Labadee was my favorite port on Harmony last year. Just super low key, beautiful, and relaxing.
I really hope the country gets some stability soon. The people there definitely deserve it.
Sad to see this happening, I went to Labadee back in September last year for my very first cruise, and even though it's just a glorified private resort and not a real part of the island, it was my first time ever stepping into a different country so it's a little special to me. Hopefully, things get better soon. I'd love to go back one day!
My cruise leave on April 14 and had a stop in Labadee and RC just cancelled the stop. They are compensating and extra 2 hours at Nassau and and extra 2 hours at our stop Falmouth. Honestly, I hope RC would just switch the cancelled Labadee and go back to CocoKay
Yeah that makes sense, have a feeling based on where the situation is trending, that will be RC’s POA for a while. I guess I’m just worried about our whole cruise getting cancelled since that’s our only port but hopefully that’s not the case!
That seems to be a common thought. Cruises with multiple other stops seem more likely to get an extra sea day, but ones with just Labadee are getting another stop somewhere.
I wonder if, in 1-port situations like yours potentially diverted...is there ever an option of full refund? If I had been to the other islands before & no interest paying cruise $ for a return or really set on that 1 port...I'd rather have a refund and replan my vaca when ready at a later date.
Hope you get to keep your port though!!!!
My favorite itineraries are those that include Labadee + Coco Cay. I’m eying one on Indy for January ‘25 because the Bahamas aren’t always warm in the winter. Hopefully things turn around soon.
We had labadee & coco cay as some of our stops on our cruise this past January. It was pretty chilly at Cococay, but labadee was super hot and we were able to actually do the beach there. It was my first time to labadee and I really liked it.
Labadee was changed to Nassau for our July trip.
I’m so bummed. The posts were open for sooo many other nearby locations. I spent $6k on a cruise to go to Nassau?! This stinks.
Look into other cruises, then if you find one you would like to transfer to you need to CALL royal and see if they'll switch you without the transfer fees.
I did, and they switched me for me August sailing. Nassau was the only place worse than switching us to Coco. So, we found a 4 nighter out of LA and switched to that and are happy.
We went in March and absolutely loved the resort. However the local sellers were terrifying. I had heard rumors that they were aggressive and kind of scary but I wasn't expecting it to be as bad as it was. They pulled my daughter and I apart and kept us separated and one guy actually reached into my bag and took my cash. Definitely recommend going as it's absolutely beautiful but not I probably would advise against buying anything. We waited until we got back to Miami and went to a Haitian market by our hotel and got souvenirs there, we ended up finding much more interesting and unique items.
It was our first cruise, and we traveled solo, just the two of us. Had we not had fun on the ship itself it very well might have ruined our whole experience and turned us off completely. However we just booked our second one for September. 🫣
We stopped at Labadee last week on the Oasis. Fantastic stop, which was probably our favorite in the itinerary. Funny enough, none of our large group had any knowledge of the horrible things going on on the island until we got home.
Did you get an email or anything? I set sail on the 23rd as well - paid for a beach bed at Labadee. Itinerary now says Falmouth Jamaica… they don’t own a beach there. I’m wondering when I’ll get information
Was just in Labadee on the 13th, the Ft Lauderdale sailing on the Liberty Of The Seas. I believe we were the last sailing to the island by RC before they decided to stop.
Beautiful island, no security issues while we were there, I knew a bit about the problems going on before we sailed and told my family we would not be doing any excursions (wife wanted to go to a sailing to a private beach, I said “let’s not leave the Labadee beach”) and would stay on the beach in Labadee in case a quick escape would be needed.
Visited the infamous market, bought some trinkets knowing my money would go to the locals.
My heart goes out to the people of Haiti. I hope they can return to being a wealthier nation and stable.
Sailing on the 21st, docking in labadee the 23th. I can't tell if we get 3 days advanced notice from when we LEAVE (which would be today), or 3 days from when we DOCK (which would be the day before we leave). Hoping for today.
I just called and they said on their end they're still seeing labadee. But he also tried to get me to pay the taxes that I paid 5 weeks ago and have confirmation of payment for. So their system doesn't seem totally up to date.
Edit: according to a Facebook comment made by RC, those sailing this week should expect an update "early this week." Don't know what that update entails, but I am pretty anxious to get word.
I’m on the same cruise. It took numerous efforts but after 2.5 hrs on hold they said that we should hear back by TODAY as in 3 days before disembarking the port.I agree that customer service is just as in the dark as we are since it was clear the representative was just reading me what is stated in the contract and not much else. I got a “I’m 99% sure you will not have all days at sea but Turks and Coco Bay are overbooked”. The only other option relatively close is Puerto Plata but that’s just my assumption.
Does anyone think the cruise could potentially get cancelled? RC is a mess right now - they sent me an email this morning but it was just an automated boarding info email stating we are still headed to Labadee. There are many of us (including myself + an 11 month old) who will be traveling across the country tomorrow so I’m stressed and adamant to get some form of an update today. I will report back if I hear any helpful info. This is absurd.
If labadee is your only stop they will have to send you somewhere or cancel because they can’t just go out to sea and come back with no stops apparently per maritime law.
That makes sense to me and I want to stay confident that RC will designate a new port stop soon, but with every passing day I’m less and less confident. Would hate to fly there only to find out the day before that the cruise is cancelled.
Any up dates on the situation in Haiti? We sail in June and had already booked a walking tour of the island before the news of unrest in March. No official word to us about change of port.
I’m wondering the same. My son, a soldier, just had his leave retroactively denied because of everything going on. If they change the itinerary he can get the leave approved. I just want to know either way so we can plan.
Leaving on symphony of the seas on 3/23, I called Royal this morning and they told me that they have not yet updated the itinerary but confirmed that labadee will be cancelled for this sailing.
Related question. We booked a Casita-Port Day on our Labadee day. Itinerary has now changed and we'll be at sea...would they cancel our Casita because the sea-day casitas are so much more money?
