Labadee Wave Jet Tour - is experience needed?

[letscutitout]

I am considering the Labadee Wave Jet Tour. The videos look awesome. Have always wanted to do drive one. Nervous though.  I have NO experience driving one. Is it difficult to operate? Do you know if this excursion would be good for me? Thanks for your help.

[cruisegirl1]

Easy to operate.  If you are a bit unsure,  they will place you are the back of the pack and you can go somewhat slower. 

enjoy

M

[Clarea]

Part of the excursion is an instruction period.

[ONECRUISER]

As said includes basic instruction and it's all follow the leader riding in single file. When I did this at Labadee and Coco Cays they even asked who had experience and placed the inexperienced rides closer to one of leaders

Edited June 11, 2019 by ONECRUISER

[besberry]

I did this a couple of years ago.  I was a complete virgin and loved it.  Very easy.  It was the best thing I did on Labadee, I found the rest of the place quite boring.  Only wish I'd discovered jet-boating years ago.

[Baowen]

Very easy to use and tons of fun. I did it with my kids and my older mother who had no experience.  As was stated above, they put the slower drivers at the back.

[vacationlover_mn]

My DH did this at Cococay, and said even a newbie could do it

[bouhunter]

You just sit down and hit the throttle and off you go

[letscutitout]

Where do you meet for this excursion? Last time on the island we were near the inflatable water park. Is the meeting place for this excursion near that part of the beach? Thanks everyone! So glad I joined these boards. Very friendly and helpful.

[timf2001]

The meeting place is very close to the ship, just to the right as you enter from the pier.

Edited June 11, 2019 by timf2001

[mets07]

6 minutes ago, timf2001 said:

The meeting place is very close to the ship, just to the right as you enter from the pier.

Correct. You will see a low building with outside lockers. You will see personnel where you check-in and sign waivers. There is a room where you watch an instructional movie before jet-skiing. 

[cb at sea]

It's a "follow the leader" sort of thing.  Those with experience will want to go fast, but will have to wait for the newbies to catch up....so if you are hoping to speed around and go fast...that won't be happening much!

[K1200S]

One thing about jet skis is the faster you go the more stable it is.  New riders need to know this.  I am not saying one needs to flat out but more then walking speed will boost your confidence.

[vickiw0318]

My daughter and I did not enjoy it - even as slower riders near the rear.  We wished we didn't have to speed up and follow the leader.   And, we were conscious that we were holding others back.  We wished we could go slower and just enjoy the beautiful scenery.  Speed for the sake of speed isn't my deal.  ( I enjoy some speed - not that much of a stick in the mud.)  I liked renting one when I didn't have to follow the leader, but that's not an option there.  Do they still stop and let the locals peddle their wares?  It was nice that they have an option to share, but the experience made us a bit uncomfortable.

[Cru1s1ng2009]

30 minutes ago, K1200S said:

One thing about jet skis is the faster you go the more stable it is.  New riders need to know this.  I am not saying one needs to flat out but more then walking speed will boost your confidence.

this is excellent information. Makes sense. 

 

I am riding in coco cay in a few weeks. thanks so much.

[Gquie]

Me and my partner are experienced jetskiiers so we were weary about doing a follow the leader with RCI. We're more used to just going wherever we want. That said we found the experience to be great and we had a blast. We stayed near the front of the pack so we got to build up some good speed and found the guided tour to be a lot of fun.  I would avoid the back of the pack because we noticed that the few stragglers behind were often told to cut straight through the "course" and meet up with the pack effectively cutting short their experience.  It was significant enough to notice. Of course if that's your fancy and you just want to get a taste of it without worrying about being too slow for people behind you then stay at the back. If you're near the front or even the middle you will be expected to full throttle it in order to keep the pace consistent for the rest of the group.

 

There is an instructor that leads the course and one at the back that makes sure everyone is following the course and to ensure there are no issues with any of the jetskiiers.  Hope you guys have fun. 

[CruiseWendy]

I did this last December in Labadee with my daughter and I had never operated a Jet Ski before. It is a guided tour. They do an excellent job of lining everyone up with the most experienced in the front and those less in the back. There is a guide in the front and a chaser in the back that makes sure everyone arrives at the destination. I was apprehensive that a guided tour would be boring but on several occasions I went full throttle and it was a blast. I was ski #5 out of #10. Have fun!

