Going to Labadee Tomorrow

[aprilfool]

Msnbc just aired a report from RCCL saying they will be going to Labadee
tomorrow as scheduled and will be bring relief supplies.Also next Monday and Tues as scheduled and also with relief supplies.

[JSnow789]

You beat me to the post!

Here is the blurb from Adam's Blog:

GOING TO LABADEE. This is posted on the President of Royal Caribbean's blog:

Finally, I am happy to say we are committed to continuing calls to Labadee with Independence of the Seas tomorrow. There were a lot of discussions about this, but in the end, Labadee is critical to Haiti’s recovery and hundreds of people rely on Labadee for their livelihood. In our conversations with the U.N. Special Envoy of the Government of Haiti Leslie Voltaire, he notes that Haiti will benefit from the revenues that are generated from each call, which is critical to their recovery. We also have tremendous opportunities to use our ships as transport vessels for relief supplies and personnel to Haiti.

Simply put, we cannot abandon Haiti now that they need us most.

I'm happy to report that our Liberty charter that calls on Labadee has already organized fund raisers as well. I'm happy we are going back to support Haiti.

[sgermic]

Thank you for posting this!

[dixieva]

This is wonderful news!

Way to go RCI!!

[sas80]

Here's the link to the blog

http://www.nationofwhynot.com/blog/

[pcur]

Spend some extra money while you're there: the locals need it more than ever!! I hope the Red Cross or the local churches have donation centers set up at the pier. That would be great!!

[BecciBoo]

I guess some people were wrong about not going to Labadee

So glad I belong to the cruising community of whom most want to continue to help the Haitians by taking in supplies and money to try to keep the status quo in this horrific aftermath of quakes. Any help is better than no help...and God sees the heart and what motivates it.

[jerseygirl79]

This is very admirable of RCI. It would be great if they had donation centers at the pier for clothing and other supplies.

[sas80]

Originally Posted by jerseygirl79

It would be great if they had donation centers at the pier for clothing and other supplies.

I wholeheartedly agree!

Lot's of people would pack an extra can of food, pair of shoes, article(s) or clothing, blanket, etc in order to help.

If every passenger, on every ship, every day that the ship came into port, would donate one item, there would be no burdern of transportation cost to get the item to the island and, boy oh boy, it would add up quickly! Imagine collecting 3000 pairs of shoes each time a ship docks!!! You would have 9000 shoes (at least) by weeks end. That's amazing! Imagine if every passenger brought a can of food....same translation, you could FEED 9000 people one meal. Amazing!

The passengers on the ships would be such an amazing (untapped?) place to get donations......

[grammagrace]

It is a very touchy subject and all it takes is one reporter to give an extremely negative commentary about it.

Dammed it you do , Dammed if you don't.

[JSnow789]

Originally Posted by pcur

Spend some extra money while you're there: the locals need it more than ever!! I hope the Red Cross or the local churches have donation centers set up at the pier. That would be great!!

On our Liberty cruise the Presidential Cabin was not sold so our operator has graciously donated the proceeds of an auction for it to relief efforts. Additionally we are unofficially talking up a $10 'Laboozie' Cocktail donation. If everyone on our ship donated $10 and skipped a cocktail we would have $35,000+ dollars to donate.

[NordicPrince]

Originally Posted by sas80

I wholeheartedly agree!

Lot's of people would pack an extra can of food, pair of shoes, article(s) or clothing, blanket, etc in order to help.

If every passenger, on every ship, every day that the ship came into port, would donate one item, there would be no burdern of transportation cost to get the item to the island and, boy oh boy, it would add up quickly! Imagine collecting 3000 pairs of shoes each time a ship docks!!! You would have 9000 shoes (at least) by weeks end. That's amazing! Imagine if every passenger brought a can of food....same translation, you could FEED 9000 people one meal. Amazing!

The passengers on the ships would be such an amazing (untapped?) place to get donations......

Water, shelter, medical care and food are the four immediate needs that must be taken care of. Cans and items must be transported once in Labadee(how and who will do this?). Maybe in a month or two this may be appropriate but there are more critical needs.

Send money to the reputable relief organizations, they have experience in handling situations like this. I send to Catholic Relief Services. Money can be traded for any good any individual could possibly bring.

