Carnival vista cruise ship

OAKLAND (CBS SF/AP) — Oakland City Council president Rebecca Kaplan has proposed bringing in a cruise ship to help ease the city’s growing housing and homelessness crisis. Kaplan told a council meeting Tuesday that she has been contacted by cruise ship companies about providing a ship for emergency housing. She said she plans to bring a proposal to the council in January that will be at “no or low” cost to the city because residents of the cruise ship would pay for rooms based on their income. The city would not buy the cruise ship. “Maybe we can have a way to create a 1,000 housing units overnight,” Kaplan told the San Francisco Chronicle. Homelessness has spiked in Oakland in the past two years with an increase in the number of unsheltered people from 1,902 to 3,210 people. “It could be a great way to house a lot of people quickly,” Kaplan told the paper. “Cruise ships have been used for emergency housing after natural disasters … [Read more...] about Oakland Official Proposes Using Cruise Ship To House Homeless

FILE - In this 2009, file photo, Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas cruise ship is docked at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Josh Ritchie/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, File) FILE - In this 2009, file photo, Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas cruise ship is docked at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Josh Ritchie/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, File) Photo: Josh Ritchie, AP Photo: Josh Ritchie, AP Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Image 1 of 4 FILE - In this 2009, file photo, Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas cruise ship is docked at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Josh Ritchie/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, File) FILE - In this 2009, file photo, Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas cruise ship is docked at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Josh … [Read more...] about Official: Cruise ship could house 1,000 Oakland homeless

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - A San Francisco Bay Area city  official wants to explore the possibility of using a cruise ship to house up to 1,000 homeless people amid a high cost of living and a shortage of housing. Oakland City Council President Rebecca Kaplan told a council meeting Tuesday that the ship would be brought to the Port of Oakland, but port officials said Wednesday the move would be "untenable." "We respect President Kaplan's desire to address homelessness but Port of Oakland docks are designed to work cargo ships, there isn't the infrastructure to berth a cruise ship," port spokesman Mike Zampa said. The port is among the 10 busiest in the nation and safety and security issues in the federally regulated facilities "would make residential uses untenable," Zampa said. Kaplan didn't immediately return a request for further comment from The Associated Press. Kaplan said she has been contacted by cruise ship companies about providing a ship for emergency housing, and that the … [Read more...] about Official: Cruise Ship Could House 1,000 Oakland Homeless

In Juneau, Alaska, on Sunday, the sun will dip below the horizon at 3:06 p.m. And because the sun rose about 9 a.m., that means a little more than six hours of daylight. This also is one of the stormiest times of the year in Southeast Alaska. Probably not a great time to go touring.But it is a great time to start planning a ship trip to Alaska. Cruising is booming; visitor numbers are expected to set records for the fifth straight year. Nearly 1.44 million passengers are planning to visit in 2020, a 6% increase, according to Cruise Lines International Assn. Alaska.In 2020, 10 new ships and 29 more ports of call are expected; Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway are expected to be the top destinations. Almost every cruise line, including luxury and expedition-style ships, will sail to the 49th state, most from Seattle or Vancouver, Canada. If you hate to fly, you can avoid it by sailing round trip from Los Angeles on 14-day May or June trips with Princess Cruises. Inside cabins start at $1,419 … [Read more...] about Planning an Alaska cruise? Now’s the best time to book, especially to find deals

Whakatane, New Zealand (CNN)Geoff Hopkins says he will never forget the cries as the survivors of the White Island volcano eruption were pulled aboard the rescue boat. Screaming in pain, with skin peeling from their faces and limbs scorched by steam and ash, the survivors were transferred from a dinghy bobbing in the water off the small island. There was "lots of screaming. Panicked screaming," he says, recalling the injured shouting: "'Get me out of here. I'm burning. I'm burning.'" The tour boat Hopkins was on had left White Island, off the coast of Whakatane, New Zealand, shortly before the volcano erupted on Monday. Forty-seven people were on the island at the time of the blast. Eight people have so far been confirmed dead. In the moments immediately after the eruption, the boat's crew made the decision to turn around and help those people left behind. Geoff and Lillani Hopkins prior to the volcano eruption on White Island on Monday December 9. Read More "We (could) … [Read more...] about They survived New Zealand’s volcano eruption, then went back to rescue others