In the wee hours of Thursday morning, more than 100 crewmembers from Royal Caribbean’s Empress of the Seas became the first to activate the company’s disaster relief operation to bring relief supplies and 20,000 daily meals to the Freeport, Bahamas community.
Crewmembers prepared sandwiches, proteins with rice and fruits and snacks for the company’s first distribution at noon today. Over the next few days additional ships from its fleet — Symphony of the Seas, Celebrity Equinox, Mariner of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas — will repeat the process.
Along with Empress, the company is deploying container ships with much needed supplies including 47,000 bottles of water, 362 generators, 250 tarps, 25,000 square feet of plywood, 55,400 diapers and 7,500 pounds of pet food.
Royal Caribbean is committing $1 million to Dorian disaster relief and matching every dollar of guest and employee donations. To make sure those donations go where they can do the most good, they are collaborating with the Bahamian government and its 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 can’t make every bad memory of Dorian go away. But we can start making things better—today,” said Richard Fain, Chairman and CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Crewmembers from Royal Caribbean’s Empress of the Seas became the first to activate the company’s disaster relief operation to bring relief supplies and 20,000 daily meals to the Freeport, Bahamas community. Meals include sandwiches, proteins with rice and fruits and snacks. Over the next few days additional ships — Symphony of the Seas, Celebrity Equinox and Harmony of the Seas — will repeat the process.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. preps supplies for its inaugural relief mission to the Bahamas Wednesday. Empress of the Seas left PortMiami filled with provisions to create thousands of meals for those devastated by Dorian in Freeport and surrounding area. The company’s various cruise ships will continue to call at the island, delivering 20,000 ready-to-eat meals a day to the community. RCL also packed the first of several container ships with 3,800 cases of water and 180 generators as part of its recovery efforts.
