PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The humanitarian effort for the Bahamas continues with the Grand Celebration Cruise ship. It left the Port of Palm Beach on Sunday to deliver supplies and pick up evacuees.
According to a statement from the Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, evacuees with proper documentation will have to pay $49 per person to board the cruise ship bound for the U.S.
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Oneil Khosa, the Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line CEO told WPTV via phone, "We will donate all of the proceeds back to Grand Bahama to recover. We are charging this because we thought it's a good benchmark to make sure that people who we bring back are properly documented and are not seen by the county of becoming a burden."
Khosa also said organizations have partnered with them to help absorb some the costs to operate the ship and its crew.
WPTV did some digging and found a commercial flight to West Palm Beach could cost an evacuee up to $300, which is much more than the cruise line is charging.
But people are hoping someone will step in to help those who cannot afford the fee. The boat returns to the Port of Palm Beach on Wednesday.