Labadee Status - Celebrity has cancelled all port calls until at least April 2025. Any emails from RC this far out?

[BND]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

The captain on Adventure (specifically on the first cruise that got rerouted after Labadee was closed) said the exact same thing. Perception, not actual threat.

Things have gotten only worse since the first reroute.  That was how many months ago?  Obviously RCI isn't trying to change anyone's perception.  If they really wanted to return you'd think they'd spend some money on P.R.

Edited August 16 by BND

[smokeybandit]

Just now, BND said:

Things have gotten only worse since the first reroute.  That was how many months ago?

It's been quite quiet since that Kenyan force came into town.

https://apnews.com/hub/haiti

[Ocean Boy]

1 minute ago, BND said:

Things have gotten only worse since the first reroute.  That was how many months ago?

I'm not sure the captain of the ship would say much more on the subject than what his bosses want him to anyway, no matter what is going on.

[orville99]

We are well past FPD on our 10/5/24 6-night on Adventure, and to date have received nothing from RCL swapping out some place else for Labadee. We did this exact itinerary in July, and they rerouted us to Grand Turk. I'd be fine with that again, but I'd like to know before we board so we can either pack our snorkel gear or leave it home.

[ATG]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

We are well past FPD on our 10/5/24 6-night on Adventure, and to date have received nothing from RCL swapping out some place else for Labadee. We did this exact itinerary in July, and they rerouted us to Grand Turk. I'd be fine with that again, but I'd like to know before we board so we can either pack our snorkel gear or leave it home.

We have Freedom on 11/3 and it still shows Labadee. Our Adventure in January changed to PDCC months ago. But so far no CocoCay shore excursions. I don’t really care, but would like to know.

[orville99]

22 minutes ago, ATG said:

We have Freedom on 11/3 and it still shows Labadee. Our Adventure in January changed to PDCC months ago. But so far no CocoCay shore excursions. I don’t really care, but would like to know.

The problem with ours is that we were already scheduled to stop at Coco Cay so we would have to either do two stops there or go elsewhere.  

[tink1112]

We are on Oasis on 11/10 and it is still showing excursions for Labadee. I wish we knew where we are going instead. I seriously doubt we are actually going to port in Labadee. We are already stopping at CocoCay and Falmouth so I'm hoping for Grand Turk, haven't been there in years.

[petuniaflower]

Was just coming here to see if anyone had an update, on the Adventure 6 night mid October, and no notice yet...

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

On 8/13/2024 at 5:14 PM, George C said:

Totally agree ,loved Ocho Rios , ten times better than Falmouth. 

 

On 8/14/2024 at 5:58 AM, Ocean Boy said:

I agree about Ocho Rios. We had a great visit there. I also never had an issue with the "street vendors" who were offering to sell their "wares". They quickly moved on with a simple "no thanks."

I am glad to hear about positive experiences! I only stopped there once, but it was so unpleasant--"street vendors" who definitely did NOT move on, hypodermic needles littering the beach--that I vowed I would never set foot off the ship in that port again. Maybe I will give it a cautious second try if I ever find myself back there. 🙂 

[island lady]

17 hours ago, orville99 said:

Last time we were there we hired a pedicab (they book them at a small booth inside the gates) for $25 for the two of us, and the driver took us all around Falmouth while doing an excellent narrative about the history of the town. Worthwhile experience.

 

We did an excellent walking history/food tour there with a local tour company.  It was fantastic!  🙂 

[TinkBellaMom]

18 hours ago, island lady said:

 

We did an excellent walking history/food tour there with a local tour company.  It was fantastic!  🙂 

We did the same!  Lovely guide, great food and then back to the tour company owners home for punch and traditional desserts.  We sat in a courtyard within view of our ship. One of our favorite excursions.

[island lady]

1 hour ago, TinkBellaMom said:

We did the same!  Lovely guide, great food and then back to the tour company owners home for punch and traditional desserts.  We sat in a courtyard within view of our ship. One of our favorite excursions.

 

Yup....that was the one!  Loved the bakery with the meat pastries.  😋

[ajtaylor29]

We're on Oct 6th Freedom sailing, and so far haven't heard anything from RC regarding Labadee. I did see on another website some reports that our ship was going to be the second one welcomed back to Labadee but i'm not sure where that info came from so no idea if it's accurate or not....

[orville99]

11 minutes ago, ajtaylor29 said:

We're on Oct 6th Freedom sailing, and so far haven't heard anything from RC regarding Labadee. I did see on another website some reports that our ship was going to be the second one welcomed back to Labadee but i'm not sure where that info came from so no idea if it's accurate or not....

