Royal Caribbean cancels cruise, sends ship on rescue mission to Puerto Rico

[DonViejo]

Source: The Hill




BY AVERY ANAPOL - 09/28/17 01:12 PM EDT

Royal Caribbean has canceled an upcoming cruise in order to send a ship to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands on a mission to help hurricane victims.

The Adventure of the Seas, which can carry 3,114 passengers, will forgo its scheduled Saturday voyage and travel to San Juan, St. Croix and St. Thomas on Friday to pick up evacuees and bring supplies. A spokesman for Royal Caribbean told the Miami Herald that the cruise line expects to pick up more than 3,000 people, taking them back to Fort Lauderdale, Fl.

The cruise line sent ships to St. Thomas and St. Maarten to rescue a total of 1,700 people after Hurricane Irma struck the area. According to the Miami Herland, travelers on the canceled voyage will get a full refund.

President Trump said earlier this week that the federal government has had difficulty getting aid to Puerto Rico, compared to other U.S. areas hit by hurricanes in the last month, because it is an island. "This is a thing called the Atlantic Ocean, this is tough stuff,” Trump said.



Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/352896-royal-caribbean-cancels-cruise-to-send-ship-on-hurricane-relief

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. That is a huge, new expensive ship and this is fantastic .

[underpants]

2. When you get outclassed by a cruise ship

[Not Ruth]

3. How will they dock?

[Miss_Underestimated]

6. If there is no where to dock, they can drop anchor and use tenders (i.e. lifeboats) to ferry people

and supplies back and forth.

[Brother Buzz]

8. And they can do it very efficiently

I watched a cruise ship unload a thousand passengers in an hour. Add a couple of shore tenders to the mix, and it'd be a cake walk.

[Stallion]

9. What's Unique About San Juan Port is that Its Literally Right in Front of Old San Juan

....basically a walk across the street. I've been to about 20 ports and its unique in that respect

[luvtheGWN]

13. Actually, the port in Nassau

is pretty much the same. Just a short 3 minute walk to the main street in Nassau.

[kimbutgar]

15. I stayed at one if those hotels at the cruise port in Puerto Rico

It is updated and will be fully operational for the ship to dock.

Kudos to Royal Caribbean for helping people over profits!

[AtheistCrusader]

12. All of those cruise ships draft 26 feet or less. The Comfort and Mercy run 33 feet.

The port is 34.7 feet deep under ideal conditions.

That means, this can dock, while the Comfort will have to wait until the waterway has been checked for debris.

[appleannie1943]

4. Bet they won't charge them like the government is doing.

[Miss_Underestimated]

5. The cruise ship industry hires a lot of workers from the Caribbean - probably a lot of families of

their labor force have been adversely affected by the hurricanes. Good to see RC making the effort to help.

[Stallion]

7. San Juan is the Home Port for the Adventure of the Seas for Southern Caribbean Cruise

....so they are just re-directing it from San Juan to Ft Lauderdale-I doubt it was possible for passengers to get to San Juan anyway-but good deed nonetheless

[LanternWaste]

10. This will be good PR

This will be good PR and even better advertising for a company caught and fined for dumping fuel waste into the ocean.

There may even exist a possibility this move is being done in good faith.

[TeamPooka]

11. I've cruised on RC twice and loved them. I love them more now.

[lindysalsagal]

14. How long is the trip?

[Stallion]

16. About 2 Days to Ft. Lauderdale at Usual Speed

generally that ship is a 7 day cruise that goes to ports like St. Thomas, St. Martin, St, Lucia and Antiqua and other islands that are having their own problems