Key Aspects:
- Royal Caribbean is now cancelling all planned visits to its private destination of Labadee, Haiti at least through April 2028.
- Nine different ships have multiple itineraries adjusted due to the cancellations, with replacement ports added to ship schedules whenever possible.
- The cruise line continues to support its employees in Haiti but there is no confirmation of when guests may again visit the destination.
Royal Caribbean has begun notifying booked guests with sailings that include Labadee, Haiti, that their itineraries are being adjusted and the private destination is no longer possible, at least through April 2028.
In July 2026, the cruise line extended the cancellations through June 2027, but these latest notifications further extend the private destination’s closure another 10 months.
Dozens of sailings on nine different ships are impacted by the change, including:
- Adventure of the Seas
- Allure of the Seas
- Explorer of the Seas
- Freedom of the Seas
- Harmony of the Seas
- Independence of the Seas
- Serenade of the Seas
- Star of the Seas
- Symphony of the Seas
The exact changes vary by sailing, even on the same ship. For example, guests on the July 18, 2027 sailing of Allure of the Seas have been notified that instead of visiting Labadee, they will visit Nassau, Bahamas, as part of the 6-night Caribbean itinerary from Miami. On that specific sailing, a sea day has also been moved to accommodate the port change.
On the February 6, 2028 departure, however, the 5,496-guest ship will be visiting San Juan, Puerto Rico rather than Labadee during the 7-night voyage, and the visit to Samana Port in the Dominican Republic has been shifted a day later as well.
In a discussion on Reddit, booked guests report similar changes to different ships and itineraries, including substituting Grand Turk, Amber Cove, Cozumel, Samana Port, and even days at sea instead of Labadee visits.
Exactly which ports can be substituted (if any) for cancelled Labadee calls depends on a number of factors, including berth availability, the ship’s sailing route, and itinerary length.
Regardless of the alternative plans, however, Royal Caribbean has assured guests that their shore excursions are taken care of, both for Labadee and other ports.
“Our Shore Excursions team will automatically refund any pre-paid Royal Caribbean shore excursions in Labadee and reschedule any other impacted pre-paid Royal Caribbean shore excursions,” the cancellation email confirmed. “Any tours that can’t be reaccommodated will be canceled and refunded to your original form of payment within 14 business days.”
What Royal Caribbean Is Still Doing for Labadee
While cruise ships are not currently visiting Labadee for guests to enjoy, Royal Caribbean continues to care for its team members who live in Labadee and depend on ship visits.
Some ships do still make brief stops at the port to drop off supplies, but those visits are not announced and guests are not permitted off the ship. As soon as the supplies are unloaded, the ship departs and continues on to its next planned port of call.
This is not the first time ship visits to Labadee have been cancelled. All calls were cancelled for several months beginning in March 2024 following widespread gang violence, a jail outbreak with 4,000 escaped prisoners in Port-au-Prince, and overall political instability.
Visits resumed for several months in late 2024 and early 2025, but began to be cancelled again in May 2025 and no regular guest visits have resumed since. Now, the latest round of cancellations ensures no Royal Caribbean guests will have visited Labadee for at least three years, if visits do resume in May 2028.
Royal Caribbean has not made any statement about the ultimate future of Labadee, and in fact the U.S. Department of State has a Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory for Haiti, noting high risks of crime, gang violence, kidnapping, terrorism, and unrest.
