What is the air quality on cruise ships?

The study was conducted over the course of two years on four different Carnival cruise ships. During that time, particulate matter levels reached between 45,000 and 150,000 particles per cubic centimeter – worse than some of the world's most polluted cities.



In 2026, cruise ship air quality is managed through HEPA filtration and UV-C purification systems that cycle the air in public spaces and cabins up to 12 times per hour. A supportive peer "environmental" note: external air quality has also improved due to the 2026 expansion of the "Blue Whales and Blue Skies" program, which encourages ships to use cleaner fuels and slower speeds near coasts to reduce NOx and particulate matter emissions. While older ships once faced criticism for "smokestack" soot, modern 2026 vessels are equipped with "scrubbers" or run on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), significantly reducing sulfur emissions. If you are sensitive to air quality, stay in newer ships (launched post-2022) which feature "advanced air management" tech that ensures the air you breathe in your cabin is often cleaner than typical urban outdoor air.

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On average, a cruise ship generates 15 gallons of toxic chemicals each day. These materials come from on-board dry cleaning and photo-processing facilities, painting and other activities. Seven thousand gallons of oily bilge water are released into the oceans every time the ship empties its bilge tanks.

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Taking a seven-day cruise is more than three times as carbon-intensive as flying and staying abroad.

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Ship exhaust contains harmful constituents, including metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, many of which have toxic, possibly cancer-causing properties, Kennedy said: “It's dangerous it's not a healthy thing for us to be exposed to.”

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63 cruise ships owned by Carnival Corporation released more toxic sulfur gasses than all the cars in Europe, study says. 63 cruise ships owned by Carnival Corp. emitted more sulfur oxides than all the cars in Europe in 2022. That's according to a recent study from The European Federation for Transport and Environment.

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1. The Norwegian company Hurtigruten. Among the most environmentally sustainable ships are certainly the ships of the Norwegian cruise line Hurtigruten. The company has already eliminated heavy fuel oil (HFO) for more than a decade and uses alternative and greener fuels such as marine diesel oil and biofuels.

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The Harmony, owned by Royal Caribbean, has two four-storey high 16-cylinder Wärtsilä engines which would, at full power, each burn 1,377 US gallons of fuel an hour, or about 66,000 gallons a day of some of the most polluting diesel fuel in the world.

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Somewhere between very few and zero. Cruise ships move far too fast for sharks to follow them. Yes, a shark may have a burst speed that could match a ship, but not one that it could sustain.

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When there is no connection or ships cannot connect, they have to use fossil fuels to generate the electricity needed to power their onboard systems. This produces exhaust out of the ship's stack.

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Cruise ships emit more carbon per passenger kilometre than flying, even considering the extra damage that emissions cause at high altitude. It's thought that the Queen Mary II emits 0.43kg of CO2 per passenger mile – that's even worse than the 0.257kg for a long-haul flight.

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“Cruising is less stressful and also means you do not lose time commuting and travelling to a destination as you will be eating, watching shows, drinking with friends and sleeping in comfort as the ship takes you to the next destination. It is a more efficient and enjoyable use of your time.”

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As people flock to cruise ships after the pandemic, health and sanitation conditions are still a big issue — including a record 13 norovirus outbreaks so far in 2023.

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Sewage and rubbish being dumped in the sea, air and water being polluted, whales being hit by cruise ships sailing too close to shore, invasive species being introduced by pumping ballast water.

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Are cruise ships worse than cargo ships? This reveals how disproportionately bad for the environment cruise ships are, releasing the highest amount of black carbon per ship of any vessel. Container ships, on the other hand, produce around a third of the black carbon per ship, at only 3.5 tonnes.

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According to research compiled by the Daspit Law Firm, cruise ships have the lowest rate of deaths per billion passenger miles with 0.08. Compare that to 11.9 for rail travel, 3.3 for cars and trucks and 0.8 for commercial air, and traveling on the seas is a relatively safe venture.

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Currently, cruise ships and other maritime vessels are responsible for nearly 3% of global greenhouse emissions each year. Considered to be worse than flying in terms of carbon emissions per passenger, a report by Pacific Standard revealed that a person's average carbon footprint triples in size while on a cruise.

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