Plastic Straws are Gone..... But Wait....

[spanishguy1970]

3 hours ago, pete_coach said:

Now, that is a good idea. A good thing from NCL for a change. 8 bucks is a bit steep but if some goes to help clean oceans, it is good.

I hope all cruise lines, restaurants etc  follow suite

I know you can get stainless steel one from amazon, cheap cheap cheap.

[worktocruise610]

silly question for those who use the stainless straws - do you taste the steel? Does it make the drinks taste funny? thinking about getting them but don't want the metal taste. thanks for the help!

[Rou-Dyliq]

I use them, and I don't taste anything.  

[worktocruise610]

24 minutes ago, Rou-Dyliq said:

I use them, and I don't taste anything.  

thanks Rou-Dyliq!

[citygirl62]

I ordered a 300-count of biodegradable straws online.  They cost me 35 bucks.  We'll bring about 150 on our 15 day TA since I mostly drink wine, champagne or martinis.  My husband drinks things like wine, cranberry and vodka or beer.  We like to drink silly drinks now and then like daiquiris or frozen margaritas which definitely need straws.  I'll give a lot away since I don't like the idea of people bringing plastic straws.  Straws really do escape the recycling efforts of plastics because they don't always make it into recycling facilities because of their weight or lack thereof and escape.  

 

As an aside, for women who worry about lip wrinkles:  I know a mother and daughter, in their sixties and early forties, respectively, who have NEVER used straws and they both have full unwrinkled lips.  

[pete_coach]

4 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

That is a rip-off of the Final Straw which now has its patent approved, so I wonder if there will be any legal fallout.

How is this a rip off? It is a collapsible straw, maybe eve the same one and final straw gets royalties except NCL gives some of the proceeds to ocean clean up.

This is one of the good things NCL does.

[pete_coach]

1 hour ago, spanishguy1970 said:

I know you can get stainless steel one from amazon, cheap cheap cheap.

Yes, I have some but this is a good thing NCL is trying to do. Anything to help clean up the oceans is a step up the environmental ladder.

[erdoran]

I'm of the school of "how do you get the inside clean?"  I would think a lot of the drinks would coat the inside of the straw, and you'd really want to use a brush and hot soapy water to clean inside it.  

 

As far as someone else's patent, I'm sure that NCL has taken out a proper license; willful infringement carries triple damages and there is no reason to do that.

 

The fancy packaging rubs me the wrong way too.  If it's really for the environment and not another money grab why not make it more environmentally-friendly packaging?  Most likely so it isn't easy to shoplift, for the very few who do that type of thing.

[SeaShark]

4 minutes ago, pete_coach said:

Yes, I have some but this is a good thing NCL is trying to do. Anything to help clean up the oceans is a step up the environmental ladder.

 

"Anything" sounds great . . . in a vacuum.

 

What about the mining and manufacturing processes that have to go into creating metal straws?

 

What about the trees that are cut down and the manufacturing process that goes into creating the paper packaging?

 

What about the plastic that is used to surround the product, not to mention the "ABS Material" (another name for plastic, btw) used for the case?

 

Hard to believe that there is no environmental impact from any of that. 

 

Don't kid yourself, NCL isn't doing this because it is a "good thing"...they are doing this because they just saved 100% of their annual budget for straws. If they...not to mention US...were REALLY trying to do a "good thing" we'd eliminate 100% of all straw usage...plastic, paper, and metal. Just drink out the glass...no straw what-so-ever. 

 

If NCL was doing this because it is a "good thing" then they would ban all plastic straws from all of their ships. Now NCL isn't spending money on straws, but Mr & Mrs Cruise are just picking up a 300 pack of plastic straws at the dollar store to use instead. Don't "most of those" end up in the ocean? How is that better for the environment? If so many just end up in the ocean, why aren't they just banned outright? Doesn't anybody CARE??? 😨😱😭

 

All based on MOST of the 500 million straws (and that is just for America) that we use each and every day ending up in the ocean. A fact that can be verified by just looking down at the water the next time you cruise or visit the beach...you will barely be able to see anything because of all of the straws everywhere. 🙄

[pete_coach]

2 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

 

"Anything" sounds great . . . in a vacuum.

