Cast and Crew Making a Difference by Reducing our Impact

[Disney4me]

Behind every milestone in Disney Cruise Line’s sustainability journey is a dedicated team of cast and crew members. From the galley and staterooms to Disney’s island destinations in The Bahamas, supporting a healthier planet is a team effort.

Disney Cruise Line has eliminated more than 99% of all guest-facing, non-essential, single-use plastics on its ships and island destinations as of the end of fiscal 2025.

The real magic on deck and at our island destinations is the dedication of our cast and crew,” Barry Compagnoni, vice president of safety, sustainability & medical operations, shared. “They are the ones bringing our sustainability goals to life every single day, and their impact is visible everywhere you look.”

Where to See Our Teams Navigating These Changes

If you look closely around our dining rooms, quick-service venues and buffets, guests can see the direct results of culinary and food service teams rethinking the traditional dining service. As a result, crew have steadily moved away from single-use items, replacing them with reusable and refillable, alternatives

While Disney Cruise Line previously eliminated single-use staples like plastic straws, merchandise bags, cutlery, and individual condiment packets fleetwide, teams are now tackling everyday packaging and more. Guests who sailed recently may have noticed initiatives across food and beverage locations, including the transition away from individual, single-use packaging for more bulk containers and using reusable serving ware.

In doing so, crew can deliver the same great flavors and an elevated dining experience with a fraction of the waste.

Innovating at Island Destinations

Teams at Disney’s island destinations in The Bahamas have been at the forefront of innovating operations to minimize waste.

For example, when designing the guest experience for Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, food and beverage teams saw a blank canvas with an opportunity to do things differently. Through collaboration and forward-thinking, the new island destination operates entirely without guest-facing single-use plastics, utilizing reusable dishware, flatware and cups for every meal. The same service items have been introduced at Disney Castaway Cay, too. In addition to eliminating the need for single-use plastics, using sturdy serviceware means guests enjoy their lunch with an elevated island dining experience.

Meanwhile, over at Disney Castaway Cay, our island operations teams have rolled out redesigned trash cans. By ensuring separate receptacles for recycling and food scraps are seamlessly integrated into the guest experience, our crew are able to sort and manage waste more effectively and efficiently than ever before.

Every Order, Every Interaction: Small Changes in Dining and Retail

Merchandise and food and beverage crew members handle millions of guest interactions a year, making them Disney Cruise Line’s strongest champions for daily change. By shifting away from single-use items, these teams have fundamentally changed how we sail:

• Retail Teams: By transitioning to reusable shopping bags, our merchandise crew has successfully eliminated the use of nearly 1 million plastic bags annually.
• Food & Beverage Teams: Teams have replaced plastic water bottles with recyclable aluminum options, managing refill stations across both guest and crew areas. They’ve also adapted to serving specialty coffees and drinks at 24-hour beverage stations in plastic-free, paper cups.

“The culture was there to push us forward as a team,” Gary Latouche, director of hotel operations, merchandise, photography and spa, shared. “We made the lists, but it’s a real team effort to find solutions and put them into practice.”

Operations teams are also looking beyond guest-facing areas to influence the supply chain. By partnering closely with vendors, purchasing teams now buy guest room towels in bulk, eliminating excess single-use plastic wrap before it ever boards the ship.

This effort also includes reuseable Disney Cruise Line pallet covers that can now be seen replacing plastic wrap at the loading docks in Port Canaveral, Port Everglades and Singapore. These new protective covers have the same function but eliminate the need for single-use plastics to protect new merchandise inventory.

Stateroom Hosts Leading the Charge

Stateroom hosts are the heart of the onboard experience, and they are directly leading the implementation of waste-reduction efforts where guests feel it most.

When delivering Disney Cruise Line Castaway Club loyalty gifts, hosts now distribute lanyards and amenities in paper-based packaging rather than traditional plastic sleeves—a transition that has removed over 3 million plastic sleeves from operations since 2024. Additionally, by maintaining and managing the refillable bath product dispensers in every stateroom, housekeeping teams help eliminate the distribution of more than 2.2 million plastic amenity containers every single year.

“We’ve been working toward this for years and we are all really invested in meeting our goal, and the results show that,” Shelley Gold-Witiak, director of hotel operations & guest experience integration, said.

Together, Anything is Possible

The overarching sentiment is that this wouldn’t be possible without the shared goal and a team always looking to find solutions. For Melanie, manager of spa and operating participants, she hopes people take away that they can be part of the solution, even in small ways, every day.

“To make a change, it takes every single one of us on this planet. It’s not one person, it’s not one team, it’s not one company. Whatever we do, we just hope that it’s inspiring,” Melanie said.

Every milestone reached is a reflection of our crew’s shared passion for protecting the environment. It is the daily attention to detail from every individual that brings these goals to life.

The post Cast and Crew Making a Difference by Reducing our Impact appeared first on Disney Experiences.

View the full article