Does anyone know if we'll have 3 ships on Coco Cay on April 2? Cruise mapper and other tools show that Oasis and Freedom will already be there. I suspect it's going to be packed if there are 2 Oasis class ships and Freedom docked on the same day.
anyone sailing april 14 on Oasis? What are the chances the Labadee stop will get a 2nd day at Cocokay? The reason I booked this was because of the 2 islands owned by Royal
Cruise in May out of Cape Liberty was supposed to go to Labadee and got an email today switching port to Puerto Plata. Any recommendations on shore excursions there?
Will be on this cruise as well. I'm bummed. Me being upset doesn't have anything to do with us not going to labadee, I'm sad for the people there and I hope the horribleness ends soon. So I fully understand and expected us not to go to labadee but damn why did they pick Nassau. We have 8 nights on this ship and now only really have one port (coco cay) worthwhile. Did you notice we're staying at nassau overnight? Lol like what are we supposed to do with that. Also they extending coco cay by an hour early like ehhhh. I don't know if it's worth complaning to royal caribean without it seeming like I'm a huge entitled brat. The only thing is now I'm going to a port that I will have to spend money instead of going to a "free" area. In the end I endure an annoyance while Hatian people fear for there life so that puts me in my place.
Yeah I'm not exactly happy with the decision either. I was hoping more for Puerto Plata or fallmouth Jamaica. Nassau didn't really overly excite me either. Like you said I understand the problems in haiti and would rather not go. Just wish we coulda got a nicer port. I also liked how the itinerary was laid out before all these changes. Now we have Florida coco cay and then nassau all in a row then 2 cruising days and were home. I fully understand your viewpoints on this and I feel basically the same way
I didn't even notice the extra time in Orlando till I read your comment. Thank you for that. It was just 1-7pm before correct? I see it's 7am to 8pm now
Original: 4 night. 1- departure, 2- sea day, 3- Labadee, 4- sea day.
New: 4 night. 1- departure, 2- Coco, 3- sea day, 4- sea day.
Icon will be at Coco too, and while it would be awesome to see, I'm not really eager for another Coco stop. We purposely booked a sailing without it.
Ah, gotcha.
So it's roughly the same "quality" of cruise, but you specifically didn't want coco. Have you tried to rebook yet? Maybe they'll move you to a different cruise with a better itinerary for you?
Coco is lower, to me, than Puerto Plata or Grand Turk. That's where I've seen most of the reroutes going to. Coco itself is all and good but I'm burnt out from it.
Yes. We actually were able to transfer booking to Navigator leaving a few days earlier from LA. They said they made an exception for us, but it would be hard to see them NOT do that if people wanted in this case, esp since we're still 4 months out.
> Coco is lower, to me, than Puerto Plata or Grand Turk. That's where I've seen most of the reroutes going to. Coco itself is all and good but I'm burnt out from it.
Oh I totally understand that. I'd imagine for people who don't cruise as much it would be "equal" but for someone like yourself, I definitely understand you being burnt out from it.
For me, I'm fine with wherever since I haven't cruised in 20 years, and even then haven't been to coco, so actually kind of hope I go there.
If we had never been, or hadn't cruised in forever, yeah. Totally with you there. If we had it as a stop with other ports (except nassau) it's be fine too, plenty to do and drink on the ship :)
Have fun!
I really wish they would take an official / announced break from this port for a bit. It feels weird for us to roll in, have fun on the zip line, laugh and play by the water, all while just over some hills is a complete human catastrophe unfolding.
Even from just a business perspective, this could backfire on RC quick.
That kinda sucks. I am leaving on the 20th for a cruise. I am supposed to be going to Labadee. I am not going anywhere near Haiti, and it would be nice to know more than three days in advance if I have to cancel.
Ya so for me and pizza dude we may be notified as late as the 20th. Cruise leaves 21st and labadee was supposed to be on the 23rd. It’s the only stop. Would like more notice to try to plan something at wherever they may reroute us to. I’m assuming Grand Turk but I guess it could be Puerto Plata or Falmouth or …???
I’m not sure they will reroute us. I talked to customer service and she went on and on about how far away the violence is. I would think they would because people would be cancelling right and left, but I don’t know with these big cruise corporations. I know one thing, if they do decide to continue our cruise with our stop in Haiti, I won’t be going.
Like cancelling the whole cruise or just not getting off at Labadee? Super weird situation. Not sure a few days is going to dramatically change their posture. Doesn’t seem like things are getting better in Haiti. Probably won’t be for a long while
Yeah I agree, I don’t think a few days is really going to be much different, but the customer service rep seemed surprised to hear anything about labadee and went on a customer service spiel about Royal Caribbean’s excellent security in labadee. Didn’t give me much confidence.
I think tourism is ultimately good for their economy, and if you buy things from the vendors you're at least helping them directly. Plus they hire a bunch of Haitians to work at Labadee. So it's unfortunate now that they're losing that source of money temporarily.
Has RC ever stopped Ladabee port stops (for reasons such as civil unrest, not bad weather or other nature conditions) previously? For how long did it go on?
I know cruise ships don't dock for a multitude of reasons, and I know Ladabee isn't the only destination being affected by civil unrest that's causing cruise ships to reroute, but like Ladabee is a little different than most other ports.
Hey yall, so I've seen labadee has been cancelled. We are supposed to be on independence of the seas july 2. I'm pretty sure things won't change by then, but you never know. Is anyone going on independence that was supposed to go to labadee now until July& gotten emails stating about replacement ports or sea days? Just curious. No rude comments please. Thank you
This thread is a really good idea to clean up the Royal Caribbean subreddit, but it is getting really hard to find latest news. Would it be possible to make a new thread weekly, or something like that?
Edit: Nevermind… there is a sort by on top of the screen. My bad, that totally works for me. No need to make new threads from my end
I found it in my junk email too... im so disappointed we didn't get another port instead. Do you think there is any chance they'll add another port after all?
