Wouldn't it be great if cruise ships took florida residents to safety

[Cruise a holic]

I think that all cruise ships in florida offered to take florida residents out to sea and bypass the hurricane. They should charge a fee. They could perhaps,

also bring the passengers up North to safety. It would create great publicity and good will.

[Bo1953]

.... and those who could not afford the passage would be screaming that the cruise lines were pricing them out of the market and need to do this as a humanitarian effort, especially seeing that many had time to leave early enough and/or have local governments trying to get as many residents out as early as possible.

 

Then getting these passengers back to the Florida ports of origin? Another fare, who pays for that and etc....

 

What about small craft owners, they should step up to the plate, too, correct for the publicity and good will?

 

I do believe cruise ships have helped with evacuations after various natural disasters in areas where they were sailing. Not sure though.

 

bon voyage

[Pickalily, Wilts]

I think that all cruise ships in florida offered to take florida residents out to sea and bypass the hurricane. They should charge a fee. They could perhaps,

also bring the passengers up North to safety. It would create great publicity and good will.

 

 

I don't think you thought this through before posting.

 

Floridians have had ample time to sort themselves out and evacuate where necessary. The islanders on Barbuda, St Martin etc, many of whom have lost their homes, belongings and livelihoods, would probably not view such action as you propose with much good will.

[Iamcruzin]

.... and those who could not afford the passage would be screaming that the cruise lines were pricing them out of the market and need to do this as a humanitarian effort, especially seeing that many had time to leave early enough and/or have local governments trying to get as many residents out as early as possible.

 

Then getting these passengers back to the Florida ports of origin? Another fare, who pays for that and etc....

 

What about small craft owners, they should step up to the plate, too, correct for the publicity and good will?

 

I do believe cruise ships have helped with evacuations after various natural disasters in areas where they were sailing. Not sure though.

 

bon voyage

 

Not to mention the storm could always head north along the coast. Jose is right behind Irma. Who knows were he will go.

 

Last year we were in Florida First week of October. My in laws had us preparing for the hurricane. The media made it out to be a huge disaster. As it turned out the storm took a different direction and was headed to New York where we live. I was on Amazon ordering batteries and flashlights because I knew I wouldn't have time to prepare when we got home. By the time it hit it was only a tropical depression so I was spared in Florida and New York.

[Cruise a holic]

So many humanitarian agencys collecting money might help

[TeeRick]

Private cruise ships will not take on the liability for doing this no matter how well intentioned the thought. There is a report that one RCCL cruise ship is evacuating its own company's employees to ride out the storm.

[Xport]

There is a report that one RCCL cruise ship is evacuating its own company's employees to ride out the storm.

 

True... Following is a link to one of several related articles available via web search...

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/royal-caribbean-opens-cruise-ship-191300488.html

[fshagan]

I think that all cruise ships in florida offered to take florida residents out to sea and bypass the hurricane. They should charge a fee. They could perhaps,

also bring the passengers up North to safety. It would create great publicity and good will.

 

 

Cruise Critic: Cruise Lines Assist with Hurricane Irma Evacuations

[cruisestitch]

Since the OP posted this suggestion on the Celebrity board, it might be useful to point out that Celebrity only has one ship in the Caribbean, the Equinox is half way through its 11 day cruise and is currently headed for Barbados, far away from Florida and unable to effect any sort of evacuation scheme.

[Cruise a holic]

Great to learn that Carnival cruise line is sending a couple of its ships to the Caribbean to rescue people. Way to go Carnival! People more important than profits!

[NLH Arizona]

NCL is sending one of their ships to St. Thomas to rescue 2,000 tourists that couldn't leave.

[Cruise a holic]

NCL is sending one of their ships to St. Thomas to rescue 2,000 tourists that couldn't leave.

Great! Way to go NCL!

[oneputt18]

NCL is sending one of their ships to St. Thomas to rescue 2,000 tourists that couldn't leave.

Royal caribbean is sending the Majesty.

 

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[Smitty83]

Royal caribbean is sending the Majesty.

 

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And the Adventure.

[Fish Lover]

Great to learn that Carnival cruise line is sending a couple of its ships to the Caribbean to rescue people. Way to go Carnival! People more important than profits!

 

What is the matter with you? Nobody is prioritizing profit over people. There are logistics to everything. You can't have ships waiting on line to dock and board thousands of people. What do you do with the people already on board? What do you do, sink your business and create tens of thousands of unhappy people whose cruises you canceled? How do you turn away people with no credentials? And, how do you then support the staff that is staying behind to do all of this?

Please take a moment and think these things through before slinging left-handed aspersions on other cruise lines.

