Yes, MORE Labadee questions.

[Jungle Jane]

There is a 14 page thread in RCI forum on Labadee, but I think I'll get a better answer here. I have read that entire thread and have done my own research on Labadee so I think I know what to expect. I understand that we may get off the tender and arrive on the island and immediately be approached by someone offering us chairs. I also understand that there are many areas of interest here and we may not want to plunk down at the first offer of a chair. How do I respectfully explain to the chair offerer that I want to look around first? Should I say it just like that? Might they continue to follow me all over? THAT I would not like. How do I tell them politely to get lost till I'm ready to settle in somewhere?

 

I am traveling with my teen daughter and we don't mind being with a larger group but wouldn't want to be squeezed into an area like sardines. We would not want to be off totally on our own or with just a few. With that in mind I'd like some suggestions for a direction to head to set up camp so to speak.

 

Another question I have is once we've decided on a spot can we safely wander without anyone bothering our things? I don't plan on bringing any valuables (but will carry a small amount of money in a waterproof wallet.)I'm talking more about the actual chair, and towels we bring. Will they be left alone if we're not right with them every second? Also what if upon wandering we decide we might like another spot better-do we have to go thru the whole tip the chair guy thing again?? I don't mind tipping at all, just don't want to spend my day dealing with chair offerers.

 

Finally, is there anything such as bugs or something to keep us from skipping a chair altogether? It's not the whole tipping the chair person idea, I don't mind tipping at all, but after the winter we've had so far here in New England, I just might want to throw down a towel and lay right on the sand :)

 

Finally finally for real...I have seen mention of Banana Boat rides, but don't see this offered in the list of excursions for my sailing. Do they still do this at Labadee? Does anyone who has done it have any details to share such as price, was it worth it, exactly how does it work, etc.

 

 

Thank you all so very much :)

[bubbachief]

Is there any good snorkeling just off the beach at Labadee you can do on your own or do you have to take the snorkeling tour offered there? We have our own gear, wondering if it's worth bringing.

[mattwright]

Jungle Jane, I think you may be more concerned about the chair thing than you really need to be. There are beach attendants on each of Labadee's beaches, but when I was at Labadee last spring, they were not pushy at all. As my group walked down to Hideaway Beach (the beach farthest from the tender landing), we did have a couple of attendants at Nellie's Beach and Barefoot Beach ask if they could help us. I simply said "No thanks, we're going down to Hideaway Beach", and that was the end of it. When we arrived at Hideaway, we looked around for a couple of minutes and found the spot under a palapa where we wanted to set up. I turned around and looked towards one of the beach attendants, he came over with some chairs, and I thanked him and tipped him.

 

You're right, there's quite a bit to see at Labadee and several beaches to choose from, so just walk around until you find a spot where you want to spend the day, and then one of the attendants will help you. I'm sure a "No, thanks, we're just looking around" will be enough if you're approached by any of the attendants beore you're ready to set up shop. I also don't think they'd follow you around. It seems that the attendants have "stations" at their particular beach and don't move around to the others.

 

The beaches closest to the tender landing will be the most crowded, because many people do stop at the first place they find. If you walk left from the landing area, Barefoot Beach and Hideaway Beach will be less crowded, but by no means deserted. Here's a link to a map of Labadee, just in case you haven't seen it already:

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/royal/General_info/Flyers/1115_RCCL_Labadee.pdf

 

I don't remember there being an issue with bugs, but that may depend on the seasons. I also don't specifically remember seeing banana boat rides while we were there. As for leaving your chairs and coming back, that shouldn't be a problem if you leave your towels on them so people know you're coming back. We always left a "guard" at our palapa to watch out for our stuff, but I know that's eaiser to do with a group of six than it would be for a group of two. If you think you'd want to move around more during the day rather than setting up at one location, I can't really think of any reason why just throwing down your towels wouldn't work.

 

Bubbachief, I was actually surprised at how good the snorkeling was at Labadee. Not as good as Grand Cayman or Cozumel, of course, but still good. I did quite a bit of snorkeling just off Hideaway Beach, but I've read in numerous reviews online that the best snorkeling is off Barefoot Beach. Supposedly there's even a small submerged airplane off Barefoot Beach that is marked with a buoy. I may look for that when I'm at Labadee again in a couple of weeks.

 

In any case, I hope this info helps you guys. I absolutely loved my day at Labadee last spring and am really looking forward to going back. It's a beautiful place and a wonderful location to either spend a calm, relaxing day at the beach or an active, exciting day of water activities. It's almost a perfect cruise destination.

