A major cruise line has been forced to suspend all calls to the island of Haiti over growing concerns for its guest’s safety.
Royal Caribbean’s Vison of the Seas recently had to skip Labadee, its scheduled port of call, due to continuing protests that had kept Freedom of the Seas from disembarking passengers earlier in the week (as we reported here).
In a statement released by Royal Caribbean they said political unrest in the country over the cancelation of the presidential elections was to blame.
“Royal Caribbean has not received any guarantees or assurances that there will not be any protests in the future.
If a protest takes place while a ship is port, there would be a significant impact on our guests’ ability to enjoy Labadee, or we may have to cancel the visit completely.”
Vision of The Seas was meant to have visited Royal Caribbean’s fenced off private port last Sunday but instead the cruise line decided to skip Haiti completely, instead taking guests to Puerto Rico.
Changing Vision of the Seas port of call marked Royal Caribbean’s third cancellation to the island this month alone, after both Liberty and Navigator of the Seas were forced to skip Labadee on prior occasions.
In a final statement Royal Caribbean said…
“The indefinite postponement of the elections, apparently due to violence and fear of corruption, will result in Royal Caribbean postponing its decision when it will return its ship to Labadee,”
Has your cruise been affected by this decision?
Do you think Royal Caribbean have made the right call?
Let us know in the comments below…
Update>>>
As of late last night it was confirmed stops to Labadee had resumed again with Allure of the Seas disembarking guests without incident