[sas80]

Originally Posted by JSnow789

On our Liberty cruise the Presidential Cabin was not sold so our operator has graciously donated the proceeds of an auction for it to relief efforts. Additionally we are unofficially talking up a $10 'Laboozie' Cocktail donation. If everyone on our ship donated $10 and skipped a cocktail we would have $35,000+ dollars to donate.

How amazing would that be!!!!!

[sas80]

Originally Posted by NordicPrince

Water, shelter, medical care and food are the three immediate needs that must be taken care of. Cans and items must be transported (how?).
Send money to the reputable relief organizations, they have experience in handling situations like this. Money can be traded for any good any individual could possibly bring.

yes, yes, yes, I hear you "donate money" people, ALL OVER THE PLACE.

Apparently it is not enough that someone might want to donate a pair of shoes, garment of clothing or can of food.....the only thing they are "supposed" to donate is MONEY.

RCCL is NOT using their ships to transport MONEY to Haiti. They are using their ships to transport RELIEF GOODS. If all Haiti needed was MONEY then all these countries would not be sending relief goods.

I tell you, there are a great many people who will not donate money but they will donate a usable item. Every time someone chimes in or posts about how Haiti "doesn't need that, they need money" you ARE discouraging the person who wont donate money, but might have donated a durable good, from donating anything. In effect you are eliminating a donation.

Consider that.

[waterbugohio]

So where actually is Labadee?? I know I read on here it is 0ver 100 miles from the earthquake, but didn't know where??

Can you actually tour the island of Haiti? or are you restricted to Labadee??

[bluegirlum]

Originally Posted by sas80

yes, yes, yes, I hear you "donate money" people, ALL OVER THE PLACE.

Apparently it is not enough that someone might want to donate a pair of shoes, garment of clothing or can of food.....the only thing they are "supposed" to donate is MONEY.

RCCL is NOT using their ships to transport MONEY to Haiti. They are using their ships to transport RELIEF GOODS. If all Haiti needed was MONEY then all these countries would not be sending relief goods.

I tell you, there are a great many people who will not donate money but they will donate a usable item. Every time someone chimes in or posts about how Haiti "doesn't need that, they need money" you ARE discouraging the person who wont donate money, but might have donated a durable good, from donating anything. In effect you are eliminating a donation.

Consider that.

I hope that is not the case, and I think the thought of wanting to donate shoes or anything is very noble. But when reports from everywhere--including Adam Goldstein himself--are saying that cash is the number one need right now, I think it's prudent to encourage that. Of course people should donate whatever they can. But if people show up with 5000 pairs of shoes, that takes people to sort them that could be taking food and water that are more time sensitive.

[Badlands99]

I've heard more than one pundit mention that it's just a matter of time before the food riots start. I'm not sure I'd want to be present at a nice catered luncheon at Labadee while people are fighting each other for food a few miles away. I think I'll just donate to the red cross and avoid Labadee for a while.

[rushedmom]

Actually water is the most critical need right now, a young man from my church is there on a mission right now. His parents sent an email that he is okay and helping with rescue efforts.
I am sure that any type of donation would be welcome. I would say that it is good to encourage any type of donation.

Personally I would have the drink labadoozie (because they are amazing) and donate $10 while you are there. As well as tipping the chair attendants and buying something from the vendors is a great way to help

[Gonzo70]

Originally Posted by waterbugohio

So where actually is Labadee?? I know I read on here it is 0ver 100 miles from the earthquake, but didn't know where??

Can you actually tour the island of Haiti? or are you restricted to Labadee??

Labadee is a penisula in the northwest region of Hispaniola. Hispaniola is the island that consists of two countries: Haiti (the western half) and the Dominican Republic (eastern half). Due to security reasons (even prior to the earthquake) Labadee is fenced off from the rest of Haiti and has armed guards; cruise passegners are not permitted (or at least are very strongly discouraged) from leaving Labadee to enter the rest of Haiti and there are no ship sponsored excursions that do so.

[Bakincakes]

It was hard enough to sit and eat a picnic lunch, before the earthquake, at Labadee knowing how many Haitians were starving.

I can't imagine having to choke down a burger there now knowing how many have died and how many are dying of thirst and who will probably die of their injuries.