Labadee port replacement?

[Wannacruise81]

We are looking to book the Odyssey for Nov 15th. Due to the current situation in Haiti, it doesn't seem like there will be stops there right now. 

For those who have had a itinerary change, what port did RCL replace it with? I'm looking at Cozumel on the date it is supposed to visit Labadee and it seems there are open berths where Royal ships usually port. 

What I do not want is Labadee becoming another sea day and we only stop at Coco Cay. 

Thanks in advance for any info!

[YankeesFan4Life]

Definitely following.  We have Harmony booked in April and Labadee is on the itinerary.  I heard that after the President was assassinated they stopped cruising there, and heard that they might even pull out of Haiti completely.  Also because of the devastation of the earthquakes, and now those poor people who were kidnapped, I would avoid it at all costs.  We did have it on a previous itinerary, similar to the one we have in April that has Falmouth, Nassau, Coco Cay and Labadee, and I have a feeling that we may go back to the same as the last two cruises....Cozumel, Roatan, Costa Maya and Coco Cay.  Will be disappointed for sure, but at least I'll be on a ship and not at home!!

[A&L_Ont]

RC has not returned to Haiti since they returned to sailing.  The multiple other reasons of unrest and earthquakes only add to the "Covid factor" for docking there.

 

As for replacement ports it will probably depend in one's itinerary. At this point I highly doubt that my March cruise will stop there.  Perhaps after their fall election things will stabilize (as much as it can for Haiti) but it is all a wait and see.

Edited October 18, 2021 by A&L_Ont

[alexgtp]

We are on Anthem NYE21 and it is still showing on our itinerary. Waiting to get an email with an update.

 

Nothing yet, but I did get the "ROYAL UP" email. LOL

[brillohead]

2 hours ago, alexgtp said:

We are on Anthem NYE21 and it is still showing on our itinerary. Waiting to get an email with an update.

 

Nothing yet, but I did get the "ROYAL UP" email. LOL

My December 12th Jewel sailing still says it's going to Key West and Grand Cayman!  LOL  

 

[Ashland]

There may come a time a decision may be made to delete Labadee completely...Thoughts?

[mo&fran]

I was on Odyssey last week, Labadee was replaced by Nassau. Our next port on the itinerary was Aruba.

[Corby114]

Haiti’s political situation is very unstable since the Presidential incident months ago. The earthquake along with the countries high unemployment and raging Covid numbers make Labadee a terrible destination to stop at. Add the recent reports of kidnapping to the mix and it looks like it will be years before Royal Caribbean ever returns there. A missed Port stop usually adds an additional sea day which personally is fine with me.

[Blauelini]

With Coco Cay now up and running with the pier and the improvements still in the pipeline, I forsee RC doing away with Labadee permanently. No reason to have it anymore. Labadee was started way before Coco Cay was around. Will help RC bottom line dumping it. I was never impressed with it and Coco Cay blows it away.

[Ashland]

5 minutes ago, Blauelini said:

With Coco Cay now up and running with the pier and the improvements still in the pipeline, I forsee RC doing away with Labadee permanently. No reason to have it anymore. Labadee was started way before Coco Cay was around. Will help RC bottom line dumping it. I was never impressed with it and Coco Cay blows it away.

My thoughts (post # 6) exactly !

[BND]

23 minutes ago, Ashland said:

There may come a time a decision may be made to delete Labadee completely...Thoughts?

I agree.  It's too volatile a country and with the recent events (assassination in particular) it's just not stable enough of a government.   While Labadee  is kind of isolated from the rest of the country, it would be fairly easy to get to the area and cause problems.  A gang has kidnapped 17 missionaries just in the last few days and those are the groups that have been there for years trying to help.

[BND]

19 minutes ago, Corby114 said:

Haiti’s political situation is very unstable since the Presidential incident months ago. The earthquake along with the countries high unemployment and raging Covid numbers make Labadee a terrible destination to stop at. Add the recent reports of kidnapping to the mix and it looks like it will be years before Royal Caribbean ever returns there. A missed Port stop usually adds an additional sea day which personally is fine with me.

Our Labadee cancellation on our HOTS cruise leaving on 28 Nov also cancelled Falmouth and replaced them with Cozumel and Costa Maya.  They're cancelling far enough out that they are reworking itineraries and replacing ports instead of adding sea days.

[neverbeenhere]

So, is going to be a piece of improved Haitian beach to buy cheap soon? 

I bet they lock it down for a period of time(???) and wait.

 

Still can be a money making location for the company.

