CRUISERS OFFER A HELPING HAND

Posted on 03/11/2016 | About Fiji

Tropical Cyclone Winston was considered the worst storm in the history of Fiji. Weeks after the devastation, cruise lines are returning to the area, but this time some of the cruisers plan to contribute to the recovery of the island, as they pack relief supplies as well as their own luggage.

When the MS Seabourn Odyssey, docked into the Port of Suva last week 400 passengers from Switzerland, Austria and Belgium along with some staff members arrived with cash, clothes, games, books, food items and a donation to the Fiji Red Cross Society.  Assistant cruise director Annabel Wright said, “We want to thank everyone in Fiji.  Wherever we have been the people made us feel so welcomed, this is a beautiful country with beautiful people and it has given us so much pleasure being able to help the country.”Captain David Bathgate said, “We managed to raise over $29,000 (FJ $46562), over $662 (FJ $1062) worth of clothes and about $3,900 CAD (FJ$6261) worth of food items.“We landing all of that ashore in Suva and we hope it will help with the restoration process and rebuild some of the infrastructure,” Captain Bathgate said.Fiji based Captain Cook Cruises went ahead with its 11 day itinerary to Lau Island group, which was severely affected by Winston.The general manager of Captain Cook Cruises, Jackie Charlton, said they only had one passenger cancel the trip and most of the other passengers offered to bring supplies with them and offered to help clean up the villages on the itinerary.The cruise line brought clothes and food donated by the Rotary Club Fiji and Sea Mercy with them. Sea Mercy is a benevolent programme developed for disaster and critical care needs for remote islanders of the South Pacific when disasters occur.