To Whom It May Concern:
We received this information/press release from the trades/USA Today and
thought it may be of interest to this newsgroup as well.
Happy sailing...
John Sisker - SHIP-TO-SHORE CRUISE AGENCY (sm)
(714) 536-3850 or toll-free at (800) 724-6644 & (Agency ID: 714.536.3850)
www.shiptoshorecruise.com
As a strengthening Hurricane Ike takes aim at the Texas Gulf Coast, the
battered Turks and Caicos Islands are still assessing damage from the
storm's passage last weekend and evacuated tourists are returning to the
relatively unscathed Florida Keys. Ike's torrential rains were blamed for at
least 71 deaths in Haiti and caused widespread destruction across Cuba,
where buildings crumbled in historic Havana and about 10,000 tourists were
evacuated from seaside hotels.
On Sunday, it drenched the southern Bahamas and slammed into the Turks and
Caicos, a British territory best known for scuba diving and exclusive
resorts, as a Category 4 storm.
THE CRUISE LOG: Carnival to resume Grand Turk cruises in October
Officials say the hurricane's impact was lighter on the Turks and Caicos'
main tourist island, Providenciales, where commercial air service resumed
Tuesday and many hotels, including Club Med and others on 12-mile Grace Bay,
have re-opened.
The all-inclusive Beaches Resort won't resume business until Nov. 15, due to
cosmetic damage. And the super-exclusive Amanyara, where low-season rates
top $1,000 a night, also remains closed. Many of the high-end resorts on
Providenciales routinely close in September for maintenance and officials
said most would re-open as scheduled in October.
On the administrative and political capital of Grand Turk, where Carnival
Cruise Line's two-year-old, $60 million cruise ship terminal was among the
more than 80% of island buildings damaged during the storm, Carnival said
its facilities would remain closed until Oct. 8. The terminal expects to
handle more than 200 cruise ship calls and an estimated 400,000 passengers
this year.
According to The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, thousands of pink flamingos on
the island of Great Inagua were unharmed when their breeding colony - the
world's largest - took a direct hit from Ike. All the country's hotels and
other tourist facilities are open.
In the Florida Keys, 15,000 tourists were asked to evacuate last week as Ike
approached, and were allowed to return Thursday. Ike's tropical storm-force
winds caused some erosion on Key West's Smathers and Higgs beaches and
downed tree limbs, but no major damage was reported. Commercial flights and
cruise ship calls resumed in Key West Thursday, and most hotels, restaurants
and attractions are open as well.
Sources:
* USA Today
* By Laura Bly and Jayne Clark
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