Carnival Stops Including Straws With Drinks

Carnival cruisers might notice something missing from their Rum Runners and Bahama Mamas. From now on, Fun Ship sailors won’t automatically be given a drinking straw when ordering a beverage.

The line’s well-known Brand Ambassador John Heald announced the policy change on his Facebook page with the following post, which has since been deleted:

“We will no longer automatically serve any soda or cocktail (except frozen) with a plastic straw. They will be provided by request. If you want one, please ask. Please support our efforts to limit the amount of plastic that can be found in the seas today.”

He noted that the reason for the change is because of the excessive waste of disposable plastic around the world, much of which ends up in the ocean. “Plastic waste dumped on land and in rivers is finding its ways into the world’s oceans so fast and in such quantities,” he wrote, noting that by one estimate he read “there will be more waste than fish in the sea, by weight, by the middle of the century.”

Never fear, though. If you still desire a straw to sip your drink from, they will be available upon request. Carnival’s hope is that most of their guests won’t mind the drinking straw absence, and in turn will be able to significantly lower the amount of plastic that is disposed of onboard.

This announcement comes on the heels of a recent Royal Caribbean announcement, where CEO Michael Bayley indicated that the brand was going to make a big move to reduce “single-use” plastic onboard.

Heald ended the Facebook message with this: “I hope I can count on all of you reading this to support Carnival. We will be doing more over time to limit the use of single use plastic products onboard our ships.”