Carnival Cruise Line announced Tuesday that it would use one of its ships to house first responders helping in the New Orleans area with Hurricane Ida recovery.
The company says that it will open up the Carnival Glory cruise ship thanks to an agreement between the cruise line, the city of New Orleans and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
First responders will be housed on the ship through Sept. 18.
Carnival Glory arrived at the Port of New Orleans on Sept. 3 and underwent a required U.S. Coast Guard inspection.
Carnival says that the ship has since begun provisioning food, water, and materials to prepare for up to 2,600 hospital workers, first responders, city and utility workers, and other emergency personnel to join the ship.
The ship will stay in port and serve as emergency housing for workers directly involved in the city's infrastructure recovery and healthcare needs.
"While we want to provide the city of New Orleans with an economic boost by restarting guest operations, we want to first provide this critical housing support to address emergency needs and to get power restored to the region," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. "We appreciate the understanding of our guests, who we know love New Orleans as much as we do."
Carnival added that it had canceled Glory's upcoming cruise, which was scheduled to begin on Sept. 12. The company says they plan to restart guest operations with Carnival Glory from New Orleans on Sept. 19.
Carnival had already canceled the Sept. 5 departure for Carnival Glory.
This story was originally published by Scripps station KATC in Lafayette, Louisiana.
