Sustainability

AIDA Cruises

‘AIDA cares’ is not only the name of the sustainability program but also an expression of our corporate culture. We accept responsibility through our social commitment and contribute to sustainable development both locally and internationally. We naturally want to give a part of our success back to society in the form of donations and sponsoring activities. In 2018, we donated more than €500,000 to support a wide range of social and cultural projects.

Signature Programs:

Launched in May 2019, “AIDA Cruise & Help” forms the umbrella for all our charitable projects. The focus is particularly on achieving long-term improvements in the future prospects of children and adolescents in emerging and developing countries, as well as on social and cultural projects on a regional and international scale. There is a strong connection with many of these regions. For one thing, these areas are the homes of many AIDA crew members, and on the other hand, they are also destinations for our ships. This is why AIDA chose Cebu City, in the north-east of the island of the same name, as the location for its first school. Its partner in this aid project is the Reiner Meutsch Stiftung FLY & HELP. In 2018, we donated €42,265 to the FLY & HELP foundation to assist with the construction of a new primary school in the Philippines. The first AIDA school was opened on May 9, 2019 in Cebu, an eastern region of the Philippines that was devastated by flooding and typhoons. Plans are in progress for further schools. In the course of various charity events on board our ships and on land, we managed to raise more than €200,000 for the school project within a few months. Regular campaigns in support of “AIDA Cruise & Help” will follow both on land and at sea. 100 percent of donations received will be passed on to charitable organizations.

Putting a smile on children’s faces is simply a must for us. As a partner of the RTL Donation Marathon, a charity project of a Germany wide TV station to support children in need, AIDA donated €100,000 to the charity “Stiftung RTL - Wir helfen Kindern e.V”.

 

Over the past year we have also continued our long-standing commitment to SOS Children’s Villages and were able to give the organization a donation of €12,500 for their work. Since 2005, AIDA Cruises has supported various SOS Children’s Village projects in Germany, Africa, Asia and in the Caribbean with donations amounting to more than one million euros.

 

The Costa Group, to which AIDA Cruises belongs, has been involved with Mercy Ships since 2017. This international NGO aims to improve access to basic medical care in developing countries and operates the largest non-military hospital ship in the world - the Africa Mercy - with a crew of over 400 volunteer helpers from 40 different countries. In 2018, several AIDA crew members worked again as volunteers on board in order to support the crew of the “Africa Mercy” in West Africa. Volunteers from the “Africa Mercy” also came on board our ships in order to renew their seamanship qualifications, for example, or to take part in training programs.

 

Cultural diversity is a key component in the DNA of AIDA Cruises. We work in an international team from more than 50 nations. Open-mindedness, respect, tolerance and teamwork between people of different nationalities are deep-seated principles in our company. These values are common practice in AIDA and are one of the reasons why AIDA continued its support of the “MIGRO” migrant’s council, a communal body run by the Rostock township that stands up for the interests of the city’s foreign-born residents.

 

Last year, the hanseatic city of Rostock celebrated the 800th anniversary of its founding. Open-mindedness and tolerance are among the Hanseatic League’s oldest traditions. In keeping with this principle, we supported an initiative run by Rostock Art Museum to bring the “Ship of Tolerance”, a global art project set up by the artists and married couple Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, to Germany for the first time. The Ship of Tolerance lay at anchor for several months’ last summer right in front of AIDA Cruises’ headquarters.

 

AIDA Cruises has been the main sponsor of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Festival for more than 16 years, which is the most important classic music festival in Germany.
For more information: www.aida.de/aidacares

 

Carnival UK (Cunard Line and P&O Cruises)

Cunard has been a long-standing partner of UK leading charity The Prince’s Trust and we have been working together since December 2007. Nearly 12 years later, the partnership has raised over £2.4 million and helped over 2,000 young people change their lives for the better.

The Prince’s Trust recently expanded its programme beyond the UK and they now operate in Australia, Canada, India, Barbados, Jordan, Pakistan, Greece and Malta.

Cunard will continue working with The Prince’s Trust in the UK and moving forward will develop our partnership to also support The Prince’s Trust International.

