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03/01/2010 05:00 AM

Travel with Val: Royal Caribbean adds charity to Haiti cruise itineraries

By: Valarie D’Elia

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In Labadee, Haiti, Royal Caribbean leases a private resort area. Yet in the wake of January's devastating earthquake in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital less than 100 miles to the south, critics have blasted the cruise company for continuing cruises and disembarking thousands of pleasure-seeking passengers so close to a tragedy of epic proportions.


Royal Caribbean is trying to aid the earthquake victims by donating all net proceeds from Labadee to the relief efforts, but cruise passengers still have mixed feelings about their visits.

"It's not so easy to come to an area ravaged by so much devastation and feel free to have a great time," says David Cohen, a passenger from New Jersey.

"The more we thought about it, the more we thought, why should the people here be penalized just because of our sort of squeamishness, and why should the business go to another island?" says Laura Scheuer, a passenger from Manhattan.

Lessage Charnel, a Labadee vendor who employs hundreds of Haitians from nearby villages, says he is happy the ships are returning.

"It would be another catastrophe, like an economic earthquake, if Royal Caribbean decided to discontinue their cruises here," says Charnel through an interpreter.

Royal Caribbean is soliciting donations from its passengers after it made an upfront, company-backed million-dollar donation shortly after the quake struck. However, some passengers feel it is not enough.

"A million dollars? The company, I think, grossed about $1.5 billion. So that is a great contribution, maybe they could do more," says Cohen.

Each cruise ship that docks in Labadee does additional effort, by bringing 100 to 200 pallets of relief supplies from the United States.

"We have oatmeal, peanut butter, juice, water and beans," says Doug Ressler of Operation Blessing.

"On that truck there's tarps, which we brought in and gave to a ministry that's going down to Port-au-Prince, and those are being used for tent cities," says Paul Romine of Compassion Alliance. "They are probably saving us a half-million dollars, bringing it on the ship like they are. So it's a huge investment for Royal Caribbean and it's really helping a lot of people."

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