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Freedom of the Seas - Labadee issues today

NorbertsNiece
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poncho1973

poncho1973

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Posted (edited)
most of all a sign that said No USA. I for one will Honor that sign and never go back to Haiti.

 

We were outside a long time and I never saw that sign. I saw several signs, but not that one. Someone next to me told me that sign, I took a photo of it and blew it up for them on the camera screen. It said "ABA JERRY" on it.

 

If you saw the other, I believe you, but that person THOUGHT it said NO USA and it didn't. He said someone else told him that's what it said.

Edited by poncho1973
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poncho1973

poncho1973

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You are the first one to make several of the above claims. What is your source for the claims you are making???

 

First I've heard of this, too. I saw ZERO smoke and saw where they came from and where the sailed away to. I'm not saying it's a lie, but I didn't see it.

 

However, the helicopter part is legit. I saw it, too, and have photos of it.

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John&LaLa "Live from...." Rare

John&LaLa

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First I've heard of this, too. I saw ZERO smoke and saw where they came from and where the sailed away to. I'm not saying it's a lie, but I didn't see it.

 

However, the helicopter part is legit. I saw it, too, and have photos of it.

 

I wonder where it came from

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h614

h614

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I saw the smoke and have picture of it over in the village lagoon. I will need to down load and post it. (Tomorrow night) A fellow passenger said she saw the hoses Not first hand sighting on my part as I was in deck 8 starboard stateroom forward and deck 11 during protest. Also the boats used in the protest are the same boats used to transport workers from Labadee village The workers and protesters are from the same village. I've been to Labadee 4 times before this. My wife and I made it a point to either over tip in the village market or hand some a small amount of cash to some one in the market, our way of saying Thank You I know RCCL won,t abandon Labadee they will pay for peace until the next time. but I can vote with my feet so I wont have to worry about the next time. It just sucks to save, travel, and look forward to the visit and then have your expectations shattered.

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FloridaGram

FloridaGram

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WOW, I wish I had read this before. I booked a cruise an hour ago that stops at Labadee. I wish I stayed with the one that went to Cococay now. I am not going to tell my family and hope it is resolved by June.

 

We went to Labadee a long time ago, before it is what it is now and hated it because of all the poor people looking through the fence at us. But since everyone raves about it now I decided to give it a try.

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h614

h614

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The range of USCG land based helicopters would not allow this flight to be made from Puerto Rico with out refueling So it had to either originate from assets assisting a humanitarian mission inside Haiti doubtful as they do not like to see our flag in country or from the hangar deck of one of our CG Cutters in the area. The likely source. I was so proud to see the flag that I failed to notice if it had in air refueling capabilities. Or it could have come from as Roosevelt said Shangri-La

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pitz0005

pitz0005

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Posted
I saw the smoke and have picture of it over in the village lagoon. I will need to down load and post it. (Tomorrow night) A fellow passenger said she saw the hoses Not first hand sighting on my part as I was in deck 8 starboard stateroom forward and deck 11 during protest. Also the boats used in the protest are the same boats used to transport workers from Labadee village The workers and protesters are from the same village. I've been to Labadee 4 times before this. My wife and I made it a point to either over tip in the village market or hand some a small amount of cash to some one in the market, our way of saying Thank You I know RCCL won,t abandon Labadee they will pay for peace until the next time. but I can vote with my feet so I wont have to worry about the next time. It just sucks to save, travel, and look forward to the visit and then have your expectations shattered.

 

I was also there on FOS on 01/19/2016 and can confirm for certain that there was a sizable smoke stream coming from the village. What the purpose of the fire/smoke was I do not know. It did not seem like they could sneak up on the ship given the amount of smoke.

 

While at breakfast in the windjammer around 8:00 I noticed 6-8 jetski's driving around with the Hatian flag waving behind. At the time I thought it was a ploy of sell excrusions. Then I noticed a row boat with two men come up within arms length of the rear mooring block. At the time I figured it was fishermen or something. A short time later I noticed serveral boats packed to the gills in the harbor. After seeing this I knew it was not the welcoming committee.

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h614

h614

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I have reviewed pics taken one shows white smoke on the water well before getting to dock another after we were docked I think it was more to obscure the loading of the locals than to cover moving across open water in their water taxis. Thank you for confirming my statement the water hose sighting was reported to me by a friend Did rccl clear deck 4 or could you observe the demonstrations from this vantage point One other point The Haitian Coast Guardwas knudging protest boats away with their bow What would have happen if they sank a boat load of protesters doing this. there surely would have been violence Did not see any life jackets on the protesters

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Aquahound

Aquahound

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Posted (edited)
Later in the protest an American Coast Guard helicopter circled the ship. This mission was not mounted to observe a peaceful protest. This was a deliberate "Show of the Flag" to reassure passengers on board.

 

However, the helicopter part is legit. I saw it, too, and have photos of it.

 

Poncho...you are correct. h614...you're sorta correct, but not really. The area of Labadee is on the route of routine USCG helo patrols. It's very common, so most people who have been to Labadee multiple times have seen a USCG helo at least once. They fly out of USCG Airstation Borinquen and/or GITMO.

 

The fact they remained in the area instead of just overflying would have been because of the protest, but the reason they were there to begin with was most likely coincidence. The USCG has established refueling stations.

Edited by Aquahound
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bouhunter

bouhunter

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I was on the Freedom in Labadee 1/19/16 this protest was purely an act of blackmail. The Hatian agitators built a smoke fire that totally obscured their village giving them cover while they loaded their boats to cross the "lagoon". This was not a peaceful protest as I was told the fire hoses were brought out to repel any boarding attempts. (please confirm if you saw them) Later in the protest an American Coast Guard helicopter circled the ship. This mission was not mounted to observe a peaceful protest. This was a deliberate "Show of the Flag" to reassure passengers on board. RCCL should pull out of there and return the area to its previous condition, pure economic ruin and poverty. If they succeed at this attempted blackmail they will try it again There is no need to ever go back to Labadee Haiti

 

Thanks for the laugh of the day. They were going to "board the ship":D:D Ur too funny!!!!

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