Labadee opening soon?

[Charles4515]

2 hours ago, time4u2go said:

I only wish the nice (i.e., non-rocky) beaches had decent waves!  I love a nice beach with big waves.

 

Have you been to Horseshoe Bay in Bermuda. Beautiful beach and sometimes the waves would knock me over. Another beach with waves is Orient Beach in St. Marten. Those are nice non rocky beaches with waves.

[F27TW]

I can't believe anyone in their right mind would even want to go there right now.    Thats gotta be one of the most unsafe places in the Caribbean.   

[HBE4]

2 hours ago, topnole said:

Yeah.  It is pretty clear why the originally stopped.  But people on here are hilarious and it is reasonable to wonder why they haven’t been back to Labadee yet.  
 

Those who speculate it was a safety issue due to unrest are labeled scaredy-cats or even nefarious (not sure the word applies in any way, but I didn’t say it).  Now this joker calls me paranoid and takes it upon himself to make recommendations on whether I should select a cruise to Labadee.  
 

All I did was ask a question about what is going on there?   Did I express fear of Labadee in my comment?   Did I say the local took over, don’t go?  Nope.  And even if someone was fearful of going to Haiti, would that make them paranoid?  Is there any history in Haiti that might form those thoughts.  If so, that isn’t paranoia.  That would be more like risk adverse behavior.  Some folks may prefer not to go somewhere where armed guards and barbed wire fence are needed to protect the property.  That doesn’t make them paranoid.  It never ceases to amaze me how many ignorant comments get posted from people who think they are really smart.  

 

In all fairness, there have been several threads regarding the status of Labadee over the past several months.  In one of the threads,  someone - not you and I forgot who - mentioned that a friend who was a passenger heard from a random crew member that Royal is going to abandon Labadee  forever, never to return,  as it has been "overrun by locals who took over the dormitories  and were otherwise destroying the the infrastructure".  No indication of who this crew member was - an officer, a waiter or cabin attendant - nor how they knew of this information since there was no official press release from Royal, no news organization reporting the violent  takeover a tourist destination and no photographic evidence of the alleged destruction. Of course, this random crew member tells others, the rumor begins to spread and after while, enough people take it as fact.

 

When a few skeptics - such as myself - asked for some credible evidence to support this speculation, we were mocked as not knowing just how violent Haiti is with the escalating political violence, high crime rate and natural disasters causing extreme poverty which in turn causing the crime rate to increasing even more. All of which is true.

 

Now we have several actual, official, credible sources - including RCL itself - announcing it has every intention of returning to Labadee and several people here on CC are still insisting its not going to happen because it unsafe. So I guess Royal lies in its official press releases? Granted, it actual hasn't happened yet and there could always be a last minute change of plans but its pretty clear, they want to go back to Labadee.

 

Now, as for the reason it took them this long to return, yes, we are all speculating . But lets at least have the speculation grounded in some reality. Speaking only for myself, I see Royal as a company in the business of making money and would only reopen Labadee when it made business sense to the powers that be. Fact is: the cruise industry has been ramping up since the restart last summer. Starting with just a few ships & itineraries with capacity restrictions, then adding more ships and increasing capacity as time went by. It seems that Labadee was low priority on the restart program which makes sense: Coco Cay is their shiny, new crown jewel, more accessible to more itineraries so they should concentrate their resources there first. That is the basis of my speculation.

 

We also know that Royal has briefly suspended sailings in the past due to safety concerns and the fact that there are returning would lead me to speculate safety is not an issue.

 

As for name calling, I know I've made my share of sarcastic comments  but while I would feel safe going to Labadee, I would not begrudge someone that does not.

[Reijo]

I'm on Harmony in February with a stop scheduled for Labadee.  I really wish it wouldn't happen.  While Nassau isn't a favorite port, I feel safer there than on an island with "locals" being paid to patrol the area.  🙄

[Charles4515]

1 minute ago, Reijo said:

I'm on Harmony in February with a stop scheduled for Labadee.  I really wish it wouldn't happen.  While Nassau isn't a favorite port, I feel safer there than on an island with "locals" being paid to patrol the area.  🙄

 

Locals patrol Nassau.......

 

In Nassau I saw police guarding an ATM near the cruise terminal with automatic weapons. Cruise passengers have been robbed in Nassau. Bus excursions have been robbed. That has not happened at Labadee. 

[billslowsky]

54 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

Have you been to Horseshoe Bay in Bermuda. Beautiful beach and sometimes the waves would knock me over. Another beach with waves is Orient Beach in St. Marten. Those are nice non rocky beaches with waves.

Horseshoe is the bestest.  And easy to get to from a ship.

