Well Linda and I had the vacation of a lifetime over the past 10 days. It was scheduled for a week on Royal Caribbean and the week before we left it was completely reconfigured as to where exactly we would travel. The Bahamas, Puerto Rico and St. Thomas were not going to work so we ended up shifting to the western Caribbean and stayed as far from hurricane Irma as possible. We had planned the original trip (Linda had planned… just for the record) to be on the same trip that we had taken on our honeymoon, but with what we knew others were facing we had no complaints.
We watched CNN Caribbean on the ship daily to keep updated with the storm and and within four days we received word that we would not be able to return to Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday. It was right in Irma’s path and our trip was going to be extended for at least 3 days. Well okay… if we have to! For some it was a real problem, but with my being on sabbatical and Linda owning her own business it was not causing us the problem that many on the ship were facing. Six hour drives to airports from Costa Maya (added port of call), and then later in the week Cozumel with a much shorter drive allowed many to catch flights back to Ft. Lauderdale.
Listening to fellow passengers talking to loved ones that were in harms way was very moving and called for frequent prayer. As the the storm changed paths we heard that our niece and nephew that live in Ft. Lauderdale were headed to stay with my two sisters in Tampa. Only to hear the next day that Tampa was now going to be hit harder than the East coast. As you now know the storm spared the homes of both of my sisters and my neice and nephew made it back to Ft. Lauderdale without incident. No power for a few days when they returned but as of last night all of my family in Florida has power restored.
It was impressive to hear how Royal Caribbean was responding with four of their ships providing either supplies or housing or both. They allowed us to contribute financially and they matched all charitable contributions. The hospitality was great to start but when everything started to unravel they kicked it up a few notches with Call centers that provide free internet and phone calls to family, airlines and many employers. It wasn’t nearly as much about the food and drinks provided as it was the true concern and effort that every crew member we interacted with displayed.
We got back last night and this morning I was back at Mathew 25 Ministries working to keep the supplies moving to the disaster relief teams for both Harvey and Irma. It was so crowded today that it was very difficult to keep the product flowing. As fast as we could load the “gaylords”, a type of box on a pallet, they would back up because M25M didn’t have enough forklift drivers to move them into the trucks. Finally I asked if I could help and due to a “super disaster” type of clause in their rules I was able to help move the product faster. One fire fighter from Wright Patterson AFB said that he had just returned from Florida after a week in Texas, and the reason he was unloading a trailer full of supplies at M25M was that it was considered one of the best charitable organizations in the country. That felt great hearing that from someone that was on the other side of the shipments just a few days prior.
I’ll be back at M25M tomorrow and I am sure the pace will still be AMAZING!
Greatfully,
Kevin