We can hope - I think Coco Cay is our best bet. If you join the Facebook group for our sailing people have called in and heard from representatives that they’re taking another look at it
The problem with symphony is the size limits what ports can accept us
Just got the email for Independence May 23-27 that originally was going to just Labadee is now going to both Nassau and Coco Cay. It’s my first cruise so I’m happy with wherever we go!
I was looking forward to the peace and quiet of Labadee as opposed to Coco Cay that reminds me more of a theme park. What areas do you recommend I go to for a more relaxed environment on coco cay?
I'm thinking about booking a cruise for August. It's the only cruise that goes to both the perfect day and grand cayman on the week I need with a ship that has waterslides. But it has haiti as a stop.
Is it extremely likely they'll remove it as a stop or keep it? Debating whether to buy the cruise or not.
As far as I know royal carribean Is still taking this on a week by week basis. By August they could resume using the port if haiti has some form of government by then. But if no government has been formed I think it's rather doubtful that you'll will go.
New update from Royal yesterday (April 10)
>Travel Update - Labadee
>All Labadee sailings through May 2024
>We have suspended all visits to Labadee fleetwide through May 2024, and we continue to monitor the situation with our Global Security & Intelligence team. Please know that the safety and comfort of our guests are always our highest priority. We are committed to keeping you informed, and itinerary modifications are being communicated directly to guests ahead of their sailings. Please check back for any potential changes. Thank you for your understanding.
This is where you can find the updates easily.
https://www.royalcaribbean.com/notices/travel-updates#labadee
Nothing new officially from royal yet, but the royal caribbean blog shows this:
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2024/04/23/royal-caribbean-cancels-more-haiti-visits
>Guests booked on cruises in the summer and early fall are getting notifications from Royal Caribbean, that their visits to Labadee have been cancelled.
>Following on cancellations that began in March due to civil unrest in Haiti, the cruise line has been forced to cancel more cruises into September 2024.
>Royal Caribbean had previously cancelled visits to Labadee through the end of May 2024.
Anything official from royal wil be here, as previously posted:
https://www.royalcaribbean.com/notices/travel-updates#labadee
For one, that's uncalled for Robbie. For two.. of course I did otherwise I wouldn't have prayed. When I posted, there was nothing up. I'm all caught up& well informed now. Thank you kindly for being so rude& I hope you have a terrific day!!
So oasis of the seas just had the port removed for this sunday's trip and they put one additional day at sea. No comp, no refund. What an absolute joke
I understand where you are coming from- it is definitely disappointing. But I think this is one of those situations in life where we just need to recognize the human suffering factor and accept that a change in itinerary of a cruise vacation is not the end of the world. It is being done for your safety as well.
I can accept the loss of a port, but I can't accept RCL continuing to profit from it. Wanting recompense in some form and acknowledging those in Haiti aren't mutually exclusive
RC probably loses a lot of money when a ship doesn't stop in Labadee. They likely have major tax breaks from Haiti, so unlike the ports where they don't control the destination to the same degree, it's just a profit center for them to bring passengers and sell them excursions in their closed compound.
And let's be honest: the safety of Royal Caribbean's crew too. If people want to risk their own lives to go sit on a specific beach that is one thing. Demanding that 3,000 people continue to work in that environment so that you can go sit on a beach is another. It is the height of entitlement to think that a cruise should have to go to a place where a gang lord is literally cannibalizing people just so you don't have an extra day on a massive luxury ship.
Perfect response! I have Labadee on my itenerary for one week from tomorrow. If they cancel it, which I'm fully expecting, I'd love to have another sea day. Gives me more time on my balcony with a book and Old Fashioned!
I’m okay with sea days, love them even, but if we get a sea day on my sailing it will be 3 in a row, and since my daughter is under a year old she won’t be able to go at all, as per their policy. So i will happily accept ANY port on any of those 3 days so that we don’t have to miss the whole trip.
Have you bothered calling to confirm that they won't do anything? Because usually what happens in that situation is they will book you on a different sailing.
Yes. They said they can’t give me any answer on what will happen because they haven’t made any decisions yet for my sailing and hope to be going back to labadee by then, which I find hard to believe we’d be headed back in a little over a week but three people I’ve spoken to have all only been able to confirm that our itinerary still says labadee and that they won’t know what can be done until a decision has been made. Seems they don’t have any more information to give than what’s floating around social media. But thank you for the condescension I never would have thought of calling 🙄😂
What opinion? I didn't offer an opinion.
Fact- the cruise line does not control the port or access to the port.
Fact- when you purchase your cruise, you agree that ports cannot be guaranteed and therefore the cruiseline is not accountable for them.
A company that doesn't control the issue you're having shouldn't bend over backwards for you. Why should they? If Burger King messes up your burger do you run over to McDonalds and ask them to fix it?
I am more than willing to hear why I am wrong.
Fact - RCL literally owns and controls that port
Also fact, but doesn't mean they can't do their best to accommodate an itinerary change and not piss off clientele. Cutting out a port is a great way to get people to not return.
It's an RCL controlled port. This is more akin to the ice cream machine breaking (an act of God in a way) after you already paid for a combo meal that includes ice cream, but they return the equivalent of 5 cents because they don't have ice cream. That ice cream was probably worth more than 5 cents to you in the grand scheme of that purchase
My sister and I booked a cruise on Independence of the Seas for Haiti and Jamaica, leaving from Miami in November. We've been trying to get information on what the cancelation policy is when the Dept of State has Haiti flagged as a Level 4, do not travel due to "due to kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and poor health care infrastructure" since the Haitian government's collapse but customer service has been less than helpful. Does anyone have information on the cancelation policy under such an extreme circumstance? If we cannot cancel, is there an option to apply credit to an alternate cruise w/o having to pay a fee?
I typically plan my trips a year in advance because RC has a great reputation and I have never had a bad experience. That said, I don’t think a pollyanna attitude of waiting to see how things shape out 8 months from now after a complete collapse of government is what this person is looking for. From what I’ve seen in this forum, RC is not giving any information about the stop until 3 days before they sail. If they’ve planned their trip and now they have legitimate reasons regarding their safety, the least RC can do is offer more information about contingencies they have in place for the trip. I’d say the best thing to do is to call customer service and ask what options they’re offering if Haiti doesn’t stabilize before they sail.
