Haiti Travel Advisory Level 4: Do Not Travel

[island lady]

27 minutes ago, sjb317 said:

Our stop at Labadee was cancelled on our Vision cruise several years ago due to protests.  Probably the same type in the posted article, the captain announced the evening before that we would not be going.  

 

Personally, I didn’t mind as I’m not a fan of Labadee since the “improvements”. 🙄

 

Sherri🙂

 

Plus one.  🙂 

[ryguy2008]

Hi everyone!

I'm looking at summer cruises and considering a Symphony cruise that stops in Labadee, Haiti.

 

As you might know, with the civil unrest, the Canadian government recently issued their highest level travel advisory to "avoid all travel". Of course, the situation may drastically improve in the next few weeks/months.

 

Is this impacting Royal cruises and their ability to stop in Labadee? Many travel insurances do not cover incidents that occur when there is a travel advisory.

[Pegannhart]

From what I understand, Labadee is pretty closed off from Haiti and is quite secure.  I am sure they will cancel any excursions that involved the Island of Haiti itself. 

[brillohead]

Not an issue... see discussion in this thread:
 

 

[ryguy2008]

22 minutes ago, brillohead said:

Not an issue... see discussion in this thread:
 

 

Thanks! Missed that thread. 

[brillohead]

2 minutes ago, ryguy2008 said:

Thanks! Missed that thread. 

You're welcome -- it was buried several pages back, so not surprised you didn't see it.  

 
FWIW, Labadee is a fave stop of mine... such a relaxing beach day!  

[sfaaa]

Everyone is raving about how secure Labadee is. Facts are those 5 ft high chain link fence can easily be breached in 5 minutes or less. And if you think the poorly paid local guards would lay their own lives on the line to protect some foreigners against an out of control riot mob, you will likely be disappointed.

[KmomChicago]

1 hour ago, sfaaa said:

Everyone is raving about how secure Labadee is. Facts are those 5 ft high chain link fence can easily be breached in 5 minutes or less. And if you think the poorly paid local guards would lay their own lives on the line to protect some foreigners against an out of control riot mob, you will likely be disappointed.

 

I don't think we said we expect anyone to lay down their lives in case of an actual riot mob.  If the protests get too close, RC cancels the stop.  They have done this before.  Typically the Cap-Hatien area is much safer than Port-au-Prince.  That does not mean it's a perfect paradise or that nothing ever can or will go wrong.  Many of the countries visited by cruise ships have challenges with crime or unrest, but not usually in the immediate region of the port in question. 

 

Today's question is just whether people going on RC right now should go so far as to decline to get off the ship when they stop at Labadee due to the current warning.  It seems unlikely that a "riot mob" moving toward the port and large enough to overwhelm the guards would go unnoticed in time for the cruise line to divert. 

[KmomChicago]

Two different live reviewers are there now. CKRobyn was at Labadee yesterday and it was fine. She noted Columbus Cove beach was not very crowded, so perhaps a lot of passengers are staying on the ship.  John&LaLa are going there today and they don't seem worried. 

 

As noted many times through this thread, it's rare (not impossible, just rare) for the unrest to get near enough to Labadee to impact the cruise stop.

[Ocean Boy]

On 2/15/2019 at 10:55 AM, EMBFlyer said:

Labadee is NOT Haiti.  It is well-protected.  When we were there in 2006 (during some unrest in Haiti), they assured us it was perfectly safe and that the UN was 2 minute helicopter flight away if we needed them.  Royal would never risk the safety of their guests at their private destination.  It is well guarded.

Are you serious?.

[island lady]

3 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Are you serious?.

 

Yeah, we went through this statement awhile back in this thread.  I think the poster was actually serious.  😮 

Edited February 19, 2019 by island lady

[Zach1213]

On 2/15/2019 at 8:16 AM, BND said:

Remember, Haiti is a very poor country and the area surrounding Labadee is not very populated.

 

I wouldn't completely agree with this Cap-Haitien is a city/region of over 250,000 people and is barely 12km/7.5 miles via road (shorter in a straight line) from Labadee.

[216Cruiser]

We were there via the Allure last Friday, Feb 15th, a day or so after the warning came out. We were completely unaware of the warning at the time. We went to Amiga Island (highly recommended) and the people there were not RC workers but locals either way and were maybe the friendliest people we've met in quite awhile. I've felt way unsafer in plenty of other places including our own hometown so...

