The Result of Panic

A LUXURY CRUISE WOULD HAVE BEEN CHEAPER

Emotional Intelligence is about the interface between thinking and feeling. If we act on emotion without thinking it through, we have panic, and the decisions aren't always good.

For instance, consider the $236 Million Cruise Ship Deal in an article written by Jonathan Weisman for The Washington Post

It begins ...

"On Sept. 1, as tens of thousands of desperate Louisianans packed the New Orleans Superdome and convention center, the Federal Emergency Management Agency pleaded with the U.S. Military Sealift Command: The government needed 10,000 berths on full-service cruise ships, FEMA said, and it needed the deal done by noon the next day.

The hasty appeal yielded one of the most controversial contracts of the Hurricane Katrina relief operation, a $236 million agreement with Carnival Cruise Lines for three ships that now bob more than half empty in the Mississippi River and Mobile Bay. The six-month contract -- staunchly defended by Carnival but castigated by politicians from both parties -- has come to exemplify the cost of haste that followed Katrina's strike and FEMA's lack of preparation."

The article continues to point out that IF the ships were at capacity with 7,116 evacuees, for six months (which they are not), the price per evacuee would total $1,275 a week (according to calculations by aides to Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.). A seven-day western Caribbean cruise out of Galveston can be had for $599 a person -- and that would include entertainment and the cost of actually making the ship move.

CAN YOU STAND TO READ SOME MORE?

The federal government, which is to say YOU AND ME, would actually save millions of dollars by literally sending the evacuees on a luxurious six-month cruise.

Carnival claims it won't make any money on this - not any more that it would have if it had kept the ships in regular service.

Apparently Sealift Command had bids from 13 ships, but only 4 met FEMA requirements, and get the requirements -- full meal service, between-meal snacks, linen and maid service, medical support, even prescription refills. (3 of the 4 were owned by Carnival.)

Wouldn't you think the evacuees could be helping with some of the "service"? Just a thought.

But the evacuees aren't stupid, and here's another reason why -- the ships aren't full because many evacuees "saw the ships as a dead end, far away from any job or potential new life."

At the peak, the ships were nearly full, but now there are 625 on the Ecstasy (capacity 2,544), and 820 aboard the Sensation (capacity 2,579). The Holiday has 342 aboard.

If you would like to read the full article, and/or email it to a friend, go here.
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