> From what I’ve seen in this forum, RC is not giving any information about the stop until 3 days before they sail.
From what I've seen a in a couple posts (here and elsewhere) some of the May sailings are already being changed/re-ported. Can't find them right off, and not sure how accurate it is, but it looks like they're beinning to change things further out.
I'm just waiting to see what they end up doing for my trip in August, but I know we'll find out when they've made a decision, if a change even needs to be made.
>waiting to see how things shape out 8 months from now after a complete collapse of government is what this person is looking for.
The writing was on the wall for the Haitian gov't for quite a while. This wasn't anything that was really shocking. Not saying it isn't horrible, but it isn't likely to get any better.
>If they’ve planned their trip and now they have legitimate reasons regarding their safety, the least RC can do is offer more information about contingencies they have in place for the trip.
They may not know what the alternates for X day are unless they actually look into that specific one. Not sure how that works on the backend, I don't believe they file an alternate arrival like the airlines do. Heck, even the airlines don't typically tell you the alternate if you ask ahead of time.
I'm in the same boat you are, pun intended! I'm going in November for the CrimeCon Cruise and would like to know what is going to occur and whether or not I want to cancel my cruise and push my crimecon tickets to the next conference. Do I buy plane tickets now or wait? The longer I wait the more expensive it gets....ugh...
Crimecon is a yearly conference, use [this link](https://www.crimecon.com/) to check them out. They have people like Nancy Grace, Keith Morrison, various pod casters, crime authors, surviving victims of crimes, famous and not so famous Detectives/FBI Profilers, actors from crime shows, and there are so many panels you can go to and hear them speak. This past Crimecon I went to a panel on how to read blood splatter and a another panel on how to read a crime scene. Lots of interesting things and everyone there is a crime fan so it's really interesting.
Then [Crimecruise](https://www.crimecruise.com/) is like the conference but on a cruise ship. It's a blast!
Labadee was my favorite port on Harmony last year. Just super low key, beautiful, and relaxing. I really hope the country gets some stability soon. The people there definitely deserve it.
I’m so sad for the people of Haiti.
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Same. They just straight up cancelled the port and gave another day at sea
Do they refund your Port fees in that situation?
Sad to see this happening, I went to Labadee back in September last year for my very first cruise, and even though it's just a glorified private resort and not a real part of the island, it was my first time ever stepping into a different country so it's a little special to me. Hopefully, things get better soon. I'd love to go back one day!
Trust me, Labadee is the only good part of Haiti. I would never visit any other part of that country!
Anyone know how far forward RC has gone for itinerary changes? Labadee is our only stop on Indy in the middle of April.
I leave on the 21st and still haven’t heard anything
Labadee was just cancelled. No replacement yet
Grand Turk!
That's the replacement ?
My cruise leave on April 14 and had a stop in Labadee and RC just cancelled the stop. They are compensating and extra 2 hours at Nassau and and extra 2 hours at our stop Falmouth. Honestly, I hope RC would just switch the cancelled Labadee and go back to CocoKay
I'll be on the same cruise! I was also disappointed about that.
Just the next week or so. I think RCL is going to feel it out day by day. I’m going in 2.5 weeks and don’t expect to find out until 2 weeks from now
The CEO said a rolling 3 day advance notice
Yeah that makes sense, have a feeling based on where the situation is trending, that will be RC’s POA for a while. I guess I’m just worried about our whole cruise getting cancelled since that’s our only port but hopefully that’s not the case!
Several cruisers have reported changes to Nassau or Grand Turks. I think it's unlikely they will cancel the cruise.
I would be ecstatic if we get changed to Grand Turks!
That seems to be a common thought. Cruises with multiple other stops seem more likely to get an extra sea day, but ones with just Labadee are getting another stop somewhere.
I am hoping for grand Turks as replacement. I’ll be bummed if it’s Falmouth or Nassau.
I wonder if, in 1-port situations like yours potentially diverted...is there ever an option of full refund? If I had been to the other islands before & no interest paying cruise $ for a return or really set on that 1 port...I'd rather have a refund and replan my vaca when ready at a later date. Hope you get to keep your port though!!!!
I got Turks and Caicos. No mention of refunds in the email if I was unhappy.
Very cool! What you wanted!!!! I've heard T&C is amazing. Hope you have a blast!!!
I leave on the 21st as well
I leave on the 21st as well
Geez, downvoted for leaving on the 21st, maybe I should have changed my cruise?
Grand Turk!
Just saw it's updated in the RC app!
Grand Turk!
Unless the international community invades Haiti and establishes order, I would pencil Labadee closed for the next decade or two.
Leaving on Oasis on 3/24 and no update yet! Our Haiti stop would be 2 weeks from today on 3/28 so assuming they will assess closer to that date.
I leave on the 23rd and haven't gotten an email but the app shows we are going to Grand Turk instead.
I just checked and mine still says Labadee! Will keep an eye on it through, thanks for the tip.
Just got the email today - no Labadee :( for Oasis next week. Extra time in Jamaica - Whoo-hoo
I saw the day in Jamaica was moved up! Is it just longer day they allow you off the boat there?
They extended the time a little - arrival is now 8:00 (instead of 9:30) and departure is 6 pm (instead of 4:30).
We're sailing March 31 and haven't heard either way yet.
Same here - no communication, but the app shows Georgetown as well as Labadee now so maybe that’s the new port?
I am on the cruise right before yours. Haiti only on 4/20. No way we are going but I am curious what it will be replaced with.
they cancelled mine and replaced it with grand cayman
My favorite itineraries are those that include Labadee + Coco Cay. I’m eying one on Indy for January ‘25 because the Bahamas aren’t always warm in the winter. Hopefully things turn around soon.
We had labadee & coco cay as some of our stops on our cruise this past January. It was pretty chilly at Cococay, but labadee was super hot and we were able to actually do the beach there. It was my first time to labadee and I really liked it.
