Hurricane Aide

​​As so many are recovering from a devastating string of hurricanes, I am seeing my industry step up and pay back those who help the industry. The people of the Caribbean islands like St. Thomas, St Maarten, Puerto Rico and others are always so friendly and welcoming to visitors. Honestly, without them, cruising would not be as attractive.
Cruise lines have stepped up to help by using ships to meet immediate needs through evacuations and delivering supplies like food, water, medical supplies and generators. In addition, they are supporting ongoing efforts through donations to the Red Cross.
Examples
NCL used the Sky to evacuate 1,000 people from St. Thomas and Royal Caribbean evacuated 1,700 people from St Thomas and St. Maarten.
Carnival Corp plans to use 11 ships to deliver supplies to impacted areas in the Caribbean providing humanitarian aid where its most needed.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will match donations up to $1 million to aid hurricane relief efforts.

Carnival Corporation created a matching fund for employee donations to support American Red Cross hurricane relief efforts.

Disney Cruise Line donated $2.5 million to aid humanitarian relief efforts and committed to matching employee contributions to eligible relief and recovery organizations

Princess Cruises will match donations made by passengers and crew up to $100,000.
Other organizations in the industry like the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association, Apple Vacations,

Cheap Caribbean and many more are donation funds through employee matching and portions of bookings.

The efforts by these organizations are helping not only those in the Caribbean but Florida as well. Many of these places will need help moving forward from months and in some places years.

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