Your day in Labadee

[TamaLee]

RCCL offers a lot of "pay as you go" excursions for this stop. I would love to hear what you did during your stop in Labadee. We are trying to determine if it is worth it to sign up for any of Royal's excursions or is it better just to hang out on the beach with everyone else.

 

Thanks in advance for your reply's.

 

Tamara

[Love2cruisegirl]

We just decided to use the Labadee stop as our beach day (we had an excursion planned at every other stop: Jamaica, GCayman, Cozumel). It was nice just laying around, listening to the ocean & the Haitian band that was playing/performing. The day we were there (Sept. 19, 2005) it was so hot...the Captain made special announcements a few times regarding the heat index for that day -105 degrees!! He warned everyone to drink plenty of water. We had friends who did the waverunners (tour?) and liked it. My DH thought the water 'icebergs' looked fun in the water park.

 

Whatever you do, make sure you wear/take water shoes. The night before, the RCCL room attendant will leave a map for Labadee in your room. Included in the information was a safety note regarding safety. "Please be aware that Labadee is part of a natural coral island. The rough coral is often difficult to detect, lying just below the sand. Proper footwear and caution is strongly recommended." Our beach chairs were right near the island's First Aide building and the first 30 minutes we were on the beach, about 3-4 people came to the First Aide bldg. needed care for cuts on their feet. We wore water shoes & were fine. Could feel 'hard' things under the sand every now and then but no worry for us. Also, the water had some rocks here & there.

[intothevoid]

We just decided to use the Labadee stop as our beach day (we had an excursion planned at every other stop: Jamaica, GCayman, Cozumel). It was nice just laying around, listening to the ocean & the Haitian band that was playing/performing. The day we were there (Sept. 19, 2005) it was so hot...the Captain made special announcements a few times regarding the heat index for that day -105 degrees!! He warned everyone to drink plenty of water. We had friends who did the waverunners (tour?) and liked it. My DH thought the water 'icebergs' looked fun in the water park.

 

Whatever you do, make sure you wear/take water shoes. The night before, the RCCL room attendant will leave a map for Labadee in your room. Included in the information was a safety note regarding safety. "Please be aware that Labadee is part of a natural coral island. The rough coral is often difficult to detect, lying just below the sand. Proper footwear and caution is strongly recommended." Our beach chairs were right near the island's First Aide building and the first 30 minutes we were on the beach, about 3-4 people came to the First Aide bldg. needed care for cuts on their feet. We wore water shoes & were fine. Could feel 'hard' things under the sand every now and then but no worry for us. Also, the water had some rocks here & there.

Hi love2cruise,

Do you recommend booking an excursion or just winging it? I like to drink as well as some of my other cruise buddies, do you recall any excursions that had the drinks and food included or can I go to shore and find a place that has a package like that? Thanks again for all your help, Tamalee and myself and quite a few other people will be on the Freedom next year and this is one of our ports of call.

[LBB]

I love Labadee....

 

My day consisted of

 

1) Some time at the waterpark. I know I'm too old, but I still had fun.

2) Relaxing on the beach

3) Lunch

4) Waverunners

5) Beach

6) A little shopping

 

Best day of the entire cruise!

[intothevoid]

I love Labadee....

 

My day consisted of

 

1) Some time at the waterpark. I know I'm too old, but I still had fun.

2) Relaxing on the beach

3) Lunch

4) Waverunners

5) Beach

6) A little shopping

 

Best day of the entire cruise!

 

Now it says you did Lunch, did you do an excursion or did you go off on your own and did your own thing?

[ElvisandTracey]

If you travel with kids, they will love the aqua park-its like 10-15 bucks for all the fun you can have in the water, trampolines, slides, my husband loved it too-

 

Then we left the kids with grandma and me and DH went waverunnning -$99 per person, worth every penny-had a great time.

 

If you are there all day, there's more than enough time for beach time and excursions-it's not very big, easy to get around quickly from place to place-

[hdawson]

I've been to Labadee 4 or 5 times. Never did an excursion and really never missed it. Well the parasailing looks like a real hoot. There is a BBQ lunch provided in two locations at Labadee. It comes from the ship and there is no charge. Ribs, chicken, burgers and dogs. Salads, drinks and deserts. Just enjoy the pure beauty. Do rent a float mat. Do use plenty of sunscreen often. I speak from experience.

[intothevoid]

I've been to Labadee 4 or 5 times. Never did an excursion and really never missed it. Well the parasailing looks like a real hoot. There is a BBQ lunch provided in two locations at Labadee. It comes from the ship and there is no charge. Ribs, chicken, burgers and dogs. Salads, drinks and deserts. Just enjoy the pure beauty. Do rent a float mat. Do use plenty of sunscreen often. I speak from experience.

 

Great thanks for the info. I think I will just wing it and not book the excursion. I will pick a spot and enjoy.

