Cruise-Goers Still Enjoying Haiti, Despite Widespread Devastation

Cruise-Goers Still Enjoying Haiti, Despite Widespread Devastation

www.foxnews.com

Royal Caribbean cruise line defended its decision to proceed with docking its ships at a private vacation resort 85 miles from destroyed Haiti capital Port-au-Prince.

Ahead of unloading its Monday haul of sun-kissed vacationers on private beach Labadee, Royal Caribbean pointed to the fact that ships were dropping off aid and bolstering the economy, as well as fulfilling promised routes to passengers.

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www.guardian.co.uk

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines faced a difficult decision over whether to dock as per itinerary at Labadee Beach, Haiti after last week's tragic quake. Photograph: Daniel Morel/AP

Sixty miles from Haiti's devastated earthquake zone, luxury liners dock at private beaches where passengers enjoy jetski rides, parasailing and rum cocktails delivered to their hammocks.

The 4,370-berth Independence of the Seas, owned by Royal Caribbean International, disembarked at the heavily guarded resort of Labadee on the north coast on Friday; a second cruise ship, the 3,100-passenger Navigator of the Seas is due to dock.

Source: www.guardian.co.uk...

Hard to say what the company should do. Should they carry on the trip which is at the site of destruction or not. If they do consumers who paid for the trip may sue them, if they don't it's looks ...... I don't have a word for it.

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(visit the link for the full news article)

If I had an Amtrak ticket to NYC on 9/12/01, would you consider Amtrak "evil" for honering it?

Or would you consider them a business that has to serve it's clientel?

Stopping these cruises would only hurt the Haitian people. Many of them depend on these tourists coming in to spend money. They need to carry on with their lives.

Life goes on.
To cut off an event because of an unrelated crisis would mean causing a crisis in the travel industry that would affect even more people. So by simple logic... keep on partying.

Honestly, I don't see a big problem with this. It's not like the cruise ships are dropping sightseers in Port-Au-Prince—they're far away from the area hit by the earthquake. The cruise ships are dropping off relief supplies too. Besides, tourists spend money, and Haiti could sure use it.

I agree with most people here as I stated in OP, it's a dilemma. Whether carry on the trip or cancel it. But the thing is it's only 60 miles away, couldn't the aid ships use that space to get closer to ground zero to supply aid?

[edit on 20-1-2010 by December_Rain]

reply to post by December_Rain


There's an identical thread somewhere, where people have already voiced their opinions

Most common attitude appears to be one of 'life goes on'

and it does. You for example: you're still eating, watching tv, laughing with friends as are the overwhelming majority of us, including the talking heads on the tv news, politicians worldwide, even people in Haiti

It's a big island, although the media paints the impression that it's a scene of total devastation

Almost certainly there are people in Haiti who're right now making love, getting drunk, laughing, joking, etc.

Troops stationed in Haiti are almost certainly patronising the brothels and bars when they're not on duty. And Haitians are catering to the influx of troops with money

What can we say ? Even amidst the worst times the world has known, life has gone on

The cruise boat and its passengers and crew aren't responsible for an earthquake. They didn't know, when they scheduled the cruise stops, that Haiti would be striken this way. People saved hard in order to go on the cruise. Who knows ... they might have just lost a partner or family member or been victims in some way or other or could be dying of a terminal illness with this cruise being the one joyful time left before they die

The world doesn't stop when we suffer. It won't stop when we die. It won't change things for Haiti if everyone on the cruise ship dresses in black and sits unmoving in the dark

None of our business what the cruise ship does or doesn't do, anyway. And in its own way, it's contributing to the Haitian economy

Canceling the trip would have been a bad decision. These people visiting have both drinking water and money to spend. And no it isn't a crime to enjoy a vacation... just because everyone is going through tough times and especially those in Haiti isn't a good reason to make ourselves miserable on purpose.

Of course it could be argued that the trip shouldn't have been made in the first place but thats a whole different story.

thats just lame. people are dying and theyre watching from a cruise ship. sympathy is dead.

Originally posted by SuperSlovak
thats just lame. people are dying and theyre watching from a cruise ship. sympathy is dead.

Its 60 miles from Port-au-Prince, nobody is watching people die from a cruise ship.

There are other parts of Haiti that were not hit by the quake and the people there still need to make a living and support their families. They depend on these cruise ships.

OP, my crash & burn thread is HERE.

Consensus said Let 'Em Party Who Cares, so I gave up...

Rather confused about that, I still am.

reply to post by Signals



Thanks didn't saw it earlier.

There is a new tour in LA that takes people through the ghetto where the most notorious gangs hangs out. Sympathy tourism is a new industry... but these cruise ships aren't doing that.

