Cruise ships to assist victims

[DannyMac]

The Houston Chronicle reports three Carnival ships will be docked in Galveston to house 7000 homeless folks from NOLA. On another web site, it was reported FEMA will spend 239 million dollars to charter these ships for six months.

[coiran]

The $245 million over a period of 180 days for 5556 people results in an income of $245 per person per today to Carnival. Also - the food, fuel and entertainment cost will be less - so it's not a bad deal from that standpoint.

 

On the negative side - there will be no casino income, no boutique income or tour income, little or no bar income and 5556 paid passengers that will now have to reschedule.

 

All in all it's still a good gesture on Carnival's part.

 

Ron

[DannyMac]

Correction: Two ships docked in Galveston. One ship docked in the Port of Mobile.

[claroquesi]

Yes, I do feel very selfish at the moment. I had been looking forward to this vacation. :-(

I think maybe it has happended for a reason. It just may be a blessing that my vacation was cancelled.

 

 

I sympathize with you. It is very easy to be magnaminious when the circumstances don`t directly affect you. I think you are dealing with this in a remarkably mature way. Don`t feel bad about feeling bad, that is only natural.

 

Like another poster said I hope that this will give you the opportunity to have an even better cruise experience in the future!

[limbocat]

We were supposed to sail on our first cruise this Sunday, 9/11. Dissappointed isn't the word, but one would have to inhuman to not understand the priorities here. Peoples lives destroyed vs. lost vacation. Puts things into perspective. We are just bummed because this was to be our 20th wedding anniversary celebration and our first big family vacation (3 kids - 9, 7, and 5) that DID NOT involve a tent. I had been building it up for MONTHS! We have new cruise clothes, and I scoured every cruise packing list and have assembled everything from door decoration (homemade magnets with our "cruise nicknames" and lots of fun cruise clip art), duct tape, wall organizer for the bathroom, highlighters, matches, lanyards, thank you cards, preaddressed labels for postcards, bug spray, liquid bandaids, underwater cameras, passports for everyone, febreeze, bleach/water solution, germx, baby wipes, and tons of ziplock bags, and binoculars for 3, (DH is still looking for the kitchen sink). We have a five page spreadsheet of Cruise Tips that I parlayed from these boards to go along with the piles of luggage that I packed last week before getting news of the cancellation. Que Sara, Sara. My biggest issue is that we cannot find a cruise until next September that meets what we were able to scrimp and save for this one. The kids will have outgrown everything by then. Carnival could book us on a five day cruise for the same rate as our seven day, but they would move us inside from our much anticipated ocean view, or the 7 day for $1K MORE, inside here too. I just keep looking and praying for some price cuts, but it looks like demand has surpassed the supply from Galveston for now. We are stranded. The bright side is we have our house, car, jobs and lives so I feel awful for even complaining. I feel a little better now that I have poured my heart out. But 'Awe Shucks!!!

[Iamthesea]

What a wonderful outlook! I do feel for you and wish that something would have appeared for you. What about your flights, or were you planning on driving?

[DannyMac]

FEMA dropped the ball on the cruise ship deal. We live in the Gal/Hou area and get the latest news. FEMA could not get the evacuees to relocate to the ships, they never informed Gal. officials about who would pay for water, sewer, school buses, secruity etc. As of this post, the ships are empty and may be pulled out of Galveston, all the while taxpayers still have to "foot the bill" for this boondoogle. There are reports, the ships will head to NO and Mobile to house relief workers and those involved in the rebuilding effort.:mad: :mad:

[Iamthesea]

There are reports, the ships will head to NO and Mobile to house relief workers and those involved in the rebuilding effort.:mad: :mad:

That's what they should be used for IMO.

[bdenni]

I also saw a story earlier that said many of those who left the floods do not want to be housed "on the water". They saw enough of that at home and are somewhat gunshy about living in a facility that is surrounded by water.