How Will Labadee Hold Up?

[NMTraveller]

10 minutes ago, dlh015 said:

Ditto. I remember walking thru the airport in Frankfurt, Germany with patrolling guards carrying automatic weapons. It certainly got my attention...

I went through the Schipol airport with the same.

 

Yet not the same as a coup.  More pro-active...

 

Last I heard the NY subways had the National Guard ...

[RichYak]

1 minute ago, Charles4515 said:

After 9/11 they had the military patrolling New York Penn station and many other places

They’re back. 

[NMTraveller]

1 minute ago, RichYak said:

They’re back. 

When we were in NYC (for a cruise several times) there were stabbings in the subway.

Edited March 9 by NMTraveller

[hcat]

1 hour ago, martinitime1 said:

Wow, have read thru this whole thread and it took me back to our first cruise.

 

 Would have been back in the early 90's. We were on our very first cruise on the Sovereign of the Seas. Remember her? Anyway we were doing a Carribean cruise and one of the stops was to be Haiti that morning. The port was cancelled due to a coup underway in Haiti, and we just had another sea day. We knew something was up as the ship basically stopped offshore overnight (very strange feeling) kind of just eerily quietly floating. 

we do remember Sovereign..our first cruise together ...but we had no Haiti  issues...just noro.

 

Imnediately switched to Celebrity...for the next cruise 

[NMTraveller]

19 minutes ago, dlh015 said:

Ditto. I remember walking thru the airport in Frankfurt, Germany with patrolling guards carrying automatic weapons. It certainly got my attention...

You were in Italy during the Golpe Borghese: Coup attempt?

[RichYak]

5 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

When we were in NYC (for a cruise several times) there were stabbings in the subway.

That’s how we welcome tourists. 

[NMTraveller]

28 minutes ago, RichYak said:

That’s how we welcome tourists. 

No one makes eye contact on the street.  Also very strange .🤣

[dlh015]

58 minutes ago, RichYak said:

They’re back. 

Where's the Guardian Angels??  (I was living in the city when they were founded...)

[dlh015]

23 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

No one makes eye contact on the street.  Also very strange .🤣

May not make eye contact but I knew exactly where anyone was...a talent I carry with me to this very day...though my NYC days are now in the distant past. (and that talent saved my butt years later when living in SF...)

[dlh015]

58 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

You were in Italy during the Golpe Borghese: Coup attempt?

? No, this was the early 90s...in Germany on business...

[NMTraveller]

50 minutes ago, dlh015 said:

May not make eye contact but I knew exactly where anyone was...a talent I carry with me to this very day...though my NYC days are now in the distant past. (and that talent saved my butt years later when living in SF...)

Well living in New Mexico the occurrence of gunfire was regular.  We quickly learned which direction it was coming from.

[hcat]

 

off Topic; 

Not too long ago we had Natl guard at NY airports to check our Covid paperwork.  With no places left to house border crossers,  unchecked crime,  and congestion pricing coming soon;  NYC will become another dead  U.S. city.. How sad!

 

 NY suburbs not that great either!

 

 

 on Topic:

Haiti is a sad case..but we also avoid many areas of  Mexico...Many other  cruise ports are available.

[Honolulu Blue]

Interesting discussion. I'll tell my story and get out.

 

One of the charters I have scheduled for next year has a stop in Labadee. At this point, I'm not too worried about it. If Royal doesn't think it's safe to go there, we won't go there and we'll go somewhere else instead. Or maybe nowhere; the charters stops aren't very important.

 

[TeeRick]

We were in Labadee just recently on RCCL Symphony.  It was business as usual.  It was safe and enjoyable.  

 

 

[Charles4515]

33 minutes ago, Andy_P said:

 

^{We were there years ago and all we remember is the onslaught of hawkers....  We're there again in November and I doubt we'll go ashore unless we feel we need a beach day}

They moved where hawkers could sell a number of years ago. So you can choose whether to see what they are hawking. Still very high key if you enter that area but now you can stay away from them and avoid the onslaught. There is also an artisan store that is low key for souvenirs but of course no big bargains. 

