Carnival Fascination has been pulled from cruise service through early February to serve as a floating hotel for Federal Emergency Management Agency relief workers on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
St. Croix was hit three weeks ago by Hurricane Maria so badly that it hasn’t enough space to house relief workers. The nearby St. Thomas, hit by both Maria and Irma, also has relief workers housed on a cruise ship chartered by FEMA, the Bahamas Paradise ship Grand Celebration.
The charter for Fascination runs through Feb. 3; Grand Celebration is to resume normal service December 23. Each ship can hold about 2000 passengers. Passengers scheduled for cruises on the ships are receiving refunds and discounts on future cruises.
Aside from the chartered ships, a number of cruise lines have taken part in the relief and rescue efforts, including Royal Caribbean and Norwegian, which diverted ships to pick up stranded passengers and deliver supplies in the eastern Caribbean.
