LET THEM EAT MUDCAKE: CRUISE SHIP DOCKS AT ITS TRADEMARKED PRIVATE FANTASY ISLAND OF LABADEE® IN HAITI

by Mother_Of_The_World , Tuesday, February 02, 2010, 12:24

"Earthquake?.....What Earthquake?

We haven't got time for such triviality, because we're far too busy having fun in the sun darlings!"
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Source: Sott.net

Let them eat mudcake: Cruise ship docks at its trademarked private fantasy island of Labadee® in Haiti

Jim Walker
Cruise Law News
Sat, 30 Jan 2010 13:22 EST

Following the devastation and destruction of Port of Prince, Royal Caribbean faced the potential public relations nightmare of sailing its mega cruise ships into its private resort of Labadee with thousands of affluent Americans partying and gorging themselves while over 100,000 Haitians lay dead and decaying in the streets and millions more already impoverished Haitians face hunger and hopelessness.

The Guardian newspaper in the U.K. reported that Royal Caribbean's decision to go ahead with scheduled cruises into Labadee "divided passengers." One passenger commented on the popular Cruise Critic forum that he was "sickened" by the thought of frolicking in the Haitian port while other suffered:

"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 . . . 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.''

Another article "Cruise Ship Docks at Private Beach in Haiti for Barbeque and Water Sports" debates the appropriateness of all of this. The comments range from pointing out the "grotesqueness" of the spectacle of thousands of partying Americans in an idyllic beach to the nonchalant attitude - "life goes on . . . and as always, life is for the living."

There has always been an uneasy disconnect between the opulence of a cruise ship like Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas and a country as desperately impoverished as Haiti with a poverty rate of around 80 to 85 %. Most Haitians are forced to survive on less than $2 a day. The U.S. passengers on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, on the other hand, spend more for the cruise, drinks, casino chips, and excursions than most Haitians will see for decades. In addition to the Independence, Royal Caribbean's Navigator, Freedom, Enchantment and Liberty of the Seas, as well as its subsidiary Celebrity Cruises' Solstice, will all call on Labadee this year.

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Whole Story:

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/202150-Let-them-eat-mudcake-Cruise-ship-docks-at-its-trademarked-private-fantasy-island-of-Labadee-in-Haiti