Several cruise shipping companies have said they would contribute to relief efforts in the Bahamas after the hurricane Dorian, which caused widespread devastation.
MSC Cruises said it has formed a high-level delegation of comprised of members of MSC Group’s U.S. senior management team as well as leadership of its philanthropic arm, the MSC Foundation.
The team is on its way to Nassau for meetings with local officials, community leaders and key relief and recovery organisations to determine most urgent relief needs and areas for long-term support.
MSC Cruises is also providing and delivering goods of primary necessity, providing semi-permanent prefabricated modular housing for areas most affected, and making available MSC Group geared container ships for cargo relief service from the U.S. to The Bahamas.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL) said for more than half a century, we've made many friends and many memories. The Bahamas is also home to more than 500 of our colleagues who work at Perfect Day at CocoCay and the Grand Bahama Shipyard.
“So in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, we're rolling up our sleeves to help our friends, and inviting our guests to help.
Royal Caribbean is committing $1 million to Dorian disaster relief, and ITM—our partner in the Holistica joint venture that is developing the Grand Lucayan resort in Freeport—is also donating an additional $100,000,” the company said in a statement.
To make sure our donations go where they can do the most good, we are collaborating with the Bahamian government and our non-profit partner, the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF), and a network of Bahamian charities and other local organizations, including the Bahamas Feeding Network.
We are loading all kinds of goods onto our ships— generators, water, cleaning supplies, clean sheets, towels, and more—for direct delivery to the Bahamas. The trained employee volunteers we call the GO Team are on their way to assist with relief efforts. And we're taking special care of coworkers and their families who were affected by the storm.
And we're matching every dollar of guest and employee donations to PADF so they can help our friends as well. We can't make every bad memory of Dorian go away. But we can start making things better—today. If you want to contribute please click this LINK and get started.
Continuing its ongoing efforts to assist and support residents of The Bahamas following Hurricane Dorian, Carnival Cruise Line has announced that two ships departing from U.S. homeports next week will make stops in Freeport to distribute food, water and relief supplies.
The stops at Freeport to deliver supplies will be part of Carnival Pride's seven-day cruise from Baltimore departing Sept. 8 and Carnival Liberty's four-day cruise from Port Canaveral departing Sept. 9.
These efforts are in addition to supplies being transported to the Bahamas via the already announced agreement with Tropical Shipping and The Bahamas National Emergency Management Agency to deliver items donated by residents of Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. A container ship with the first shipment of supplies departed for Freeport this evening.
Additionally, Carnival Corporation's philanthropic arm, Carnival Foundation, and its nine global cruise line brands together with the Micky and Madeleine Arison Family Foundation, have pledged to donate $2 million in funding and in-kind support for hurricane relief efforts in The Bahamas.
Carnival has also asked employees and guests to join the effort through online giving tools, and over the next few days, will ramp up a donation program at its U.S. homeports as guests board their cruises. Organizations supported by these online efforts include Direct Relief and World Central Kitchen.
"The Bahamian people are resilient with an unwavering spirit and Carnival and its employees are fully committed to helping residents rebuild and recover in the aftermath of the storm," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. "The devastation of the Bahamas is truly tragic and heartbreaking and we are keeping them in our thoughts as we continue to offer our support and assistance."