Cruise passengers turn their trip into a humanitarian mission
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Posted on September 19, 2019

Sometimes the holidays do not go as we had planned. It is what happened to them in this case. The passengers and crew members abandoned their planned 7 days vacation when they met with the
Hurricane Dorian. The ship called, Equinox left Florida with 3000 passengers. They were sailing through the Caribbean and their destination was Nassau, the capital of Bahamas.
When the strong storm hit the islands, they decided to change their port of arrival. Everyone agreed, the captain, the crew and the passengers, in modified the direction of the trip. Although they could have returned to the port of origin, they preferred to become a humanitarian aid ship. All of them were dedicated to prepare, package and serve more than 10.000 sandwiches and water bottles to Bahamians affected by Hurricane. Even the children abroad the ship collaborated making cards to encourage the victims.
At this time, besides the ship, there was more help. Others cruise liners rescued people who had lost their homes and who were sick. The victims needed to save their lives and the boats took them to safe places. Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, the Walt Disney Company and Carnival Corporation used their fleets to help in the delivery of supplies. They also transported the necessary staff to deal with the disaster.
Organizations like Unicef, Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have delivered in Nassau, nearly 1.5 tons of live savings supplies that will help provide safe water for over 9.500 children and families. This cargo includes over 400.000 water purification tablets, several 5.000 litres tanks for at least 2.000 people and 1.000 jerry cans.
The Nassau area is the most devastated. Damaged infrastructure makes the delivery of humanitarian aid extremely challenging. In some parts, roads ports and other transport facilities have been partly or totally destroyed. Unicef asks for help to continue the rescue.