[Ashland]

4 minutes ago, BND said:

Our Labadee cancellation on our HOTS cruise leaving on 28 Nov also cancelled Falmouth and replaced them with Cozumel and Costa Maya.  They're cancelling far enough out that they are reworking itineraries and replacing ports instead of adding sea days.

Nice...that RCI is taking this approach.

[Ashland]

2 minutes ago, neverbeenhere said:

So, is going to be a piece of improved Haitian beach to buy cheap soon? 

I bet they lock it down for a period of time(???) and wait.

 

Still can be a money making location for the company.

RCI doesn't "own" Labadee it's leased.

[neverbeenhere]

Darn, I was thinking maybe I could be a bargain.

[xqueenfrostine]

58 minutes ago, Blauelini said:

With Coco Cay now up and running with the pier and the improvements still in the pipeline, I forsee RC doing away with Labadee permanently. No reason to have it anymore.

I wouldn’t say no reason.  Royal Caribbean has more ships sailing in the Caribbean at once than Coco Cay can likely handle, at least during peak season.  I think it’s still worthwhile for them to have a separate private island.  There’s no reason of course that that location has to be Labadee, but I don’t think any of their upcoming building projects are big enough to be a good substitute.  It sounds like their other projects aren’t meant to take entire ships worth of passengers.

[Sunshine3601]

2 hours ago, neverbeenhere said:

So, is going to be a piece of improved Haitian beach to buy cheap soon? 

I bet they lock it down for a period of time(???) and wait.

 

Still can be a money making location for the company.

Crew members recently told cruise passengers that Labadee has been taken over by locals.     They are living in the dorms royal had for workers, other buildings and the beach.    They said the whole area is trashed.     

If and when Royal is able to go back to Labadee they may decide just to write-off the property as a loss instead of trying to relocate all the locals that moved in and renovate the section of the island.

[cruisegirl1]

October 24 Allure from port canaveral replaced Labadee and Falmouth with Costa Maya and Cozumel

 

m

[OSUZorba]

12 hours ago, Wannacruise81 said:

We are looking to book the Odyssey for Nov 15th. Due to the current situation in Haiti, it doesn't seem like there will be stops there right now. 

For those who have had a itinerary change, what port did RCL replace it with? I'm looking at Cozumel on the date it is supposed to visit Labadee and it seems there are open berths where Royal ships usually port. 

What I do not want is Labadee becoming another sea day and we only stop at Coco Cay. 

Thanks in advance for any info!

We switched to Nassau on last weeks sailing. Others have switched to CoCo. I'm sure it'll be one of those two, depending on berth availability in CoCo.

[baldilocks]

Now with the aid workers kidnapping, I think Labadee will definitely be off Royal's ports of call.

[Sianli]

Our November 20th Jewel still shows Labadee and San Juan. We really don't mind extra sea days which is probably a good thing!

[Ocean Boy]

Haiti is controlled by thugs and has been on a downward trajectory for a long time and for many different reasons. The fence and security guard at the gate, along with the open waterfront, are no barrier against an attack. No matter how remote the location I can't see RCI taking a chance with porting there. 

 

By the time anything improves, if it ever improves, I doubt there would be much remaining of Labadee's infrastructure and I don't know if it would be worth it to RCI to reinvest in the location. No matter, I don't see I ship porting there for a very long time.

 

[A&L_Ont]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

By the time anything improves, if it ever improves, I doubt there would be much remaining of Labadee's infrastructure and I don't know if it would be worth it to RCI to reinvest in the location. No matter, I don't see I ship porting there for a very long time.

There have been reports that Labadee infrastructure has already been  compromised with no RC staff on site.
 

IMO the only reason they will return is the Haitian government will want their payments for the land lease.  RC won’t want to pay if the outcrop has been overrun and run down.  Top that off with concerns of guest safety going forward. 
 

I certainly would not want to invest big funds into it to revitalize again; if it has to be repaired again after another government coup, assassination or earthquake etc.  It might be some time before RC returns to Labadee but only time will tell. 
 

Unfortunately it reminds me of the Family Guy skit where Godzilla attacks Haiti. It’s sad, but in reality it is accurate reflection. 
 

 

Edited October 19, 2021 by A&L_Ont

[SummerBeee]

Booked a B2b2b on Mariner. All 3 cruises went to Labadee 

1st changed to CocoCay & Nassau

2nd changed to Cozumel then changed again to CocoCay & Nassau

3rd changed to Cozumel and Nassau

 

Hope no more changes before we depart next week

Edited October 19, 2021 by SummerBeee
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