Royal Caribbean Monitoring Haiti Violence
by Dori Saltzman /Amidst a new warning from the FBI advising against travel to Haiti, as reported by the Miami Herald, Royal Caribbean International is monitoring the situation as it relates to cruise calls to its private Haitian port, Labadee.
While the FBI's warning is recent, the U.S. State Department has had Haiti at a Level 4 – Do Not Travel level since December 2022.
According to the State Department's warning, "Kidnapping is widespread, and victims regularly include U.S. citizens."
And, according to the report from the Miami Herald, the FBI's Miami office is reporting a "marked increase in the number of kidnappings reported to the agency, with a 300% increase for the first three months of this year compared to the same period last year."
Labadee is located on a peninsula far from the violence in Port-au-Prince. Nevertheless, Royal Caribbean does have its eye on the situation.
"Our Global Security teams continue to monitor the situation in the region and are working closely with authorities to ensure the safety and comfort of our guests and crew, which remains our highest priority," a spokesperson told Travel Market Report. "We are communicating directly with our guests and will advise them if any schedule changes become necessary.