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Ok, here's to the elephant in the room. Is anybody concerned about the problems in Haiti right now? My wife and I have a cruise next month on the Allure and the only stop is at Labadee. I We have been there before and I know that there is only a chain link fence separating the port and the rest of the country. What's the chances that Royal will divert this cruise to Coco Cay or some real port? Any thoughts? 

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Not to sound paranoid, but I also wouldn't put much faith in a security force manned by locals. There's also no "fence" to keep the gangs from coming by boat / raft / canoe, etc.. Seems to me the prudent choice for RCI is to divert away from Labadee until things stabilize.

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@Jim Lamb That's a great question. Based on the local insecurity, I would hope that cruise lines highly consider rerouting away from Haiti. RCL should put its guests first and Coco Cay would be a really great alternative. I think the chances of RCL rerouting would be pretty high. Since this is all sort of recent news, I would imagine that RCL would reach out to you in the coming weeks to address the issue, potentially with an itinerary update. Keep us posted if/when that happens! 

@kefthecruiser I completely agree with that. 

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@Jim Lamb Thanks for the update here! I'm glad RCL is making the choice to reroute its itineraries to reflect the safety of all guests. Hopefully the local unrest in Haiti is short lived and the local authorities can get everything under control in a timely fashion. For those that were booked on these rerouted itineraries, I hope Labadee is replaced with another desirable choice! On my last itinerary, we had to reroute due to poor weather, and MSC Seashore did an exceptional job at changing its itinerary to actually add a stop instead of skipping any at all! Hopefully the affected itineraries all end up being just as fun as initially slated. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/14/2024 at 12:24 PM, Jim Lamb said:

Well, according to the news this morning, Labadee is off the schedule for the next week or so. Good move RCL!   

Hey @Jim Lamb Did Royal Caribbean contact you about replacing Labadee for Allure of the Seas?

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@Jim Lamb Keep us posted on that! Coco Cay would be a great replacement. I know all cruise lines are keeping a closes watch on Haiti and it's current situation. Cruise lines care about guest safety. As of late, CCL is choosing to continue visiting the Dominican Republic despite the turmoil happening nearby. At this time, CCL is considering Amber Cove safe and certain fleet members will continue to stop there. I'm sure more updates will come if things change. I'm hopeful all things will regulate and get under control relatively quickly. 

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This just in....

 

Dear Guest,

Due to the evolving situation in Haiti, we’ll now visit Nassau, Bahamas, instead of Labadee, Haiti. We’re terribly sorry for the last-minute change – your safety is our top priority. Nevertheless, we’re excited to explore a new port with you! Below, please find our revised Allure of the Seas April 29th, 2024, itinerary.

Date

Day

Port of Call

Arrive

Depart

4/29/24

Mon

Orlando (Port Canaveral), Florida

 

4:00 PM

4/30/24

Tue

Cruising

 

 

5/1/24

Wed

Nassau, Bahamas

7:00 AM

6:00 PM

5/2/24

Thu

Cruising

 

 

5/3/24

Fri

Orlando (Port Canaveral), Florida

6:30 AM

 

Your Day in Nassau

In Nassau, lounge like a local at Junkanoo Beach and sip on tasty Bahama Mamas under clear skies. Get a more hands-on maritime adventure by taking a short boat ride to Pearl Island and spend the day kayaking, paddleboarding, or playing on inflatable water obstacles. Whatever you decide to do, you’re sure to have an amazing time!

Shore Excursions

Any pre-paid Royal Caribbean International shore excursions booked for Labadee will automatically be refunded to your original form of payment. In the meantime, you can browse all the exciting shore excursion options for your sailing in My Royal Cruise to level up your vacation.

Feel free to use this letter for insurance purposes.

Thank you for your understanding. We can’t wait to welcome you onboard Allure of the Seas!

 

That's just fine with us since it's been a while since we were in Nassau. 

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@Emrys It looks like @Jim Lamb's itinerary was indeed altered to reflect the turmoil in Haiti. Nassau is a great replacement for Labadee, and I'm sure you will enjoy your time there instead. Did you pre-book an excursion in Labadee? If so, would you be interested in booking another excursion in Nassau instead? One thing I appreciate about RCL is that the line lets guests know what's going on as early as possible. Many other cruise lines hide facts from guests longer than necessary. I love this straightforward approach!

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  • 4 weeks later...

@Balmy Jones RCL would absorb any additional port fees it would incur for rerouting its advertised itinerary. One thing the cruise line won't do is credit your account if the port fees were lower, but RCL does an excellent job of offering OCC and/or FCC to guests for the change of plans. Those credits typically surpass that port fee difference making it all very fair. Not all cruise lines offer such incentives, but RCL is very good about properly compensating guests. 

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  • 5 weeks later...

We just returned form a back to back Adventure of The Seas cruise out of Port Canaveral where both stops at Labadee were cancelled but replaced with Perfect Day stops. The latest from RCL is all Labadee calls will not resume until this September but they are looking at it on a month to month basis.

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@Loyal To Royal I wouldn't complain about a Perfect Day stop instead of Labadee! It's wise for RCL to continue keeping up to date on Labadee as the situation evolves. Eventually the area should be able to get everything under control. Were you happy with your Perfect Day stops? What did you think of Adventure of the Seas?

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  • 1 month later...

Personally we wouldn't book any trip on RCL if it is stopping in Haiti.  I don't care if its 6 months from now or a year, this is a dangerous country.  I would put it up there with Senegal, Libya or Yeman.  Why would you take a chance??

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@thorpemarlene I agree with what you are saying to some extent. If you are booking an excursion through the line and staying near the port, there isn't much to worry about. I wouldn't recommend doing anything outside of the cruise line's offered excursion choices. I do think Haiti has been particularly questionable for some time, but I feel this way about a few of the Caribbean ports of call. Even if the ship does stop in Haiti, you don't have to get off. It's alright to skip a port and opt to stay onboard and enjoy the ship's amenities instead. I wouldn't compare it to those countries, particularly those in a state of war, but I definitely recommend doing your research and proceeding with caution.  

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@Seaawgs That's honestly so true. None of those cities are very safe in the US. I mean Haiti is foreign territory for most so you don't really know which areas are safe and which aren't. In Miami I feel comfortable because I know the pockets of good and bad. I'm not as confident in Haiti, but I feel comfortable staying around the port. The port areas are safe and clean with plenty of security. I wouldn't be too worried unless you want to take a random taxi and go off to unknown territory for the day. That has its own risks no matter where you are.

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Hey Cruising Caribbean, you must have never been to Labadee. It is a private section on the northern tip of the nation that Royal has control of. There are no excursions other than water based that leave the protected area. It is fenced off from the rest of the island and has reasonably heavy security at the entry points. The only time that a Royal guest is off the property is if they are riding the shuttle for the zip line up to the top of the mountain via the road that borders the Royal property. So, there are no random taxis or areas to roam around in that may be unsafe. The reason I started this tread in the first place way back was in the event that the locals overran the gates when the unrest first started as we had a cruise scheduled to stop there.

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@Jim Lamb I have been to Labadee a while back but not for quite some time. The most recent Haiti port I have been to is Port-au-Prince. The fact there really isn't much more to explore other than RCL's domain, it makes Labadee even safer! Celebrity Ascent has actually removed a call to Labadee inn January 2025 and replaced it with Falmouth, Jamaica instead. Thankfully locals did not overrun the gates, and I hope that never happens. That would be so horrid! Considering the unrest in Haiti, it was a possibility, but I'm hopeful that wouldn't happen at this point in time, but no one truly knows.  

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