I suggest we all contact all of the cruise companies and ask them what they are doing to help? I know that Carnival is not doing this for free but I do hope they are doing this at cost.
http://tinyurl.com/89qsj
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WASHINGTON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. government has chartered three luxury cruise liners -- Ecstasy, Sensation and Holiday -- for the next six months to provide temporary housing for victims of Hurricane Katrina, Carnival Cruise Lines said on Saturday.
Two of the ships, the Ecstasy and Sensation, have a maximum capacity of 2,606 each and will be based in Galveston, Texas, while the third boat, the Holiday, has a maximum capacity of 1,800 and will likely be docked in Mobile, Alabama, the Miami-based company said.
more below...
Thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were left homeless after Katrina ripped across the Gulf Coast with powerful winds and widespread flooding, ruining homes, buildings and critical infrastructure.
Carnival, which is the namesake brand of the world's largest cruise company, Carnival Corp. (CCL.N: Quote, Profile, Research), declined to say how much the Federal Emergency Management Agency was paying to charter the ships.
more..
http://tinyurl.com/89qsj
Carnival Cruise Lines Three Cruise Ships to Federal Government As Part of Hurricane Relief Efforts
09/03/2005
MIAMI (Sept. 3, 2005) - Carnival Cruise Lines has chartered three of its cruise ships to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) on behalf of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for six months as part of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
The three cruise ships are the Ecstasy, Sensation and Holiday.
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This is from Carnivals website.. more here...
http://www.carnival.com/CMS/Articles/fema_charter.aspx
Carnival shipboard employees will be staffing the three chartered ships. The Ecstasy, and Sensation each have approximately 920 crew and the Holiday has approximately 660.