Royal Caribbean's Halts Excursions, Tragic Incident in Freeport

Editorial Summary

Doug Parker reports on several significant developments within the cruise industry. Royal Caribbean has begun canceling specific shore excursions at its private destination, Labadee, located in Haiti. This decision follows safety concerns regarding prison breaks and rising gang violence in the region. While affected guests are receiving full refunds for these excursions, the cruise line continues to offer other activities such as cabana rentals and zip lining. The company is monitoring the situation closely and has not removed the destination from its itineraries. In another report, the Royal Bahamas Police Force confirmed the death of a 27 year old female tourist from Florida. She was found unresponsive in her cabin on a ship traveling to the Bahamas. An American male traveling with her was arrested after officers discovered cocaine in the cabin. Additionally, a norovirus outbreak has been reported on the Holland America Line ship Koningsdam. The CDC reports that 98 guests and 12 crew members have fallen ill during the vessel's Pacific voyage. The cruise line has implemented increased cleaning and isolation protocols to manage the situation. Finally, the report notes mixed performance for major cruise line stocks, with Carnival and Royal Caribbean seeing gains while Norwegian experienced a decline.

Written by TripBacon from this video's transcript.