Labadee Haiti Cruise Stop Canceled on Royal Caribbean 2026
Key points
- Royal Caribbean extended its pause on Labadee calls through December 2026
- Labadee has not been a scheduled Royal Caribbean port stop since April 2025, according to Royal Caribbean Blog
- Haiti remains a U.S. Department of State Level 4 Do Not Travel destination, which keeps the risk baseline elevated for any Haiti adjacent planning
- Affected itineraries are being adjusted, with common substitutions including other Caribbean ports or an added sea day
- Travelers should recheck flight and hotel timing around embarkation because port swaps can shift arrival and departure buffers
Impact
- Itineraries And Port Swaps
- Expect Labadee to be removed across 2026 schedules, with replacement ports or added sea days depending on the sailing
- Shore Excursions And Onboard Plans
- Prebooked Labadee excursions typically need to be reselected for the new port, and private cabana style plans may not translate one to one
- Cruise Air And Transfers
- Port changes can ripple into embarkation day timing and recovery options, so keep wider buffers for flights and ground transfers tied to the cruise
- Rebooking And Price Risk
- Alternative ports can sell out on popular excursions faster, so lock in new plans once the updated itinerary is confirmed in your booking
- Safety And Advisory Context
- Haiti's Level 4 advisory underscores why the pause can persist, and why travelers should treat any restart date as uncertain
Royal Caribbean has extended its pause on visits to Labadee, Haiti, and now plans to skip the private destination through December 2026. The change affects Caribbean itineraries that previously marketed Labadee as a beach day stop, especially sailings that used it as an easy substitute for a longer port call. Travelers should review their updated itinerary, then rebuild their plan around the replacement port, including shore excursions, onboard reservations, and any flight or hotel timing that assumed a specific day and time in Labadee.
The Labadee Haiti cruise stop canceled decision means Royal Caribbean itineraries will continue operating in the region, but without the Haiti call, through the end of 2026.
Royal Caribbean Blog, which said it received confirmation from a Royal Caribbean spokesperson, reported the line extended the pause "out of an abundance of caution" through December 2026. The same report said Royal Caribbean had previously scrapped visits through April 2026, and that ships have not called at Labadee as part of a scheduled stop since April 2025.
Haiti remains under a U.S. Department of State Level 4 Do Not Travel advisory, citing risks including kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest, and limited health care. Even though Labadee operates as a controlled, cruise managed enclave, the advisory environment shapes corporate risk decisions, insurer posture, and what contingency planning looks like for ships and crew operating near Haiti.
Who Is Affected
Travelers booked on Royal Caribbean sailings that list Labadee in 2026 are the direct impact group, including guests who chose a specific ship or cabin category because Labadee was the marquee beach day. For many Western and Eastern Caribbean itineraries, Labadee functioned as a low friction stop where the ship could deliver a private beach experience without the variability of a busy commercial port, so the substitution can feel bigger than a simple port swap.
Families and first time cruisers are also more exposed because Labadee's value is often in its predictable logistics, short transit from ship to beach, and activities that do not require long coach transfers. If the new port is Nassau, Bahamas, Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos, Cozumel, Mexico, or an added day at sea, the day can still be great, but it is a different product, with different excursion sellout patterns, different beach access, and different expectations around crowds and transport time.
Travel advisors and group leaders should expect more follow on questions than usual because the change touches both the emotional promise of a private destination and the practical details of reservations. It also tends to cluster impacts, if multiple sailings are diverted to the same substitute ports on the same weeks, which can tighten tour inventory and push popular time slots to sell out earlier.
What Travelers Should Do
In the next 24 hours, verify the updated itinerary inside your Royal Caribbean booking flow, then rebuild your day plan around the replacement port. If you had Labadee specific purchases such as excursions, beach experiences, or cabana style add ons, assume you will need to reselect options for the new port, and do it early so you are not competing for the last remaining shore excursion inventory close to sailing.
Your rebooking threshold should be based on how central Labadee was to the trip. If you booked primarily for the ship, the dates, and a general Caribbean mix, a port substitution is usually not worth canceling, but you should still compare the replacement port day against your preferences, especially for mobility constraints, young children, or travelers who want a low walking, low transfer beach day. If Labadee was the core reason you chose that sailing, price out alternate itineraries that include a different private destination, or a different set of ports that match your beach and activity priorities more closely.
Over the next 24 to 72 hours, monitor three things: your sailing's port times, excursion inventory for the new port, and any knock on timing that affects flights and hotels around embarkation and debarkation. Port swaps can subtly change when the ship docks, when you are released ashore, and when you need to be back onboard, which can cascade into how you plan a late shore day and still make an early dinner seating, or how you plan post cruise flights. For related context on how official risk postures can change traveler planning even when trips continue, see Grenada Level 2 Travel Advisory Adds Crime Warning.
Background
Labadee is Royal Caribbean's private destination on Haiti's northern coast, designed to operate as a controlled cruise day environment with beaches and packaged activities rather than an open ended city port visit. The business logic of a private destination is predictability, including security layers, reliable shore operations, and a consistent guest experience that does not depend on local port congestion.
When a destination is removed for an extended period, the disruption propagates beyond a single missed beach day. First order effects show up in itinerary design and guest experience, meaning new port substitutions, new excursion choices, and different onboard crowd flows because sea days and alternate ports change how passengers spread out. Second order ripples often hit other layers, including tour operators at substitute ports facing demand spikes, onboard revenue plans shifting because some guests spend more time and money onboard on a sea day, and traveler logistics changing around embarkation because guests re evaluate flight arrival buffers or add a pre cruise hotel night to protect the vacation if plans feel less predictable.
The Haiti Level 4 advisory provides part of the context for why a pause can extend, even when the ship remains offshore and the private area is managed separately. For travelers, the practical takeaway is to treat any future restart timing as uncertain, and to plan 2026 Caribbean trips on the assumption that Labadee may remain off the board unless the cruise line clearly restores calls across multiple published sailings.