Relief contributions by commercial air carriers' and a cruise line -- and a cruel hoax
American Airlines' last commercial flight took off from Port-au-Prince shortly after Tuesday's devastating quake. The carrier immediated scheduled three relief flights for Wednesday and three more for Thursday. Each carried 10,000 pounds of supplies for the airline's 100 employees in Haiti, as well as materials for local hospitals. It has also set aside American is also giving AAdvantage frequent flyers a one-time 250-mile bonus who make a minimum $50 donation to the American Red Cross 500 bonus miles for a $100 donation.The donation must be made online here by February 28.
Spirit Airlines is prepared to add up to 1 billion miles into its frequent flyer program to members who donate $5 or more to the Red Cross, UNICEF or Yele Haiti. Click here to link to the carrier's relief contributions.
The United Airlines Foundation is matching up to a total of US$50,000 to the American Red Cross for monetary donations by United customers and employees through the International Response Fund at united.com. Also, Mileage Plus members and employees can donate miles to the airline's nonprofit relief partners as part of its Charity Miles program. According to the communications department, "United is also working with relief agencies to determine how we can best support air lift humanitarian efforts, including transporting aid workers, food, and water."
Continental Airlines permits its OnePass members to donate miles to relief workers through the American Red Cross and other aid organizations through an existing program that does not seem to be speficially linked to Haiti relief.
Two EL AL aircraft, one jumbo 747-400 and one 777, flew to Haiti yesterday with 80 tons of supplies and 229 passengers (medical personnel, search-and-rescue teams and a K9 rescue squad).
Commercial cargo and package carriers like FedEx and UPS are not yet able to land in Haiti, but UPS is said to be donating $1 million to help the people of Haiti through relief agencies. This is just the beginning of the process, and I'm sure that others will participate as well.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is reportedly ready to continue sailings to its resort at Labadee, a private port of call on the north coast that escaped quake damage. The cruise line will carry humanitarian supplies on regular voyages.
And on the ground (or on the snow), Utah's Brighton Resort is donating $1 from every ticket sold tomorrow (Saturday, January 16) to relief efforts.
Horrible Hoaxes in the Twittersphere
According to a CNN report, "Twitter was buzzing Thursday morning with news that several airlines are flying doctors and nurses to Haiti free of charge to help with relief efforts there in the wake of Tuesday's devastating earthquake....The rumors are false...'[The] hoax on Twitter about American and JetBlue flying doctors and nurses to Haiti for free was just that -- a hoax. We don't know who is responsible, but it's a very low thing to do,' airline spokesman Tim Smith said in e-mails sent Thursday.Twitter users also circulated a rumor that UPS would ship for free any package under 50 lbs. to Haiti. In a blog post Wednesday on UPS's Web site, a spokeswoman debunked the rumor and said that destruction of Haiti's roads and communications networks 'means our own shipping services to Haiti are on hold.'"
Showing posts with label Caribbean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Caribbean. Show all posts
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Haiti: Hotel Oloffson Appears to Have Survived
Port-au-Prince landmark hotel survived the quake
Back in the early '80s, during a period of relative quiessence in Hait (Papa Doc Duvalier having been succeeded by his more benign son, Baby Doc), the country was taking advantage of a relatively quiet period and was trying to entice foreign tourists to return. Yes, our small group of travel journalists was driven past heartbreaking shantytowns and shameful slums, but also visited places of hope and creativity. We visited the cathedral (now in ruins), repeatedly drove past the Presidential Palace (now collapsed), visited the Centre d'Art and bought some wonderful primitive paintings, bought other handcrafts at the Iron Market and drove up into the mountains past deforested mountainsides to a crafts coop and a rum distillery. And I stayed at the Hotel Oloffson, a labyrinthian frame building bedecked in elaborate fretwork and set in lush private grounds.
In Haiti's heyday, when the rich and famous frequented Haiti, the richest and most famous stayed at the Oloffson and anchored its bar. A cigar-chompoing Connecticut native, Al Seitz, took over the hotel in 1960, and over the years, hosted such big names as Jackie Onassis and Mick Jagger, and Seitz named hotel rooms after them. Graham Greeen set The Comedians at the Oloffson. After Al Seitz' death in 1982, his widow, the former Suzanne Laury, continued to operate it, and that's when I visited. The Oloffson survived thanks to foreign reporters and international aid workers who needed secure lodging
As I watched television reports of the horrible earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince two days ago, I also wondered how the Oloffson fared. The hotel has survived decades of a challenging climate, natural disasters, merciless dictatorshops and insurrections, but might have been the cruelest blow. However, it is known that wood-frame buildings withstand quakes and shakes better than poorly built masonry ones. According to a report in USA Today's "Hotel Check-In," the Oloffson seems to have dodged yet another bullet:
P.S. After I wrote the post above, I learned that the hotel was surffered some damage. The New York Times reported that photographer Teuila Minsky, who was also staying in the Oloffson,said that a wall at the front of the hotel had fallen, killing a passer-by. Hotel owner (or GM) Richard Morse, using Twitter, was described as "a major source of news coming out of the disaster area in the early hours. In a Twitter Post from Jan 12th, he states 'Our guests are sitting out in the driveway.. no serious damage here at the Oloffson but many large buildings nearby have collapsed.'"
Back in the early '80s, during a period of relative quiessence in Hait (Papa Doc Duvalier having been succeeded by his more benign son, Baby Doc), the country was taking advantage of a relatively quiet period and was trying to entice foreign tourists to return. Yes, our small group of travel journalists was driven past heartbreaking shantytowns and shameful slums, but also visited places of hope and creativity. We visited the cathedral (now in ruins), repeatedly drove past the Presidential Palace (now collapsed), visited the Centre d'Art and bought some wonderful primitive paintings, bought other handcrafts at the Iron Market and drove up into the mountains past deforested mountainsides to a crafts coop and a rum distillery. And I stayed at the Hotel Oloffson, a labyrinthian frame building bedecked in elaborate fretwork and set in lush private grounds.
