Royal Caribbean confirmed on 13 January 2026 that it would pause all calls to its private destination at Labadee, Haiti, due to ongoing unrest and violence in that country. It first acquired the resort on a long-term lease agreement in 1985.
Royal Caribbean has rights to the fenced-in, heavily protected area on Haiti’s northern coast through 2050. But it has been unable to call there with any vessel for nearly a year.
Unrest in Haiti has occurred numerous times in the past. Voyages were paused temporarily in 2004 due to the Haitian coup d’état, and again at various times in 2016, 2024, and 2025.
Now, with calls cancelled through the remainder of 2026 for all Royal Caribbean Group brands, and with Royal Caribbean’s private island destinations in the Bahamas and Mexico coming online and proving exceptionally popular with passengers, it raises the question of whether Labadee will continue to be a destination for the line moving forward.
Though it has been refreshed and refitted at various times since its inception, Labadee has been outpaced by Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day at CocoCay, its private island in the Bahamas. And Perfect Day Mexico – the present site of the manufactured port of Costa Maya – will debut in 2027, complete with the world’s longest lazy river and numerous other attractions.
Until the humanitarian crisis, gang violence, and political unrest in Haiti cease to be a problem, expect Royal Caribbean to keep Labadee sidelined for the foreseeable future.
— Aaron Saunders, Digital Editor