 

....... 🙄

Wow, quite a diatribe but, every little bit helps. Even cynics can understand you need to start somewhere 🙄

[Rou-Dyliq]

As far as cleaning them, I use a little wire brush that came with the pack I purchased on Amazon and use hot soapy water.  It's fine.  The thing I'd worry about the collapsible one is what are they using for the string that snaps it back together.  To me, because it's porous and would absorb, you'd have to sanitize it or it would be a mold and bacteria incubator.  

[Two Wheels Only]

16 minutes ago, erdoran said:

I'm of the school of "how do you get the inside clean?"  I would think a lot of the drinks would coat the inside of the straw, and you'd really want to use a brush and hot soapy water to clean inside it.

 

I have a stainless steel set (not collapsible) that came with a pipe-cleaner type of tool to clean the inside of the straw. The NCL version probably has something similar.

 

19 minutes ago, erdoran said:

The fancy packaging rubs me the wrong way too.  If it's really for the environment and not another money grab why not make it more environmentally-friendly packaging?  Most likely so it isn't easy to shoplift, for the very few who do that type of thing. 

 

Coming from China, it should be sealed in some sort of way. Is it perfect? No, but it's better than no packaging at all.

[SeaShark]

10 minutes ago, pete_coach said:

Wow, quite a diatribe but, every little bit helps. Even cynics can understand you need to start somewhere 🙄

 

If not blindly drinking the kool-aid without asking questions first makes me a cynic, then sign me up. (But thanks for the personal put-down...that is always helpful to any discussion).

 

Don't we actually have plastic straws because they have a lower environmental impact that the paper straws we used to use? Didn't we "start somewhere" by moving from biodegradable paper to plastic?

 

Every little bit helps? Aren't we assuming...without question and consideration...that metal straw manufacture has less of an environmental impact than do the plastic straws? Do we know with any certainty that the metal has less of an impact? What is the expected life-span of the metal straw? What will happen to them when they are thrown out? Shouldn't we ask, investigate, and answer these questions FIRST?

 

How do we know that MOST of the 500 million straws Americans use every single day end up in the ocean (we're looking at you Kansas!)? Could it be because a 4th grader put that statistic in a school report? Could it be that that very same 4th grader (now an adult) has admitted that he "guessed" and just made that number up? Could it be that feelz are winning out over logic?

 

Somebody explain how MOST of the 500 million straws we use every single day in America end up in the ocean. Somebody show me all of the photos from their cruise and/or beach vacation showing the plastic straw-infested ocean.

 

The world will end if we don't DO SOMETHING!!!! Help, help, help!!!

[erdoran]

38 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

 

"Anything" sounds great . . . in a vacuum.

 

What about the mining and manufacturing processes that have to go into creating metal straws?

 

What about the trees that are cut down and the manufacturing process that goes into creating the paper packaging?

 

What about the plastic that is used to surround the product, not to mention the "ABS Material" (another name for plastic, btw) used for the case?

 

Hard to believe that there is no environmental impact from any of that. 

 

Don't kid yourself, NCL isn't doing this because it is a "good thing"...they are doing this because they just saved 100% of their annual budget for straws. If they...not to mention US...were REALLY trying to do a "good thing" we'd eliminate 100% of all straw usage...plastic, paper, and metal. Just drink out the glass...no straw what-so-ever. 

 

If NCL was doing this because it is a "good thing" then they would ban all plastic straws from all of their ships. Now NCL isn't spending money on straws, but Mr & Mrs Cruise are just picking up a 300 pack of plastic straws at the dollar store to use instead. Don't "most of those" end up in the ocean? How is that better for the environment? If so many just end up in the ocean, why aren't they just banned outright? Doesn't anybody CARE??? 😨😱😭

 

All based on MOST of the 500 million straws (and that is just for America) that we use each and every day ending up in the ocean. A fact that can be verified by just looking down at the water the next time you cruise or visit the beach...you will barely be able to see anything because of all of the straws everywhere. 🙄

Wait a minute - that's wrong....yes, they saved 100% of their straw budget but you forgot the most important part - AND they are making a substantial profit on every metal straw they sell too - WTG turning a cost into a revenue stream!

[OceanBlueWaters]

SeaShark nailed it!   

I will continue to bring my own STRAWS and risk swimming in them, once I park myself on the Beach.  LOL!

 

I want a STRAW with my drink.  Period.  I am on vacation.  Period.  I will dispose of my STRAW in a responsible way.  YAY!

First we had paper bags at Grocery Stores.  Nope. Get rid of them.  Too many sacrificial trees.   Okay...now plastic. Someone smarter than me decided to opt for plastic bags and save the trees.  Yay! 