Edited March 9 by Charles4515

[steilkurve]

Been to Labadee many times, the first time being in 1996 on Sovereign of the seas. Absolutely love it. That said, sadly, I would not book a cruise with this stop right now. Don’t think it is possible to guarantee one’s security there at the moment with an absentee government and gangs running wild. Sad because of the beauty of the area and the impact of ships possibly pulling their stops on the local economy.

[Queenmom1947]

So sad for the good people of Haiti.   The country has been through so many dictators and cannot keep a handle on violent overthrows.

our first visit was on a cruise in the mid- 70s and the poverty was so evident.

 

[Pinboy]

12 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

I think it has been mentioned many times that they have a private security force. 
 

 

Yup— A “ private “ security force!! That’ll do it!!  
” Hey, anyone seen the Security staff ?? When ? They were seen leaving 3 hours ago ?? But , they are supposed to keep the tourists safe “

The answer: 3 minutes 

The question: How long will it take for the CD to get back onto the ship after the “ Welcome to Haiti “ reception as the “ They ain’t gonna scare me “ passengers head for a bbq ?

The answer:  That’s a “ Good One “ !
The question:  Where would we be during our visit (?) to Haiti?

[Charles4515]

4 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

Yup— A “ private “ security force!! That’ll do it!!  
” Hey, anyone seen the Security staff ?? When ? They were seen leaving 3 hours ago ?? But , they are supposed to keep the tourists safe “

The answer: 3 minutes 

The question: How long will it take for the CD to get back onto the ship after the “ Welcome to Haiti “ reception as the “ They ain’t gonna scare me “ passengers head for a bbq ?

The answer:  That’s a “ Good One “ !
The question:  Where would we be during our visit (?) to Haiti?

The private force has worked for years  Independence of the Seas is at Labadee today. If you are scared you don't have to take a cruise that stops there.

[sfaaa]

4 hours ago, Pinboy said:

“ passengers head for a bbq ?

The answer:  That’s a “ Good One “ !
The question:  Where would we be during our visit (?) to Haiti?

Don't go near BBQ. Also stay away from all the black flies.

[NMTraveller]

2 minutes ago, sfaaa said:

Don't go near BBQ. Also stay away from all the black flies.

Was he referring to "Barbeque" the gangster coup leader?

Edited March 9 by NMTraveller

[sfaaa]

Just now, NMTraveller said:

Was he referring to "Barbeque" the coup leader?

Both are deadly. High cholesterol or full of lead poison. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

19 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

There was a lot of space and Royal has built a lot since 30 years ago. They even have a tram now that some passengers use. It is another way for them to get revenue. The beach areas that they use are expanded. Some of the beaches are meh but a couple are pretty good.  Like any port some don’t care for it but it has been a pretty popular port. 

 

It's because it's owned by RCG

[Salt Lifer]

If I were on a ship docking at Labadee right now I certainly wouldn't get off the ship.  I believe the ship itself would bee safe, but there is too much unrest to feel comfortable on land.  Mr. BBQ and his merry band of thieves are focused on taking control of the government and likely don't want trouble with RCL or the U.S. government, but there are literally thousands of other criminals running around who may not have allegiance to BBQ. People are crazy if they think these guys will behave themselves and they may see storming Labadee and taking a few cruise ship passengers hostage as an easy payday, or killing some tourists as a way to make a scene.  Not worth the risk at the moment, in my opinion.

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

38 minutes ago, Salt Lifer said:

If I were on a ship docking at Labadee right now I certainly wouldn't get off the ship.  I believe the ship itself would bee safe, but there is too much unrest to feel comfortable on land.  Mr. BBQ and his merry band of thieves are focused on taking control of the government and likely don't want trouble with RCL or the U.S. government, but there are literally thousands of other criminals running around who may not have allegiance to BBQ. People are crazy if they think these guys will behave themselves and they may see storming Labadee and taking a few cruise ship passengers hostage as an easy payday, or killing some tourists as a way to make a scene.  Not worth the risk at the moment, in my opinion.

 

 

99.9999% nothing bad happens, but if it did, what would be the most likely scenario?  Why go to Labadee to deal with hostages potentially for days, while you wait for a payment that that might not even come (a sniper could kill you)?  They'd probably storm the ship which has lots of money, jewelry, luxury goods, and personal electronics on board