Is FEMA overpaying Carnival Cruise Lines?

FEMA has a contract with Carnival Cruise Lines to use three cruiseships until February. The cost: $192 million, plus $44 million for fuel and other costs. That works out to over $10 million per ship per month.
And, that sounds excessive to California's gift to the world, Rep. Henry A. Waxman, as well as to Rep. Marilyn N. Musgrave (R-CO). They want to see the contracts: "FEMA ship deal under scrutiny".

many evacuees told FEMA they had become afraid of the water after escaping Katrina's floods and wanted no part of a ship.

Well, I know they've experienced trauma and all, but: awwwww.

''Many of the berths are going unfilled, which could make the costs per person extraordinarily high,'' Waxman wrote Friday to Chertoff. ``Even if all the berths were filled, the cost for a family of five appears to exceed $20,000 per month. This would appear to be far more than other options, such as providing community-based housing.''
[CCL president Bob] Dickinson said the deal merely compensates Carnival for money it otherwise would have made and could result in a fourth-quarter loss of about $20 million.