Changes to RCL stops in Labadee

[orville99]

We are currently docked in Labadee (4th time this year) and there are a few very interesting changes that have been implemented since we were here in June;

1) No more guest internet access on the island, and

2) Guests are no longer permitted to leave the compound unless on one of the limited excursions booked on board.

 

 

[cruisegirl1]

Thx.
is it new information? 
I don’t ever recall guest Internet (at least not on barefoot beach) on Labadee. Also, I don’t ever recall being able to simply leave the compound.  To me the information is more of a reminder than a change. Perhaps others have a different experience.

m

Edited October 9, 2023 by cruisegirl1

[Charles4515]

13 minutes ago, orville99 said:

We are currently docked in Labadee (4th time this year) and there are a few very interesting changes that have been implemented since we were here in June;

1) No more guest internet access on the island, and

2) Guests are no longer permitted to leave the compound unless on one of the limited excursions booked on board.

 

 

There never has been guest internet when I was there and guests were never allowed to leave the compound except on excursions. For internet I used my cell roaming plan. 

Edited October 9, 2023 by Charles4515

[orville99]

6 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

There never has been guest internet when I was there and guests were never allowed to leave the compound except on excursions. For internet I used my cell roaming plan. 

And yet, we have used the guest internet on every stop here this year, and booked excursions that visited the mainland that are no longer being offered today.

Edited October 9, 2023 by orville99

[OCSC Mike]

I'll semi-hijack this thread (apologies in advance). We'll be there in 19 days.

 

If you're not a beach person and have no desire to do any of the activities or excursions there, is there really any reason to spend time there other than checking it out?

 

The last time I watched a video of the food it looked mostly hot dogs and burgers, so that's not a reason either unless the food has been changed.

 

We haven't been there in forever so we'll likely get off the ship just to take a walk but don't think we'll be staying long unless someone tells me I'm missing something. TIA!

 

P.S. I'm not looking to be convinced that I should enjoy a relaxing day on the beach there. If you enjoy that, great, everyone has their own preferences, it's just not our thing unless there's good food to get in between lounging like on CocoCay.

 

Edited October 9, 2023 by OCSC Mike

[goldfish65]

The toboggan coaster is fun.

[Charles4515]

2 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

I'll semi-hijack this thread (apologies in advance). We'll be there in 19 days.

 

If you're not a beach person and have no desire to do any of the activities or excursions there, is there really any reason to spend time there other than checking it out?

 

The last time I watched a video of the food it looked mostly hot dogs and burgers, so that's not a reason either unless the food has been changed.

 

 

 

 

 

There is a zip line which I have never done, not interested but the Dragons Coaster is fun. At one end of the compound at Dragons Head I think they call it the geography is cool. There is also an upscale artisans store in the center area where no one bothers you not to mention the market along the road where you can bargain with aggressive vendors. 

[BND]

That is the same wording that has been used since our first time there 13 years ago

Edited October 9, 2023 by BND

[smokeybandit]

This doesn't seem like new information. Maybe they're just highlighting it explicitly now.

[Charles4515]

21 minutes ago, orville99 said:

And yet, we have used the guest internet on every stop here this year, and booked excursions that visited the mainland that are no longer being offered today.

If they had guest internet must have been added since my last visit. I have not been there this year. The excursions outside  were always very  limited and none ever interested me. The only one I ever did was the wave runners. That was a blast and we went up the coast about 20 mikes far enough to see the Citidal from the ocean. Wonder if ther still do that tour?

[firefly333]

It's been a while for me also but the only way we were allowed to leave the beach area was a excursion by ship that hugged the shore where we could see the town where crew ,loved. We couldnt leave otherwise then either.

 

When did it get changed they allowed you to leave the area? I havent followed it much it seems. 

[Tree_skier]

This isn't new as far as I can tell.  When we were there in March there was no internet. I remember specifically thinking I wanted to text my wife while she was on a kayak excursion to let her know I was leaving our cabana and going to eat lunch.  I don't think there has ever been private excursions either.

. 

[orville99]

2 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

. The only one I ever did was the wave runners. That was a blast and we went up the coast about 20 mikes far enough to see the Citidal from the ocean. Wonder if ther still do that tour?

The wave runner tour was running today but we didn’t see much traffic over by the shore excursion kiosks.

[A&L_Ont]

1 hour ago, Tree_skier said:

This isn't new as far as I can tell.  When we were there in March there was no internet. I remember specifically thinking I wanted to text my wife while she was on a kayak excursion to let her know I was leaving our cabana and going to eat lunch.  I don't think there has ever been private excursions either.

. 

I agree with you.  We have never had wifi that we could access, but have “seen” it from the ship but could never connect. I used cellular data on the beach.

[shellunderwater]

4 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

I'll semi-hijack this thread (apologies in advance). We'll be there in 19 days.

 

If you're not a beach person and have no desire to do any of the activities or excursions there, is there really any reason to spend time there other than checking it out?

 

The last time I watched a video of the food it looked mostly hot dogs and burgers, so that's not a reason either unless the food has been changed.

