How Will Labadee Hold Up?

[zeberdee]

Hopefully there won't be any problems at all in Labadee.

 

I mentioned the insurance because if you had an accident or became ill either on the ship (in Hatian waters) or on Labadee you may not have cover. 

 

 

[Rustyman]

5 minutes ago, zeberdee said:

Hopefully there won't be any problems at all in Labadee.

 

I mentioned the insurance because if you had an accident or became ill either on the ship (in Hatian waters) or on Labadee you may not have cover. 

 

 

I wouldn’t fancy falling I’ll onboard or at Labadee and being taken to a Port au Prince hospital!

[Charles4515]

27 minutes ago, Brimtown said:

 

Look at a map and see how close Cap-Haitien is to Labadee. While they're not seeing the same level of violence as the capital city, there has been some violence and gunfire just as recently as this past weekend. 

Doomsaying  about Labadee has been discused on cruise forums for 30 years. The first time I was there was 1996. There have been a few times where calls there put on hold but they alway resumed. They might have to pause calls there because of the current situation. I wouldn't worry about it. 

[Charles4515]

Duplicate 

Edited March 5 by Charles4515

[Charles4515]

20 minutes ago, Rustyman said:

I wouldn’t fancy falling I’ll onboard or at Labadee and being taken to a Port au Prince hospital!

They would take yo to Cap-Haitan. None on a cruise ship will ever be near Port au Prince. 

[Jim_Iain]

Today's event may have cruise lines taking a second look of sailing there in the near future. 

[dontpanik]

I mean, to each their own but I will not be taking a cruise that stops in Haiti anytime in the near future.  It seems shortsighted to think the gangs only see beaches and tourists beyond the barbed wire...there is a freaking unarmed, mega ship they could hijack.  Staying on the ship is no 'safe zone'. These are desperate criminals and despite the almost guaranteed failure of pirating a ship, I would not put it past them at all to try and have more than a few lives lost other than their own. Not a relaxing vacation to me.

[hcat]

sadly ..  long established humanitarian flght missions from Florida have been paused....too dangerous.!

 

I have been on Haiti including Port au Prince, years  ago on a cruise . Our guide carried a gun &  had a cow when I wore a mini skirt and sleeveless shirt,  but we did get a great private tour.  This was the era of Papa Doc..very tense! My parents brought shoes and donated art supplies to Haitian artists.

 

Have been to Labadee a number of times. very different location and area but I would not return there now.

 

Haiti is blessed with beautiful people but cursed with instability, poverty, and  violence....Very sad!

[NMTraveller]

I have been there a couple of times.  I have no desire to go back.  They could add a better port to the itinerary.  The same for the Bahamas.

[PTC DAWG]

2 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I have been there a couple of times.  I have no desire to go back.  They could add a better port to the itinerary.  The same for the Bahamas.

Lets hear some options for 3-4 day cruises out of Florida?  Easy to complain (well, not for some), harder to come up with alternatives. 

[Charles4515]

6 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I have been there a couple of times.  I have no desire to go back.  They could add a better port to the itinerary.  The same for the Bahamas.

There aren’t any better ports out of Florida and for the gigantic ships, Oasis class even fewer options. 

[hcat]

dup..see next post..

Edited March 7 by hcat

[hcat]

1 minute ago, hcat said:

Chaos in Haiti forces prime minister to land in Puerto Rico

As conditions deteriorate in Haiti, with rioting in the streets and much of the capital controlled by gangs, there was increasing pressure on the prime minister to resign. The U.S. urged Americans to leave Haiti. NBC News' Gabe Gutierrez reports.

todays news online

[NMTraveller]

57 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Lets hear some options for 3-4 day cruises out of Florida?  Easy to complain (well, not for some), harder to come up with alternatives. 

Too short of a cruise.  Why bother?

 

Unfortunately this port also shows up on longer cruises...

Edited March 7 by NMTraveller

[Charles4515]

11 minutes ago, hcat said:

todays news online

That is yesterday’s news.
 

These latest reports indicate that what is happening is not really gang warfare. It is about political power. Why would a gang call for the government to resign? They want to be the government. The gangs are different political factions. 

Edited March 7 by Charles4515

[Charles4515]

8 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Too short of a cruise.  Why bother?