[EmJakeBubbie]

I've only been to Labadee once - I remember having a delightful time in the water, enjoying the dee-licious ship-provided lunch, snoozin in the hammocks. Kids signed up for waverunners - sure looked like fun to us. IMHO, it's a beach stop, rather than "shore tour" stop. You can spend some money on local crafts and on the water sports. I think I enjoyed the water in Labadee more as compared to CoCo Cay, but CCC has been so totally improved, I'm now voting it as "nicer". Never forget that the sun will ruin your holiday if you don't try to prevent a burn by using SunScreen, Hat, t-shirt swimming coverup. Float mats can be rented tho we never bother (due to not wanting to burn-in-the-sun). I like inflatable water toys that you can get at the Dollar store....they are disposable if you don't want to drag them port-to-port.

[KJHorton]

Intothevoid, Labadee isn't a place where you can wander off on your own or take a shore excursion through another company besides RCL. You can wander around Labadee, but everything there is run by the cruise line. For safety reasons, you are only allowed on the peninsula area where Labadee is located and you can't wander off into Haiti. Basically, it is either a beach day or RCL excursion day.

[intothevoid]

Intothevoid, Labadee isn't a place where you can wander off on your own or take a shore excursion through another company besides RCL. You can wander around Labadee, but everything there is run by the cruise line. For safety reasons, you are only allowed on the peninsula area where Labadee is located and you can't wander off into Haiti. Basically, it is either a beach day or RCL excursion day.

 

Thanks KJ I will definitely take it as a beach day, enjoy the food, get a few drinks and just relax. Thanks to all for all your help, I really appreciate it.:D

[dad son team]

Our day started on the beach near the giant slide. I thought it was a good deal at first at $20 for the whoel day, but then decided it was not worth it because the lines get sooo long that you only do it a few times before you get tired of waiting. Didn't do the "aqua park" because you were only given an hour for your $20 and there were lots of jellyfish in the park. Spent the rest of the day on the beach, then had some lunch. We did do the speedboat excursion at 1pm and that was alot of fun. You go up and down the coast for about an hour and are told some history of the island, then you get to drive the boat. My 8yo DS loved it! Then walked over to the "water playground" area. Charge was supposed to be $5, but the guy lets my DS go in for free so I tipped him $2. After a bit there it was time to head back to the ship and call it a day. On the tender back my son said he wanted to go on this cruise again because this was his favorite stop.

[intothevoid]

Didn't do the "aqua park" because you were only given an hour for your $20 and there were lots of jellyfish in the park.

 

You know this is not the first time I have heard this, is the Jelly fish really that bad there?

[lszu]

Intothevoid - We were in Labadee about a month ago. You could see tons of jellyfish from the tender, but did not see / feel a single one on the beach area where we swam. We were at the beach to the left of Dragon's Rock (don't remember what it was called, but as you walk towards the cafe there, there's a little beach to the left).

 

TamaLee - First time we had a day in Labadee we did the Waverunners. Rented one for two adults. My husband loved it. I felt like I was going to fly off the back of the thing. This past time we just hung on the beach and swam. We did get one of their floating mats, but we didn't sign up for it ahead of time.

 

Definitely bring water shoes! There are guys who will help you with beach chairs - you might want to have a couple of dollars for tips. And there is a craft market you can shop in.

[lszu]

Intothevoid - We were in Labadee about a month ago. You could see tons of jellyfish from the tender, but did not see / feel a single one on the beach area where we swam. We were at the beach to the left of Dragon's Rock (don't remember what it was called, but as you walk towards the cafe there, there's a little beach to the left).

 

TamaLee - First time we had a day in Labadee we did the Waverunners. Rented one for two adults. My husband loved it. I felt like I was going to fly off the back of the thing. This past time we just hung on the beach and swam. We did get one of their floating mats, but we didn't sign up for it ahead of time.

 

Definitely bring water shoes! There are guys who will help you with beach chairs - you might want to have a couple of dollars for tips. And there is a craft market you can shop in.

[Love2cruisegirl]

It's me again...regarding jellyfish...we were there 9/19/05 and walked over to the beach area right in front of the First Aide area-NO jellyfish. This was a good area as it was close to one of the lunch/food stations and also close to the area where the music was playing. I walked over to the market to try to do some shopping but the people were so pushy that I left w/o buying anything.

[dad son team]

You know this is not the first time I have heard this, is the Jelly fish really that bad there?

 

I don't know if I would say real bad depending on your comfort level, but my son would not go in past his knees, and I kept looking for them to make sure there were none around. The people that ran the aqua park said that this species of jellyfish did not sting, but I wasn't taking any chances.

