MIAMI — Royal Caribbean will not be returning to Haiti anytime soon.

The Miami-based cruise line, which last brought passengers to its private beach destination in the northern region of Haiti in 2024, is once again extending its pause on visits off the coast of Labadee.

The company had previously announced that it was suspending calls at the private port through June 2027. It has now extended the pause through 2028, a Royal Caribbean Group spokesperson said, offering no explanation for the decision.

“We have extended the suspension of ship calls to Labadee through 2028. These changes have been communicated directly with guests,” the cruise company, which spells the name of the destination differently from the town, said in an email.

While the suspension comes amid ongoing gang violence in Haiti, much of the unrest has been concentrated in the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, the Lower Artibonite region and parts of the Central Plateau.

The resort, meanwhile, is far removed from the gang violence and civil unrest. Nearby Cap-Haïtien has instead become a refuge for people fleeing gang violence and a key gateway into the country since gunfire by gangs prompted the Federal Aviation Administration in November 2024 to ban U.S. commercial airlines from flying into Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince.

While the FAA’s flight restriction was recently extended through March 2027, on Nov. 1, American Airlines resumed daily flights between Miami International Airport and Cap-Haïtien. The return marks the airline’s first service to the city in six years.

Royal Caribbean’s relationship with Haiti dates back at least three decades, and its private beach has been a popular destination for cruise passengers. In 2009, the company invested nearly $55 million on extending the beach, building an 800-foot pier and adding a Dragon’s Breath Flight zip line, among other amenities for visitors. The upgrades led executives to spend considerable time lobbying then-President René Préval for guarantees that would support the investment through a long-term contract with the Haitian government.

Royal Caribbean Group did not respond to questions from the Miami Herald about the financial cost of the ongoing suspensions, or what conditions would be required before Labadee could be restored to its itineraries.

In an interview with the unofficial Royal Caribbean fan blog, company President and CEO Michael Bayley said the cruise line continues to monitor conditions in Haiti but has no timeline for resuming operations.

“We’ve been in Labadee for 30 years ... We’ve been through periods before where we’ve had to leave Labadee ... until things sort themselves out,” Bayley said during a question-and-answer session.

“This time, it’s just been a lot longer, and it’s been a lot more violent and a lot more dangerous,” he added. “We’re just waiting to see if that is going to sort itself out.”

He described the suspensions as “a tragedy.”

“You know, it just keeps on happening, so until we’re confident that everything’s safe, then we can’t go back there.”

In April, a United Nations-authorized Gang Suppression Force began deploying to Haiti with soldiers from Chad. In September, the force was renewed for six more months and in recent days has escalated operations against armed gangs alongside the Haitian national police.

Last week, Germany confirmed that it recently transported over 600 tons of equipment from Bangladesh in seven flights to help the GSF increase its footprint on the ground, which now includes an additional 2,500 soldiers from El Salvador, two of whom were wounded this week in operations.

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