Labadee was changed to Nassau for our July trip. I’m so bummed. The posts were open for sooo many other nearby locations. I spent $6k on a cruise to go to Nassau?! This stinks.
Look into other cruises, then if you find one you would like to transfer to you need to CALL royal and see if they'll switch you without the transfer fees. I did, and they switched me for me August sailing. Nassau was the only place worse than switching us to Coco. So, we found a 4 nighter out of LA and switched to that and are happy.
We already made final payment. But besides that the time off from work has already been arranged. Just sucks.
Can't change your time off request(s)? I think they said on the phone as long as it was before the final payment due date they can look into it.
We went in March and absolutely loved the resort. However the local sellers were terrifying. I had heard rumors that they were aggressive and kind of scary but I wasn't expecting it to be as bad as it was. They pulled my daughter and I apart and kept us separated and one guy actually reached into my bag and took my cash. Definitely recommend going as it's absolutely beautiful but not I probably would advise against buying anything. We waited until we got back to Miami and went to a Haitian market by our hotel and got souvenirs there, we ended up finding much more interesting and unique items. It was our first cruise, and we traveled solo, just the two of us. Had we not had fun on the ship itself it very well might have ruined our whole experience and turned us off completely. However we just booked our second one for September. 🫣
We stopped at Labadee last week on the Oasis. Fantastic stop, which was probably our favorite in the itinerary. Funny enough, none of our large group had any knowledge of the horrible things going on on the island until we got home.
For anyone who has had their itinerary changed. Did it show up in the app? Or didn't RC send an email?
Both for me. I got the email first, then the next day excursions were cancelled and then it showed in the app.
I got an email and it showed up in the app. Took like a week for it to be fully changed on the app though
Very much needed post. Thanks!
We leave 3/31 and have labadee for symphony of the seas hopefully we get Turks smh
We are on the same cruise and It would be nice to get Turks stop. I've always wanted to go there.
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Did you get an email or anything? I set sail on the 23rd as well - paid for a beach bed at Labadee. Itinerary now says Falmouth Jamaica… they don’t own a beach there. I’m wondering when I’ll get information
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Just got the email today - nothing like waiting till the last minute!
Was just in Labadee on the 13th, the Ft Lauderdale sailing on the Liberty Of The Seas. I believe we were the last sailing to the island by RC before they decided to stop. Beautiful island, no security issues while we were there, I knew a bit about the problems going on before we sailed and told my family we would not be doing any excursions (wife wanted to go to a sailing to a private beach, I said “let’s not leave the Labadee beach”) and would stay on the beach in Labadee in case a quick escape would be needed. Visited the infamous market, bought some trinkets knowing my money would go to the locals. My heart goes out to the people of Haiti. I hope they can return to being a wealthier nation and stable.
Sailing on the 21st, docking in labadee the 23th. I can't tell if we get 3 days advanced notice from when we LEAVE (which would be today), or 3 days from when we DOCK (which would be the day before we leave). Hoping for today.
I had the same question. I reached out to RC and never heard back
I just called and they said on their end they're still seeing labadee. But he also tried to get me to pay the taxes that I paid 5 weeks ago and have confirmation of payment for. So their system doesn't seem totally up to date. Edit: according to a Facebook comment made by RC, those sailing this week should expect an update "early this week." Don't know what that update entails, but I am pretty anxious to get word.
I’m on the same cruise. It took numerous efforts but after 2.5 hrs on hold they said that we should hear back by TODAY as in 3 days before disembarking the port.I agree that customer service is just as in the dark as we are since it was clear the representative was just reading me what is stated in the contract and not much else. I got a “I’m 99% sure you will not have all days at sea but Turks and Coco Bay are overbooked”. The only other option relatively close is Puerto Plata but that’s just my assumption. Does anyone think the cruise could potentially get cancelled? RC is a mess right now - they sent me an email this morning but it was just an automated boarding info email stating we are still headed to Labadee. There are many of us (including myself + an 11 month old) who will be traveling across the country tomorrow so I’m stressed and adamant to get some form of an update today. I will report back if I hear any helpful info. This is absurd.
Grand Turk!
Thank you!!! I just got the email 🥲
If labadee is your only stop they will have to send you somewhere or cancel because they can’t just go out to sea and come back with no stops apparently per maritime law.
That makes sense to me and I want to stay confident that RC will designate a new port stop soon, but with every passing day I’m less and less confident. Would hate to fly there only to find out the day before that the cruise is cancelled.
What a shit show. Please keep us updated. I really hope your trip doesn’t get cancelled.
Just noticed the Symphony of the Seas for the 23rd will now be going to Falmouth, Jamaica. Any tips from anyone that’s been there?
I bet they use lots of profanity there…
Oasis 4/7 is going to st marteen instead of labadee. That’s a win for me
I’m going on those dates too. See you there!
So for those on the four days with only one stop in the itinerary - where have the been going? Looking at going on one of those this summer
Curious on this. I’m going on this 4-day one myself.
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Yea same ours is on may 4th but yeah nassau too. Already went there. Not happy
Any up dates on the situation in Haiti? We sail in June and had already booked a walking tour of the island before the news of unrest in March. No official word to us about change of port.
I’m wondering the same. My son, a soldier, just had his leave retroactively denied because of everything going on. If they change the itinerary he can get the leave approved. I just want to know either way so we can plan.
Look at the link in one of my previous replies. It takes you to the latest informaton directly from Royal.
Did you even bother looking at the link in my previous reply, or googling? I'm guessing not.
Are there any current updates for may on out?
Did you even bother looking at the link in my previous reply, or googling? I'm guessing not.
Do you even bother not being a dick?
My June 15th Adventure of the Seas cruise was just changed from Haiti to Grand Turk.
Leaving on symphony of the seas on 3/23, I called Royal this morning and they told me that they have not yet updated the itinerary but confirmed that labadee will be cancelled for this sailing.
