Royal Caribbean cancels more visits to Labadee, Haiti into the fall

More cruise ships will skip a visit to Royal Caribbean’s private beach in Haiti.

Guests booked on cruises in the summer and early fall are getting notifications from Royal Caribbean, that their visits to Labadee have been cancelled.

Following on cancellations that began in March due to civil unrest in Haiti, the cruise line has been forced to cancel more cruises into September 2024.

Royal Caribbean had previously cancelled visits to Labadee through the end of May 2024.

Read more: Is Royal Caribbean still going to Labadee, Haiti?

More Labadee cancellations

On Tuesday, cruisers began to share updates they received from Royal Caribbean that their itineraries have been updated to drop Labadee and replace it with another port or a sea day.

RoyalCaribbeanBlog has spotted different cruises cancelled in June, August, and even September.

In most cases, ships are being re-routed to Grand Turk in the Turks & Caicos Islands.

As an example, the Adventure of the Seas September 21st sailing has had her visit to Labadee replaced with a visit to Grand Turk.

“Due to the continuing situation in Haiti, we’ll now visit Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos, instead of Labadee, Haiti,” the statement said in an email to booked passengers.

“We’re sorry for the change – your safety is our top priority.”

Similar emails have been sent to guests booked on cruises with scheduled stops in Labadee throughout summer 2024.

Guests who had any shore excursions booked for their visit to Labadee will automatically receive a refund to their onboard accounts.

The cancellations affect ships such as Adventure of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas, and Symphony of the Seas all due to visit Labadee in the summer.

No other cruise lines sail to Haiti.

Understandable disappointment

Guests have already started sharing the news and their opinions on the change.

“For the folks looking forward to Labadee, for the folks in Labadee, and for Royal, I am sorry this has been so tough,” wrote WAYNO on the RoyalCaribbeanBlog message boards.

“Understandable but sad as I was pumped to visit both private destinations in a single sailing,” wrote tntornadox on another message board.

A necessary change

The civil unrest in Haiti has forced Royal Caribbean’s hand in this situation, even if Labadee is not near the areas of conflict.

Located on the north coast of Haiti, Labadee is a walled-off private enclave for Royal Caribbean cruise guests. It’s at least a 6-and-a-half hour drive from Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Royal Caribbean started cancelling visits to Labadee following the fallout of a siege of the government by gangs that began in mid-March. Since then, the country has experienced a major upheaval with a new government, prison break, and many deaths.

More than 53,000 people have fled Port-au-Prince and food shortages are taking place across the island, according to reports.

A state of emergency was declared on March 3, followed by the prime minister’s resignation on March 12. 

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.

Where is Labadee?

Labadee is located on the northern coast of Haiti, whereas the majority of the violence is occurring further south in more populated areas.

In short, it’s walled off from the rest of the country and is in a remote area. It’s guarded by a private security force. Guests aren’t permitted to leave the area. 

Unlike other ports, such as Cozumel or Nassau, you won’t be able to book a third-party excursion. Instead, all tours in Labadee have to be reserved directly through Royal Caribbean. Moreover, all food and supplies are brought ashore from the ship, rather than from elsewhere in Haiti.