[Beanb41]

I was at a travel Expo this morning and the RCCL New Zealand manager was there. He told us that Royal Carribean have evacuated all their Miami staff and families who were unable to leave onboard their ships which have sailed out into the gulf away from the path of Irma and Jose and they will remain on board until it is safe to do return. He also advised that RCCL and its sister companies will probably be in the most part unaffected going forward as most of their ports will be unaffected by the Hurricanes. What is the concern for the industry is the devastation to the "Caribbean image" which will drive customers away from the area.

 

On a personal note I think there are going to be some very good deals in the area in the months ahead for all cruise lines as mass cancellations take effect. There was a similar situation with good deals in the Mediterranean last year when there were mass cancellations due to the unrest in Turkey

[GetToLivin]

From the RCCL board:

 

Royal Caribbean International announced on Saturday afternoon that it was sending ships to St. Thomas and St. Maarten in a bid to not only provide supplies, but transport evacuees following Hurricane Irma.

 

The Adventure of the Seas will make a humanitarian stop in St. Maarten on Sunday and Majesty of the Seas will make humanitarian calls in St. Thomas and St. Maarten to provide supplies and also assist in transporting evacuees in St. Maarten to safety, the company said.

 

The September 15 cruise aboard the Majesty of the Seas has been cancelled and the ship will be utilized for rescue efforts in the Caribbean.

 

The Empress of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas are also ready to assist Key West and Tampa once the impact of the storm is known, Royal Caribbean added.

 

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[caribill]

Why it would be impractical:

 

a) Before the storm the ships are usually booked to capacity with paying passengers. These cruises take place and adjust itineraries as needed to avoid the storm.

b) To instead cancel the vacations of tens of thousands of cruisers would create a whole new group of problems ranging from very unhappy customers to customer expenses such as nonrefundable airline flights. (Note: trip insurance will not normally cover failure to take flights that actually were not cancelled.)

c) As someone else mentioned, chances are that many of the residents needing to leave their homes will not have the proper legal documentation to leave the country. Imagine what would happen as the refugees show up and a number of them are denied boarding.

d) The logistics of fully booking multiple cruise ships fully in a period of a couple of days is tremendous and not likely to work well.

[Cruise a holic]

What is the matter with you? Nobody is prioritizing profit over people. There are logistics to everything. You can't have ships waiting on line to dock and board thousands of people. What do you do with the people already on board? What do you do, sink your business and create tens of thousands of unhappy people whose cruises you canceled? How do you turn away people with no credentials? And, how do you then support the staff that is staying behind to do all of this?

Please take a moment and think these things through before slinging left-handed aspersions on other cruise lines.

 

Perhaps you haven't heard that many cruise lines are in fact picking people up in the Caribbean now. You need to think things through " before slinging left handed aspersions ". Read the news.

[Bo1953]

What is the matter with you? Nobody is prioritizing profit over people. There are logistics to everything. You can't have ships waiting on line to dock and board thousands of people. What do you do with the people already on board? What do you do, sink your business and create tens of thousands of unhappy people whose cruises you canceled? How do you turn away people with no credentials? And, how do you then support the staff that is staying behind to do all of this?

Please take a moment and think these things through before slinging left-handed aspersions on other cruise lines.

 

Could be right handed as well! ;p

 

bon voyage

[Vacationdreamer<><]

OP if you read the examples of the way cruise lines are helping in SOME of the posts after yours, you will see that your wishful thinking isn't so crazy after all. These massive floating cities certainly can be and are a refuge to many.

Happy sailing!

 

 

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[bigbenboys]

I remember back on 911 that in Vancouver Princess cruise turned one ship into a hotel and the other ship went on the cruise to Alaska.

 

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[Cruise a holic]

OP if you read the examples of the way cruise lines are helping in SOME of the posts after yours' date=' you will see that your wishful thinking isn't so crazy after all. These massive floating cities certainly can be and are a refuge to many.

Happy sailing!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums[/quote']

Agree! However some people don't get it!

[teecee60]

TOTAL passenger capacity of *E*V*E*R*Y* SINGLE cruise ship in the ENTIRE WORLD...is right at 500,000.

 

Population of the Tampa Bay area... just over 3,000,000. Are you deciding who gets left behind?

[upwarduk]

From the RCCL board:

 

Royal Caribbean International announced on Saturday afternoon that it was sending ships to St. Thomas and St. Maarten in a bid to not only provide supplies, but transport evacuees following Hurricane Irma.

 

The Adventure of the Seas will make a humanitarian stop in St. Maarten on Sunday and Majesty of the Seas will make humanitarian calls in St. Thomas and St. Maarten to provide supplies and also assist in transporting evacuees in St. Maarten to safety, the company said.

 

The September 15 cruise aboard the Majesty of the Seas has been cancelled and the ship will be utilized for rescue efforts in the Caribbean.

 

The Empress of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas are also ready to assist Key West and Tampa once the impact of the storm is known, Royal Caribbean added.

 

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Well done RCCL.