Royal Caribbean announced further cancelations for cruises sailing to Labadee, Haiti due to unrest in the country, citing safety concerns.
The cruise line announced today, March 19, that guests sailing to Labadee, Haiti within the next few weeks will have itinerary changes. Guests and travel partners of the cruise line received major updates regarding Caribbean itineraries that were planning visits to Royal Caribbean’s private destination, Labadee.
It appears that cruises through at least mid-April are impacted, although the situation continues to evolve. While Haiti has been under travel advisory warnings for years, Royal Caribbean’s private destination has always been secured given its distance from the country’s troubled capital of Port-au-Prince.
Royal Caribbean International’s Assistant Vice President of Guest Experiences wrote in the communication to guests sailing on the April 14 sailing of Explorer of the Seas, “Due to the evolving situation in Haiti, we’ll now visit Perfect Day at CocoCay instead of Labadee, Haiti. We’re terribly sorry for the last-minute change – your safety is our top priority.”
In addition, guests on this impacted itinerary for Explorer of the Seas will enjoy more time in Falmouth, Jamaica. Although changing a cruise ship’s itinerary can be disappointing, it appears that Royal Caribbean is doing its best to replace Labadee with an alternative port of call.
Based on circulating communication shared online, Royal Caribbean has been replacing Labadee, Haiti with various Caribbean ports, including its alternative private island, Perfect Day at CocoCay. Other itineraries impacted have rerouted plans to visit Grand Cayman, Bimini, Grand Turk, and St. Maarten.
Many of Royal Caribbean’s ships have Labadee, Haiti as a scheduled port of call in the coming weeks and months. For example, Adventure of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, Symphony of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas, Wonder of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas are all scheduled to visit Labadee in April 2024 and May 2024.
Temporary suspension
While the news is disappointing for itinerary changes, the cancelation of Labadee is not unsurprising.
In an announcement last week, Royal Caribbean temporarily suspended visits to Labadee, Haiti for its entire fleet. The decision was made “out of an abundance of caution” due to the evolving situation in Haiti.
At the time, guests onboard Adventure of of the Seas’ March 14 sailing were re-routed from Labadee to Grand Turk, which is located in Turks and Caicos. The port island is used mostly by Carnival Cruise Line, meaning Royal Caribbean ships do not often stop here.
Additionally, guests sailing on Symphony of the Seas’ March 14 sailing were notified that their itinerary would have an additional sea day with extended time in Falmouth, Jamaica. The cruise line announced, “We’ve also added extra time to our visit to Falmouth, Jamaica, so you'll have more time to enjoy everything this beautiful destination has to offer.”
At the time of Royal Caribbean’s original announcement, the cruise line said it would reevaluate the situation every three days.
Excursion refunds
Similar to Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean offers a variety of excursions for guests to book in Labadee. All excursions in Labadee must be booked directly with Royal Caribbean since the port of call is a private destination.
Some of these excursions include beach scapes, visits to nearby Haitian villages, zip-lining, snorkeling cruises, sport fishing, yacht sailing, aqua waterpark, kayaking, jet skiing, and more. Royal Caribbean has daybeds available for renting, along with a number of amenities for guests to utilize during their visit.
Guests with impacted itineraries will receive an automatic refund for any pre-paid Royal Caribbean International shore excursion booked for Labadee in the form of an onboard credit to SeaPass cards. These credits can be used anywhere onboard the ship during the cruise.
Any remaining amount at the end of the sailing will be reimbursed to credit cards on file upon disembarkation, according to the announcement provided to guests with impacted itineraries.
Trouble in Haiti
Royal Caribbean’s private destination is located 130 miles from the capital Port-au-Prince, which has been overtaken by gang violence in recent weeks.
Major violence in Haiti erupted on February 29 when the nation’s prime minister flew to Kenya to push for a deployment of police force to help fight the country’s gangs. In an act of protest, the gangs of Haiti have joined forces to fight against the government. Haiti made global headlines when a mass prison break escalated the already-elevating violence in its capital city.
A state of emergency was declared on March 3, followed by the prime minister’s resignation on March 12. The US Embassy has advices that all US citizens evacuate the country as soon as possible due to the deteriorating state of the small Caribbean nation.
However, the safety of travel within Haiti has been discouraged for a while. In July 2023, the US State Department raised the security threat to a Level 4 due to kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and poor health care infrastructure.
Thousands of citizens have been forced to flee their homes due to the violence of the armed gangs.
Royal Caribbean Haiti history
While the cruise line’s operations have historically not been impacted by the trouble, the escalation of gang violence has caused Royal Caribbean to pull the plug. In fact, Royal Caribbean has been operating in Labadee since 1986.
The private destination is a 260-acre resort located on Haiti’s northern peninsula. The area is only accessible by Royal Caribbean Group’s employees and guests of the cruise line’s ships. Labadee is heavily guarded and located in a remote area, essentially isolating the destination from the rest of the country.
Royal Caribbean has a huge fence that protects Labadee from the rest of the country. However, many of the employees that work in Labadee are local citizens that live in remote villages near the port area.
Since Royal Caribbean first began operations in Haiti, there have been a few safety instances. In November 2001, a crew member from Royal Caribbean was attacked on Labadee in an apparent robbery. In February 2004, Royal Caribbean temporarily suspended its visits to Haiti due to the political unrest in the country caused by a coup.
When Haiti was struck by an earthquake in 2010, Royal Caribbean announced at the time that it would continue operations in the port. In addition, the cruise line would provide relief supplies and personnel. Royal Caribbean also planned to help fund relief efforts in the country from the earthquake damage.
