An executive for Royal Carribean said he is proud of what the company's people and ships are doing for Haiti. The cruise line has been under fire after returning to the devastated Caribbean nation.
Adam Goldstein, the president and CEO, said port visits by the Independence of the Seas are making valuable contributions to the relief effort by offloading goods and supplies in Labadee.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. decided to continue to stop off with travelers at its private beach on the north coast at Labadee, an "exclusive destination with pristine beaches, breathtaking scenery and spectacular water activities."
Other executives in the cruise industry defended Royal Caribbean's actions on Wednesday, according to Cruise Critic, an online cruise reviews and news Web site.
"They didn't need to go back to Labadee this week, this month, this year," said Rick Sasso, president and CEO of MSC Cruises, speaking at the Cruise Lines International Association's 2010 State of the Industry press conference. "For anybody to criticize that or portray it as something ghoulish ... made me sick. They are exposing themselves to that kind of criticism and they'll take it. But what they did is correct: find ways to get [aid] there — at the request of the Haitian government."
On Friday, Royal Caribbean was the first cruise line to return to Haiti, just three days after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the capital Port-au-Prince, with three more ships scheduled to stop at Labadee this week.
Critics have accused the company of being insensitive to the suffering and humanitarian disaster about 80 miles away, where up to 200,000 people are feared dead.
"Being on the island and generating economic activity for the straw market vendors, the hair-braiders and our 230 employees helps with relief while being somewhere else does not help," Goldstein wrote on the company's blog.
"The north is going to bear a good part of the burden of the agony of the south, and the more economic support there is to the north, the better able the north will be to bear this burden. People enjoying themselves is what we do. People enjoying themselves in Labadee helps with relief."
Royal Caribbean Cruises has already announced plans to provide at least $1 million in humanitarian relief to Haiti.
A survey by Cruise Critic found most passengers backed the cruising company's decision to resume its stops.
An online poll of 4,700 people found 67 percent of British and U.S. readers praised the aid and financial support ships and passengers were bringing to the port.
"At first, I thought it was in poor taste for Royal Caribbean to continue to go to Labadee, but since reading blogs and articles about the efforts that Royal Caribbean is doing and speaking with my friend ... about how the crew feels about helping the people of the country then I think it's a no-brainer that they should continue," Cruise Critic member "libertylover" wrote on one of the Web site's message boards.
Others disagreed.
"I have donated my money, but I would not feel comfortable going there for a vacation at this time," posted "jerseygirl79." "Not only would I not feel safe, but I wouldn't feel comfortable enjoying a vacation so close to utter devastation and loss of life."
Reuters contributed to this report.
