Bold

Bold…Innovative…and expensive.

On September 1st, FEMA struck a deal with Carnival Cruise Lines. A $236 million dollar deal, where Carnival would provide 7,116 beds for 6 months. Those beds happen to be on 3 cruise ships that are now anchored in the Mississippi river and in Mobile Bay. It was a no-bid deal and was completed in a day or less.

Here’s the good part. If the ships were at capacity, the price per evacuee would be $1,275 per week. Compare that to the cost for a real cruise. The same ships have a 7 day Caribbean cruise deal that runs about $599 per person…and the ship actually goes somewhere. And “at capacity”? Currently the ships are less than half full so change the $1,275 to $2,550 or more per person.

And some interesting news about Carnival…headquarters in Miami, but incorporated in Panama, for tax purposes. Last year, they paid $3 million in income tax benefits on a $1.9 billion pretax income. A U.S. company would have paid $475 million.

FEMA, ya gotta love em’!