Feds ask cruise lines to house the displaced

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Thu, Sep. 01, 2005

Feds ask cruise lines to house the displaced

BY PATRICK DANNER
[e-mail]

The federal government Wednesday asked cruise lines, including Miami's Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean International, to use their ships to house Gulf Coast residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Cruise lines reached by The Herald said they hadn't yet decided whether the companies would reroute ships to the ravaged areas.
(snip)

Cruise lines and their association, the International Council of Cruise Lines, noted there would be logistical hurdles related to moving ships to the storm-damaged areas of the Gulf.
(snip)

An average vessel can accommodate about 2,500 passengers, Sheehan said. Earlier this year, five cruise ships were used to house about 6,400 people attending the Super Bowl in Jacksonville because of a shortage of hotel rooms in the city.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/12529643.htm
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[WCGreen]

1. Well, you know the cruise lines

aren't gonna want a bunch of homeless folks on board.....

[wakeme2008]

2. I know Carnivale has offered one or more ships so

far per a press release yesterday.

Full piece:

AP
Carnival: Feds Ask About Using Ships
Wednesday August 31, 2:08 pm ET
Carnival Says Federal Government Asks About Using Cruise Ships in Katrina Relief

MIAMI (AP) -- Carnival Cruise Lines said Wednesday the federal government has asked whether its cruise ships could be used as emergency shelters or help Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in some other way.

The world's largest cruise line said that although "to undertake such an endeavor would involve many complicated issues, we are actively taking a look at it."

Carnival operates 21 ships, each of which holds anywhere from about 1,500 to 3,000 passengers.

"It is our intention to work with federal officials to determine the feasibility of moving a ship into the area if that is their desire," the company said.

Carnival is owned by Miami, Fla.-based Carnival Corp.

[Sgent]

12. NOLA

is one of the largest cruise ship ports in the world.

There are some logistics involved, but the cruise ship terminals looked relatively clear on overheads I've seen. That said, the Mississippi River channel maybe fouled with debris and silt after the hurricane.

[wakeme2008]

13. Tampa is a Carnivale port and they are set up for suppling the ship

based there so they could go to NO and pick up people and turn around and return to Tampa for more supplies.

[scarlett1]

16. What about just ferrying people

out of the Gulf coast area to other gulf coasts. Florida, Texas, even North and South Carolina, they may only have room for 1,300 full time passengers but many more could be accommodated for a short period to move them from the Gulf coast

[Spinzonner]

3. I doubt this is an effective solution for long term refugees

Most cruise ships are designed to support people for a week or two and then the ship docks and is resupplied and cleaned while people are off it.

Not to mention the difficulties of getting the people onto the ships.

And people going stir crazy after a while.

And what happens if mass sickness breaks out - as it has on several cruises not very long ago.

And what happens if another hurricane bears down on the area. The passengers would either need to be offloaded or the ships would have to put to sea.

Sounds like a bad idea to me.

[Karenina]

5. Putting people in harm's way...

It's DELIBERATE.

[NYC]

4. What happens if the cruise ships refuse?

Is this the government's plan? Ask others to donate services and supplies?

[malaise]

10. Hopefully everyone will boycott

their sorry asses and not spend their money on cruises.
<edit - gr>

[bleedingheart]

6. The Question is? Who will reimburse them??? That is what the cruise line

companies want to know.

If they house a bunch of poor folks....they are worried that they will not make money and they aren't about to put profits behind people.

You watch.

[leftchick]

7. just what I was thinking

profits first in bushco** murika. :(

[Paulie]

8. Wont matter

Since another day or so those without clean water will be dead.

It's not just the box (ship) that matters, it's fuel and food. People should be bused to hotels, and not waste time playing with cruise ships.

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. Wouldn't it be better to ask all the big hotel chains

to put aside as many rooms as they can to house these folks? Much quicker and simpler solution I would think.

[warrior1]

11. Gee

that's what Randi Rhodes said yesterday. Must have heard her.

[LibDemAlways]

14. Cruising is big business.

Ships are booked up to a year in advance. Are cruise lines willing to incur the costs associated with cancelling passengers, refunding money, offering incentives for rebooking, covering the cost of "non-refundable" airfares for thousands of their customers? What would they do with the crew, many of whom are low paid workers who survive on the tips paid by the passengers? Even if the execs. decided in the end they wanted to help out, I doubt their insurance carriers would go for it. Turn the ships over to refugees? Not likely.

[Roland99]

15. Isn't that what we were saying on MONDAY?

[Neshanic]

17. Yes, a person here came up with that idea. Can't remember who.

[Vogon_Glory]

18. There Are Ships Available...

I believe that there are ships available. Even if all of Carnival Corp's and RCI's ships are in use for now and into the forseeable future, there ought to be at least several ships over in Europe that are idle because they were uneconomical to operate. If RCI and Carnival Corp are wise, they'd either see to supplying their almost-ready-to-retire ships or acquire a couple of the spare European ships to lease to FEMA or somebody.

[demo dutch]

19. Very bad idea, and why should they pick up the mess the goverment made

plus the fact think about the employees on the ship that will lose their jobs as well and be displaced, since those ships aren't registered in the US, and majority of the staff aren't American so they won't be receiving unemployment. It's a logistical nightmare, especially since the hurricane season lasts until Nov 30, and more storms can follow plus they needs lots of fuel.