Signature Programs

Cunard's partnership with The Prince’s Trust began in 2007 when in the presence of HRH the Prince of Wales, the cruise liner Queen Victoria was christened by HRH the Duchess of Cornwall. Since then, with the support and participation of guest and crew together with shoreside staff and partners, Cunard has collaborated in workplace schemes and raised more than £2,400,000, helping over, 2000 young people make real changes to their lives and future prospects. Cunard renewed its pledge of support for The Trust for the next four years and beyond.

 

Started in 1976 by HRH the Prince of Wales, The Prince's Trust has helped over 870,000 young people aged 13 to 25 across the UK with practical and financial support, developing key workplace skills like confidence and motivation to give them the encouragement to find work, start new businesses and turn their lives around.

 

The Prince’s Trust International was officially launched in Malta in November 2015, since then it has develop its successful programme in Australia, Canada, Barbados, India, Jordan, Pakistan, Greece and Malta.

 

In June 2019, American singer and songwriter Lionel Richie became the First Global Ambassador and First Chairman of the Global Ambassador Group for The Prince’s Trust.

 

P&O Cruises has been advocating for Macmillan Cancer Support since February 2013. Through passenger, crew and shoreside employee events, auctions and sponsored activities, nearly £500,000 has been raised for the national charity. The money funds the network of Macmillan Cancer Support nurses and provides care for cancer patients across the United Kingdom. P&O Cruises also funded a purpose-built and -designed healing garden at Southampton General Hospital.

 

http://3blmedia.com/News/Carnival-UK-Corporation-Cunard-and-PO-Cruises-Social-Responsibility

Costa Cruises

Community giving at Costa Crociere is managed by the Costa Crociere Foundation, an independently run organization founded and sponsored by Costa Crociere. Its goals are to address and mitigate social and environmental problems in Italy and the rest of the world. Costa Crociere Foundation started out sponsoring and supporting local projects in Genoa where the foundation could make the best use the many resources provided by Costa Crociere. Then, the Foundation was able to gradually expand its activities throughout Italy. In 2017, Costa Crociere Foundation embarked with great success on its first international social programme in the Philippines, to ensure that it could extend its reach even further.

Costa Crociere Foundation aims to make happiness the fundamental right of every human being. In pursing this ambitious goal and acting on several fronts, the Foundation shares the resources of Costa Crociere and its partners. Examples include using the purchasing power of Costa Crociere to reduce costs in the local food distribution program or using the company’s media relations capabilities to attract donations for upcoming projects. Since its creation in 2014, the Foundation has had a positive impact on more than 25,000 beneficiaries of 130 different nationalities. Thanks to the Foundation’s social and environmental programs, target groups benefited from educational, health and food assistance; gained the confidence and independence to invest in their futures; and were given a cleaner environment to live in.

Signature Programs

The Foundation’s social program aims to address the underlying causes of poverty by giving people the tools they need to lift themselves out of hunger and homelessness in the long term, and ease their burdens in the short term. By investing in the future through education and in the present through humanitarian assistance, disadvantaged groups in target communities receive the resources, opportunities and education they need to live healthy, productive lives. A concrete example of the Foundation’s commitment is the “Hello Philippines, Hello Future!” project where the Foundation designed a three-step approach to support beneficiaries along their journey of personal growth and development. The programme starts by giving 500 children access an education every year and continues by offering fifty of them training courses in the hotel and catering trade to; in the end, the highest-performing students are offered the opportunity to join the Costa crew. This project not only strengthens synergies between Costa and the Foundation but also tries to ensure a solid and bright future for the Filippino community.

The Foundation’s environmental program aims to strengthen the awareness on marine pollution by working with future generations and local communities. The program encourages people and businesses to put in practice actions aimed at the conservation of the sea. In 2017 and 2018, the “Guardiani della Costa” environmental project successfully engaged more than 300 schools and 10,000 students in what was considered the biggest citizen science project of its kind in Italy. The schools each adopted a stretch of coastline, working with experts, monitored the area, and collected data in order to describe the state of the Italian coastline. Costa Crociere Foundation believes in the importance of creating environmentally-mindful generations and encouraging them to take a more active and responsible role in safeguarding the environment.

www.costacrociere.com

Holland America Line

At Holland America Line, giving back to our communities is part of our everyday values and culture. Building on the extraordinary efforts of individual employees within our Holland America Line family, we've developed programs to reach a variety of organizations with aid, donations and service. From employee fundraising to cash and cruise donations to innovative philanthropic programs that invite the participation of our guests, we're working together to make a difference. And it's made our company stronger along the way.