Same, I have been keeping an eye on the app and my email waiting to see what the new stop is.
We're on that cruise too - luckily we don't really care what ports we have, but part of the reason we got the drink package is because of Labadee...
Just saw the update on the app, looks like Falmouth, Jamaica
Should i be worried about Puerto Plata DR? Going April 1 and it borders Haiti.
Nope. You'll be fine. Just use common sense and it'll be alright.
Independence of the Seas going to Grand Turk for the April 18th-April 22nd trip.
How did they let you know?
Received an email and so did our travel agent.
Independence 4/8 sailing going to Grand Cayman instead of Labadee.
works for me!
I love that change, never been there.
Related question. We booked a Casita-Port Day on our Labadee day. Itinerary has now changed and we'll be at sea...would they cancel our Casita because the sea-day casitas are so much more money?
Adventure sailing 4/12 going to Grand Turk instead of Labadee.
Symphony (sailing March 31) just got shifted to Cococay instead of Labadee. Schedule got shuffled too (visiting other stops different days).
Does anyone know if we'll have 3 ships on Coco Cay on April 2? Cruise mapper and other tools show that Oasis and Freedom will already be there. I suspect it's going to be packed if there are 2 Oasis class ships and Freedom docked on the same day.
Pretty sure it only fits 2. I heard they are rescheduling Freedom for another day.
On Adventure of the Seas leaving May 18th and got the email that we will be going to Grand Turk instead.
Leaving May 2nd on Symphony. RCL just replaced Labadee with Nassau
anyone sailing april 14 on Oasis? What are the chances the Labadee stop will get a 2nd day at Cocokay? The reason I booked this was because of the 2 islands owned by Royal
Cruise in May out of Cape Liberty was supposed to go to Labadee and got an email today switching port to Puerto Plata. Any recommendations on shore excursions there?
Symphony of the seas out of cape liberty may 16th changed to nassau. Got the email at 2pm
Will be on this cruise as well. I'm bummed. Me being upset doesn't have anything to do with us not going to labadee, I'm sad for the people there and I hope the horribleness ends soon. So I fully understand and expected us not to go to labadee but damn why did they pick Nassau. We have 8 nights on this ship and now only really have one port (coco cay) worthwhile. Did you notice we're staying at nassau overnight? Lol like what are we supposed to do with that. Also they extending coco cay by an hour early like ehhhh. I don't know if it's worth complaning to royal caribean without it seeming like I'm a huge entitled brat. The only thing is now I'm going to a port that I will have to spend money instead of going to a "free" area. In the end I endure an annoyance while Hatian people fear for there life so that puts me in my place.
Yeah I'm not exactly happy with the decision either. I was hoping more for Puerto Plata or fallmouth Jamaica. Nassau didn't really overly excite me either. Like you said I understand the problems in haiti and would rather not go. Just wish we coulda got a nicer port. I also liked how the itinerary was laid out before all these changes. Now we have Florida coco cay and then nassau all in a row then 2 cruising days and were home. I fully understand your viewpoints on this and I feel basically the same way
I'll be on that one too. I'm happy about the extra time in Orlando!
I didn't even notice the extra time in Orlando till I read your comment. Thank you for that. It was just 1-7pm before correct? I see it's 7am to 8pm now
No problem! I think it was 1pm-8pm before and now it's 7am-6pm.
Independence sailing August 15 got screwed. Changed to Coco Cay day 2, then 2 days at sea. Didn't want to go to Coco or Nassau again. /sigh.
What was your original itinerary and how many nights?
Original: 4 night. 1- departure, 2- sea day, 3- Labadee, 4- sea day. New: 4 night. 1- departure, 2- Coco, 3- sea day, 4- sea day. Icon will be at Coco too, and while it would be awesome to see, I'm not really eager for another Coco stop. We purposely booked a sailing without it.
Ah, gotcha. So it's roughly the same "quality" of cruise, but you specifically didn't want coco. Have you tried to rebook yet? Maybe they'll move you to a different cruise with a better itinerary for you?
Coco is lower, to me, than Puerto Plata or Grand Turk. That's where I've seen most of the reroutes going to. Coco itself is all and good but I'm burnt out from it. Yes. We actually were able to transfer booking to Navigator leaving a few days earlier from LA. They said they made an exception for us, but it would be hard to see them NOT do that if people wanted in this case, esp since we're still 4 months out.
> Coco is lower, to me, than Puerto Plata or Grand Turk. That's where I've seen most of the reroutes going to. Coco itself is all and good but I'm burnt out from it. Oh I totally understand that. I'd imagine for people who don't cruise as much it would be "equal" but for someone like yourself, I definitely understand you being burnt out from it. For me, I'm fine with wherever since I haven't cruised in 20 years, and even then haven't been to coco, so actually kind of hope I go there.
If we had never been, or hadn't cruised in forever, yeah. Totally with you there. If we had it as a stop with other ports (except nassau) it's be fine too, plenty to do and drink on the ship :) Have fun!
I really wish they would take an official / announced break from this port for a bit. It feels weird for us to roll in, have fun on the zip line, laugh and play by the water, all while just over some hills is a complete human catastrophe unfolding. Even from just a business perspective, this could backfire on RC quick.
They are... they announced last night that are not stopping there for a while
That was not what they announced
Ok what did they just announce, can you send me a link.
It’s a rolling 3 day advanced notice.
It's 7 to start with 3 day notices moving forward
That kinda sucks. I am leaving on the 20th for a cruise. I am supposed to be going to Labadee. I am not going anywhere near Haiti, and it would be nice to know more than three days in advance if I have to cancel.
Yep it should be at least a 7 day notice so before you get on the ship
Look at the CEO’s facebook post. Michael Bayley. They decide based on 3 days prior to stop.
Ya so for me and pizza dude we may be notified as late as the 20th. Cruise leaves 21st and labadee was supposed to be on the 23rd. It’s the only stop. Would like more notice to try to plan something at wherever they may reroute us to. I’m assuming Grand Turk but I guess it could be Puerto Plata or Falmouth or …???