[topnole]

53 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

In all fairness, there have been several threads regarding the status of Labadee over the past several months.  In one of the threads,  someone - not you and I forgot who - mentioned that a friend who was a passenger heard from a random crew member that Royal is going to abandon Labadee  forever, never to return,  as it has been "overrun by locals who took over the dormitories  and were otherwise destroying the the infrastructure".  No indication of who this crew member was - an officer, a waiter or cabin attendant - nor how they knew of this information since there was no official press release from Royal, no news organization reporting the violent  takeover a tourist destination and no photographic evidence of the alleged destruction. Of course, this random crew member tells others, the rumor begins to spread and after while, enough people take it as fact.

 

When a few skeptics - such as myself - asked for some credible evidence to support this speculation, we were mocked as not knowing just how violent Haiti is with the escalating political violence, high crime rate and natural disasters causing extreme poverty which in turn causing the crime rate to increasing even more. All of which is true.

 

Now we have several actual, official, credible sources - including RCL itself - announcing it has every intention of returning to Labadee and several people here on CC are still insisting its not going to happen because it unsafe. So I guess Royal lies in its official press releases? Granted, it actual hasn't happened yet and there could always be a last minute change of plans but its pretty clear, they want to go back to Labadee.

 

Now, as for the reason it took them this long to return, yes, we are all speculating . But lets at least have the speculation grounded in some reality. Speaking only for myself, I see Royal as a company in the business of making money and would only reopen Labadee when it made business sense to the powers that be. Fact is: the cruise industry has been ramping up since the restart last summer. Starting with just a few ships & itineraries with capacity restrictions, then adding more ships and increasing capacity as time went by. It seems that Labadee was low priority on the restart program which makes sense: Coco Cay is their shiny, new crown jewel, more accessible to more itineraries so they should concentrate their resources there first. That is the basis of my speculation.

 

We also know that Royal has briefly suspended sailings in the past due to safety concerns and the fact that there are returning would lead me to speculate safety is not an issue.

 

As for name calling, I know I've made my share of sarcastic comments  but while I would feel safe going to Labadee, I would not begrudge someone that does not.

All of your comment is fair and reasonable.  I don’t think that is the case for everyone on here.  
 

We all speculate about lots of things all the time. That is simply a fact.  But not all of us belittle others for speculating while we are speculating ourselves.  That is what makes me laugh.  

 

I’m excited to hear they are going back because some of the stuff being said had me wondering if I’d ever see labadee again. And by the way, I’m pretty sure some of the folks making light of the concerns of others were the very same folks who would comment that Labadee is inaccessible due to civil unrest and direct the OP to prior threads.   

[Baron Barracuda]

For an island where the average person earns $5/day RCL must be very important to the local economy.  Would therefore expect local govt to do everything in it's power to safeguard this golden goose.  A gang of thugs might terrorize missionaries but would think twice before taking on an armed security force.  Have been there many times and never felt unsafe.  Can't say the same about several other Caribbean locations.

[karena1]

3 minutes ago, Baron Barracuda said:

For an island where the average person earns $5/day RCL must be very important to the local economy.  Would therefore expect local govt to do everything in it's power to safeguard this golden goose.  A gang of thugs might terrorize missionaries but would think twice before taking on an armed security force.  Have been there many times and never felt unsafe.  Can't say the same about several other Caribbean locations.

Agree with you, have never felt unsafe in Labadee.  Booked to go Dec 2022 and it was changed to CocoCay.  While I love CocoCay, we go there at least 9 times a year on short cruises, so booked Oasis specifically because it went to Labadee and then they changed it to CocoCay.  Hope to get back to Labadee soon.

[cindyscruise]

Karena1 - I noticed that you have taken a land vacation to Punta Cana many times.  I live in Punta Cana.  I hope we do go back to Labadee.  My cruise has both Coco Cay and Labadee so I would get the best of both worlds.  

[topnole]

8 minutes ago, Baron Barracuda said:

For an island where the average person earns $5/day RCL must be very important to the local economy.  Would therefore expect local govt to do everything in it's power to safeguard this golden goose.  A gang of thugs might terrorize missionaries but would think twice before taking on an armed security force.  Have been there many times and never felt unsafe.  Can't say the same about several other Caribbean locations.

I hope to be back there soon.  But I would never assume that gangs in Haiti (assuming they even exist in the Labadee area) would use the same logic or thought process as someone in the US.  Also, you are assuming the government has control over things.  Is that a reasonable assumption?  
 

Our own governments in the US often tend to back down to civil unrest and instead allow looting and destruction of property as a way to minimize more violence.  You think the government in Haiti is going to control any groups that have their mind made up to cause problems?  
 

Even if we apply our own logic, groups will often support or do things to harm the opposing parties in power in the US.  If a gang hates those in power, doesn’t it benefit them to create chaos to make them look bad?  
 