We are committed to making the world a better place and our higher purpose of opening minds, building connections, and inspiring a shared humanity. Sponsorships of charitable organizations and volunteerism are the cornerstones to giving back to communities where we work, live and sail. Our giving strategy focuses on arts and culture, health and human services, environmental and maritime causes. Our highly popular Reduced Rate Cruise Donation program allows hundreds of nonprofit organizations to purchase cruises at a greatly reduced price for their fundraising efforts. This program gives Holland America Line an opportunity to support the many worthy organizations that do not qualify for a cash donation.

Each year, Holland America Line hosts more than 25 shipboard charity luncheons for nearly 5,000 guests in its homeport cities in the United States and internationally. In 2018, Holland America hosted shipboard events for nearly 3,500 guests in its North American home port cities as well as in Australia and the Netherlands.

Throughout the fleet, volunteerism can happen on any given day. Crewmembers donate clothing, books from the crew library, school supplies and other items to benefit local schools and other organizations. Locally, our Dollars for Doers program rewards employee volunteers with small cash donations for their favorite nonprofit organizations. Many Holland America Line executives and employees serve on nonprofit boards, contributing their time, expertise and resources to a broad range of charitable causes. As well, employees get involved in blood drives, adopt-a-family efforts, sorting food, mentoring women, preparing and serving dinners, collecting school supplies, conducting coat drives, marching in local parades and much more. Some of the benefiting organizations include Junior Achievement, Dress for Success, Ronald McDonald House, FareStart, Seattle Children's Hospital, and Northwest Harvest.

Signature Program

For more than a decade Holland America Line and its guests have been raising funds for the fight against cancer through Holland America Line’s signature program, On Deck for a CauseTM. Guests are invited to participate in a noncompetitive 5k walk on every sailing aboard all Holland America Line ships — nearly 500 sailings each year. Proceeds are distributed among five international organizations: the American Cancer Society, Canadian Cancer Society, Cancer Council Australia, Cancer Research UK, and KWF Kankerbestrijding (Dutch Cancer Society). To date the effort - combined with its predecessor On Deck for a CureTM - has helped raise over $6 million for cancer research.

On Deck for a CauseTM gives Holland America Line the opportunity to partner with leading international cancer organizations and provides a way to engage our guests in a meaningful activity. Together we can be proud of our efforts to fight cancer and support cancer research. The On Deck for a CauseTM experience provides Holland America Line and its guests the opportunity to share stories and connect in doing good together.

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/our-company/social-responsibility.html

P&O Cruises Australia

P&O Cruises Australia has a proud history of more than 85 years of sailing from Australia to island nations in the region including New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and, in more recent years, has acted on a pledge to ensure that island communities can share in the economic benefits of cruising, which has grown exponentially over the past decade led in large measure by P&O Cruises Australia. This includes support for communities in the region via a guest-funded initiative, the P&O Pacific Partnership, which has spearheaded a wide range of programs. We recently announced support of a UNICEF program in Papua New Guinea which aims to save the lives of newborns with the use of a tiny bracelet that alerts parents if their babies experience dangerously low body temperature due to hypothermia. There is also a strong community connection in Vanuatu with support for the ProMedical Vanuatu ambulance service to train eight student paramedics.

Signature Program

The P&O Pacific Partnership is our way of giving back to the Pacific Island communities that have welcomed our ships and passengers for so many years. The Partnership has raised more than AUD$1.5 million since its inception with a one dollar donation from each adult passenger. Initiatives that have been supported range from funding health clinics and kindergartens to supporting families who were forced to leave Ambae Island in Vanuatu following a volcano eruption. In another initiative, the Partnership is supporting the Vanuatu Women’s Beach Volleyball team who are proving great role models for other young people as they strive for Olympic recognition in Tokyo in 2020.