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FREEPORT, Bahamas – The anger provoked by Hurricane Dorian along the Bahamas was too cruel for the workers and guests of the Celebrity Equinox cruise ship to ignore it. Instead of continuing their usual itinerary for a seven-day Caribbean cruise, the huge ship embarks on a new mission: helping the survivors of the storm.
On Friday, the ship's kitchen staff prepared approximately 10,000 meals, while guests volunteered to prepare and pack them. The ship was a hive of activity while the crew was performing a dual mission. Even children – charged with writing personalized cards to cheer the victims – participated.
Celebrity Equinox, who left Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Saturday morning to sail the Caribbean, was due to land in Nassau, the nation's capital, for the end of her tour. But the ship was diverted Friday to Freeport on the island of Grand Bahama, partially decimated by the storm.
"We have a small army of cooks preparing food and a small fleet of lifeboats and tugs bringing them to shore," said Rob Zeiger, spokesman for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., parent company of Celebrity Cruises.
Zeiger said the ship had about 3,000 guests – and enough food to prepare thousands of extra meals.
In a letter to customers, the cruise company explained that it would compensate for their absence from the planned port with a credit on board. The decision to extend the help, they added, was rooted in a deeper purpose.
"The Bahamas occupies a special place in our hearts as a popular place for our guests and is home to more than 500 of our colleagues," the letter says. "Now, as a result of Hurricane Dorian, we are rolling up our sleeves to help our friends."
Guests who spoke to NBC News said they understood the decision to reroute their route and wish they could do more.
"If we can go out to give meals, that's the least we can do," said Jessica Russell of Fort Worth, Texas.
"It's great to be in the Bahamas, but what we are doing for these people – all their life, everything they've ever had, is gone," she added.
The Dorian was a Category 5 hurricane with 185 mph winds – one of the most violent Atlantic storms ever recorded – when it touched down Sunday in northern Bahamas. At least 30 people have been killed and thousands are missing, and archipelago officials, a magnet for tourists, have asked for humanitarian aid for the hardest hit islands.
Other cruise operators, including The Walt Disney Co. and Carnival Corp., have announced that they will donate money or supplies as part of the relief and recovery efforts.
Celebrity Cruises has been in the Caribbean for nearly 30 years and Royal Caribbean for about 50 years, Zeiger said, and some of their employees have been personally affected.
A rotation of the company's cruise ships will go through Freeport to help provide meals and other items, including garden chairs for sleeping, pillows, sheets, towels and medical supplies. Guests and crews also donated at least 10 boxes of clothing that will be distributed with the help of charitable organizations already present in the field.
For food, Celebrity Equinox has gained more resources at a previous stopover and has been supplied with enough resources for eight to ten days, said chef Alexander Capello.
The ship carried more than 5,000 kilos of food, which was used to make cold sandwiches for hot items such as chicken, rice and beans. In addition, more than 300,000 bottles of water were distributed by cruise ship vessels. Over the next few days, the company plans to create a kitchen in the field to continue to provide meals.
This is not the first time that Celebrity Cruises is moving towards a humanitarian cause: in 2010, when the airspace was closed due to the eruption of an Icelandic volcano, one of its ships allowed to pick 2,000 British tourists stranded in Spain.
Following Hurricane Dorian, the cruise line is working with the Bahamas government to identify evacuees who wish to travel from Freeport to Nassau.
"In the event of a disaster, you assemble a response system," he added. "And the answer was amazing."
Mariana Henninger reported from Freeport and Erik Ortiz from New York.
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