Royal Caribbean Cruises Suspends Visits to Private Beach Destination

Royal Caribbean is temporarily pausing visits to Labadee, the cruise line’s private island off the coast of northern Haiti.

Four of the cruise line’s ships have already been redirected away from the island, skipping planned visits. Those ships include Voyager of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas and Odyssey of the Seas, according to a Newsweek report based on information distributed by Cruise Radio.

Contacted for comment about this development by Newsweek, a Royal Caribbean spokesperson offered the following explanation:

"Out of an abundance of caution, we have temporarily paused our upcoming visits to Labadee. We have already communicated with guests directly.”

The move to avoid the cruise line's private island comes at a time when the U.S. State Department has classified Haiti as a Level 4 "Do Not Travel" destination. The classification is due to extensive gang violence and ongoing civil unrest.

In particular, the warning says: "Do not travel to Haiti due to kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and limited health care.” Robbery, carjackings, sexual assault and kidnappings for ransom are commonplace in Haiti, according to U.S. officials.

Separately, the U.S. Embassy in Haiti issued a warning regarding "widespread protests with potential for violence between police, protestors, and criminal gangs" this week.

The country has been grappling with armed gangs that have taken over most of Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince, Newsweek reported.

Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas had been scheduled to pull into port at Labadee on Thursday. The ship has instead been directed to visit Nassau in the Bahamas.

Voyager of the Seas, meanwhile, will bypass Labadee and sail to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.

This is not the first time Royal Caribbean has paused visits to Labadee. It followed a similar measure last summer, holding off on visits to the island until September 2024.

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