No matter what way you look at it, seems like it would be hard to predict what may or may not happen using our views or logic.  
 

One thing I know is this.  If armed gangs did exist in Labadee, whatever security existed would do nothing to stop them if they wanted to overrun Labadee.  

[truffles2]

returning Jan. 29

 

[crusinthrough]

17 hours ago, topnole said:

Paranoid?   For asking why they stopped going?   Lol.  Do you know the definition of that word?   
 

I have no idea why they stopped and apparently you don’t either since you are just speculating.  

I do not know the reason neither does anyone of this board.  Your post was a lot more detailed than a question on why Labadee was eliminated as a port stop during the start up but carry on...... 

[crusinthrough]

8 hours ago, Reijo said:

I'm on Harmony in February with a stop scheduled for Labadee.  I really wish it wouldn't happen.  While Nassau isn't a favorite port, I feel safer there than on an island with "locals" being paid to patrol the area.  🙄

"locals" as in citizens of the country??

Cruise with confidence is available.  There are other itineraries that do not include Labadee and you can feel safe.  

[parrotfeathers]

16 minutes ago, crusinthrough said:

There are other itineraries that do not include Labadee and you can feel safe.  

 

I cannot remember the port but I'm thinking it was Jamaica and a group of us were doing the ship sponsored zip line.  It was really a great set of zip lines nice and high up.  Lots of walking to get to them--that much I remember.  The group was walking up and I started talking with a guy sort of dragging behind.  He was with the zip line company to watch out for whatever there was to watch out for.  And he had a gun.  So it sure makes me wonder now what the definition of safe really is.

[topnole]

2 hours ago, crusinthrough said:

I do not know the reason neither does anyone of this board.  Your post was a lot more detailed than a question on why Labadee was eliminated as a port stop during the start up but carry on...... 

Below was my entire post that you then said I am acting paranoid.  For suggesting it isn’t inconceivable that significant risks exist in Haiti?   Again, do you know what paranoid means?   I wasn’t saying Disney is dangerous or Florida is dangerous.   I said it isn’t inconceivable that significant risks could exist in Haiti.  Royal must be paranoid too because they apparently use armed guards and barb wire to protect the area from a non existent threat.  
 

So what exactly is the reason for them not going to Labadee for all this time?   
 

There is a lot of talk on this thread about there being no threat to passengers and that it is paranoia to think otherwise.  To that I say it isn’t inconceivable that significant risks could exist.  I know nothing about the local situation, but I do know they aren’t going for a reason.  What exactly is it?.....

[Kmermaid]

Symphony 2/05 updated itinerary saying because no San Juan they are giving us extra time at Labadee:

 

Dear Guest,

Due to new restrictions by the Puerto Rican government, we’ll no longer be able to sail there. Instead, we’ll now have a sea day. To help make up for this change, we’ve added extra time to our visit in Labadee, Haiti – giving you more time to enjoy this beautiful destination. We know how much time and effort go into planning your vacation, and we’re sorry for any inconvenience caused by this. Nevertheless, we know you’ll have an excellent time! Below, please find our revised Symphony of the Seas February 5^th, 2022 itinerary

Day	Port of Call	Arrive	Depart
Sat	Miami, Florida		5:30 PM
Sun	Cruising
Mon	Labadee, Haiti	8:00 AM	5:00 PM
Tue	Cruising
Wed	Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas	7:00 AM	4:00 PM
Thu	Cruising
Fri	Perfect Day at CocoCay	10:00 AM	5:00 PM
Sat	Miami, Florida	6:00 AM

[nelblu]

On 1/19/2022 at 7:10 PM, toad455 said:

Wondering if RCCL is sending anyone there prior to the 27th to set up the island since it hasn't been touched in almost two years?

Maybe they will ask for volunteers as they did for their test sailings.🤣

[Thurber Mingus]

3 hours ago, Kmermaid said:

Symphony 2/05 updated itinerary saying because no San Juan they are giving us extra time at Labadee:

 

Dear Guest,

Due to new restrictions by the Puerto Rican government, we’ll no longer be able to sail there. Instead, we’ll now have a sea day. To help make up for this change, we’ve added extra time to our visit in Labadee, Haiti – giving you more time to enjoy this beautiful destination. We know how much time and effort go into planning your vacation, and we’re sorry for any inconvenience caused by this. Nevertheless, we know you’ll have an excellent time! Below, please find our revised Symphony of the Seas February 5^th, 2022 itinerary

Day	Port of Call	Arrive	Depart
Sat	Miami, Florida		5:30 PM
Sun	Cruising
Mon	Labadee, Haiti	8:00 AM	5:00 PM
Tue	Cruising
Wed	Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas	7:00 AM	4:00 PM
Thu	Cruising
Fri	Perfect Day at CocoCay	10:00 AM	5:00 PM
Sat	Miami, Florida	6:00 AM

 

We are on the Oasis for the Feb 13th cruise and I just received an email with basically the same thing...same 3 ports in a different order.

