by Donald Wood
Last updated: 8:45 AM ET, Thu March 14, 2024
Civil unrest in Haiti has forced the Royal Caribbean Group
to cancel all plans to visit its private destination in Labadee.
The change comes just days after the cruise company said it
would continue
to make calls at the private resort despite the United States Department of
State issuing a Level 4 Travel Advisory (Do Not Travel) due to increasing
violence.
Royal Caribbean International Assistant Vice President Aurora
Yera-Rodriguez issued a statement to passengers booked on voyages with
scheduled stops in Labadee about the cancelations.
“Due to the evolving situation in Haiti, and in an abundance
of caution, we're temporarily suspending our visits to Labadee for our entire
fleet,” Yera-Rodriguez announced. “We continue to monitor and assess the
situation with our Global Security & Intelligence Team.”
In response, Yera-Rodriguez said some of the ships scheduled
to visit the Haitian destination will be rerouted to the Turks and Caicos
Islands and spend extra time in Jamaica. Other passengers have been notified
that the stop at Labadee was replaced with a day at sea.
In addition, Royal Caribbean announced that pre-paid shore
excursions offered by the cruise line will be automatically refunded to each
customer’s “original form of payment.”
Earlier this month, the State Department issued the Level
4 travel advisory for the Caribbean nation, which is beset by gang-related
violence that includes periods of sustained gunfire. Several areas in the
capital city of Port-au-Prince have been affected, including areas around the
airport, the seaport and the U.S. Embassy.
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