[Jan_In_Maine]

Attached is a very loooong review of Labadee from a review that I wrote:

 

DH was signed up for parasailing first thing in the morning, so we headed out very quickly, ended up waiting for awhile to get the tender -being early the line went fast. We walked to the right side of the island - There are numerous people to help get lounges - our tablemates had found a hammock. We tipped the man that set up the chairs, even though the brochures said tipping wasn't necessary - it was expected. I watched two men set up 4 chairs, wait, wait, and wait for tips - they weren't even noticed..they shook their heads and talked amongst themselves about it as they finally walked off. There were so many people around and everyone watched others "stuff" when going into the water. Our chairs were in the shade and I had brought a spray on sunscreen - next time I would use a lotion as I would be surer that I had full protection. I had a wide brimmed hat and wish that I had brought a man's handkerchief with me as (at 50) I have a tendency to "glisten". We had a wonderful breeze and the heat felt wonderful - I was never too warm.

 

Ken was in the first wave of parasailing (I hope all remember that I said I was a total chicken) - no way was I going to try it. The breeze made the wave action very strong and according to Ken the boat hit all the bumps very hard - his stomach started turning over (it took the rest of the day to get back to normal) - one person was physically sick. They all rode tandem - he was fine once he got in the air, he found it exhilarating, calm, and amazing - the views were wonderful - as far as Ken was concerned Labadee was the most beautiful spot that we visited (with Jamaica being second). I am so glad that he had the chance to parasail; he has his pilot’s license and hasn't had the opportunity to fly in a few years...so just being up in the air for a few minutes was great. I'm also glad that we picked an early time as after his time they canceled everyone else as it was dangerous to continue...there were some very unhappy people, but I am glad that they were not willing to take chances with people's safety. Toward the end of the day, they did have more that went up. (If anyone decides to do it - go for as early as possible, just in case). If it’s missed there are places to try it at all the other ports.

 

Lunch was picnic style, just like any beach day - I really enjoyed the ribs - beef being my favorite - Ken liked the cookies the best - lots of iced tea and punch. After having 3 kids I have decided to write a book called "bathrooms I have known" - so I will tell you that they had a person sitting outside the restrooms that made sure everything was clean (and safe) and everything was in good condition. Also no matter how "fluffy" one is tankini's are the most wonderful invention! They have styles for all shapes and sizes.

 

I swam, lazed, found my second favorite drink -coco locos, lazed some more. Our friends let us try their floating mat - pure heaven - wonderful, wonderful - next cruise I will make sure that I get one for the lazy beach days - truly amazing to lie on one, feel the sun, the waves lapping - I could have slept. Ken wandered, funny how his drink seemed to have disappeared by the time he got back.

 

Everywhere on the beach is walkable....I do have a habit of getting turned around (never did figure out which elevator on the ship to take to get to the front/back correctly). We took the tram from our area over to the market - Ken went to go into the building but had way too many people come at him and decided that he didn't want anything to do with shopping! (he's never been a shopper) I "sorta" forced him to go in with me and I found that if you were polite, smiled, didn't let anyone put anything in your hands that it was just fine...I think everything was for sale for $25...I enjoyed the experience, I wish that I could have looked more, but didn't want to stand still too long...this is their livelihood..if it was the only way I could make money I'd probably be pushy too. We ended up buying a huge shell for our youngest (that is all he wanted for us to bring back)...it was for sale for $25 (surprise!) - we ended up getting it for $10 (I think) - that was probably too much...but everyone was happy with the price...and my son thought that the shell was "just way too cool".

 

We walked all over, took numerous pictures, lookout point was a good place for pictures of the ship and rocks and people - on the way back to our chairs (we left our stuff there on our chairs) we found another person selling coco locos - being warm we had to get another one (actually two) - we ended up leaving at about 2:30 - there was a very short line for the tender and most of the time we were under cover so it wasn't bad.

 

I loved Labadee....it was beautiful and a restful day that was very much needed.

[hdawson]

What a great review and introduction to this beautiful cruiseline retreat. The best I've read.

[tazza]

Thank you for your wonderful review! We are off in January and looking very forward to it. I am intrigued....please tell me what a coco-loco is and where did you get it from and $?

[spoonful]

Has anyone done the kayaking trip?

[intothevoid]

Great review Jan in Maine, I am looking forwart to being in Labadee even more now.

[TamaLee]

Thank you everyone for your input! This sounds like it will be the perfect way to end our cruise!

[Jan_In_Maine]

Thanks for the nice comments - I do like to write. I don't know what is in a coco loco - all I know is that they taste yummy! There are people from the ship walking around with drinks .... one uses the seapass for payment and I don't remember the cost, but it would be the same as on the ship - I'm sure that someone else would be able to tell you.

 

I hope that all that visit Labadee have a wonderful time! Jan

[herecomesthesun]

What is the difference between the Aqua Park and the water playground? I know my 8 year old brother would really love something fun and active like that. Also, can you pay when you get there for the Aqua Park and/or the water playground, or do you have to book ahead like other excursions?