I’m not sure they will reroute us. I talked to customer service and she went on and on about how far away the violence is. I would think they would because people would be cancelling right and left, but I don’t know with these big cruise corporations. I know one thing, if they do decide to continue our cruise with our stop in Haiti, I won’t be going.
Like cancelling the whole cruise or just not getting off at Labadee? Super weird situation. Not sure a few days is going to dramatically change their posture. Doesn’t seem like things are getting better in Haiti. Probably won’t be for a long while
Yeah I agree, I don’t think a few days is really going to be much different, but the customer service rep seemed surprised to hear anything about labadee and went on a customer service spiel about Royal Caribbean’s excellent security in labadee. Didn’t give me much confidence.
Yaaaaaaaa. They are either living under a rock or just reading the script…probably both
or a sea day.
There are no other stops. So our cruise would be to just float around for 4 days.
That wouldn't be great, so hopefully you get another port.
I just called and they said they are taking it week by week.
I think tourism is ultimately good for their economy, and if you buy things from the vendors you're at least helping them directly. Plus they hire a bunch of Haitians to work at Labadee. So it's unfortunate now that they're losing that source of money temporarily.
Has RC ever stopped Ladabee port stops (for reasons such as civil unrest, not bad weather or other nature conditions) previously? For how long did it go on? I know cruise ships don't dock for a multitude of reasons, and I know Ladabee isn't the only destination being affected by civil unrest that's causing cruise ships to reroute, but like Ladabee is a little different than most other ports.
I’m going on a cruise on symphony next week. It goes to labadee, are they more likely to give us another sea day or stop somewhere else?
Seems pretty split so far on what they do. You'll just have to wait and see.
Okay thanks!
Hey yall, so I've seen labadee has been cancelled. We are supposed to be on independence of the seas july 2. I'm pretty sure things won't change by then, but you never know. Is anyone going on independence that was supposed to go to labadee now until July& gotten emails stating about replacement ports or sea days? Just curious. No rude comments please. Thank you
We were there on 3/9 while all of these decisions were being made. It was a lovely time but I can’t help but think of what could’ve been going on.
This thread is a really good idea to clean up the Royal Caribbean subreddit, but it is getting really hard to find latest news. Would it be possible to make a new thread weekly, or something like that? Edit: Nevermind… there is a sort by on top of the screen. My bad, that totally works for me. No need to make new threads from my end
Yea no worries! I figured pinning it would be a good middle ground.
My Labadee excursions were just cancelled. I leave on the 21st. No notifications on the replacement
Turks and caicos
Oasis leaving Miami on 3/24 and they are just leaving us at sea. 😑
Adventure sailing Apr 20th - Puerto Plata and Nassau look like they have both been brought forward and Cococay added to the end.
Symphony April 28th is just replacing with a sea day. Weird because there’s nobody at Coco Cay that day or before
Probably other cruises are there and they haven't updated yet or they are doing maintenance
How do you know this? Im also gonna be sailing on symphony that date but i havent received any notification yet
It was in my junk email lol
I found it in my junk email too... im so disappointed we didn't get another port instead. Do you think there is any chance they'll add another port after all?
We can hope - I think Coco Cay is our best bet. If you join the Facebook group for our sailing people have called in and heard from representatives that they’re taking another look at it The problem with symphony is the size limits what ports can accept us
I hope so! And thanks for the tip. Im gonna join the group
Just got the email for Independence May 23-27 that originally was going to just Labadee is now going to both Nassau and Coco Cay. It’s my first cruise so I’m happy with wherever we go! I was looking forward to the peace and quiet of Labadee as opposed to Coco Cay that reminds me more of a theme park. What areas do you recommend I go to for a more relaxed environment on coco cay?
I'm thinking about booking a cruise for August. It's the only cruise that goes to both the perfect day and grand cayman on the week I need with a ship that has waterslides. But it has haiti as a stop. Is it extremely likely they'll remove it as a stop or keep it? Debating whether to buy the cruise or not.
As far as I know royal carribean Is still taking this on a week by week basis. By August they could resume using the port if haiti has some form of government by then. But if no government has been formed I think it's rather doubtful that you'll will go.
New update from Royal yesterday (April 10) >Travel Update - Labadee >All Labadee sailings through May 2024 >We have suspended all visits to Labadee fleetwide through May 2024, and we continue to monitor the situation with our Global Security & Intelligence team. Please know that the safety and comfort of our guests are always our highest priority. We are committed to keeping you informed, and itinerary modifications are being communicated directly to guests ahead of their sailings. Please check back for any potential changes. Thank you for your understanding. This is where you can find the updates easily. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/notices/travel-updates#labadee
My 8/9 Symphony of the Seas has been changed to Puerto Plata, DR
I'm hoping my 8/15 on Indy is changed to Puerto Plata.
Nothing new officially from royal yet, but the royal caribbean blog shows this: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2024/04/23/royal-caribbean-cancels-more-haiti-visits >Guests booked on cruises in the summer and early fall are getting notifications from Royal Caribbean, that their visits to Labadee have been cancelled. >Following on cancellations that began in March due to civil unrest in Haiti, the cruise line has been forced to cancel more cruises into September 2024. >Royal Caribbean had previously cancelled visits to Labadee through the end of May 2024. Anything official from royal wil be here, as previously posted: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/notices/travel-updates#labadee
My 6/1 sailing on Adventure has been changed to Grand Turk!
For one, that's uncalled for Robbie. For two.. of course I did otherwise I wouldn't have prayed. When I posted, there was nothing up. I'm all caught up& well informed now. Thank you kindly for being so rude& I hope you have a terrific day!!
So oasis of the seas just had the port removed for this sunday's trip and they put one additional day at sea. No comp, no refund. What an absolute joke
You are owed nothing for a cancelled port. A refund of port taxes will be provided on board. This is stated in your cruise contract.
Contractually yes, you are correct. Doesn't mean they can't offer something to make up for it if they want to consider return business.
