Three Carnival Cruise ships have been pressed into service by FEMA to provide shelter for as many as 7,000 hurricane victims.
The Ecstasy, the Sensation and the Holiday are being pulled from regular use starting Monday at the Government’s request. The cost of the charters was not disclosed.
Carnival Cruises spokesman Vance Gulliksen said Saturday from Miami, where the company is based, that pleasure cruises were canceled to make the ships available for the next six months.
“I can’t put a number on it, but we are displacing people to accommodate the FEMA charter,” he said. “You’re looking at tens of thousands.”
Ecstasy, normally ported at Galveston for four-and five-day cruises, and Sensation, normally in New Orleans for similar trips, will both be pulled Monday and are scheduled to dock and house Katrina refugees in Galveston, Texas.
The Holiday, which normally sails four and five-day Mexico cruises out of Mobile, Ala., will be pulled Thursday and likely docked in Mobile.
About 920 crew members will staff the Ecstasy and Sensation, with about 660 running the Holiday. The Ecstasy and Sensation can each take 2,606 total passengers, while the Holiday can hold 1,800.
“We sincerely apologize to those guests whose vacations have been impacted by these voyage cancellations,” Carnival’s chief executive, Bob Dickinson, said in a statement. “This inconvenience… will provide desperately needed housing for thousands of individuals affected by this tragedy.”
All Carnival customers with canceled bookings will get full refunds and the opportunity to re-book on any Carnival ship with a $100-per-person shipboard credit.
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