My Letter To Senator Rockefeller

Sarge6870 · April 7, 2013

Here is a copy of the letter I have just emailed to the Senator...............

Dear Sir,
As an Avid cruiser since 1990, with five of my last eight cruises being on Carnival Cruise Lines, I feel it necessary to contact you regarding your continued attack on the cruise industry. Some of the stories I am reading indicate you are pursuing recovery of the monies from Carnival spent for the assistance provided by the U.S. Coast Guard and other entities. First off Senator, we as cruisers pay taxes on our trips so with the lack of incidents such as on the Carnival Triumph in the past many years, all the taxes paid prior to that incident paid for the assistance provided by my Government operations in advance. There are more stories of cruise vessels providing assistance to disabled vessels at sea then there are incidents requiring assistance from the Coast Guard. NONE of those cruise lines ever pursued financial recovery for their acts of heroism to rescue those needing assistance. When was the last time my Government pursued financial recovery from a train, bus or airplane incident where Government assistance was provided? Granted, the passengers on the Carnival Triumph experienced a very uncomfortable situation. But that is what the court system is for. They are free to file a suit against the cruise line and from what I have been reading, there are more than enough lawyers willing to take them on. I sir do NOT wish for you to approach a situation that will swallow up more of my tax dollars by going forward towards a congressional hearing. Our Country has squandered enough taxpayer dollars on unneeded expenses. Our Government has already cut services to airports and now the passenger terminals where it has been reported that there are two or three I.C.E. agents to offload a ship with 4000 plus passengers turning what was a one or two hour debarkation into four plus hours. How about a hearing on that? I ask sir that you discontinue your unneeded attack on the cruise industry. Approach the U.S. Coast Guard for insight and recommendations. Please concentrate on what is starving our economy and fix that. Surely with using the anger you have towards the cruise industry, you should be able to help more in that approach.