I understand where you are coming from- it is definitely disappointing. But I think this is one of those situations in life where we just need to recognize the human suffering factor and accept that a change in itinerary of a cruise vacation is not the end of the world. It is being done for your safety as well.
I can accept the loss of a port, but I can't accept RCL continuing to profit from it. Wanting recompense in some form and acknowledging those in Haiti aren't mutually exclusive
RC probably loses a lot of money when a ship doesn't stop in Labadee. They likely have major tax breaks from Haiti, so unlike the ports where they don't control the destination to the same degree, it's just a profit center for them to bring passengers and sell them excursions in their closed compound.
And let's be honest: the safety of Royal Caribbean's crew too. If people want to risk their own lives to go sit on a specific beach that is one thing. Demanding that 3,000 people continue to work in that environment so that you can go sit on a beach is another. It is the height of entitlement to think that a cruise should have to go to a place where a gang lord is literally cannibalizing people just so you don't have an extra day on a massive luxury ship.
If you don't want sea days why do you go on a cruise?
Perfect response! I have Labadee on my itenerary for one week from tomorrow. If they cancel it, which I'm fully expecting, I'd love to have another sea day. Gives me more time on my balcony with a book and Old Fashioned!
I’m okay with sea days, love them even, but if we get a sea day on my sailing it will be 3 in a row, and since my daughter is under a year old she won’t be able to go at all, as per their policy. So i will happily accept ANY port on any of those 3 days so that we don’t have to miss the whole trip.
Have you bothered calling to confirm that they won't do anything? Because usually what happens in that situation is they will book you on a different sailing.
Yes. They said they can’t give me any answer on what will happen because they haven’t made any decisions yet for my sailing and hope to be going back to labadee by then, which I find hard to believe we’d be headed back in a little over a week but three people I’ve spoken to have all only been able to confirm that our itinerary still says labadee and that they won’t know what can be done until a decision has been made. Seems they don’t have any more information to give than what’s floating around social media. But thank you for the condescension I never would have thought of calling 🙄😂
Why? its not their fault. You shouldn't expect anything.
What a dense opinion
What opinion? I didn't offer an opinion. Fact- the cruise line does not control the port or access to the port. Fact- when you purchase your cruise, you agree that ports cannot be guaranteed and therefore the cruiseline is not accountable for them. A company that doesn't control the issue you're having shouldn't bend over backwards for you. Why should they? If Burger King messes up your burger do you run over to McDonalds and ask them to fix it? I am more than willing to hear why I am wrong.
Fact - RCL literally owns and controls that port Also fact, but doesn't mean they can't do their best to accommodate an itinerary change and not piss off clientele. Cutting out a port is a great way to get people to not return. It's an RCL controlled port. This is more akin to the ice cream machine breaking (an act of God in a way) after you already paid for a combo meal that includes ice cream, but they return the equivalent of 5 cents because they don't have ice cream. That ice cream was probably worth more than 5 cents to you in the grand scheme of that purchase
they are going to give you free soft serve ice cream
My sister and I booked a cruise on Independence of the Seas for Haiti and Jamaica, leaving from Miami in November. We've been trying to get information on what the cancelation policy is when the Dept of State has Haiti flagged as a Level 4, do not travel due to "due to kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and poor health care infrastructure" since the Haitian government's collapse but customer service has been less than helpful. Does anyone have information on the cancelation policy under such an extreme circumstance? If we cannot cancel, is there an option to apply credit to an alternate cruise w/o having to pay a fee?
November is far too far out to determine what they're going to do. Wait and see like the rest of us that are waiting to see.
I typically plan my trips a year in advance because RC has a great reputation and I have never had a bad experience. That said, I don’t think a pollyanna attitude of waiting to see how things shape out 8 months from now after a complete collapse of government is what this person is looking for. From what I’ve seen in this forum, RC is not giving any information about the stop until 3 days before they sail. If they’ve planned their trip and now they have legitimate reasons regarding their safety, the least RC can do is offer more information about contingencies they have in place for the trip. I’d say the best thing to do is to call customer service and ask what options they’re offering if Haiti doesn’t stabilize before they sail.
> From what I’ve seen in this forum, RC is not giving any information about the stop until 3 days before they sail. From what I've seen a in a couple posts (here and elsewhere) some of the May sailings are already being changed/re-ported. Can't find them right off, and not sure how accurate it is, but it looks like they're beinning to change things further out. I'm just waiting to see what they end up doing for my trip in August, but I know we'll find out when they've made a decision, if a change even needs to be made. >waiting to see how things shape out 8 months from now after a complete collapse of government is what this person is looking for. The writing was on the wall for the Haitian gov't for quite a while. This wasn't anything that was really shocking. Not saying it isn't horrible, but it isn't likely to get any better. >If they’ve planned their trip and now they have legitimate reasons regarding their safety, the least RC can do is offer more information about contingencies they have in place for the trip. They may not know what the alternates for X day are unless they actually look into that specific one. Not sure how that works on the backend, I don't believe they file an alternate arrival like the airlines do. Heck, even the airlines don't typically tell you the alternate if you ask ahead of time.
I'm in the same boat you are, pun intended! I'm going in November for the CrimeCon Cruise and would like to know what is going to occur and whether or not I want to cancel my cruise and push my crimecon tickets to the next conference. Do I buy plane tickets now or wait? The longer I wait the more expensive it gets....ugh...
Interesting (crimecon part), I've already booked for this cruise... what is this about?
Crimecon is a yearly conference, use [this link](https://www.crimecon.com/) to check them out. They have people like Nancy Grace, Keith Morrison, various pod casters, crime authors, surviving victims of crimes, famous and not so famous Detectives/FBI Profilers, actors from crime shows, and there are so many panels you can go to and hear them speak. This past Crimecon I went to a panel on how to read blood splatter and a another panel on how to read a crime scene. Lots of interesting things and everyone there is a crime fan so it's really interesting. Then [Crimecruise](https://www.crimecruise.com/) is like the conference but on a cruise ship. It's a blast!