 

We haven't been there in forever so we'll likely get off the ship just to take a walk but don't think we'll be staying long unless someone tells me I'm missing something. TIA!

 

P.S. I'm not looking to be convinced that I should enjoy a relaxing day on the beach there. If you enjoy that, great, everyone has their own preferences, it's just not our thing unless there's good food to get in between lounging like on CocoCay.

 

I'll give it a go....

 

Not a beach person

Not interested in activities or excursions there...

 

Hhhhhmmmm....

 

Nope, no reason to spend time there.

 

Duh.

[OCSC Mike]

44 minutes ago, shellunderwater said:

Duh.

 

This part was really necessary, thanks.

 

There could be food I didn't know about like I mentioned, there could be a nice place to go for a walk (like the tiny nature trail on CocoCay that's still there but no one mentions), the shopping may be better than I'm aware of, etc.

 

We love CocoCay despite not being beach or pool people, largely for the food.

 

Duh! 🤣

[lovelife]

We have never had Internet on our dozens of  Labadee visits. A concierge once told us you may get it on an extremely rare occasion.

[Mikew0805]

6 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

I'll semi-hijack this thread (apologies in advance). We'll be there in 19 days.

 

If you're not a beach person and have no desire to do any of the activities or excursions there, is there really any reason to spend time there other than checking it out?

 

The last time I watched a video of the food it looked mostly hot dogs and burgers, so that's not a reason either unless the food has been changed.

 

We haven't been there in forever so we'll likely get off the ship just to take a walk but don't think we'll be staying long unless someone tells me I'm missing something. TIA!

 

P.S. I'm not looking to be convinced that I should enjoy a relaxing day on the beach there. If you enjoy that, great, everyone has their own preferences, it's just not our thing unless there's good food to get in between lounging like on CocoCay.

 

Honestly Mike... the food there is no where near as good as Coco Cay. So if you are not into a beach day, or doing the Zip line... enjoy the day onboard. That is what I do when I am not in the mood for a beach.

[ReneeFLL]

2 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

There is a zip line which I have never done, not interested but the Dragons Coaster is fun. At one end of the compound at Dragons Head I think they call it the geography is cool. There is also an upscale artisans store in the center area where no one bothers you not to mention the market along the road where you can bargain with aggressive vendors. 

Don’t they charge for those?

[OCSC Mike]

8 minutes ago, Mikew0805 said:

Honestly Mike... the food there is no where near as good as Coco Cay. So if you are not into a beach day, or doing the Zip line... enjoy the day onboard. That is what I do when I am not in the mood for a beach.

 

That was my impression but figured I'd ask. Thanks.

 

Since we haven't been there in forever and are early risers, I'm guessing we'll get off the ship early, take a little walk, and be back onboard before lunch.

[monorail81]

1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

This part was really necessary, thanks.

 

There could be food I didn't know about like I mentioned, there could be a nice place to go for a walk (like the tiny nature trail on CocoCay that's still there but no one mentions), the shopping may be better than I'm aware of, etc.

 

We love CocoCay despite not being beach or pool people, largely for the food.

 

Duh! 🤣

We are not beach people, either.  My husband insists we get off the ship each and every time we stop there. So, we lather up with our sunscreen and are usually back on the ship in about an hour - we just go down in our normal clothes and not swimsuits.  We wait until there are no lines at the gangway.  We’ll walk down to Dragon’s Breath and then down to the Artisan market.  There is a “nature” trail, which is a short walk up a hill, which we usually “hike”.  We eat lunch back on the ship. It is much more calm and cooler than the buffets on Labadee. IMO, I don’t think you’ll be missing anything if you take a walk and head back to the ship. We’ve never felt like we’ve missed anything. FWIW, CocoCay has MUCH better food than Labadee. 

[Rackham]

7 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

P.S. I'm not looking to be convinced that I should enjoy a relaxing day on the beach there. If you enjoy that, great, everyone has their own preferences, it's just not our thing unless there's good food to get in between lounging like on CocoCay.

 

 

They had these large, coconut macaroons during summer 2022 that were better than anything on the desert table at CocoCay (I've only visited Labadee once). The rest was alright, but CocoCay's lunch spread was generally better.

[rolloman]

This is old news/not news at all. I have been to Labadee going back to the days of no pier. Labadee is a country located on the huge shared (DR) island of Hispaniola, so there is no "taking an excursion into the mainland". It is all mainland which consists of a beach area which is fenced in, guarded and you may not leave the compound unless it is a near shore water activity such as the wave runner. I also have never had internet. 

[Charles4515]

2 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Don’t they charge for those?

They charge for the zip line and Dragons Tail coaster. I thought it was worth it for the coaster. No charge to walk the trail to Dragons Lookout. no charge for either market unless you buy. They also charge for the Waverunner excursion. There are also kayaks that you can rent. Never done that.

Edited October 9, 2023 by Charles4515

[PompeySailor]

Do they serve lamb chops on Labadee 

Asking for a friend 😉

 

I know at Barefoot beach they have an upgraded offering compared to the other buffet 

 

Never had wifi, until we got back closer to the ship