Controversy continues on whether Royal Caribbean ships should call on Labadee

It has been a couple of weeks since the horrific earthquake devasted the city of Port-au-Prince in Haiti and just days after the quake, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity ships have been docking at the private reserve, Labadee, on the western peninsula of the island. There has been a lot of media bashing of Royal Caribbean for making the decision to continue to call on this port when there is so much devastation just 60 miles away.

This editorial is from the editor in chief of a popular travel industry magazine and brings up the positive side of why she feels Royal Caribbean's decision to continue to call on Labadee is a good one. What do you think?

"Doing the Right Thing in Haiti
By Theresa Norton Masek
Published on: January 27, 2010

Over the past week Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has been weathering an attack of unfair criticism for continuing to call at Labadee, its private beach resort in Haiti. Several consumer press outlets have attacked the line for allowing in so many words pampered Americans to loll in the sand, sip fruity drinks and dance in the surf while the capital city, Port-au-Prince, is attempting to deal with the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed an estimated 150,000 people. They believe that Royal Caribbean should cancel calls until Haiti is back on its feet. They couldn’t be more wrong!

Instead of withdrawing during Haiti’s time of desperate need, Royal Caribbean immediately pledged to donate at least $1 million in humanitarian relief the tally has already surpassed $2 million and missed not a single call at Labadee. The decision was not made lightly. “We knew there was always the possibility that not everyone would be happy with the decision,” says Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez. “We’ve had an almost 30-year relationship with Haiti, and we’ve been going to Labadee for almost 15 years. We wanted to go back to take relief supplies and also help with the long-term economy. We have 230 Haitian employees on the Labadee site, and there are 300 Haitians who have booths in the straw market or braid hair, so every time a ship calls it impacts more than 500 local Haitians.”

Still, Royal Caribbean wanted to make sure its efforts were welcome. “We needed to make sure Haiti was ready and willing for us to come back, and we wouldn’t come back until we heard something from them,” Martinez says. “They stressed how important it was for the recovery and economy for us to continue. And now, especially after this negative reaction, we’ve had a lot of letters of support from the Ministry of Tourism, President Clinton [now U.N. special envoy to Haiti] and local relief organizations.”

Since the earthquake, six Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises ships have called on Labadee and delivered more than 400 pallets of supplies water, rice, dried beans, powdered milk, canned goods, medical supplies, hygiene products and disinfectants. The supplies are a combination of donated items and goods purchased by Royal Caribbean. What’s more, all net revenue generated by the calls at Labadee will be donated to Haiti relief. The company also invited its passengers to donate to the relief effort through their onboard accounts. So far, guests have donated $170,000 to the organization Food for the Poor.

Royal Caribbean’s latest gesture is to assign a top executive with intimate knowledge of Haiti to work with Paul Farmer, the deputy U.N special envoy under Clinton. John Weis, Royal Caribbean’s associate vice president-private destinations, spent a lot of time working on Labadee’s recent enhancement and has since spearheaded the company’s relief efforts. Weis will work with Farmer for three months, while the cruise company pays his salary. “His first task is setting up logistics,” Martinez says. “He has contacts in Haiti and understands the country well. He will be a valuable asset.”

So what about the cruise passengersω Are they uneasy about getting off in Haitiω Martinez said the ship’s captain and cruise director make an announcement before every stop at Labadee to explain the situation and status of relief efforts. “Every single time, they get a standing ovation,” she says. “And just like all of us, our passengers have seen the coverage and want to do something to help – and they can. They know the proceeds of the call will be donated. And the straw market is doing very well and people aren’t haggling.” On average, 80 percent of the guests are getting off the ship at Labadee, which is not that far off the normal number.

I believe Royal Caribbean clearly made the right decision. Cancelling calls at Labadee would have only hurt Haiti when it needed help the most. Yes, on the surface it appears unseemly to have cruisers frolicking on a beach when 100 miles away a city is in ruins. But don’t forget that, shortly after 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, officials were urging tourists to return to New York City and New Orleans. Haiti, considered the first- or second-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, is hardly the tourism mecca that those two cities are, so it rightly should hang on to whatever visitor income it can muster especially now. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. should not be criticized for its actions, but should be thanked and congratulated.

Theresa Norton Masek is editor-in-chief of Vacation Agent magazine, sister publication to TravelPulse.com, and a veteran cruise editor."