Equinox headed to Freeport for relief efforts

[Smmessineo]

I am on the Equinox and the captain just announced that instead of Nassau tomorrow we will go to Freeport to drop off supplies for hurricane victims. This is wonderful news.

[evandbob]

Good news!  Seems like all the mass cruise lines are contributing to hurricane relief efforts.

[Phxazzcruisers]

That is GTEAT news.  You are not missing much in Nassau and that is a very grand gesture !!Bravo Celebrity

 

[Smmessineo]

The letter given to us says that 10000 meals and other supplies are being delivered. 

Passengers will be given 1 day of their cruise price back as refundable OBC, for missing Nassau.This is incredibly generous as I'm sure passengers almost unanimously would have accepted this change with no compensation.

Passengers can go to guest services and send a note to be delivered with the meals. I hope they are setting up a way to donate $ also ( not directly of course). 

 

Edited September 5, 2019 by Smmessineo

[Pickels]

Way to Go Celebrity!  A fine gesture that is needed and will be appreciated.

[hcat]

Suggest the 2 threads be combined. Post on other tgread is  included here...this one is  more active!

osted 1 minute ago

"Maybe they have something like the white  FEMA modular homes we have seen too often in Florida!  

 

Missing Nassau port  for  this important mission  is totally the right thing to do!"

Edited September 5, 2019 by hcat

[MamaFej]

43 minutes ago, Smmessineo said:

The letter given to us says that 10000 meals and other supplies are being delivered. 

Passengers will be given 1 day of their cruise price back as refundable OBC, for missing Nassau.This is incredibly generous as I'm sure passengers almost unanimously would have accepted this change with no compensation.

Passengers can go to guest services and send a note to be delivered with the meals. I hope they are setting up a way to donate $ also ( not directly of course). 

 

If I were given the option, I would request that that refund go to a charity such as World Central Kitchen who pre-staged with supplies and vehicles and jumped in as soon as the winds died down. 

I would hope that many onboard will donate their refunds (and more) to reputable charities that they support. 

[AnJ]

i think that’s a wonderful gesture by the cruise line, and if i were a passenger, I would gladly donate the amount of the refund back to a charity, as I’m sure so many will do. 

[grandgeezer]

33 minutes ago, MamaFej said:

If I were given the option, I would request that that refund go to a charity such as World Central Kitchen who pre-staged with supplies and vehicles and jumped in as soon as the winds died down. 

I would hope that many onboard will donate their refunds (and more) to reputable charities that they support. 

 

I think the $700 we are getting back a bit over the top to donate. We will donate a decent amount but no where near that. We do regularly donate to charities at home

[Laurab23]

So I guess the area where the ship docks must not have sustained as much damage? Hopefully we will see pictures from that area soon. I wonder if there were any ships there in drydock.

What Celebrity is doing is great!

 

Laura

[cyntil8ing]

Donate link that was in the letter to passengers. https://www.padf.org/hurricane-dorian-celebrity

 

Photo of letter posted on another site:

 

 

 

[MamaFej]

45 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

 

I think the $700 we are getting back a bit over the top to donate. We will donate a decent amount but no where near that. We do regularly donate to charities at home

I respect that.

I am a big believer in people doing what they feel is right for them, as long as their choices are not a detriment to others (crime, exploitation, etc.). 

 

I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.

[Fouremco]

Well done Celebrity!

 

Can someone explain how the Equinox has over 10,000 extra meals on hand? Is it typical of a cruise ship to carry a surplus of this magnitude, or might the Equinox have been over-provisioned for the current cruise in anticipation of a possible relief effort? 

[wrk2cruise]

Wow a day's  cruise fare refunded for a missed port for whatever reason is very generous.

 

[Smmessineo]

I guess supplies were picked up in Tortola or St Thomas ?  That’s all  I could figure....

[Smmessineo]

41 minutes ago, Laurab23 said:

So I guess the area where the ship docks must not have sustained as much damage? Hopefully we will see pictures from that area soon. I wonder if there were any ships there in drydock.

What Celebrity is doing is great!

 

Laura

I believe we will be anchored and tender supplies in or have them picked by vessels from shore. i will post tomorrow when I see how it is done. 

