By CAPTAIN GREYBEARD From Daily Mirror UK

The £3.5m five-year deal will see a WWF TV channel in cabins and conservation-friendly excursions while the company has also made further environmental pledges

The World Wildlife Fund will benefit from a £3.5million partnership with Royal Caribbean, launched to confirm the cruise line’s commitment to ocean conservation.

The five-year deal was announced this week in the remote village of Donsol in the Philippines, where WWF supports the local tourist industry’s major attraction – swimming with whale sharks, the world’s largest fish.

Royal Caribbean chose the venue partly because they employ 11,000 Filipino crew, who form the biggest single national group among their worldwide employees.

Also this week, the company announced a dedicated hiring centre in Manila. Royal expects to recruit 30,000 new crew from the islands over the next five years.

The first visible effect of the partnership with WWF is that passengers on all Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Azamara Club Cruises’ ships will find a WWF magazine in their cabin.

Soon there will be a dedicated WWF channel on the in-cabin TV and the charity will be working with the cruise lines to develop eco-friendly shore excursions.

In return, Royal Caribbean has pledged to meet targets to reduce its environmental footprint and ensure the long-term health of the oceans.

Greenhouse gas emissions will reduce by 35% by 2020, and the cruise line will source 90% of fish consumed on its ships from sustainable fisheries.

New targets will be announced by June  30 to address destination stewardship and sustainability.

It will support WWF’s ocean conservation work through the £3.5million contribution and will build global awareness among the five million customers who travel on its ships every year.

Norwegian makes a return to UK
The 2,500-passenger Norwegian Jade will be sailing regularly from Southampton in summer 2017, as one of a record five ships in Europe.

Norwegian Cruise Line has not based a ship in the UK since 2010.

Between May and October, Jade – fresh from a dry-dock refurbishment – will sail seven night cruises to Hamburg, Amsterdam and Zeebrugge and nine-night cruises to the Norwegian fjords plus a handful of other itineraries.

Norwegian Getaway will be based in Copenhagen for nine-night Baltic cruises, and Epic, Spirit and Star will be in the Mediterranean, sailing from Barcelona and Venice. Fares have yet to be announced.

IMAGE: Up close: A freediver swimming with a whale shark

For more on this story go to: http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/travel/cruises/cruise-operator-royal-caribbean-teams-7265482