[Amberle3]

We're on the Oasis right now, stopped at Labadee on the 19th.  No signs there of any unrest. Overall felt very safe - except for wandering into the marketplace area. Sellers there were very aggressive and pushy, more than I've seen at other ports.

 

[Cruisegirl6]

I would love not to stop in Labadee on my next cruise, but that never happen.

[Snit13]

Think I would feel safer in Labadee than in many cities in California at the present time.  

[Ocean Boy]

3 hours ago, Cruisegirl6 said:

I would love not to stop in Labadee on my next cruise, but that never happen.

Missed Labadee once due to weather conditions. Got to spend more time in San Juan in return. I was happy.

[gkbiiii]

A while back, a flotilla of Haitian canoes, surrounded one of Royal's ships, in protest to some government problem, or election. 

[sisocialworker]

from what a RC staff member told me, the private RC area is protected by armed guards outside the property and a "wall"(yes it works)...the border guards around Labadee don't play...no one tries to cross the boarder and enter RC property there....99.9% safe, if RC/captain has any doubts they will not jeopardize passenger safety  

Edited February 22, 2019 by sisocialworker

[rance]

My concern would be if travel insurance would be valid even if your accident had nothing to do with the situation in Haiti.

our travel insurance policy states clearly that coverage is void if you travel to a country with a govt travel advisory.

 

[sisocialworker]

Just now, rance said:

My concern would be if travel insurance would be valid even if your accident had nothing to do with the situation in Haiti.

our travel insurance policy states clearly that coverage is void if you travel to a country with a govt travel advisory.

 

good point..

[sfaaa]

38 minutes ago, rance said:

My concern would be if travel insurance would be valid even if your accident had nothing to do with the situation in Haiti.

our travel insurance policy states clearly that coverage is void if you travel to a country with a govt travel advisory.

 

Yeah, war and civil unrest are not covered under many policies.

[A&L_Ont]

1 hour ago, rance said:

My concern would be if travel insurance would be valid even if your accident had nothing to do with the situation in Haiti.

our travel insurance policy states clearly that coverage is void if you travel to a country with a govt travel advisory.

 

 

33 minutes ago, sfaaa said:

Yeah, war and civil unrest are not covered under many policies.

 

If your policy is voided by being in that country, don’t leave the ship.  You haven’t entered the country. Might be splitting hairs but one could try this discussion point.

 

Let’s be honest, they aren’t going to stop if it wasn’t going to be safe. They also would not have invested money over the years for it to be lost to civil unrest. The civil unrest had been going on longer than RC has been in Labadee. Also the locals that work there would not want to see their jobs leave because of unrest. I suspect they’d be doing their best to make sure it doesn’t happen. 

 

A few years ago there was a small fishinging boat protest, and the ship didn’t dock that day. RC took it very seriously, and I suspect the locals that work at Labadee took a strip out of the protestors. No ship, no pay. 

[KmomChicago]

8 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

A few years ago there was a small fishing boat protest, and the ship didn’t dock that day. RC took it very seriously, and I suspect the locals that work at Labadee took a strip out of the protestors. No ship, no pay. 

 

This is probably accurate.  The agreement between RC and Haiti is "only" until 2050, which sounds like forever when you are a young healthy human person in the 1990's, but lo and behold, now appears like an actual date which will someday be "today."  Those who benefit from Labadee, which is a surprisingly large number of locals, are already looking forward to what will happen then, and thinking about their children's lives.  They are not stupid.  They know if the ships leave, it will hurt them and very badly. 

 

It's unlikely Haiti will be a fully modernized economy and a prospering society by then, simply judging by the current rate of progress.  (Believe me, I deeply hope this statement is inaccurate!)  They know if the cruise line can't actually use the port for its intended purpose, they will not consider renewing the lease.  They know it may not matter anyway and that the end might just be that. The end.

 

I am not naïve about the lengths desperate people will go to for survival, nor about the risks and moral dilemma of cooperating with corrupt governments, or the risks of travelling to dangerous locations, or concerns about voiding travel insurance policies.  Though I would want to understand, is the entire policy for the entire vacation voided, or is it invalid for any incidents while onshore in Haiti, kicking back in once you board the ship?  

[Psycho and Barb]

Labadee is one of our favorite ports and we’ve been there 8 times...Never felt unsafe.  Nellies Beach is so beautiful and relaxing.