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Royal Caribbean Bypasses Labadee Due to Local Protests

LauraS

By LauraS,
in Royal Caribbean International

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IndyKid

IndyKid

Posted
Posted

 

My wife and I are booked on the Allure in April. Labadee is one of 3 stops on the voyage. Hopefully they will have things resolved by then.

 

If not, will they substitute another stop such as Bahamas, Grand Cayman or Turks & Caicos?

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UCF_Knight

UCF_Knight

Posted
Posted
Is that pic from today? So its the 2nd day that protests are stopping cruise ships from docking there?

 

Those pictures are from yesterday. No ships were scheduled for Labadee today. The next one is Navigator of the Seas which is scheduled for tomorrow.

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Jolly Mon Sings

Jolly Mon Sings

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[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96ZhW-nbXMA]

 

Guests aboard Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas were unable to visit the cruise line’s private destination of Labadee today due to political protests in the area.

Video posted to Facebook shows Freedom of the Seas was able to dock at Labadee, but groups of protestors staged a demonstration in small boats. This caused Freedom of the Seas’ captain to decide not to let passengers off the ship.

 

According to CruiseLawNews by Tom Fox, currently aboard the Freedom of the Seas.

Dozens of chanting protesters, banging pots and cymbals, and packed onto a half dozen small vessels, greeted Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas cruise ship as it docked this morning in Labadee, Haiti.

Labadee is a 260-acre peninsula – dubbed a “vacationer’s paradise” by the cruise line — along Haiti’s lush, mountainous and secluded north coast. A small beachfront resort with palm covered cabanas, the area is separated from the rest of the island, cut off by a 12-foot high fence and guarded by security forces.

Royal Caribbean, according to various cruise websites, has leased the land until 2050.

At first it appeared the vessels were approaching the docked ship as part of a rehearsed welcoming ceremony. However, when two coast guard ships arrived and began circling the vessels and encouraging them to leave the waters, it became clear this was a protest – though the specifics of the protesters complaints were not completely spelled out.

One sign, held by one of the protesters, read “USA Away!

 

The Freedom of the Seas cruise ship states it carries 3600 passengers. Many were waiting near the gangplanks waiting to disembark shortly after breakfast. With the protests going on many on the ship watched from their balconies taking pictures and waiting for further instructions

After some thirty minutes’ delay the ship, a voice over the ship’s loudspeaker system announce there would be a short delay before passengers could leave the ship. The vessels continued to play cat and mouse with the coast guard vessels, slightly larger than the protesters’ boats, but all dwarfed by the docked cruise ship.

After more than two hours a voice once again came across the loudspeaker system explaining to passengers that local Haitian elections will take place in another week and that the protests they were watching were a local matter.

It seemed a number of passengers and crew members weren’t buying this explanation.

Finally, the voice stated that the cruise ship would not be disembarking today “for the safety of our passengers, which we hold to be of the utmost importance.

One veteran crewmember told me said she had been sailing into Labadee for 13 years and this was the first time she had seen such a protest.

Nestled on the northern coast of Haiti, Labadee, according to Royal Caribbean’s website, “is the ultimate private destination for cruise vacationers – and we’re the only cruise line that sails there.”

According to several cruise websites, passengers are not allowed to leave Labadee to venture out to see the rest of the island. Haiti is the poorest of the nations in the Western hemisphere and suffered a devastating earthquake in 2010, although it apparently did not affect the northern part of the island where Labadee is located.

Cruise travel websites state that only a small group of Haitian merchants are given rights to sell their merchandise and establish their businesses at the Labadee resort. Most workers ar

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OfTheSeasCruiser

OfTheSeasCruiser

Posted
Posted
We're on the Navigator in 2 weeks which gives RC plenty of time to find us another port if this continues. Did they offer you and onboard credit to make up for this?

 

Ports get missed all the time, there's no need to compensate, but it depends on whether Royal is feeling generous today. :p

 

If this is a continuous thing, I'm sure there will be alternative ports. I think I read on another thread that the election that they are protesting is January 24th, so it might be ending soon. Could be wrong.

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swooldri

swooldri

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Ports get missed all the time, there's no need to compensate, but it depends on whether Royal is feeling generous today. :p

 

If this is a continuous thing, I'm sure there will be alternative ports. I think I read on another thread that the election that they are protesting is January 24th, so it might be ending soon. Could be wrong.

 

Missed ports should get some type of compensation as that cost is in you port fees.:eek:

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sjb317

sjb317

Posted
Posted (edited)
There is now a 3 day break with no ships scheduled. The next scheduled ship is the Navigator on Jan 25th.

 

We are on Vision leaving Tampa tomorrow and scheduled to be in Labadee on Jan. 24th.

 

Sherri:)

Edited by sjb317
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Silvery Seas Cruiser

Silvery Seas Cruiser

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I doubt there are "fees" associated with the private beach....they don't pay themselves to dock there!

 

Doesn't Royal Caribbean pay to lease the land on which Labadee is located? I know they have to negotiate multi-year rights to the land. They must be giving something to Haiti for the privilege.

 

Also whenever a ship docks at Labadee uniformed Haitian officials board the ship. I have seen them. It is entirely possible that Royal does have to pay Haiti some kind of dockage fee as part of their arrangement, even though Royal Caribbean built and paid for the dock.

 

I do know this. Years ago Mariner of the Seas missed a stop at Labadee due to poilitical unrest. We were each reimbursed a couple of dollars "port fees" for that disapointment. There was no dock then. Ships still had to tender. I don't knnow if that fact would have made the difference.

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OfTheSeasCruiser

OfTheSeasCruiser

Posted
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Missed ports should get some type of compensation as that cost is in you port fees.:eek:

 

Well yeah, I wasn't talking about port fees, as they'll definitely be refunded. The poster I was responding to asked if the guests were getting compensation as OBC. I didn't take that to mean port fees. I meant, other than port fees, nothing has to be given (nor do I see a reason to give something) to the guests, as these things happen, and it's not Royal's fault. :cool:

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