Carnival Cruise Ships to be Shelters?

[MandM-Mom]

Does anyone know more info on this? What ships will it be, what did they do with all the vacations planned, just cancel them..... which is understandalbe but just wondering what will happen.....6 months is a long time to "rent" a cruise ship, that must be so expensive.

[Poohlovr]

Just copied from www.cruisecritic.com

Three Carnival ships go to Katrina relief
3/9/2005
Ecstasy, Sensation and Holiday will be pulled from service next week and deployed for six months to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, Carnival Cruise Lines confirmed.

Ecstasy, normally homeported at Galveston, and Sensation, normally homeported in New Orleans, will be pulled from service effective Monday. Initial plans are for both vessels to be docked in Galveston.

The Holiday, which is homeported at Mobile, will be pulled from service effective Thursday. Initial plans are for the vessel to remain docked in Mobile.

Carnival president and ceo Bob Dickinson apologized to guests whose vacations will be impacted. ‘However, given that Hurricane Katrina is the worst natural disaster in U.S. history, we trust our guests will understand that the decision to enter into these charters was the right one. This inconvenience to our guests will provide desperately needed housing for thousands of individuals affected by this tragedy,’ he said.

All customers whose bookings have been canceled will be offered full refunds and the opportunity to re-book their cruise on any Carnival ship. Those who re-book will receive a $100 per person shipboard credit. Carnival is protecting travel agent commissions on cancelled cruises.

Ecstasy, Sensation and Holiday normally operate four- and five-day cruises. Carnival shipboard employees will be staffing the three chartered ships. The 2,600-passenger Ecstasy and Sensation each have approximately 920 crew and the 1,800-passenger Holiday has approximately 660 crew. Affected Carnival customers will be notified of the canceled sailings this afternoon.


How Carnival deployment is affected
3/9/2005
As a result of three ships being chartered to the U.S. government for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, Carnival Cruise Lines is implementing some additional deployment changes within its fleet.


The Elation, which currently operates seven-day cruises from Galveston, will offer a one-time six-day voyage departing Sept. 4, then take over the Ecstasy’s four- and five-day Galveston program effective Sept. 10. Passengers on the Elation’s six-day voyage will receive a 15% refund and a $50 per person shipboard credit. The Ecstasy’s five-day cruise of Sept. 5 was canceled.

Passengers scheduled to sail on the Ecstasy during the affected six-month period of the ship’s charter for hurricane relief efforts will be automatically moved to the Elation. The Ecstasy and Elation are sister ships with identical layouts. Passengers will be assigned to the same cabins on Elation that they had booked on the Ecstasy. Carnival Conquest, normally based in New Orleans, will move to Galveston after it completes its current drydock on Sept. 11 to operate its original seven-day itinerary to Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel.



US charters 3 Carnival ships, ferry for hurricane relief
3/9/2005
Carnival Cruise Lines’ Sensation, Ecstasy and Holiday as well as the car-ferry Scotia Prince have been chartered for the hurricane relief effort on the Gulf Coast, Seatrade Insider has learned.


The total value of the four-vessel contract is $249m, a spokeswoman for the Military Sealift Command said. MSC procured the ships on behalf of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s emergency relief campaign to aid Hurricane Katrina victims.

[Free4Life11]

Wow that is amazing and it must be very costly! Good for them!

[swilphil]

Good for Carnival. I know that cruise line has one of the largest fleets, so it's going to be easier for them to rebook people. I wonder if other large cruise lines will do the same.

[BuckNaked]

Awesome!!

[va32h]

This is great - but I do hope that Carnival beefs up the salaries of it's service staff on the ships. Don't they rely heavily on tips for their income? Certainly the refugees will not be in a position to tip.

[MandM-Mom]

I was wondering if they would still be staffed or if the government will staff them? I hope they take good care of these ships, not trash them, with people living there for 6 mths things could get a bit more than a cruise ship is set to handle, it would be awful for carnival to step up to the plate and then have there ship destoyed. Not that people would intentionally do it but, everyone has different ways of life, some neat and tidy and some not so neat and tidy!

