Labadee opening soon?

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, HicksRA said:

I can perhaps see the importance of Royal wanting to get Labadee up and running ASAP with the current issue of so many destinations in the eastern Caribbean being denied entry. At least they’d have another guaranteed port stop besides Coco Cay. 

Is Haiti allowing visitors right now?

[sandebeach]

14 minutes ago, bunzini said:

Oh that is exciting!  I will be on that sailing.  Would love to have this as a beach day and a stop we could count on.

Please let us know if you get to go to Labadee!

[mattpan]

We’ll be on Symphony February 5. Our itinerary still shows us stopping in Labadee and we have a cabana booked…it would be great if this really happened. Happy to report back if it does!

[VernRDH]

We are supposed to stop in Labadee on our 2/11 9 night sailing on Anthem. One of 3 ports on that cruise. While I do like Labadee, I am not unhappy with another sea day. Substitute port may be difficult, but no worries, I ain't at work, and someone else gets to cook and do dishes!

[Biker19]

9 hours ago, time4u2go said:

Is Haiti allowing visitors right now?

Why wouldn't they? Also, the rules for Haiti in general and Labadee could be different.

[NO_Member_Name]

It's generally fallen out of the news, but Haiti has a problem with violent gangs looking for ways to make some money, and a minimally functioning government who currently can't seem to stop them. Grabbing a bunch of cruise ship passengers would have great earning potential. Personally I'd rather see SEALs on TV, not busting down my door and throwing me on a rescue helicopter in the middle of the night.

 

I've always been a little surprised that Labadee has been able to exist as long as it has. It's isolated but not that isolated. I just assumed that between the Cap Hatien and Labadee governments they were getting enough economic benefit that they could keep the place safe. Hopefully they'll get there again soon.

[NO_Member_Name]

I should also say that I'm a little surprised there isn't a bit more information about Labadee. With all the Haitians who've moved to the US there should be some who know. I had Haitian neighbors in Orlando but haven't kept in touch since I moved, although who knows how plugged in to their country's affairs they are.

[harry0]

As the poster before me said-Haiti has fallen out of the news, but  gangs are ruling the country and I dont understand why we as a country do not help more. Royal Caribbean has done great things there but they need alot more help. Haitians are beautiful people  with very little opportunity. I spent alot of time in Haiti, doing mission work, Ive been carjacked and threatened by thugs that have no chance of getting a job so they resort to crime. I am sure if Royal goes back it will be safe. Haiti needs all the help it can get.

[A&L_Ont]

12 hours ago, HicksRA said:

I can perhaps see the importance of Royal wanting to get Labadee up and running ASAP with the current issue of so many destinations in the eastern Caribbean being denied entry. At least they’d have another guaranteed port stop besides Coco Cay. 

You got it, and a second port where they earn all the shore excursion money.  I also suspect the staff will be vaccinated as well. Can’t have a port stop without staff. 

 

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

Why wouldn't they? Also, the rules for Haiti in general and Labadee could be different.

If they weren’t paying the lease for the last few years I’m sure the government is looking for them to return.  If they were paying I’m sure it has more clout than rules for some reason.

Edited January 16, 2022 by A&L_Ont

[time4u2go]

2 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Why wouldn't they? Also, the rules for Haiti in general and Labadee could be different.

Why wouldn't they? For the same reason that other countries are not allowing visitors.

[A&L_Ont]

59 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Why wouldn't they? For the same reason that other countries are not allowing visitors.

Bahamas has restrictions but the ships still stop at their and the private islands.  Other islands have Covid percentages set for ships to stop of not.
 

I think Haiti would set rules similar, if any.  They might be more like Mexico and welcome “all”.

[BND]

2 hours ago, harry0 said:

As the poster before me said-Haiti has fallen out of the news, but  gangs are ruling the country and I dont understand why we as a country do not help more. Royal Caribbean has done great things there but they need alot more help. Haitians are beautiful people  with very little opportunity. I spent alot of time in Haiti, doing mission work, Ive been carjacked and threatened by thugs that have no chance of getting a job so they resort to crime. I am sure if Royal goes back it will be safe. Haiti needs all the help it can get.

The US has tried for decades to help Haiti, but at some point they have to want to help themselves enough to make changes.  There are  a lot of missionaries who have spent years helping.  Everything from feeding the locals to providing basic education and health care.  What more do you think we can do?  The population has become too dependent on outsiders.

[time4u2go]

29 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

Bahamas has restrictions but the ships still stop at their and the private islands.  Other islands have Covid percentages set for ships to stop of not.
 

I think Haiti would set rules similar, if any.  They might be more like Mexico and welcome “all”.

Could be.  I hadn't seen any word one way or the other, so I wasn't sure.

[HBE4]

3 hours ago, NO_Member_Name said:

It's generally fallen out of the news, but Haiti has a problem with violent gangs looking for ways to make some money, and a minimally functioning government who currently can't seem to stop them. Grabbing a bunch of cruise ship passengers would have great earning potential. Personally I'd rather see SEALs on TV, not busting down my door and throwing me on a rescue helicopter in the middle of the night.

