Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line said its ship has been chartered to the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) to assist hurricane-recovery efforts in St. Thomas.
The Grand Celebration will head for the storm-stricken destination in the U.S. Virgin Islands with arrival anticipated on Sept. 23. The mission is expected to continue into the later part of December, with Grand Celebration resuming its two-day cruises to Freeport from the Port of Palm Beach on Dec. 23.
St. Thomas was devastated by Hurricane Irma and is in line for more hurricane-force winds from Hurricane Maria. While in St. Thomas, the ship will be used to house National Guard first responders.
“We will be reaching out to all of our guests and travel partners this week,” said Bahamas Paradise CEO Oneil Khosa. “We feel badly about this 90-day disruption but believe the extensive needs of the St. Thomas people to be of greater importance at this time.”
Guests who have already booked cruises during the next few months through travel partners should contact their agents about rebooking or refunds. Those who booked direct can call the customer service department at (800) 374-4363.
The Grand Celebration, originally the Carnival Celebration, has 750 cabins and space for up to 1,900 guests.
Norwegian Cruise Line CEO Andy Stuart embraces Hurricane Irma evacuee Bryan Denton. At left is Denton’s sister-in-law, Jodi. Photo Credit: Tom StieghorstMore than 900 people stuck in the U.S. Virgin Islands because of Hurricane Irma, many grateful to be alive, arrived at PortMiami on Friday morning after being rescued in St. Thomas by the Norwegian Sky cruise ship.
The majority were tourists stranded when Irma’s 185 mph winds obliterated the Cyril E. King Airport in Charlotte Amalie. “The control tower is gone,” said Charlene Woolley, who was on vacation from Atlanta. “[Flying] was not an option.”
The Norwegian Sky had sailed empty to Cancun during the storm and motored directly to St. Thomas once the government there sent out an urgent request for transportation off the island.
The 2,004-passenger ship picked up a total of 923 evacuees, including 99 from St. John who had been brought to St. Thomas by a U.S. Coast Guard vessel.
Before the hurricane, Woolley said she was relocated from the beachfront hotel where she had been staying to the Windward Passage. That hotel is built of concrete and mostly stood against the storm’s assault, but sustained a lot of damage.
“It was raining in the room,” Woolley said. “Some rooms had lost their ceilings. The air conditioner was gone. We were in the bathroom. The whole building was shaking the whole time. Imagine a really big hotel door that was rattling like you think it was going to blow off.”
Hurricane Irma evacuee Arlene Graham shares a photo of the storm with Norwegian Cruise Line CEO Andy Stuart at PortMiami. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst
She said the shatter-proof windows looked like they were “breathing,” being sucked in and out by the pressure.
But Woolley said the aftermath was worse.
“Because of where our hotel was, it was kind of a bad part of town. So there was nightly shooting. They were robbing the tourists because they knew they had cash,” she said. “There was no power. There was a generator that the manager of the hotel ran only at night for lights, for safety. We actually had the St. Croix police staying in our hotel and there were still people trying to get in. You literally stood outside your room and guarded your supplies, your water, ice, toilet paper.”
Woolley found out on the web that the Norwegian Sky was coming to evacuate people. She and her companion got their names on the list.
“You literally saved our lives,” Woolley told Norwegian Cruise Line CEO Andy Stuart, who was at the port on Friday to greet evacuees. “I can’t say that enough.”
For Terry Denton and his family, Norwegian Cruise Line represented hope at the darkest hour.
The Phoenix businessman was on a 10-day vacation with his wife and two relatives. They had planned to fly back before the storm hit, “but that didn’t happen,” Denton said.
Norwegian Sky by Dave Jones
Instead they were moved from their waterside villa to a condo building, where the walls held but the windows shattered. The room flooded.
Still left with some internet service, Denton heard a rumor that a cruise ship was coming and sent Facebook messages to every line he could.
Only Norwegian replied. “They simply typed back, ‘You’re not forgotten. Someone will come help you,'” said Denton’s wife Jodi.
Until that point, the group, which included Denton’s brother and the brother’s daughter, had been in the dark literally and figuratively. “We had nothing before that,” Jodi Denton said. “It gave us hope.”
Another evacuee, Arlene Graham, had been through hurricanes before. As a 20-year-resident of St. Croix and St. Thomas, she had seen some severe storms, including Hurricane Marilyn in 1995, which left 11,000 people on St. Thomas homeless.
“This hurricane was worse,” she said.
Norwegian Cruise Line CEO Andy Stuart talks with Charlene Woolley, an Atlanta resident on vacation in St. Thomas when Hurricane Irma hit. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst
Although her home held up fairly well, Graham said she left her husband to take care of the property so she could get her 15-year-old son Ahmad reestablished in school in northern Virginia.
“We’re not sure how the storm will affect things,” said Graham, a financial analyst for the Department of Education.
Graham said there was no looting in her neighborhood, but the island is in dire need of supplies, including tarps for damaged roofs, food, water and ice.
“The main concern is for people to be able to get back on their feet and sustain themselves, and get what is needed to rebuild,” she said.
Carnival Corp. and related entities have pledged $10 million toward hurricane relief in the wake of Hurricane Irma, which devastated parts of the Caribbean and Florida, including Miami-Dade County where Carnival has its headquarters.
Carnival Foundation (the philanthropic arm of Carnival Corp.) and the Miami HEAT Charitable Fund are pledging to raise a combined $5 million for relief and recovery efforts. Carnival chairman Micky Arison and his wife Madeleine will match that commitment through their foundation.
Included in the $5 million, the Arisons are making an immediate donation of $2.5 million to Direct Relief, UNICEF and the United Way of Miami-Dade County to support the most timely and urgent relief needs, Carnival said.
“Hurricane Irma’s impact strikes close to home both in our home state of Florida and across the Caribbean, where we and our brands have made many friends and partners over many years,” Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald said. “Our prayers and thoughts go out to all of those who have been impacted.”
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