 

Unfortunately this port also shows up on longer cruises...

You don’t have to cruise on those. For that matter don’t cruise with the Royal Caribbean Group. It’s not like there is no alternative cruise lines. 

[Rustyman]

And the gang leader is nicknamed “barbecue”, nothing to do with the lunches at Labadee. If you read a bit about his back story it looks little like a political move, more about power and control of his “patch”.

[phoenix_dream]

Interesting article.  The "it could never happen to Labadee" people may want to read it. Frankly I am shocked Royal isn't temporarily suspending stops.

https://www.aol.com/key-port-terminal-broken-violence-171419553.html

[tlund]

I don't know about Labadee being so far away from the locals that nothing could happen there.  Twice when we were there in the past, there were kids on the other side of the fence by the BBQ begging for food.  If the kids can get to the fence, which had no guards nearby, what makes you think that bad guys can't get there.  A few snips snips of the fence and they are in.  I will not go on any itineraries that include Labadee as a stop, and haven't for many years now.

[Charles4515]

41 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

Interesting article.  The "it could never happen to Labadee" people may want to read it. Frankly I am shocked Royal isn't temporarily suspending stops.

https://www.aol.com/key-port-terminal-broken-violence-171419553.html

What it could never happen to Labadee people? Who said that?  I would never say never. You do realize though that where that Port A Prince is located does not get Royal Caribbean cruise ships and is a dense urban area far from Labadee? We had a few shootings in north Texas last weekend so I guess Royal should suspend Galveston. If you have no faith that Royal would suspend Labadee if there was a danger, would put their passengers and billion dollar hardware in danger I guess out of stubbornness ? you probably should not cruise with Royal. 
 

 

Edited March 8 by Charles4515

[prmssk]

1 minute ago, Charles4515 said:

We had a few shootings in north Texas last weekend so I guess Royal should suspend Galveston.

I'm not sure your example is a very good comparison.  Even with the violence we have in the US, we don't have any cities that are 80%+ overrun by gangs and violence to the extent Haiti is seeing, in addition to the extreme poverty that can really make people desperate.

 

And I don't think it is wise to blindly have faith in a company focused on profit.  I generally trust RCG to do the right thing but that doesn't mean I'm always going to agree with their risk assessment and decisions as it relates to me personally.  

 

I'm a bit surprised RCG hasn't paused visits.  The DR has essentially sealed the border.  Cap-Haitiens (very close to Labadee) is seeing some violence already and stepping up measures to try to protect the city.  The state of emergency for the entire country has been extended to April.  Their own prime minister can't safely return.  The gang leader is threatening civil war.  Every day news reports new attacks on various targets (police stations, airports, the port, etc.). Huge numbers are fleeing Port-au-Prince (desperate people that have to go somewhere).  Other countries are withdrawing their embassy staff.

 

This isn't Haiti's normal violence.

[Charles4515]

5 minutes ago, prmssk said:

 

I'm a bit surprised RCG hasn't paused visits.

I am sure they discuss pausing visits every day. I would not be surprised if visits are paused. They paused visits when some locals held up protest signs on tiny boats. 

[prmssk]

Just now, Charles4515 said:

I am sure they discuss pausing visits every day. I would not be surprised if visits are paused. They paused visits when some locals held up protest signs on tiny boats. 

Yes, I agree.  I'm sure they are closely monitoring the situation.

 

They also paused visits in 2021 and into early 2022 after the assassination of the last leader.

[NMTraveller]

54 minutes ago, prmssk said:

Yes, I agree.  I'm sure they are closely monitoring the situation.

 

They also paused visits in 2021 and into early 2022 after the assassination of the last leader.

And yet they keep on going back.  One coup after another...

Edited March 8 by NMTraveller

[realnice46]

15 hours ago, dontpanik said:

I mean, to each their own but I will not be taking a cruise that stops in Haiti anytime in the near future.  It seems shortsighted to think the gangs only see beaches and tourists beyond the barbed wire...there is a freaking unarmed, mega ship they could hijack.  Staying on the ship is no 'safe zone'. These are desperate criminals and despite the almost guaranteed failure of pirating a ship, I would not put it past them at all to try and have more than a few lives lost other than their own. Not a relaxing vacation to me.

Totally agree with you!