Passengers say they feel "sickened" at a decision by a cruise company to dock in Haiti despite the country's dire situation following last week's devastating earthquake

Passengers 'sickened' by Haiti cruise visit despite earthquake

Passengers say they feel "sickened" at a decision by a cruise company to dock in Haiti despite the country's dire situation following last week's devastating earthquake.

The Independence of the Seas, a luxury cruise liner capable of carrying 4,370 passengers, has docked less than 100 km from the earthquake disaster zone at a private resort leased to Royal Caribbean International, The Guardian newspaper reported.

A second ship, the 3,100-passenger Navigator of the Seas, is due to dock at the fenced-off resort today.

The Florida-based cruise company has leased the tiny Labadee peninsula from the Haitian government since 1986, allowing passengers to disembark and break free on jetskis, go parasailing or just sit and sip cocktails by
the beach.

Passengers have been divided by the decision, but the company says all profits from the visit will to help Haitians affected by the quake and both ships will carry food aid.

On the Internet

One passenger docking in Labadee on the Navigator of the Seas took to the Internet to voice their concern.

"I just can't see myself sunning on the beach, playing in the water, eating a barbecue lunch, and enjoying a cocktail while some miles away (in Port-au-Prince) there are tens of thousands of dead people being piled up on the streets," the passenger wrote on the Cruise Critic forum.

"I believe it would be disrespectful for me to come to their country and party while this tragedy is unfolding."

Another wrote how it was hard enough sitting and eating a picnic lunch in the impoverished nation prior to the quake. "I can't imagine having to choke down a burger now," they wrote.

Others on the site said they would be enjoying their "time on the beach" despite the disaster.

In defence

The cruise company has defended its decision to continue visiting the port, which it recently spent millions upgrading, saying the UN special envoy to Haiti said the country will benefit from the revenue brought in from each stay. "In the end, Labadee is critical to Haiti's recovery; hundreds of people rely on Labadee for their livelihood," John Weis, Royal Carribean's vice president, told The Guardian.

"We also have tremendous opportunities to use our ships as transport vessels for relief supplies and personnel to Haiti -- simply put, we cannot abandon Haiti now that they need us most."