Today is Earth Day, when citizens of the world help further the environmental movement with events, celebrations, and, above all, education. As you take in all those valuable tips for making a difference where you live, you can rest assured that the cruise industry is continuing to look for better ways to do its part for the planet as well. After all, until space tourism takes off (which won’t happen, of course, until Isaac The Bartender joins the crew of The Love Rocket), this planet is the only one we have to cruise. Here are our five favorite reasons that cruising on Earth is simply the best!

The Water

If Earth wanted to start a taunting chant that would put all other planets in their inferior places, that chant would go: H-2-O! H-2-O! No other known planet has surface liquid water, which is essential for supporting a cruise industry. And life. Europa, one of Jupiter’s many moons, may have more ocean-water than Earth, but it rests beneath an icy surface that some estimates have as being almost 12 miles thick. Not even George Clooney has an icebreaker that effective.

The Heat

Distance from the sun obviously plays a huge factor in each planet’s surface temperatures. Earth has the perfect combination of distance and a habitable atmosphere, (no matter how many lobster-like sunburns seem to say otherwise). Perhaps somewhere in the surface-less gases of Jupiter one may find the ultimate sweet spot where the atmospheric pressure provides an ideal temp: While the edges of the cloud cover reach a frigid -229 degrees Fahrenheit, the core sees highs hotter than the surface of the sun.

The Breeze

Another advantage of having water on which to cruise is the refreshing breeze that comes with it. And while Earth isn’t without examples of its winds stepping it up a notch or two, those instances are nothing like those seen on other planets. Saturn sees winds that are almost four times faster than the highest wind speeds ever recorded on Earth, while Neptune’s 1,300-mph wind speeds are the strongest in our solar system.

The Destinations

Perhaps there’s a planet in our solar system with an undiscovered stretch of beauty that rivals that of the Mediterranean. Maybe our Alaskan adventures can’t compare to the icy offerings found further out from the sun. And who knows — somewhere out there, there may even be a better jerk chicken hut than the one we stumbled upon in Ocho Rios. Until we know for sure, we’ll just have to settle with what we’ve got.

The Moon

Sitting on the stern, watching the moon illuminate your ship’s wake, is this cruiser’s favorite pre-midnight buffet activity. On Mercury and Venus, there’d be no moons to provide this spotlight; meanwhile, each of the other planets has at least two orbiting moons jockeying for this kind of attention. The moon, like the planet we live on, is the only one we’ve got — and we wouldn’t want it any other way.

— Rico Bronte

^{Photos: NASA Johnson Space Center (Blue Marble); Ian Joughin, PSC/APL/UW; NASA/JPL; PD (Antonio Jacobsen); PD (Gerard Valkc); NASA/JSC}