{"id":19819,"date":"2014-01-15T01:00:42","date_gmt":"2014-01-15T09:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cruisingdoneright.com\/?p=19819"},"modified":"2014-01-15T01:00:42","modified_gmt":"2014-01-15T09:00:42","slug":"wednesday-70","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/?p=19819","title":{"rendered":"Cruise for a Cause \u2014 a $600,000 exercise"},"content":{"rendered":"

They're everywhere. Some of them can be spotted by their license plates. Or maybe because they're wearing a cap that is their identity. Or maybe, sadly, because they're wearing a prosthetic. Sometimes, more than one.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

They are veterans.<\/span><\/p>\n

Vets are thanked, supported and decorated all over the country. Even on cruise ships. And no cruise ships do more for veterans than the ones flying the Princess Cruises<\/a> flag.<\/span><\/p>\n

In November, the Caribbean Princess<\/a> sailed a 5-day cruise from Houston<\/a> that was dedicated to veterans. Princess called it Cruising for a Cause<\/i> and on board were guest speakers, a former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman (Admiral Mike Mullen), <\/span>\"US<\/a>retired senior officers from all walks of military life and a war correspondent (Joe Galloway) whom Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf called "the finest combat correspondent of our generation" for carrying soldiers to safety in Vietnam.<\/span><\/p>\n

How's this for support?<\/span><\/p>\n

The cruise was a fundraiser for Operation Homefront<\/a> and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund<\/a>. A portion of each passenger's fare was dedicated to the cause. Passengers were invited to show their support in fundraising activities. This week, Princess CEO Alan Buckelew — a Vietnam Vet — delivered a check for $300,000 to Operation Homefront. An identical check was already in the coffers of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.<\/span><\/p>\n

Total: $600,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

It fell short of the cruise lines expectations of $1 million. Maybe the passengers weren't as generous as expected. Maybe Princess was over-zealous in its ambitions. But it's $600,000 that wounded warriors and veterans' causes like The Wall<\/a> in Washington<\/a> (above) and families in need didn't have last month.<\/span><\/p>\n

Walk by a former soldier who's struggling to get out of a car or into a grocery store. or just get through the day, and Cruising for a Cause<\/i> — and programs like it — are not just admirable.<\/span><\/p>\n

They're vital.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Holland America Noordam<\/a>
\n\t14 nights<\/span>
\n\tMarch 21, 2014<\/span>
\n\tFort Lauderdale<\/a>, <\/span>Ponta Delgada<\/a>, <\/span>Cadiz<\/a>, <\/span>Malaga<\/a>, <\/span>Cartagena<\/a>, <\/span>Barcelona<\/a>
\n\tOceanview: $699<\/span>
\n\tCost per day: $49<\/strong><\/span>
\n\twww.hollandamerica.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They're everywhere. Some of them can be spotted by their license plates. Or maybe because they're wearing a cap that is their identity. Or maybe, sadly, because they're wearing a prosthetic. Sometimes, more than one. They are veterans. Vets are thanked, supported and decorated all over the country. Even on cruise ships. And no cruise… Continue reading Cruise for a Cause \u2014 a $600,000 exercise<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,32,25,36,15],"tags":[1293,564,912,72,35,1496,23,163,1192,957,148,1193],"class_list":["post-19819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cruise-industry-news","category-deals","category-people","category-reviews","category-stories","tag-alan-buckelew","tag-caribbean-princess","tag-cruise-bargains","tag-cruise-deals","tag-cruises","tag-fund-raising","tag-holland-america","tag-holland-america-noordam","tag-operation-homefront","tag-princess-cruises","tag-transatlantic-cruises","tag-vietnam-veterans-memorial-fund","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19819\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}