And are they ever happy. The Royal Caribbean Cruise Line ferried 3,800 storm weary passengers from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to the cruise line’s home port in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A crowd was there cheering the 1,791 passengers from Puerto Rico, 866 from St. Croix, and 560 from St. John and St. Thomas.
The Adventure of the Seas, with a capacity of up to 3,807 passengers, sailed into the Broward County seaport after concluding a humanitarian relief mission that delivered essential supplies to residents in the hurricane-ravaged U.S. territories. The cruise ship then was used to transport many island residents with medical and special needs to the U.S. mainland for treatment and better living conditions.
From the U.S. Virgin Islands, priority was given to high risk pregnant women, the elderly and those with urgent medical needs, Governor Kenneth E. Mapp said. Many other passengers had commitments from family members to stay with them in the U.S. 1,500 were able to escape on mercy flights provided by Delta, United and JetBlue. Adventure of the Seas’ regular Sept. 30 cruise was canceled to facilitate the relief mission. The cruise ship will return to its home port of San Juan on Friday to prepare for its next scheduled sailing the following day. That sailing, however will operate, on an amended itinerary, which will replace St. Croix with Martinique, Royal Caribbean said.”
Notice that Trump did not even provide a mercy flight on his private jet, let alone enlisting the full power and resources of the army and navy using their planes and ships for transporting storm victims.
"We're down right now,” he said. “We have no power, we have nothing. There isn't much to do back home right now because we don't have any tourists to provide the money. The only thing making money right now is the gas stations and food places."
University of Miami MBA student Adam Quintanilla, 29, who has family and friends in Puerto Rico, was among those who stood ready to help the displaced passengers arriving at the port. He turned out, he said, because he wanted to help. So he organized nearly two dozen volunteers— many bilingual — to greet and assist the Spanish-speaking evacuees who arrived aboard the ship.
Quintanilla said the roughly 20 volunteers planned to assist through the American Red Cross with translation services, filling out Federal Emergency Management Agency paperwork and providing access to cell phones and chargers.
“I’m really happy about the volunteerism going on. A lot of people want to help out,” he said. “And this is something closer to home that we can do to try to ease the suffering.”
As a Floridian, I can report that Puerto Ricans are seething. One of my best friends has not heard from his family since Maria hit the island. He was describing Trump in words that would get me banned from this site. His family lives in the rainforest in the mountains of central PR. He is terrified about their well being.