 

Now, plastic bags are going away with a potential fee to carry my BLEEPING BLEEP out your store?!  WAIT, WHAT? 

 

Can someone FIRE the people who are "smarter than me" who make these decisions on my behalf and cost me more $?  Oh wait...that sounds a lot like NCL.  LOL!

 

Just a BIG FAT GOOD GRIEF...when will it end...

JMO

 

[RedRover96]

7 hours ago, RedRover96 said:

Way to go BirdTravels, the straw post had finally died down, just had to stir the pot again

 😂

Told you, all the samething is BACK.....  How many post before this 2nd tread on straws goes the way of old news!

[HOSKI]

Amazon and other retailers sell both plastic and metal ones with cleaning brushes.  I want a straw with my drink and will carry my own. 

Edited April 6, 2019 by HOSKI
edit link

[erdoran]

I suspect "I'll bring my own straws" days are numbered "for your cnnvenience, in the interest of the environment" - soon pre-cruise security wll confiscate them, the way they do booze, soda and bottled water, so they can have a monopoly on straw sales 😆

[yearsofcruising]

So much above to agree with the environment , however , I drink ice cold Mudslides and within 2 minutes of stirring and sucking thru the paper straws , the straw unravels into soggy paper. Use a paper cup instead of the plastic..7 Mudslides a day X 10 days...get rid of the cups and save my straws...

[JamieLogical]

4 minutes ago, yearsofcruising said:

So much above to agree with the environment , however , I drink ice cold Mudslides and within 2 minutes of stirring and sucking thru the paper straws , the straw unravels into soggy paper. Use a paper cup instead of the plastic..7 Mudslides a day X 10 days...get rid of the cups and save my straws...

 

The difference is that plastic cups on cruise ships are recycled. Whereas straws aren't easily recyclable. So switching to paper cups and keeping plastic straws won't solve the problem.

[BirdTravels]

Well,,, the NCL folding straw was very popular and sold out on our cruise.

 

People don’t seem the like paper straws. Once upon a time, that was all there was and plastic straws were “weird” and “unacceptable”. 

[erdoran]

Disneyworld gives out paper straws...they get mushy and disintegrate fast but I get it, especially at Animal Kingdom Lodge it does make a difference with risk to their local wildlife - no ocean impact but I suppose a plastic straw wouldn't be the best food choice for a giraffe!

[myjillian]

I ordered and have received my 100 pack of paper flamingo straws from China...e-bay free shipping.  The flamingos do not open in a pretty manor as the photo shows...they look like drunken birds trying to fly.....my dreams of handing them out on my next cruise to help make someones day has been squashed😮 I have demanded my $5.00 back The company is giving me only %50 of my money back !!!😥...that's not even enough to buy an official stainless steel NCL  collapsible folding straw that I would have had altered to go on a ribbon around my neck ( because I don't wear a belt)😪

[1980dory]

On 4/5/2019 at 8:22 PM, OceanBlueWaters said:

SeaShark nailed it!   

I will continue to bring my own STRAWS and risk swimming in them, once I park myself on the Beach.  LOL!

 

I want a STRAW with my drink.  Period.  I am on vacation.  Period.  I will dispose of my STRAW in a responsible way.  YAY!

First we had paper bags at Grocery Stores.  Nope. Get rid of them.  Too many sacrificial trees.   Okay...now plastic. Someone smarter than me decided to opt for plastic bags and save the trees.  Yay! 

 

Now, plastic bags are going away with a potential fee to carry my BLEEPING BLEEP out your store?!  WAIT, WHAT? 

 

Can someone FIRE the people who are "smarter than me" who make these decisions on my behalf and cost me more $?  Oh wait...that sounds a lot like NCL.  LOL!

 

Just a BIG FAT GOOD GRIEF...when will it end...

JMO

 

As chicken little said, "The sky is falling,  The sky is falling".

I quit using a straw to drink when I was about five years old.  Now that I am a big boy 65 years later, I can drink out of a glass all  by myself and don't have to worry about this nonsense.  And on the extremely rare ocassion that I do use one, I'm not going to worry in the least about destroying the earth, the universe or humanity.

[BirdTravels]

Last fall, we were on the Getaway and there were no straws. 4500 passengers got along fine without them.  Yeah,,, some whining, but no one stopped drinking 😉