[Cherries Jubilee]

Has anyone experienced being the passenger holding on to the driver? Is it uncomfortable? Did you feel unstable? I saw one review where the girl at the back said she didn’t feel stable at all while the driver had the bars to hold on to so she felt fine.

[Lionesss]

We are doing this for the 5th time in 3 weeks.

 

We love it.

 

We usually arrive about 15 min early to do the paper work.

Make sure you have your drivers license.  (I cannot remember if it is just for those that look young, or for all to get proof that you can drive).  Then the DH just puts them in his water wallet and zips them in his swim trunks.

Then we go to a class room for a 15min ish overview and orientation.

 

They rank you as to skill level.  (My DD and DH sit up front to be #1 and #2, and are like eager school kids wiggling in their seats to be picked first).

I like the middle of the pack.

 

Go out side behind building to get life vest.

They provide the life vest straps for those to put ontop of their life vest if they have a passenger.

 

Then you go off and get your jet ski.

Wear flip flops or water shoes to the jet ski, deck is very hot.

There is a place there to keep foot wear if you dont want them on the ski.

 

Off on ski, first run to orange ball is just getting used to the jet ski.

Then off you go.

There is a guide up front and one in the back.

There are about 5-6 runs during this outing.

After every run if there is someone slowing the pack down they shuffle the order.

 

On the second to last run they stop in an alcove and the locals try to sell there trinkets to you.

They can be persistent.

 

Two years ago, the waves got really intense when we were are on way back (we did an afternoon time).

It was really rough coming back to the port.............That is why we usually do this excursion early in the  morning.

They cancelled all further jet skis outings after us due to the waves.

The guides were very attentive.

 

We enjoy it since we are weekend warriors and live landlocked in Ohio.

 

Enjoy, we do.

 

 

 

 

[mets07]

5 hours ago, Cherries Jubilee said:

Has anyone experienced being the passenger holding on to the driver? Is it uncomfortable? Did you feel unstable? I saw one review where the girl at the back said she didn’t feel stable at all while the driver had the bars to hold on to so she felt fine.

I have done it multiple times as a passenger both at Labadee and elsewhere. I'm really not interested in "driving" so for me it is fine. I have always felt stable. The driver is my husband and we move pretty fast, typically about 3rd in the line of jet skis at Labadee. 

[mets07]

Good suggestions from Lionesss above. Another thought...

 

If you are going to wear sunglasses, make sure to wear a cheap pair or make sure to have a strap holding them on to your head.  Sometimes it is bumpy or windy and I lost my Ray Bans to the sea in Labadee. 

 

😎

[paul1815]

On 6/10/2019 at 8:48 PM, letscutitout said:

I am considering the Labadee Wave Jet Tour. The videos look awesome. Have always wanted to do drive one. Nervous though.  I have NO experience driving one. Is it difficult to operate? Do you know if this excursion would be good for me? Thanks for your help.

We are stopping in Labadee on our Feb 23rd cruise.  However, I don't see Wave Jet tours as an option for shore excursions.  Is it possible that  Suite folks get first dibs?  Or perhaps they stopped doing these?

[letscutitout]

5 hours ago, paul1815 said:

We are stopping in Labadee on our Feb 23rd cruise.  However, I don't see Wave Jet tours as an option for shore excursions.  Is it possible that  Suite folks get first dibs?  Or perhaps they stopped doing these?

This the actual title. Hope it helps.  http://www.royalcaribbean.com/shoreExcursions/product/detail/view.do?sourcePage=shorexByPort&ProductCode=ZL03&DestinationCode=

Suite folks don't get first dibs. I'm going and I have never been close to a suite. Always deck 3 ocean view. Where are you sailing from? I'm trying to find the excursion on your itinerary.

 

 

Edited June 12, 2019 by letscutitout

[vacationlover_mn]

14 hours ago, Cherries Jubilee said:

Has anyone experienced being the passenger holding on to the driver? Is it uncomfortable? Did you feel unstable? I saw one review where the girl at the back said she didn’t feel stable at all while the driver had the bars to hold on to so she felt fine.

I did this in Hawaii, and it was fine 🙂

[ZoeyVictoria]

I have been the passenger (in Florida, not on an RCI excursion) and hated it.  All I could see was the back of the driver’s hat, and it felt unstable because I couldn’t anticipate turns because I couldn’t see ahead.  I had wanted to do that for years, and was so disappointed that I didn’t enjoy it.  I believe that I would have enjoyed it as a driver.