Royal Caribbean says it won't cancel Haiti stops despite airplane shootings and US flight ban

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Royal Caribbean says Monday’s shootings of two passenger planes outside Port-au-Prince’s main airport won’t deter the cruise line from continuing to stop at the private day resort it operates on Haiti’s northern tip.

Royal Caribbean previously suspended port calls to Labadee, Haiti, in March after gang violence and killings engulfed the area around Port-au-Prince, the nation’s capital. Those stops were resumed in October.

On Tuesday, a day after the airport shootings led the Federal Aviation Commission to ban flights in and out of Haiti by all U.S. airlines for 30 days, a Royal Caribbean spokeswoman said, “Currently there are no changes to our planned itineraries.”

That statement followed what the cruise line has said numerous times since March when asked about its plans regarding Labadee: “The safety and security of our guests, crew, and communities we visit are our top priority. Our Global Security and Intelligence Team continuously monitor the situation in Haiti.”

On Monday, gangs shot two planes owned by U.S. airlines: A Spirit Airlines airplane was struck as it prepared to land its flight from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, and a JetBlue plane was struck just after it had taken off for New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. No passengers were injured, but a flight attendant was struck and suffered what the airline called “minor injuries,” according to an Associated Press report. That plane was diverted to the Dominican Republic.

Spirit, JetBlue and American Airlines said Monday they were canceling flights to and from Haiti while the country’s civil aviation authority suspended operations at the airport. Later on Tuesday, the FAA banned all U.S. commercial flights to and from the nation.

Royal Caribbean ships that stopped in Labadee in October included Freedom of the Seas, which sails out of Port Everglades; Adventure of the Seas, sailing out of Port Canaveral in Brevard County; and Independence of the Seas out of Miami, the website Cruise Industry News reported. Five additional vessels were scheduled for stops in November, and Celebrity Cruises, a Royal Caribbean subsidiary, was scheduled to visit the port in February and March, according to the site.

Cruise industry experts have noted that the port is in a part of the country isolated from population centers and is a six-hour drive from Port-au-Prince.

Still, Haiti has been under a Level 4 security alert, the highest level travel advisory, from the United States Department of State since July 2023 and at various times before that. The department warns U.S. residents not to travel there, citing heightened risks of injury from firearms as well as frequent robberies, carjackings, sexual assaults, and kidnappings for ransom.

Some Americans with cruise reservations questioned Royal Caribbean’s decision to continue its Haiti port calls in online forums.

A woman who said she was booked on a cruise with a Labadee stop in December posted on a Facebook forum called Royal Caribbean First Time Cruisers that she is “super paranoid” about taking her five children there.

Others responded that Labadee is miles away from the conflict and reminded the woman that her family will not be required to leave the ship during the port call.

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