Royal Caribbean Cancels Cruise Stops in Gang-Infested Haiti

M.A. Dworkin

Labadee, Haiti - As Haiti’s tourism continues to spiral downward due to out-of-control gang violence, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) has extended the suspension of its northern Haiti private destination cruise port stop in Labadee, Haiti, through the end of 2026.  

Labadee, is RCCL’s private fenced-off beach resort, which is only hours away from the capital, Port-au-Prince, and half-hour away from Cap-Haitien. It offers cruise passengers beaches, watersports, an artisan market, restaurants and bars, all guarded by private security and separate from the general Haitian populace. While it provides natural beauty and activities, it’s a highly controlled tourist destination, not at all indicative of a typical Haitian town.    

The decisive action by the world’s second largest cruise company, which is the prominent cruise line that stops in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), comes at a time when the country’s second-largest city, nearby Cap-Haitien, grows increasingly strained by an influx of people fleeing rampant gang violence in Port-au-Prince and other surrounding towns. 

The move by RCCL adds to the financial, economic and tourism woes of the country, which remains under a State Department Level 4 “Do not travel” warning. After years of welcoming over one million foreign visitors per year, Haiti has shown a reduction of over 85% in their tourism sector. The cruise ships alone had accounted for more than half-million visitors to Haiti, providing employment to over 600 Haitians, including vendors and employees of locally-owned SOLANO Foundation, established by RCCL as its local charitable arm to provide humanitarian aid to Haitians following the 2010 earthquake.

For the last 14 months, the main international airport, Toussaint Louverture in Port-au-Prince has remained off limits to U.S. commercial flights, after reports surfaced that gangs shot at a Spirit Airlines flight that was trying to land, injuring a flight attendant who suffered a minor injury. Although no passengers were hurt, the Associated Press issued photos of bullet holes in the plane, but there was no immediate confirmation of the attack by Haitian authorities. Nevertheless, reports of American Airlines and JetBlue being attacked and hit by bullets after flying into Port-au-Prince have also surfaced. 

Elsewhere in the capital, firefights between rival gangs have regularly broken out as heavily armed police officers choose to duck behind walls for safety and civilians run for their lives in terror. In nearby upper class neighborhoods, gangs have begun to set fire to the homes of the rich. Kidnapping of foreigners and local citizens for ransom has been widespread for years, as powerful gangs look to finance their illegal activities and exploit the extreme instability of the Haitian government.  

The United States Embassy in Haiti issued a travel warning saying that the city’s airport was shut down due to “gang-led efforts to block travel to and from Port-au-Prince which may include armed violence, and disruptions to roads, ports, and airports.”

In the meantime, RCCL is rerouting its cruise passengers to other Caribbean destinations like St. Croix and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos Islands, and their premiere stops in Nassau, Bahamas.