Carnival Destiny became the first cruise ship to visit Carnival Corp's Grand Turk Cruise Center today (October 8, 2008) after much of the island was damaged by Hurricane Ike on September 6 & 7 (2008).
The cruise center has been fully repaired, but much of the rest of the island is still rebuilding.
The island has recovered beyond just meeting basic human needs and has now moved into a phase where it is working toward economic recovery. Carnival Destiny's arrival plays a big role in that since the cruise center and companies linked directly to it are the largest private employer on the island.
Other ships previously scheduled to call at the island will now begin calling as scheduled. The first will be Crown Princess on October 10.
Details are in the October 8 edition of Cruise News Daily.