We are scheduled to be there on Adventure on 10/8, so I hope your info is accurate😇

[Iamthesea]

2 hours ago, ajtaylor29 said:

We're on Oct 6th Freedom sailing, and so far haven't heard anything from RC regarding Labadee. I did see on another website some reports that our ship was going to be the second one welcomed back to Labadee but i'm not sure where that info came from so no idea if it's accurate or not....

 

I checked the app for our cruise to see if we could check-in, yet.  Nope, but did notice that excursion reservations for Labadee are offered on the app.  Many spots have been booked. Hmmm 🤔

[Ken at the beach]

Just my 2 cents but I'm thinking that because of the fact there have been no announcements extending the shutdown that you will see visits resume at the end of September. 

 

One of Royals old CD's has posted a few things lately that tend to support Royals return.  

[Jetdriver787]

Difficult, when the country quite obviously remains on most nations “Do Not travel” lists, as advisories for their own citizens! 
 

This has major implications for personal travel insurance and tour operators liability in most countries.

[not-enough-cruising]

10 minutes ago, Jetdriver787 said:

Difficult, when the country quite obviously remains on most nations “Do Not travel” lists, as advisories for their own citizens! 
 

This has major implications for personal travel insurance and tour operators liability in most countries.

Haiti has been on “do not travel” lists for years, if not a decade. 

[Jetdriver787]

28 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Haiti has been on “do not travel” lists for years, if not a decade. 

Yes, indeed! 
 

However they lease the resort from the Haitian “government,” and there has long been a (let’s call it) vague perception in sectors of the travelling public that they have been perhaps happy to let foster, that this resort is some sort of “private island,” removed from the realities of its actual geography?

 

In some of the countries in which they trade, (for example the UK) they would have been in breach of their ABTA membership rules by not pointing out explicitly to each client with whom they made a contract, that this destination was indeed on such a “Do not travel list!” In this case that would have been an FCDO travel advisory. That advisory in turn would point out to prospective travellers that their personal travel insurance would likely have also been invalidated by such travel.

 

Not only the UK, but most counties in the European community would have similar advisories and protections in place. Given the deterioration of the situation in Haiti, I am sure they knew they were pushing their luck in this regard, although I think the technical term is “out of an abundance of caution?”

 

So, I rather suspect this destination will remain “under review” until those relevant travel advisories are downgraded at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later.

[fla33023]

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2024/08/19/local-10-in-haiti-residents-demand-action-as-gangs-tighten-grip-on-port-au-prince/?utm_content=66c3e7719c70e25735c6aefceaaedcbb

[orville99]

On 8/18/2024 at 5:43 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

Just my 2 cents but I'm thinking that because of the fact there have been no announcements extending the shutdown that you will see visits resume at the end of September. 

 

One of Royals old CD's has posted a few things lately that tend to support Royals return.  

According to a port schedule website that I use, we are the first ship scheduled to port there on 10/8. Freedom is scheduled to port there on the next day. That would be fine with us - the last two times we docked there it was in the middle of the night to offload relief supplies for the locals.😇

Edited August 20 by orville99

[Ocean Boy]

15 hours ago, orville99 said:

According to a port schedule website that I use, we are the first ship scheduled to port there on 10/8. Freedom is scheduled to port there on the next day. That would be fine with us - the last two times we docked there it was in the middle of the night to offload relief supplies for the locals.😇

If this actually happens, what has improved in Haiti that RCI feels it is now ok to go back?

[vagolferbob]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

If this actually happens, what has improved in Haiti that RCI feels it is now ok to go back?

 

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

If this actually happens, what has improved in Haiti that RCI feels it is now ok to go back?

This might just be that these dates have not been cancelled yet. There are about 8 dates showing in Oct and almost daily in Nov and Dec. It would be nice of Royal shared some insight into this situation. 

[PhillyFan33579]

16 hours ago, orville99 said:

According to a port schedule website that I use, we are the first ship scheduled to port there on 10/8. Freedom is scheduled to port there on the next day. That would be fine with us - the last two times we docked there it was in the middle of the night to offload relief supplies for the locals.😇

I find it hard to believe RCI would go to Labadee in October, when they have already changed the itinerary for a cruise I am going on next March (Labadee was replaced by Puerto Plata). 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I find it hard to believe RCI would go to Labadee in October, when they have already changed the itinerary for a cruise I am going on next March (Labadee was replaced by Puerto Plata). 

Changes like that are likely caused by something other than the security situation.