[wrk2cruise]

I believe ships are generally provisioned for quite a few extra days.  There are multiple ships who extended their cruises by a couple of days returning to FL late just this week.

 

Seeing it will be the last day full day of the current sailing I'm sure they can offload most of the extra inventory of non-perishable stores and replenish them on Saturday.

 

I'd hope they offload all the bottled water onboard.  I'd happily go without bottled water for the last day of any of my cruises in this situation.

[grandgeezer]

49 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Well done Celebrity!

 

Can someone explain how the Equinox has over 10,000 extra meals on hand? Is it typical of a cruise ship to carry a surplus of this magnitude, or might the Equinox have been over-provisioned for the current cruise in anticipation of a possible relief effort? 

 

We went to the galley tour and was told that the ship usually has three weeks of supplies on it at one time. They replenish what they use and the ports they can. They have a main supplier and use them solely, except for emergencies. I didn’t see any unloading in Tortola and it would be a nightmare as you actually dock at one protruding out in the water.

Besides, after leaving Tortola, we were told we were going to Nassau. We didn’t know about the change until late morning today. 

[AnJ]

2 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

 

I think the $700 we are getting back a bit over the top to donate. We will donate a decent amount but no where near that. We do regularly donate to charities at home

 

I also believe that each person should decide how much they want to donate, but seeing that you most likely paid for this cruise some time ago, and were  happy with that agreed upon cost, the $700 seems to me to be a windfall gained on the backs of people who have lost everything.

[Fouremco]

56 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

I believe ships are generally provisioned for quite a few extra days.  There are multiple ships who extended their cruises by a couple of days returning to FL late just this week.

 

Seeing it will be the last day full day of the current sailing I'm sure they can offload most of the extra inventory of non-perishable stores and replenish them on Saturday.

 

I'd hope they offload all the bottled water onboard.  I'd happily go without bottled water for the last day of any of my cruises in this situation.

 

31 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

 

We went to the galley tour and was told that the ship usually has three weeks of supplies on it at one time. They replenish what they use and the ports they can. They have a main supplier and use them solely, except for emergencies. I didn’t see any unloading in Tortola and it would be a nightmare as you actually dock at one protruding out in the water.

Besides, after leaving Tortola, we were told we were going to Nassau. We didn’t know about the change until late morning today. 

10,000 meals sounded like a lot until I did the math after posting. With a full load of over 4,000 combined crew and passengers, 10,000 meals is less than a day's worth of food, and as you both point out, a ship would typically carry several days' worth of extra provisions at minimum.

Edited September 5, 2019 by Fouremco

[aml3679]

This is so wonderful and just warms my heart.

[Redtravel]

Great idea.  Would be nice if a cruise ship could house people in Bahamas who are now homeless.

[hrhdhd]

1 hour ago, AnJ said:

I also believe that each person should decide how much they want to donate, but seeing that you most likely paid for this cruise some time ago, and were  happy with that agreed upon cost, the $700 seems to me to be a windfall gained on the backs of people who have lost everything.

 

This is a little over the top. None of us should cruise, then, because every day people are starving / without clean water / dying of disease / etc.

 

/s

[grandgeezer]

5 hours ago, AnJ said:

 

I also believe that each person should decide how much they want to donate, but seeing that you most likely paid for this cruise some time ago, and were  happy with that agreed upon cost, the $700 seems to me to be a windfall gained on the backs of people who have lost everything.

 

5 hours ago, AnJ said:

 

I also believe that each person should decide how much they want to donate, but seeing that you most likely paid for this cruise some time ago, and were  happy with that agreed upon cost, the $700 seems to me to be a windfall gained on the backs of people who have lost everything.

 

I had no hand in their hardship and the money for the cruise came out of my pocket. I donated money that didn’t come from a windfall. This just evens it out a little bit. I did donate an amount I thought was appropriate.

In the future, maybe I should only donate money I get from windfalls.

Finally, I paid more than I was happy with just to see if the suites were worth the premium they charge over other lines. Even with the $700 kick back, it is not.

[waggie]

It is a shame that a great gesture by a cruise line AND passengers should descend into someone having to defend their donation!

 

Edited September 6, 2019 by waggie
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