[Poohlovr]

According to Carnival, their own staff will be manning the ships.

[HappyMommy2]

I am glad to hear this. I have a lot of concerns about this plan (namely security) but I'm sure there are many, many people frantically working right now to figure out the logistics and make sure everyone will be safe and well cared for.

[DawnCt1]

I thought that this was a great idea on Wednesday when I suggested it, but I got a lot of replies about how ridiculous it was. I guess the owners of Carnival think it's an "okay" idea. ;)

[MagicKingdom05]

Good to hear.

[Micca]

Out of a flood, into the ocean. Ironic, isn't it? :)

[C.Ann]

That's an AMAZING offer! Hats off to those folks..

[BuckNaked]

I think it's great that they are renting out the ships, but I'm curious as to how much they are charging the government for their use.

And no, I'm not suggesting they should offer them up for free, and so long as it works, I don't care what it costs. Just curious.

[WDWBetsy]

That is wonderful! I would think that people would be happy to live onboard - compared to a cot in a stadium. And I think they would appreciate it and take care of the facilities even more than the average person who paid.

[MoniqueU]

While it is better then nothing cruise ship cabins are mighty close quarters for long term!! The ecstasy is an older ship and already needs to be refurbished badly. I have been on it. So that is probably why carnival picked that one. I also hope carnival raises the employees wages, they rely heavily on tips and it isn't fair for them to take a pay cut for an extended period of time even in the name of helping others. They have families back in their home countries depending on their pay.

[WDWBetsy]

I think it's great that they are renting out the ships, but I'm curious as to how much they are charging the government for their use.

And no, I'm not suggesting they should offer them up for free, and so long as it works, I don't care what it costs. Just curious.

I think the end of the article quotes a $249 million contract with an agency working with FEMA.

[BuckNaked]

It may be close quarters, but it's got to be better than a regular shelter.

[DawnCt1]

It may be close quarters, but it's got to be better than a regular shelter.

Exactly. Besides when I cruise, I am there for sleeping, showering and dressing. There is enough room to relax and watch tv if one wants to be alone but there are common areas, etc. It won't be a picnic for the passengers because what most of us enjoy about cruising will probably not be available; gourmet meals, entertainment, the casino and most likely the pool, but I would certainly prefer it to Astrodome living.

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I thought that this was a great idea on Wednesday when I suggested it, but I got a lot of replies about how ridiculous it was. I guess the owners of Carnival think it's an "okay" idea. ;)

It is a good idea--but I thought you suggested them to be used to evacuate in advance. (just clarifying so I don't get jumped for saying it was a bad idea and then saying here it is a good idea).


I also hope that they pay the employees what they would have made on a regular sailing.

[Kermit]

I hope that where they dock the ships is accessible to the rest of the city. I know I've heard that they're going to try to make employment available to people in shelters like the Astrodome. I imagine the people will want to work, both for financial reasons and so that they can avoid going stir-crazy. Imagine the cabin fever (no pun intended ;)) you could get on a cruise ship. I hope that the people who want to work are able to and that the people who don't work but take care of their young children all day are able to get out and do things.

[BuckNaked]

It is a good idea--but I thought you suggested them to be used to evacuate in advance. (just clarifying so I don't get jumped for saying it was a bad idea and then saying here it is a good idea).




The city of NOLA apparently doesn't consider evacuation by cruise ship to be a bad idea, since that is the plan that they were working on prior to Katrina.

[N.Bailey]

Wow, this is incredible. These companies will not be forgotten by the American public!!!

[LoraJ]

My favorite cruise ever was on the Sensation. :)

Hooray Carnival for doing this.

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Wow, this is incredible. These companies will not be forgotten by the American public!!!

It is great to see them be selfless!

[Kitty 34]

Gosh, we were just on the Sensation this Spring. Not a bad temporary home, I think. :)

[goin2disneyagain]

I had heard that this was a possibility but I didn't know it was definite. Great to hear!!

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

Sounds like a good plan. Will be interesting to see how it works out.