If you’re planning on sailing with Royal Caribbean soon, there may be some changes to your itinerary.
One of the cruise line’s longtime stopovers is officially off the map—for now.
Which location is Royal Caribbean taking off the map?
The company confirmed that it has temporarily removed Labadee, its private beach resort on Haiti’s northern coast, from all upcoming cruise routes. The decision, they said in a recent statement to Travel + Leisure, was made “out of an abundance of caution.”
Haiti is currently experiencing intense political unrest and escalating gang violence, prompting safety concerns. According to the U.S. Department of State, the country is rated as a Level 4 travel risk, meaning travelers are advised not to go.
While Royal Caribbean hasn’t shared whether Labadee will return to future itineraries, the cancellation appears to be indefinite.
A difficult move
The update has sparked emotional reactions from frequent cruisers and those who’ve visited Labadee in the past.
“This is so sad :( We were at Labadee last week and our zip line guide became emotional when speaking about how proud he is to be Haitian,” one Redditor commented on a r/royalcaribbean post about the news. “He understood the dangers and instability his country comes with and was incredibly proud to show a brighter side of the Haitian population.”
Another TikTok commenter wrote under a video, “Labadee is one of my absolute favorite places in the whole world. I feel for the Haitian people who have to suffer continued violence in their beautiful country.”
Others agreed that, as unfortunate as the decision may be, safety has to come first. “Idk about tough decision… SMART decision, definitely SAFE decision,” one commenter wrote under a separate video. “I know they have that security and everything in place at Labadee, but that fence can easily be breached.”
Royal Caribbean has not yet confirmed what destination will officially replace Labadee on affected cruise routes, though cruisegoers have reported on some alternate stops such as the Dominican Republic.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
