Okay! So you’re on a cruise ship in the path of a storm. What do you do? Where do you go?
Well, the answer is obvious! YOU RUN THE OTHER WAY!
That’s exactly what four cruise ships carrying some 20,000 passengers did this past week. Three Carnival and one Royal Caribbean ships were cruising near the Yucatan this past Thursday and planning to return on their regular Saturday and Sunday schedules when all hell broke loose! Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas coast with the fury of a category 4 – not only wreaking havoc on land but at sea! Suddenly, 4 ships found themselves with nowhere to go – they could not sail through the fury – the port of Galveston was closed to traffic – and so they did the only wise thing – THEY RAN THE OTHER WAY!
One remained in the Caribbean – two sailed to New Orleans – and one wound up in Miami. Meanwhile, 20,000 passengers remained aboard in various states of angst worried about their loved ones and property being affected – anxious to return home and having no way to get there.
But, the true gist of this story is that the cruise lines KEPT THEM SAFE! Property can be replaced but lives cannot!
The four ships will return to the port of Galveston this week and resume their regular schedule. Debarking passengers will go back to their lives and life will go on – until the next time!
Remember – there is a storm named IRMA out there – let’s hope it heads out to sea and leaves Texas alone!