Celebrity Cruises has begun reaching out to guests booked on upcoming voyages of Celebrity Ascent to inform them of multiple itinerary changes. Most recently, travelers on the February 9, 2025 departure have learned they will not be visiting Labadee, Haiti as planned, but instead will visit an alternative port.
The impacted sailing is a 7-night roundtrip sailing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The original plan was to visit Bimini, Labadee, and Grand Cayman.
“Due to a change in our itinerary planning for our winter 2024-2025 sailings, we are removing our visit to Labadee, Haiti, on our Celebrity Ascent February 9, 2025 sailing,” the email notification read. “We’ll now enjoy a visit to Cozumel, Mexico, on Day 4, with an extended stay in port, instead of visiting Labadee.”
This means Celebrity Ascent will be in Cozumel on the same day as originally planned for Labadee, and the remainder of the ship’s itinerary remains unchanged.
The extended stay – from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. – gives guests plenty of time to enjoy and explore the popular Mexican port of call. The long visit may also permit more extensive shore excursion options, such as visits to the iconic Chichen Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula. Exact shore tour options available through Celebrity Cruises will vary based on what can be arranged for the visit date.
No exact reason has been given for removing Labadee from Celebrity Ascent‘s sailing, but this follows another recent change for the ship’s January 6, 2025 departure. That alteration also removed Labadee from the itinerary, but instead substituted a visit to Falmouth, Jamaica.
The same reasoning – “a change in our itinerary planning” – was given for that schedule change and port swap as well.
Cruise lines do occasionally shift ports and schedules as they balance operational needs and ensure that various ports will not be overcrowded for each visit. This helps give travelers the best possible experience at each destination they visit.
Because these itinerary changes all involve Labadee, however, it is also possible that the cruise line is making the decision out of safety concerns. All port visits to Labadee have been cancelled since mid-March due to increasing civil unrest and violence in Haiti.
Royal Caribbean International, also part of the Royal Caribbean Group along with Celebrity Cruises, has confirmed that all Labadee visits as suspended at least through September.
“We have suspended all visits to Labadee fleetwide through September 2024, and we continue to monitor the situation with our Global Security & Intelligence team. Please know that the safety and comfort of our guests are always our highest priority,” the notification on the cruise line’s website states.
While the cruise itineraries changed for Celebrity Ascent are in January and February, it is very likely that safety and security are factors in making these changes. The safety of guests and crew members are always a cruise line’s top priority.
Will More Itineraries Be Changed?
The 140,600-gross-ton, Edge-class Celebrity Ascent is currently in the Mediterranean for the summer season, but will move to Fort Lauderdale, Florida with a 13-night transatlantic sailing departing Barcelona on October 26.
From Port Everglades, the ship – newest in the Celebrity Cruises fleet – will offer a variety of cruises, mostly 7-night sailings. Eastern Caribbean itineraries will visit St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Puerto Plata.
The Western Caribbean cruises are scheduled to visit Grand Cayman, either Bimini or Nassau in The Bahamas, and Labadee. As Labadee is being removed from at least several departures, and it is possible the port may be removed from all of Celebrity Ascent‘s Western Caribbean sailings.
Guests booked on upcoming Celebrity Ascent cruises with Labadee on the itinerary should stay in close communication with Celebrity Cruises in case of updates or alterations.
