U.S. travel alert: Cruise line extends cancellations of stops to popular Caribbean resort
A major cruise company has announced more cancellations for stops at its private resort in Haiti due to continued unrest and violence.
Royal Caribbean had previously announced a temporary suspension of stops at its resort in Labadee, Haiti. Now, according to a report on RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com, itineraries will be changed through at least mid-April.
“Due to the evolving situation in Haiti, we’ll now visit Perfect Day at CocoCay instead of Labadee, Haiti. We’re terribly sorry for the last-minute change – your safety is our top priority,” Royal Caribbean International’s Assistant Vice President of Guest Experiences wrote in the communication to guests sailing on the April 14 sailing of Explorer of the Seas, the website reported.
Stops at Labadee have been replaced with visits to Perfect Day at CocoCay, another Royal Caribbean-operated resort. Other itineraries have been rerouted to Grand Cayman, Bimini, Grand Turk and St. Maarten.
Royal Caribbean recently announced a temporary stop to calls on Labadee, located on the northern coast of Haiti. The U.S. State Department had previously issued an alert for Haiti, advising people not to visit the country due to the threat of “kidnapping, crime, civil unrest and poor health care infrastructure.” All family members of U.S. government employees and non-emergency personnel have been ordered to leave the country.
The resort in Labadee, first opened by Royal Caribbean in 1986, is located about 130 miles from the Haiti capital Port-au-Prince, the epi-center of gang violence. The U.S. State Department announced last week it had completed its first evacuation of American citizens from Port-au-Prince, transporting 15 people to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. Others were later evacuated on a plane chartered by the Florida Department of Emergency Management.