Cruise ships bring relief to Haiti

Thousands of passengers are going ashore to a quake-torn country, something they might never have imagined when booking their cruises last year.

 Nearly seven weeks after the Jan. 12 earthquake, Royal Caribbean International is changing the supplies that its seven ships have been  carrying to Haiti on regular sailings since Jan. 15. The cruise line is the only one to have access to Haiti through its private destination of Labadee, a peninsula that’s more than 100 miles north of Port au Prince.

All monies spent by passengers on Labadee, whether it’s buying a drink or renting a beach mat or snorkel equipment, stay in Haiti, said RCI spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez. RCI employs 230 Haitians on the peninsula. It was business as usual for another 300 vendors at the straw market who sell handicrafts items such as vases, bracelets, necklaces and masks and keep all their revenue.

Entering their cabins, passengers find a letter explaining RCI’s $50 million commitment and learn how to donate using onboard accounts. The quake victims are mentioned briefly before or after some of the ships’ glitzy shows. On the Feb. 13 sailing of the Navigator of the Seas vacationers’ conversations tend to steer away from the quake before they arrive at Haiti Feb. 15.  One Long Island woman noted, however, that a Harvard sociologist said tanning on Waikiki is no different than on Labadee, and Haiti vacationers should feel no more guilty than those in Hawaii.

RCI tries to help Haiti’s victims and its customers’ feelings.  “Now we’ve actually sent medical supplies — intravenous fluid, surgical kits — water purifiers and portable dialysis equipment,” Martinez said. “And we continue to send water and food with every ship.” The staples include dried beans, rice and powdered goods.

 So far seven ships have made 19 trips with 40 to 168 pallets, most donated by various organizations. Food for the Poor helps with the distribution, which are trucked on a six-hour drive  to the capital city.