 

I've always been a little surprised that Labadee has been able to exist as long as it has. It's isolated but not that isolated. I just assumed that between the Cap Hatien and Labadee governments they were getting enough economic benefit that they could keep the place safe. Hopefully they'll get there again soon.

 

I think you hit on the key point that Labadee is isolated. The terrain is rugged and it appears to be sparely populated so - while I'm no expert - I'd think security should not be too much of a challenge.  It's not like the gangs can snatch tourist off the streets as in Port-a-Prince. Although I guess they could try to intercept people of a jet-ski excursion going down the coastline.

 

And even the most corrupt government & gang of thugs love money.  And Royal has plenty of it. It's far more profitable to sell overpriced trinkets in the market than trying to ransom back the odd hostage.

 

[BND]

34 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

I think you hit on the key point that Labadee is isolated. The terrain is rugged and it appears to be sparely populated so - while I'm no expert - I'd think security should not be too much of a challenge.  It's not like the gangs can snatch tourist off the streets as in Port-a-Prince. Although I guess they could try to intercept people of a jet-ski excursion going down the coastline.

 

And even the most corrupt government & gang of thugs love money.  And Royal has plenty of it. It's far more profitable to sell overpriced trinkets in the market than trying to ransom back the odd hostage.

 

They only allow so many in to work and that's not what those gangs are interested in.

 

The other issue is that almost everyone has a boat of some kind.  Very easy for those "thugs" to take boats around to Labadee.   They're not concerned with the locals who are working there and would much rather take hostages than sell trinkets.

Edited January 16, 2022 by BND

[HBE4]

1 hour ago, BND said:

hey're not concerned with the locals who are working there and would much rather take hostages than sell trinkets.

 

I was thinking they would charge a "protection fee" to the vendors, maybe even contract out their "security services" to Royal.

 

It's been a solid business model used by criminal organizations worldwide for centuries.

[BND]

7 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

I was thinking they would charge a "protection fee" to the vendors, maybe even contract out their "security services" to Royal.

 

It's been a solid business model used by criminal organizations worldwide for centuries.

Key word here is "criminal".  I don't think they want to get into the business of making payoffs.

[leisuretraveler223]

Assuming the complex is in good shape and running appropriately, which goes without saying if Royal is going to return, I would have ZERO concern about stopping there.

 

Gangs aren't going to target a cruise ship destination, it's nonsensical.  They've taken missionaries.  That's when a bunch of gang members ambush a dozen unsuspecting volunteers in some rural village.  To worry that the gang members would try and infiltrate a secure facility with THOUSANDS of visitors and an armed security presence is absolutely nonsensical.

 

It's like worrying about Somali Pirates trying to hijack a cruise ship.  either way, they're looking for the path of least resistance to a payday.  Nothing about Labadee would fulfill any of that.

[cruisegirl1]

On 1/14/2022 at 10:30 PM, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

Well I can report if it happens.  I am on Mariner 1/28 & our itinerary still shows Labadee as a stop on Feb 1st.  I fully expect a sea day & totally good with that  🍻

More often than not, the Labadee stop is often changed to some other port rather than other sea day. 
 

We had several Labadee/Falmouth itineraries that were switched to 

 

Cozumel/Costa Maya,

 

St Kitts /St Thomas ( which became St Marteen/st Thomas

 

San Juan/St Thomas (which also became St Marteen/St Thomas. 
 

m

[leisuretraveler223]

6 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

More often than not, the Labadee stop is often changed to some other port rather than other sea day. 
 

We had several Labadee/Falmouth itineraries that were switched to 

 

Cozumel/Costa Maya,

 

St Kitts /St Thomas ( which became St Marteen/st Thomas

 

San Juan/St Thomas (which also became St Marteen/St Thomas. 
 

m

 

I wouldn't be surprised if we see this happening much LESS frequently in the near future.  The current logistics surrounding port calls: Covid clearance, local regulations, and port staffing (I hope people realize the worker shortage is not a purely domestic issue), may well all serve to make short notice ports of call much less feasible.

[toad455]

Labadee closer to reopening?

 

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/01/16/spotted-labadee-closer-reopening

Edited January 16, 2022 by toad455

[baldilocks]

A couple of years ago, passengers could not get off the ship at Labadee due to a water born flotilla of small boats protesting the government. What if a flotilla of boats wanted to take action against the cruise ship? A big mess.

[publicpersona]

8 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Bahamas has restrictions but the ships still stop at their and the private islands.

 

This is not really essential to the thread on Haiti/Labadee but Bahamas restrictions absolutely do apply to the cruise line private islands in the Bahamas, and at least one instance has occurred when a ship was denied its own private island.

[Charles4515]

11 minutes ago, baldilocks said:

A couple of years ago, passengers could not get off the ship at Labadee due to a water born flotilla of small boats protesting the government. What if a flotilla of boats wanted to take action against the cruise ship? A big mess.

 

Just like back then the ship would turn away if that happened. 

 

I don't think Royal would restore the stop without some kind of security. 

[SteelCityCruiser10]

I’d be very interested in a report from some someone on the 1/23 Harmony sailing if they stop there.  The RC blog makes it sound like that is supposed to be a test.