Haiti's internal problems continued this week, but that seemingly won't deter Royal Caribbean from stopping at its private beach there.
Royal Caribbean operates a private beach in a remote area of Haiti, and has done so since 1988.
Earlier this week, three planes were hit by gunfire amid gang violence. The result was another in an endless round of travel advisories by the U.S. State Department not to travel to the country. The Federal Aviation Administration banned flights to the country for 30 days as a result of the gunfire.
Despite these issues, Royal Caribbean hasn't changed its plans to bring cruise ships to its private enclave.
In a statement to a local NBC affiliate in Miami, the cruise line said they will continue to sail there, but are always monitoring the situation.
"The safety and security of our guests, crew, and communities we visit are our top priority. Our Global Security and Intelligence Team continuously monitor the situation in Haiti. Currently, there are no changes to our planned itineraries."
Labadee is in a remote area
Labadee, Royal Caribbean's private beach area, is a walled-off, exclusive beach on a peninsula in northern Haiti.
It's located 130 miles north of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The cruise line cancelled visits to Labadee in March in "an abundance of caution," but restarted visits there in early October.
Since restarting visits, there's been no incidents with the various cruise ships stopping there.
In fact, Royal Caribbean re-routed a few ships to Labadee to avoid hurricanes.
What do passengers think?
Like many subjects, Royal Caribbean fans are split on the issue of if it makes sense for ships to continue to stop at Labadee.
On the Royal Caribbean message boards, Geezer of the Seas wrote, "Personally, I think Royal (and any other cruise line with stops in Haiti) is playing with fire."
"An aircraft on a 'slow' landing approach is like shooting fish in a barrel. So, what happens when/if these bad actors come into possession of high performance boats and start busting caps at a cruise ship?"
Reigert2008 added, "I’ve been to Labadeee several times and have always felt safe during the visit, but no one wants to be on the first cruise that has an issue."
"I think it’s reasonable for people to ask questions about these things especially when new events occur."
Smokeybandit retorted that post by pointing out Labadee hasn't been a site of problems, "As you noted, Haiti has had issues forever, yet never any real problems at Labadee."
Southern Dan added, "I am looking forward to my beach day in Labadee in two weeks!"
Opinion: I would welcome a cruise to Labadee, Haiti
I've been cruising to Labadee for years, and if I had a cruise that went there this week, I'd gladly go.
Haiti has had problems for a long time, and the unfortunate truth is the country has struggled for a long time with civil strife, political inability, and lack of infrastructure.
While shooting at an airplane is indeed disturbing, it also occurred in Port-au-Prince, and that's an important distinction.
Labadee is walled off from the rest of the country in a remote area. It can best be described as being in the middle of nowhere.
I think painting with a wide brush in the case of Labadee versus the rest of the country doesn't make sense. After all, Haiti still had a level 4 travel warning last week, and cruise ships and airplanes were visiting the country then. I don't think the country was inherently safer then.
Of course, there's risk in continuing to visit Haiti, but there's risk everywhere. Royal Caribbean know better than anyone the issues of risk management, and putting their ships and customers in harm's way would have a significant effect on their bottom line.
As the cruise line monitors the situation in and around its private beach operation, until there's a change in the safety of its operation in Labadee, cruise ships should continue stopping there.