In Haiti's heyday, when the rich and famous frequented Haiti, the richest and most famous stayed at the Oloffson and anchored its bar. A cigar-chompoing Connecticut native, Al Seitz, took over the hotel in 1960, and over the years, hosted such big names as Jackie Onassis and Mick Jagger, and Seitz named hotel rooms after them. Graham Greeen set The Comedians at the Oloffson. After Al Seitz' death in 1982, his widow, the former Suzanne Laury, continued to operate it, and that's when I visited. The Oloffson survived thanks to foreign reporters and international aid workers who needed secure lodging
As I watched television reports of the horrible earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince two days ago, I also wondered how the Oloffson fared. The hotel has survived decades of a challenging climate, natural disasters, merciless dictatorshops and insurrections, but might have been the cruelest blow. However, it is known that wood-frame buildings withstand quakes and shakes better than poorly built masonry ones. According to a report in USA Today's "Hotel Check-In," the Oloffson seems to have dodged yet another bullet:
"At least one prominent hotel is safe - the Hotel Oloffoson, owned by Richard Morse. According to his tweets today, everyone is safe at the hotel. He tweeted, 'all my guests slept in the driveway last night..people came up from the streets thinking they were bodies.. neighbors helping neighbors.'I know that is is but one small island of good news in a sea of untthinkable tragedy, but in a Molly Brown sort of way, perhaps it's a sign that beleaguered, resilient Haiti "ain't down yet."
Christine Blanchard of New Jersey wrote in to the BBC that she 'heard a lot of people are at the Hotel Oloffson - near the center of Port-au-Prince - because it's one of the few hotels still standing.' She'd written to BBC earlier this morning after staying up all night searching for missing family in Haiti.)"
P.S. After I wrote the post above, I learned that the hotel was surffered some damage. The New York Times reported that photographer Teuila Minsky, who was also staying in the Oloffson,said that a wall at the front of the hotel had fallen, killing a passer-by. Hotel owner (or GM) Richard Morse, using Twitter, was described as "a major source of news coming out of the disaster area in the early hours. In a Twitter Post from Jan 12th, he states 'Our guests are sitting out in the driveway.. no serious damage here at the Oloffson but many large buildings nearby have collapsed.'"
Sunday, November 21, 2010
'Oasis of the Seas' Now at Sea
Enormous floating city, the 'Oasis of the Seas,' heading for Florida
Passengers enter the cocoon from a new $75 million, 240,000-square-foot terminal built specificallyto be the home port for new the Oasis ships, both the "Oasis of the Seas" and the even newer "Allure of the Seas," scheduled to debut late next year). Between them, these ships are expected to bring more than 500,000 cruise passengers through Port Everglades every year. That's half-a-million people.
The 'Oasis of the Seas' should be called the 'Behemoth of the Seas': 1,187 feet long, 208 feet wide 213 feet (that's more than 20 stories!) high from the water line, 16 passenger decks, 5,400 passengers (double occupancy; 6,296 guests total if a body is crammed into every sleeping space) and 2,165 crew from over 71 countries. One of the two dozen elevators is equipped with a bar. The center of the ship is something like a landscaped atrium called Central Park. I guess that way they can book more "balcony cabins." The $1.6 billion ship's own website features click-on video that reminds me of an infomercial. First comes the captain, telling viewers that the crew is "wowed" by the ship. Then we see individual crew members saying, "WOW!" individual and then in unison.
I can't say. "Wow!" If it weren't too late, I'd say "Woah! Hold on!" But it's too late, for she is sailing to start service with her first regular passengers boarding in early December. A ship that at peak capacity holds nearly 8,500 passengers and crew overwhelms everything it encounters. On the winter itinerary, the eastern and western itineraries are very similar. In and out of Fort Lauderdale, then to three ports. Labadee is Royal Caribbean's private island for those who prefer activities to any interaction with any real Caribbean residents. Falmouth on Jamaica's north coast is a new port for Royal Caribbean, which operates a fleet of cruise ships whos last name is "...of the Seas." Falmouth is a heritage site, currently under restoration. I haven't been there, but it sounds like the Williamsburg of Jamaica. Cozumel, Mexico is an island where my husband and I dived many years ago, when cruise ships -- all a fraction of the "Oasis'" size -- anchored in the local harbor and passengers were tendered ashore. Now, an out-of-town pier with built-in shopping opportunities is passengers' first (and often only) port of call there.The "Oasis of the Seas" therefore qualifies as the world's largest floating cocoon.
Passengers enter the cocoon from a new $75 million, 240,000-square-foot terminal built specificallyto be the home port for new the Oasis ships, both the "Oasis of the Seas" and the even newer "Allure of the Seas," scheduled to debut late next year). Between them, these ships are expected to bring more than 500,000 cruise passengers through Port Everglades every year. That's half-a-million people.
I do not need to post the remarkable specs and all of the facilities and activities of the "Oasis of the Seas" here. It certainly is a marvel of maritime engineering (even the stacks retract so it can pass under certain large but not-high-enough bridges). But I question the entire concept of bigger-is-better and glitzier-is-ritzier cruising. It seems like a bad idea environmental, sociologically and even socially. Segmenting this enormous ship into "neighborhoods" doesn't make it any smaller or less intimate.
Sure, it's a wow! but a Wow! that comes with a price. Like Rome, this gigantic cruise ship was not built in a day. I wonder whether Royal Caribbean would embark on such a project in today's economy and with today's sensibilities.
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