit, the largest cruise ship docking weekly in Elliot Bay this summer.
Some Carnival customers said they noticed the Spirit's crew making efforts to decrease water consumption and make recycling available to guests aboard the 2,124-passenger vessel.
Nora and Don Sheetz grab coffee after thier week-long
cruise on the Carnival Spirit.
"They always talk about water conservation, but I this is really the first time I've heard about recycling," said Brian Burk, a Florida resident who has gone on five previous cruises.
"We saw recycling on all the decks," said Jennifer Ditscheit, who came to the Pacific Northwest cruise from Wisconsin. "And the crew reminded us."
Passenger Joellen Gianfrancisco added that signs posted in guests' staterooms gave passengers a visual reminder to limit their personal water consumption and reuse towels a few times before requesting replacements.
She echoed Ditscheit's on the accessibility of recycling aboard the Spirit, which has 1,028 staterooms on 13 passenger decks.
"Recycling, I think they did it all,"" Gianfrancisco said.
Others noted the Spirit limited the amount of single-use dining products used at sea.
"One thing I noticed was that (the ship) didn't have any paper towels," said Nora Sheetz, a California resident. "No disposable cups either. It seamed like [the crew] was reusing everything. They were very good about that."
The Carnival Spirit has 16 bars and lounges, as well as three full-service restaurants.
Nora Sheetz's husband, Don Sheetz, said the first day aboard the Spirit, crew members spoke to passengers about how guests could conserve water by taking short showers and turning the facet in their staterooms off while brushing teeth.
The crew also briefed guests on the importance of not throwing anything overboard, he said.
Today's travelers were guests on the second of Carnival's 17 seven-day, round-trip Alaska voyages this season. This is the fist year Carnival has offered trips from Washington to Alaska.
The Spirit makes its last stop in the Emerald City September 7. Seattle's cruise season ends October 1.
