Royal Caribbean Cancels Stops to Haiti on at Least Two Ships, Passengers Affirm
Royal Caribbean is reportedly pausing visits to its personal vacation spot of Labadee, Haiti, on account of escalating unrest within the area, in accordance with passenger reviews.
This potential choice (the cruise line has but to immediately affirm this) comes after the same seven-month pause in stops to Labadee in 2024. It additionally comes simply months after the cruise line reassured friends that the personal vacation spot was secure. Even throughout a interval of regional instability, Royal Caribbean had supposed to proceed crusing there.
Apparently, one thing has modified.
To date, passengers crusing on Voyager of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas have reported that their itineraries have been modified, with Labadee being eliminated as a port of name and swapped for one more port.
A passenger on Voyager of the Seas reported that the captain introduced that “Royal Caribbean have [cancelled] all stops to Haiti for the subsequent month because of the ongoing state of affairs which is quickly escalating.”
Itinerary Modifications Reported by Passengers on Voyager and Oasis
Passengers on Voyager of the Seas, at the moment on a 5-night Japanese Caribbean cruise from Port Canaveral, Florida, which departed on April 14, 2025, point out the ship will now go to Puerto Plata within the Dominican Republic as a substitute of Labadee.
The ship’s different scheduled cease at Good Day at CocoCay within the Bahamas stays on the itinerary.
Passengers on Oasis of the Seas, which departed from Port Everglades on a 6-night Western Caribbean voyage on April 13, 2025, have additionally reported receiving notification of a change.
In keeping with these passenger accounts, a letter from the cruise line acknowledged that “out of an abundance of warning, as a substitute of visiting Labadee on Thursday, we’ll get pleasure from a ravishing day in Nassau, Bahamas, on Friday.”
This itinerary additionally consists of calls on CocoCay and Falmouth, Jamaica.
Potential Impression on Future Sailings Based mostly on Schedules
The cancellation of those Labadee stops, as reported by passengers, is now elevating questions on future calls on the personal vacation spot.
Based mostly on present schedules, each Voyager of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas, together with different Royal Caribbean ships like Journey of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas, Symphony of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas, and Grandeur of the Seas, have scheduled visits to Labadee all through April and Might.
It’s doable that extra itinerary adjustments will probably be introduced by the cruise line within the coming days and weeks, however we’ll keep tuned for these developments.
Broader Issues and Earlier Stance
This potential transfer by Royal Caribbean follows a current choice by its sister firm, Celeb Cruises, to alter a couple of sailings to skip Labadee.
The U.S. authorities at the moment has a Degree 4: Do Not Journey Advisory in place for Haiti, citing dangers of kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and restricted healthcare.
A lot of the unrest has been concentrated in areas removed from the personal resort of Labadee, which is about 100 miles from the capital of Port-au-Prince. The port additionally has its personal personal safety workforce and really is separate from the remainder of the nation.
Regardless of Labadee’s isolation and personal safety, Royal Caribbean has nonetheless been cautious in its return to the port.
After resuming visits to Labadee in October 2024, the cruise line suspended shore excursions that required friends to go away the managed cruise port space. One current customer famous that “The one factor completely different about this cruise is Royal has canceled the excursions that go away the realm proper in regards to the pier/compound.”
The Precedence of Security
Based mostly on passenger accounts of onboard bulletins and letters, Royal Caribbean’s choice to briefly keep away from Labadee seems to be sudden, or maybe the cruise line is trying forward and never liking what it sees.
The security of passengers and crew is a precedence for any cruise line, and I’m certain we’ll get extra particulars on this growing story within the coming days.
Cruise Fever has reached out to Royal Caribbean for an announcement and can replace this text with any current bulletins or developments.
