Party on and don’t forget to tip: Earthquake victims might need some extra money.
That’s the stance Royal Caribbean has taken as it docks its cruise ships about 60 miles north of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital that was devistated by last week’s earthquake.
Why not? We can think of about 2 million reasons.
While up to 200,000 people were killed in that deadly quake, 250,000 people injured and 1.5 million were left homeless, just 60 miles north of the Haiti capital is the private beach of Labadee, where Royal Caribbean stops its cruise lines so passengers can enjoy jet skiing, sunning and frolicking on the beach, according to a report by the British newspaper The Guardian.
Royal Caribbean executives say it’s true that they’re still using the private port it spent $55 million to refurbish and it should take its passengers there. They deserve a good time and every dime they spend in Haiti will, some how, eventually help the people in Port-au-Prince.
According to CruiseCritic.com some people don’t want to stop in Haiti because they just don’t want to guilt associated with their port of call — though no one mentions not taking the cruise, only not having guilt tied to it.
Said Jerseygirl79 on the site, “I have donated my money, but I would not feel comfortable going there for a vacation at this time. Not only would I not feel safe, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable enjoying a vacation so close to utter devastation and loss of life.”
But others on the site, disagree: Ac110, said: “Don’t you see that depriving these people of employment is the last thing we should be doing right now?! Go, enjoy, and tip generously.”
That’s part of the argument Royal Caribbean president Adam Goldstein takes as well. On his Royal Caribbean blog, he posted this response after the Guardian story ran:
“My view is this — it isn’t better to replace a visit to Labadee (or for that matter, to stay on the ship 
while it’s docked in Labadee) with a visit to another destination for a vacation. Why? Because being on the island and generating economic activity for the straw market vendors, the hair-braiders and our 230 employees helps with relief while being somewhere else does not help. These 500 people are going to need to support a much larger network of family and friends, including many who are in (or are missing in) the earthquake zone. Also, the north is going to bear a good part of the burden of the agony of the south, and the more economic support there is to the north, the better able the north will be to bear this burden. People enjoying themselves is what we do. People enjoying themselves in Labadee helps with relief. We support our guests who choose to help in this way which is consistent with our nearly 30 year history in Haiti”
In fairness to Royal Caribbean, it has pledged $1 million for Haitian relief and even the cruise ships docking in Haiti are bringing additional supplies for victims of the earthquake. The cruise line company has also said it will do everything it can to help its 230 Haitian employees.
Doing a good thing while running a business can be a tight rope to cross. But the cruise line company is only taking people where they want to go. It’s just not getting the PR it hoped for.
