Cruise Ships for Hurricane Survivors?

Hurricane Katrina Charters
Three of the Carnival cruise ships were chartered by the United States
government for six months to serve as temporary housing in the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Holiday was docked in Mobile,
Alabama, and the Ecstasy and Sensation were docked at New Orleans,
Louisiana. The six-month contract cost $236 million!!!
The contract was widely criticized because the vessels were never
fully utilized, and Carnival received more money than it would have
earned by using the ships in their normal rotation. Carnival did not
have the same fuel, entertainment, staffing, and other expenses they
would have incurred had the ships been on their normal routes!
(Albeit, the line did not receive revenues from on-board gambling,
alcoholic beverages, and other product and service sales that would
have been generated had the vessels been engaged in cruising.)