Labadee?

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, Donsyb said:

UK policies will not cover you to visit any country that the foreign office has advised against travelling to. Whether you think it’s poor or not, it will affect all U.K. based cruisers and is standard practice here. I would not be surprised if RC made some kind of allowance for this based on the significant number of Brits who sail with them - they are likely to be aware of it. 

If they make exception to this they better be prepared for an onslaught of people wanting exceptions and refunds when they have no travel insurance at all. 
a bad policy is no better than no policy so let’s give everyone the benefit of the doubt and cover them in all circumstances 

[Charles4515]

4 minutes ago, Donsyb said:

UK policies will not cover you to visit any country that the foreign office has advised against travelling to. Whether you think it’s poor or not, it will affect all U.K. based cruisers and is standard practice here. I would not be surprised if RC made some kind of allowance for this based on the significant number of Brits who sail with them - they are likely to be aware of it. 

I am surprised that UK policies cover travel to the US then.

 

If US policies didn't cover visits to countries our State Department had advisories about then the insurance companies would go out of busness....

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

I am surprised that UK policies cover travel to the US then.

 

If US policies didn't cover visits to countries our State Department had advisories about then the insurance companies would go out of busness....

Thank you!! 
 

[acethesuperhero]

2 hours ago, Pochi Hanaki said:

I am not sure what this means at all. If there is a fire in a building do you need a project manager to organize them to leave?

 

Ignoring the rest of the post (because I don't really care to explain the how and why of violence towards an end) I'm baffled that someone who's on here and presumably has sat through a muster drill would act like mass evacuation doesn't require planning. It does speak to our safety procedures that safety planning is so seamless it's invisible to you - as they say, every regulation is written in blood...

[Pochi Hanaki]

8 minutes ago, acethesuperhero said:

 

Ignoring the rest of the post (because I don't really care to explain the how and why of violence towards an end) I'm baffled that someone who's on here and presumably has sat through a muster drill would act like mass evacuation doesn't require planning. It does speak to our safety procedures that safety planning is so seamless it's invisible to you - as they say, every regulation is written in blood...

I continually surprised that people think criminals escaping from prison sat thru some presentation that shows them evacuation routes rather than them opening their eyes and seeing massive holes in the walls and following the person in front of them.  No mass evacuations do not need safety briefings. When I go to a mall and a shooting starts I know to head for the exits. If you think rape and murder is violence towards an end then really there's no logic around. 

[gavvy]

41 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

So should Royal give UK travelers preferential treatment because of this? 

 

No. But they probably should not be selling cruises to labadee on the UK website in the first place.

 

Haiti has been on the no travel advisories list for quite a few years now this isn't a recent thing.

 

They do not make it clear at all and the call centre has zero idea when it comes to the UK insurance situation.

 

It's actually a massive deal for us but most do not think about it as it's sold as labadee not Haiti so nobody thinks about the consequences.

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, gavvy said:

 

No. But they probably should not be selling cruises to labadee on the UK website in the first place.

 

Haiti has been on the no travel advisories list for quite a few years now this isn't a recent thing.

 

They do not make it clear at all and the call centre has zero idea when it comes to the UK insurance situation.

 

It's actually a massive deal for us but most do not think about it as it's sold as labadee not Haiti so nobody thinks about the consequences.

Fairly put. Your countryman above feels differently, but I agree with your assessment 

[gavvy]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

I am surprised that UK policies cover travel to the US then.

 

If US policies didn't cover visits to countries our State Department had advisories about then the insurance companies would go out of busness....

 

 

Are you saying the USA should be classed as a no go area like Iraq Iran Syria etc...these are the type of countries where the UK say you should not visit as there is a real chance of harm to life and there are no consular representation to help you .

 

[Charles4515]

41 minutes ago, gavvy said:

 

 

Are you saying the USA should be classed as a no go area like Iraq Iran Syria etc...these are the type of countries where the UK say you should not visit as there is a real chance of harm to life and there are no consular representation to help you .

 

I think you are missing the point. In any case you can follow the UK advice or ignore it. Royal Caribbean can follow the UK advice or ignore it. 

[prmssk]

Some people don't realize that Royal Caribbean has different terms and conditions for bookings depending on what country you live in (even fares aren't the same) as they have to comply with your home country's laws (just like travel insurance companies).  Sometimes that works in favor of residents of a specific country, sometimes not.  So this isn't about preferential treatment of one country over another.  Royal just has to figure out how to navigate those differences.  

 

I don't know what percentage of Caribbean bookings are booked by UK travelers (or travelers from other countries with a similar issue) to know how large of a scale of a problem this is.  Sure, they can just ignore the effect continuing with these port stops has on UK travelers while the UK travel advisory is in place but that might not be a good business decision, if there are a large enough number of them.

 

Does anyone know if this UK advisory is new with the recent escalation of violence?  Or has the do not travel advisory been in place for a long time like the US one has?  

