Over the past few days, locals from the island of Haiti have staged protests at Royal Caribbean’s private Caribbean destination, Labadee. The protests, in reaction to recent local elections, have disrupted the schedule of at least two Royal Caribbean ships so far, Freedom of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas.
The protests, which have remained peaceful, took place on January 19 and January 21, and involved a flotilla of small boats in the port’s harbor. These protests were deemed too disruptive for guests to disembark by each of the ship’s captains. Freedom of the Seas, which was scheduled to call on January 19 was able to dock, but later sailed back to sea. Navigator of the Seas, scheduled to dock on January 21 opted to skip the port altogether.
Royal Caribbean has stated their first priority is the safety and security of all their guests and crew. At this time, Royal Caribbean has made no decision regarding the future of scheduled calls at Labadee. The next scheduled call to Labadee is Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas on January 24, with additional ships making calls at Labadee each day through January 29.
It is currently unknown whether or not the disruptive protests will continue.
