Luxury Cruise: A 'Once In A Lifetime' Trip To Experience Environment Devastation in the Arctic
Crystal Cruises, a luxury cruise operator, announced that it will offer an opportunity to take a trip to view the environmental devastation at the Arctic region and would set sail from Aug 16 to Sept 17, 2016. The cruise will be a "once-in-a lifetime" trip from the Canadian Arctic to Greenland, which is now made accessible only because of the rapid melting of the polar ice.
Described as "environmental disaster tourism" by Popular Science, the trip, costing between $20, 000 and $44,000, uses transport that releases three times more carbon dioxide for every passenger every mile in comparison to a jumbo jet.
It is being estimated that about 1,000 passengers will board the cruise, 68,000-ton and with 13 decks, on the 32-day trip from Alaska to New York City, in which they will get to see seals, whales, walruses and musk-ox. Crystal Cruise makes no promise of a glimpse of the polar bear, famous in the Arctic region. It is being said that 14 experts will be accompanying the passengers to provide information about the climate change in the environment at the Arctic.
Social media users have criticised the promotion for giving the public the opportunity to see the environmental devastation. The users feel that by watching the site which is being destroyed due to global warming, one becomes a human vulture.
Thomas Mazloum, company executive of Crystal Cruises, has said that the time is right for Crystal to open the gates of the travel industry to the Arctic as they have been doing in the past 25 years.
The tab "Environmental" on Crystal Cruises' FAQ on its Web site mentioned that the ship and the escort vessel will be using a low sulphur fuel, Marine Gas Oil.