The New York Times today took an acid tone in demeaning Carnival's Proposal to make their ships available as floating hospitals. This attitude is condescending, short-sighted, and downright dangerous.
We are but one little website, but we have seen the future. Since suspending our Daily Cruise Reports and our Last Minute Cruise Deals feature, our average readership per issue has dropped from a high of 800 views per week back down to around 600. Daily views have also dropped from 75 to about 35 so far this week. The cruise industry is nothing to sneeze at (and that wordplay was very much intended) and to think otherwise, is more than a bit shortsighted.
So what to do with a bunch of floating hotels when obviously no one is sailing for pleasure in a pandemic? Well-- if you are Carnival and the U.S. president, you think they might serve very well as floating hospitals.
The reason I say dismissing this idea is shortsighted, is because while we as a planet are panicking over one virus (that we can do precious little about in the first place) we are completely disregarding (or almost completely disregarding) that people will be dying from other things in the interim, and that regular hospitals will be unavailable (and undesirable) as refuges for the vast majority of these patients. Everything from broken bones, to post surgical recovery, to sub-acute care can be executed on a cruise ship if it is correctly augmented and staffed.
It appears we are going to be going to war with this virus. And in war, there is a long history of drafting the merchant fleet when necessary-- whether it is to move troops and cargo; or to serve as floating hospitals. Considering that our large population centers are near ports-- this offer should be taken seriously, and preparations should be made now to outfit these vessels, and move them to locations where they can be of use. (New York's and Philadelphia's harbors might be a good start). And if a few stewards, maids, and engineers keep a paycheck going, and the ships are not sitting idle and depreciating in dry dock-- all the better.
In times of general distress, it is always best to look at all sides of a solution; public and private. As we know here in Puerto Rico, self-reliance and using what resources we have at hand can make all the difference in the world. Sometimes that difference can be life or death.
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