[sandebeach]

Feb 13 Oasis is also getting extra time at Labadee

ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING TRAVELS

Dear Guest, To enhance your experience, we’ve replaced our visit to Nassau, Bahamas with our private destination, Perfect Day at CocoCay. Separately, due to new restrictions by the Puerto Rican government, we’ll no longer be able to sail there. Instead, we’ll now have a sea day. To help make up for this change, we’ve added extra time to our visit in Labadee, Haiti – giving you more time to enjoy this beautiful destination. We know how much time and effort go into planning your vacation, and we’re sorry for any inconvenience caused by this. Nevertheless, we know you’ll have an excellent time! Below, please find our revised Oasis of the Seas February 13th, 2022 itinerary. Day Port of Call Arrive Depart Sun Miami, Florida   5:30 PM Mon Perfect Day at CocoCay 7:00 AM 3:00 PM Tue Cruising     Wed Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 11:00 AM 6:00 PM Thu Cruising     Fri Labadee, Haiti 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Sat Cruising     Sun Miami, Florida 6:00 AM   Perfect Day at CocoCay is a private destination unlike any in the world. While there, lounge in the Caribbean’s largest freshwater pool, Oasis Lagoon, or take the plunge down North America’s tallest waterslide, Daredevil’s Peak! Oasis of the Seas is a destination in itself! Our thrill seekers can take the plunge on our dual waterslides – The Perfect Storm, surf the waves on the Flowrider, test your bravery on our zip line at sea, then set your lasers to fun as you take part in a laser tag adventure. If relaxing is number one on your to do list, we also have you covered. Enjoy a drink on the Rising Tide Bar, take a stroll down Central Park, or grab a quick bite to eat at Dog House as you take in the sights on the Boardwalk. Your sea day has no limits! In Labadee, buckle up for an exciting ride down Dragon’s Tail Roller Coaster, one of the best ways to get a spectacular view of Labadee, or melt the stress away on the beach with Labadee’s signature drink “the Labadoozie”. Whatever you decide to do, we’re sure you’ll have an amazing experience!

[nessachelle]

38 minutes ago, Thurber Mingus said:

 

We are on the Oasis for the Feb 13th cruise and I just received an email with basically the same thing...same 3 ports in a different order.

Yep, I'm on this sailing also and got the same email. 

[toad455]

Already subbing Labadee for San Juan. Expect more down the line.

 

[Lionesss]

I am excited that Labadee is coming back as a destination. We enjoy Barefoot Beach. And hope to once again see Prophet and Hobbie two of the workers there. 
 

Now, going back a few months to our October 2021  sailing on The Symphony of the Seas. When my DH and I spoke to the RCI worker on board to book a next cruise.
 

It was the representative for booking next cruise that informed us that Labadee at this time will not be a destination. He continued to say that even though Haiti was quite a distance from the private area it had been a concern. He continued to say that the beach area, workers apartments had been damaged and over taken by the locals.  Before RCI Would return the private areas would need significant repairs.
 

I took every word as Truth. He was not just a crew worker  but one who knew about the itineraries.
Had I not been upset about not going there I would have asked how would they know the place was damaged if no RCI employees were there? 
But I did not. 
 

This all came about because we were going to book a summer cruise that went to both Coco Cay and Labadee.   He informed us that those would not happen.  
 

Now it looks like they could. 
 

I wonder if there are any still happening?

 

Take care

Edited January 21, 2022 by Lionesss

[PugM0m]

I am on the Oasis on 4/10/2022, we are scheduled to stop at Labadee. Until RCL announced this week the return, I assumed at some point they would change this to either another port or a sea day. Yes everyone is speculating on why RCL has not returned yet. Probably a combination of many factors; the pandemic, the assassination of the president, the kidnapping of the missionaries, the earthquake...they all no doubt played their part.  doesn't have to be just one. And no doubt using an "abundance of caution" (don't know about you, but I am so tired of hearing that phrase) I noticed that they pulled the two shore excursions that included time, on land, outside the fence. Frankly I don't care if we stop here not, I live in the Midwest it is currently a balmy 23 degrees where I am, so as long as I am somewhere warm having fun, come April, I will be a happy camper...errr Cruiser. 😀

[nelblu]

On 1/20/2022 at 8:48 AM, John&LaLa said:

 

Different, not necessarily better😉

 

I really like lamb chops😁

You should go to Jamie's, they had wonderful & tasty lamb chops, prior to the pandemic.