Cruise line still offers tours to Haiti

Even though a major earthquake decimated the place, cruise passengers on the 4,370-berth Independence of the Seas, owned by Royal Caribbean International, should still be able to lark about on a Haiti resort beach just like the tour brochure promised…

The decision to go ahead with the visit has divided passengers. The ships carry some food aid, and the cruise line has pledged to donate all proceeds from the visit to help stricken Haitians. But many passengers will stay aboard when they dock; one said he was “sickened”.

“I just can’t see myself sunning on the beach, playing in the water, eating a barbecue, and enjoying a cocktail while [in Port-au-Prince] there are tens of thousands of dead people being piled up on the streets, with the survivors stunned and looking for food and water,” one passenger wrote on the Cruise Critic internet forum.

“It was hard enough to sit and eat a picnic lunch at Labadee before the quake, knowing how many Haitians were starving,” said another. “I can’t imagine having to choke down a burger there now.”

Some booked on ships scheduled to stop at Labadee are afraid that desperate people might breach the resort’s 12ft high fences to get food and drink, but others seemed determined to enjoy their holiday.”I’ll be there on Tuesday and I plan on enjoying my zip line excursion as well as the time on the beach,” said one.

And how are you spending your recession dollars?

Actually, the article does list the pallets of food and supplies the company dropped off, and how much money it’s raised so far for relief efforts (including the 100% donation of these tour proceeds) so it’s not like they’re just in it for the money here, but still.

Thoughts?