In diasters it's best to keep emotionally distant from the pain and suffering or it doesn't allow you to actually help those suffering. First Responders know this is the first rule. Treat the victims, do the job, then remove yourself from the scene and enjoy positive emotion to maintain sanity and health.

Originally posted by December_Rain
Hard to say what the company should do.

The company should keep making money. The world doesn't stop for every natural disaster.

Really, what should they do? Cancel the cruise, put the passengers on rations, play funeral music through the ship's speakers? Absurd.

We have become weak and thin-skinned and deluded with this "Global Empathy" pandemic.

Look, they make pretty decent cigars down there, but their government sucks, the people practice voodoo, they gave the world AIDS, gangs run wild in the streets regardless of the seismic tremors, and the place generally sucks a chupacabra's booty-hole.

Welcome To Haiti!

I do not care about Haiti. Aside from dodging the AIDS bullet that Haiti fired into the USA back in the 1980s, I've had no personal encounters with Haiti or Haitians, and they mean about as much to me as do the Sherpas waaay over in Nepal, hauling the rich white man's dirty laundry on their heads.

There are so many different cultures that make so many different decisions about how they are going to address survival and comfort, et cetera, it's not up to me to CARE about all of them. Nor is it your responsibility.

In a truly perfect world, every nation, every culture would have to fend for itself, and live or die at the whim of Mother Nature. Populations would be drastically reduced, resources would be plentiful, disease would be isolated, and manmade global warming would be a figment of somebody's imagination.

Oops. Okay MMGW IS a figment, but that's neither here nor there.

Point is, this "global empathy" or "global charity" or whatever you want to call it, is making us weaker as a civilization. Look at the Third World. It's a MESS, in spite of the USA pouring trillions of dollars into it over decades. Still the same old corrupt banana republics, still the same old drug trafficking, still the same sleazy con-man governments, still the same old poaching endangered animals to the brink of extinction, still the slash & burn footprints of uneducated and ignorant humans across the landscape... Sheesh.

The best thing we could do for the planet and our civilization is cut off all monetary, food and medicine relief to the world for, say, just five years. Global infrastructure would collapse — except for the USA, of course, because we're light years more wealthy and our citizenry is so well-armed, we could fight off all the emaciated, flea-bitten refugees for at least five years, until everything settled down and the stench of death passed away on the wind.

What we'd have after five short years is a newer, cleaner world, a vastly smaller and easily-sustainable population of survivors, and all sorts of FREE STUFF!

Now, tell me that's not a better Utopia than a burgeoning Global Union scenario with 8+ billion whining, thin-skinned bitches holding their hands out to the Central Scrutinizer.

Give me a break with Global Empathy.

— Doc Velocity

I wonder if any of the holiday makers decided to stay in Haiti to help the people instead of frolicking on the beach for a few hours?I bet some did.
If I had been on that cruise and it stopped at Haiti,I would have taken that as a sign/chance to stay and help if at all possible.I doubt I would have been the only one to think so.
I would have also demanded the ship gave as much help to the locals as they could,maybe using part of it as a hospital.

OK they delivered 6 pallets of aid,but thats insignificant reallly.

One thing I hope is that none of the Earthquake survivors witnessed the beach frolickers-That would surely give them a bad impression of outsiders.And in this case rightly so.

Doc copied and pasted that response from my thread.

And I'll say this again - Thank Goodness You Aren't In Charge Of Disaster Relief!

Who Cares They Got What They Deserved is a popular sentiment it would seem...

It is my understanding that there are over 300 Haitians who are employed as a result of the Cruise ship. I'm sure they would not appreciate their jobs vanishing as a result of political correctness.

Royal Caribbean should honor it's agreement and continue to do what it can to support the Haitian economy. If a particular passenger finds it distasteful to go on a shore excursion more than 60 miles away from the Port-au-Prince, in Labadee, they can always stay on the boat.

Do not forget that Royal Caribbean also dropped off tons of food and water.

Here is a link to Royal Caribbeans Humanitarian efforts in Haiti:
www.royalcaribbean.com...

I have been on that cruise (3 years ago) and have gone to Labadee Haiti (breath-taking!) The workers there all seemed to be Haitian. There were also small shops that sold hand made goods from the locals (My wife spend a small fortune!).

You can look at it two ways... keep the cruise going and these people will still have a job or stop docking there and these people lose wages and tips on top of the disaster. It's a no-brainer for me!

JT

reply to post by Sparky63


Fair enough,the ship company has helped out more than I initially thought.
Thanks for pointing that out.
Glad to hear it.