US Department of State: Travel Advisory- DO NOT TRAVEL

[Laplayaperson]

For those that have port stops in Haiti, and Jamacia, what are your thoughts on the Department of state travel advisories?  

 

Would you skip getting off the ship?  I saw a youtuber post that they made this choice not to get off.  

 

Thoughts?

 

Haiti (DO NOT TRAVEL LEVEL):  https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Haiti.html

 

Jamaica (RECONSIDER TRAVEL LEVEL):  https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Jamaica.html

[smokeybandit]

If cruise passengers avoided all countries that have or have had State Dept advisories over the years, there would be no cruise industry at all.

 

Cruise lines aren't going to sail to specific locations if there was that much of a threat to its passengers.
 

Those advisories are typically targeted to very specific areas in those countries. Places no cruise tourist would or even could go to.

Edited January 6 by smokeybandit

[Tlbecker1]

We are going to Labadee 3 times in the next month.  We will be getting off each time and enjoying ourselves.

[firefly333]

It's up to you. Labadee it's not like you are out and about in the general island, you used to be pretty well confined to just the one area. I took a boat ride up the coast to see more but from a distance. 

 

Jamaica I dont care about. Seen it too many times. Suit yourself. 

 

New orleans has a murder and pick pocket problem but I'd still go there too. 

[aubreyc1988]

41 minutes ago, Laplayaperson said:

For those that have port stops in Haiti, and Jamacia, what are your thoughts on the Department of state travel advisories?  

 

Would you skip getting off the ship?  I saw a youtuber post that they made this choice not to get off.  

 

Thoughts?

 

Haiti (DO NOT TRAVEL LEVEL):  https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Haiti.html

 

Jamaica (RECONSIDER TRAVEL LEVEL):  https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Jamaica.html

I mean, the US is a pretty dangerous place, so I just assess the risk and go with that. I mean, just keep your wits about you, don't go into any dark alleys, be smart with where you place your valuables, etc. 

[Charles4515]

50 minutes ago, Laplayaperson said:

 

For those that have port stops in Haiti, and Jamacia, what are your thoughts on the Department of state travel advisories?  

 

Would you skip getting off the ship?  I saw a youtuber post that they made this choice not to get off.  

 

I saw that YouTubers video. Highly exaggerated….

[clackey]

Depends on the port.  Jamaica has three with Ocho Rios the only one that I debark for.  Montego Bay and Falmouth don't have anything but possibly a beach that would interest us. I believe that the warning was for Montego Bay.  Labadee is private and is pretty secure.  I wouldn't go anywhere else on Haiti without a gun. 

[alfaeric]

Labadee isn't real Haiti anyway.

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

One important thing to remember is that Labadee is only "Haiti" in the most technical sense. Many USG employees would currently need special authorization to vacation in Haiti proper, but Labadee is so completely separate that it would make more sense to refer to it as Hispaniola than Haiti. 

 

It's certainly not risk-free, since no place on the planet is. But equating it with Port-au-Prince makes absolutely zero sense.

 

Edited January 6 by la_croisiere_s'amuse

[Laplayaperson]

Thank you all!  Everyone has made good points along with some valid humor!  

[DallasGuy75219]

I wouldn't get off the ship in Jamaica, travel advisory or not.

[alfaeric]

FWIW, a few years ago, we ran outside the port in Jamaica- never felt uncomfortable, but it certainly wasn't nice enough to warrant wandering around.  By that, I mean there's not really much to see. Plenty of interesting excursions around, though.

 

And the port area isn't bad- good place to get some steps in off the ship.

 

Labadee, on the other hand- plenty of nice places to go and just do nothing.  The "worst" part of that is the market area where you may get a lot of people trying to sell you stuff.  But it's not dangerous.  We were bummed on a recent cruise that it got flooded in some heavy rain, forcing us to miss the stop.

Edited January 7 by alfaeric

[FamilyCruiserUK]

So if you get a government advisory to not travel to a certain country how does this affect your travel insurance. I am sure in the UK if you travel to a country when advised not to, by the UK government 99% of travel insurance policies would be invalid for that country..... 🤔

[not-enough-cruising]

2 hours ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

So if you get a government advisory to not travel to a certain country how does this affect your travel insurance. I am sure in the UK if you travel to a country when advised not to, by the UK government 99% of travel insurance policies would be invalid for that country..... 🤔

No affect on your travel insurance by any policy underwriter I have ever used.

[Jimbo]

24 minutes ago, CSHS1979 said:

 

700 of us are on full UWC, lots of questionable areas we're headed to, but having a great time😉

Are you now doing the Full WC. Thought I saw somewhere you were just doing 2 or the 4 legs. Did you now change your mind and now doing the full?

[gavvy]

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

No affect on your travel insurance by any policy underwriter I have ever used.

My insurance in UK would not be valid in any country where the FCO has advised against travel.

What I am not sure about is if it would void the entire trip. Insurance love a way to get out paying and that would be an easy one.

 

If you are from the UK I would suggest not going on a trip that includes Haiti or at least get it confirmed the rest of the trip would be covered and stay on the ship in that port.

[not-enough-cruising]

25 minutes ago, gavvy said:

My insurance in UK would not be valid in any country where the FCO has advised against travel.

What I am not sure about is if it would void the entire trip. Insurance love a way to get out paying and that would be an easy one.

 

If you are from the UK I would suggest not going on a trip that includes Haiti or at least get it confirmed the rest of the trip would be covered and stay on the ship in that port.

In the United States it varies from policy to policy.

My annual policy specifically outlines no change in coverage regardless of any travel advisory in place.

I think it’s wrong to restrict anyone’s choice of travel destination, and their ability to protect themselves while doing so. 

[kitkat343]

Labadee, as a secured resort area, is completely safe.  Jamaica, along with Roatan, has lovely ports.  I would not recommend getting into a random cab at the port there or wandering around by yourself, but if you go on tripadvisor and book an independent tour ahead of time you will probably be fine (or take a ship tour).  Dunn's river falls is lovely, and dolphin's cove is a nice animal experience place if you have kids or like animals, and scotchies has excellent jerk chicken.

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, kitkat343 said:

Jamaica, along with Roatan, has lovely ports.  I would not recommend getting into a random cab at the port there or wandering around by yourself,

Royal Caribbean docks at the Falmouth port which they helped finance, Inside the gated port area is the typical shops seen at every Caribbean port and only cruise passengers. There is a taxi and bus area where there are only licensed taxi drivers with fixed rates. We took a taxi to an all inclusive where we had booked a day pass. No problem at all. There is a gate with guards to the real Falmouth. Check it out out if you don't mind the third world and being approached to buy drugs. Totaly oprtional to go there. I did go and there is a huge police prescence but most cruise passengers woud be uncomfortable.