[phoenix_dream]

An interesting article about them attacking a port. Granted, a different type of port, but....https://www.aol.com/key-port-terminal-broken-violence-171419553.html

[Ocean Boy]

3 hours ago, gavvy said:

 

No. But they probably should not be selling cruises to labadee on the UK website in the first place.

 

Haiti has been on the no travel advisories list for quite a few years now this isn't a recent thing.

 

They do not make it clear at all and the call centre has zero idea when it comes to the UK insurance situation.

 

It's actually a massive deal for us but most do not think about it as it's sold as labadee not Haiti so nobody thinks about the consequences.

So are you saying that folks in the U.K. have been buying cruises, sailing to Labadee, and unknowingly been invalidating their insurance policies for years? 

[Donsyb]

4 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

I am surprised that UK policies cover travel to the US then.

 

If US policies didn't cover visits to countries our State Department had advisories about then the insurance companies would go out of busness....

What do you call an advisory though? In the U.K. it’s only excluded if it specifically says don’t travel to it. The only time it has said not to travel to the US that I’m aware of was during Covid.

[Donsyb]

1 minute ago, Ocean Boy said:

So are you saying that folks in the UK have been buying cruises, sailing to Labadee, and unknowingly been invalidating their insurance policies for years?

Very possibly

[Donsyb]

1 hour ago, prmssk said:

 

Does anyone know if this UK advisory is new with the recent escalation of violence?  Or has the do not travel advisory been in place for a long time like the US one has?  

It doesn’t say, it just says when it was last updated 

[Ocean Boy]

3 hours ago, gavvy said:

 

Haiti has been on the no travel advisories list for quite a few years now this isn't a recent thing.

 

 

1 hour ago, prmssk said:

 

Does anyone know if this UK advisory is new with the recent escalation of violence?  Or has the do not travel advisory been in place for a long time like the US one has?  

 

5 minutes ago, Donsyb said:

It doesn’t say, it just says when it was last updated 

The post by gavvy would make it seem that the no travel advisory has been in place for quite a while.

[Charles4515]

3 minutes ago, Donsyb said:

What do you call an advisory though? In the U.K. it’s only excluded if it specifically says don’t travel to it. The only time it has said not to travel to the US that I’m aware of was during Covid.

If you can’t get insurance I do think it is a real problem. Have you asked an insurance company about Labadee? Have you asked Royal Caribbean about Labadee and Uk insurance? 

[Donsyb]

1 minute ago, Charles4515 said:

If you can’t get insurance I do think it is a real problem. Have you asked an insurance company about Labadee? Have you asked Royal Caribbean about Labadee and Uk insurance? 

No because I don’t plan on going there any time soon!

[Charles4515]

4 minutes ago, Donsyb said:

No because I don’t plan on going there any time soon!

So you don’t have facts. You are just speculating. 🤔 

[prmssk]

10 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

 

 

The post by gavvy would make it seem that the no travel advisory has been in place for quite a while.

And maybe that is the case.  I know our US level 4 warning for Haiti has not been continuously in place for years as I think some assume.  The current one goes back to July of 2023 when two Americans were kidnapped.  When I booked my upcoming April cruise back in the middle of 2022, Haiti was only a level 3.  And I know Haiti was only a level 3 when I visited Labadee in late 2018. 

 

I would guess that a lot of people on cruises to Labadee this month and next booked at a time there was not a do not travel warning.

[Ocean Boy]

9 minutes ago, prmssk said:

 

I would guess that a lot of people on cruises to Labadee this month and next booked at a time there was not a do not travel warning.

I would guess that plenty of people who book have no idea if there is a travel warning or not.

[prmssk]

2 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I would guess that plenty of people who book have no idea if there is a travel warning or not.

I agree.  There are savvy travelers who do their research but I doubt they are in the majority, especially when it comes to cruising where so much of the planning is done for you.

[CAM64]

If hundreds of escaped Haitian prisoners can get to Florida by boat, then they can certainly get to Labadee by boat.  What kind of security do they have on Labadee and the cruise ships?    Plus, a State of Emergency has been issue and our government is telling Americans to leave.

Edited March 8 by CAM64

[time4u2go]

9 minutes ago, CAM64 said:

If hundreds of escaped Haitian prisoners can get to Florida by boat, then they can certainly get to Labadee by boat.  What kind of security do they have on Labadee and the cruise ships?    Plus, a State of Emergency has been issue and our government is telling Americans to leave.

Did hundreds of escaped Haitian prisoners get to Florida by boat?

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, CAM64 said:

If hundreds of escaped Haitian prisoners can get to Florida by boat, then they can certainly get to Labadee by boat.  What kind of security do they have on Labadee and the cruise ships?    Plus, a State of Emergency has been issue and our government is telling Americans to leave.

And I say it again; there is NOTHING in Labadee they want 

 

The department of state has had Haiti on a level 3 or 4 watch for years, nothing new