Carnival CEO defends cruise ship deal for hurricane refugees

[sabra]

http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050930/APN/509300863

Carnival CEO defends cruise ship deal for hurricane refugees

Associated Press Writer

Carnival Corp. CEO Micky Arison defended his company's $236 million contract with the federal government to use cruise ships to house hurricane victims, denying reports Friday that the vessels were mostly empty.

U.S. Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., called it a "sweetheart" deal in a letter Thursday asking Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to explain the contract with the Miami-based company.

The senators alleged the contract guaranteed the Carnival Cruise Lines brand rates that were much higher than market levels. The company has said it doesn't expect to make a profit on the deal.

"What we asked for was to be kept whole basically. And to make up for the revenue that we would have made had the ships been operated. And to pay for the expense of canceling 100,000 people and protecting travel agent commissions," Arison said at a cruise industry convention.

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. I thought Bush was the carnival CEO. Oh no, that's the Freakshow CEO

My error.

[Jara sang]

2. Bad idea anyway

Evacuees would have eaten the spoiled pork roast on the buffet and contracted a stomach virus. Passed it around among themselves making an already bad situation worse. Cruise ships are breeding grounds for infectious diseases.

[Missy M]

3. It amazes me how these companies get the lucrative contracts that...

they do yet they always cry poor mouth with the same old line 'they don't expect to make a profit on the deal'. What kind of BS is that. Give me $236 million contract and I'll sure as hell make a profit.

[samdogmom]

4. After they leave, we'll have to redecorate, so....

we'll need the extra money for the flat screens, and the new carpet, and.....

[Benhurst]

5. Yeah. And the Greek government offered ships FOR FREE. But

then they hadn't given big bucks to the Republicans.

And as I'm sure Dubya would point out, you've got to beware of GRECIANS bearing gifts.

:popcorn:

The corruption continues ... .

[TahitiNut]

6. The 3 ships were out of Mobile, New Orleans, and Galveston.

There's no way in hell they'd be making money for Carnival for many weeks, possibly months. Where the f*ck would they get a crew to fully staff them?? How would they provision them and board passengers?? If they stayed in those ports, nothing. If they moved to different ports, they'd have to be rescheduled and restaffed. This deal is so corrupt it boggles the mind. Is it a good idea to use them for essential service personnel (police, fire, etc.) and emergency relief workers? Absolutely. For $236 million? Absolutely not! This should've been a cost-only contract. The benefit to Carnival is loss-avoidance. To pile PROFIT on top of offering a win-win loss-avoidance is just OBSCENE. Where's Eminent Domain when it makes sense??? Those ships should've been confiscated for disaster relief and Carnival gotten ONLY the cost basis.

[sabra]

7. there you go again, asking those logical questions

stop it already :-)

[LynneSin]

8. Wait, you're telling me that every single boat is booked constantly

Ok, boats are mechanical hotels that float. And because these boats have engines and other mechanics within them, from time to time they probably end up in need of repairs.

So what this guy is telling me is that every boat he has is booked at every single minute and if one of these boats goes on the fritz they have no choice but to cancel away.

I would think they have a few older boats on drydock for just such an emergency and at least 1 of those boats could have been spared for use in the Gulf Coast Region.

And btw, Carnival isn't the only cruise ship company. Instead of making them sacrifice 100,000 paying customers and their trips they could have donated a boat and a few other companies could have donated a boat.

This is so total bullshit!