[bubbachief]

Mattwright-- Thanks for the info. If you have a chance, give an update on the snorkeling when you get back. Also what the cost of gear is there. We can decide if we want to take ours.We don't leave until 2/10 on the Mille.

[Jungle Jane]

I've heard so much about the "Labadoooozie"!!

 

I've also been told a million times not to drink the local drinks or water or use the ice. But I wanna try that Labadoozie--is it safe??? That's our first port and I don't want to end up sick the rest of the cruise!

[sondrad]

Also, does anyone know what the Old Bell Tower and Luc's Splash Bash are on the map?

[mattwright]

I've heard so much about the "Labadoooozie"!!

 

I've also been told a million times not to drink the local drinks or water or use the ice. But I wanna try that Labadoozie--is it safe??? That's our first port and I don't want to end up sick the rest of the cruise!

 

Yes, they're great. And yes, they're safe. If people got sick every day at Labadee, reports would have been plastered all over this website and others.

 

Also, does anyone know what the Old Bell Tower and Luc's Splash Bash are on the map?

 

The Old Bell Tower is literally that, just an old landmark relic. Luc's Splash Bash is a kiddie water play area with a pirates theme.

[OttoCal]

If you are interested in the history of the area, you can take a 1 hour walking tour, $15 each. I had done plenty of research, so I knew some of what was explained, but I learned many things about the local culture and how the Haitian and Dominicans get along (or not, as it seems).

 

When we first got off, we were offered by people to set up chairs, but I was headed for the zip line. When we got to that farther beach, there was no one to haul my chair for me, even though I was plenty ready to tip! Had to haul it myself.

 

Seemed very safe to leave your stuff, everyone did it. But no one brought much of value onshore anyway- it was just towels, shoes, clothes, etc. It would have been pretty obvious if someone was rifling through people's stuff though.

 

Oh, and if you are snorkeling, you may bring your own gear, but RC requires you to rent and wear a vest, $6 each if you have your own snorkel gear. Safety first, I guess. We did not snorkel there, so I can't comment about how it was, but the area is very over-fished, so you will not see anything large, just little fish.

 

I liked the artist market- no pressure to buy, no haggle factor. You want it, you pay what the sticker says, done.

I went into the flea/straw market on accident. I didn't mind the fact that it was crazy haggle central, BUT there wasn't anything there that I wanted to buy. Many lovely paintings, large masks, instruments, carvings, etc etc etc- but I wanted a small shell or wooden necklace and didn't see one. I don't decorate my house with tropical decor, so all of the stuff available there was of no use to me. GREAT stuff for kids with a few dollars to spend though. If there was something I wanted it would have been fine and I would have played the haggle game. Just didn't want any of it, and that is my own personal choice.

 

But I would suggest for anyone who may be uncomfortable with 40 vendors in a row all coming up to you and saying 'missus, please come look at my booth, I will give you the best price, here let me show you what I made, here, hold this mask', then you say no, and 1 or 2 steps later the whole process is repeated... stay out of the straw/flea market and only go in the artist market. Again, I find this is a personal preference, and I want everyone to make an informed choice. If you want to haggle and get a great deal- stay out of the artist market and go straight to the straw market! You will have a blast and maybe come home with something you love at a bargain price.

Flip stuff over to make sure it doesn't say 'made in china' though. :p

[Jungle Jane]

I'm back and wanted to give my feedback since I started this thread with all of my questions!

 

There is a 14 page thread in RCI forum on Labadee, but I think I'll get a better answer here. I have read that entire thread and have done my own research on Labadee so I think I know what to expect. I understand that we may get off the tender and arrive on the island and immediately be approached by someone offering us chairs. I also understand that there are many areas of interest here and we may not want to plunk down at the first offer of a chair. How do I respectfully explain to the chair offerer that I want to look around first? Should I say it just like that? Might they continue to follow me all over? THAT I would not like. How do I tell them politely to get lost till I'm ready to settle in somewhere? HA HA HA on me! The first spot we came to looked great so we took it! Glad we did, we got a great half sun half shade spot and had we wandered and come back it would have been gone-that entire penninsula filled up FAST!!!! The guys were totally not pushy either, were very polite and helpful and were tipped well several times during the day for taking pics for us and carrying our mats etc...

I am traveling with my teen daughter and we don't mind being with a larger group but wouldn't want to be squeezed into an area like sardines. We would not want to be off totally on our own or with just a few. With that in mind I'd like some suggestions for a direction to head to set up camp so to speak.

 

Another question I have is once we've decided on a spot can we safely wander without anyone bothering our things? I don't plan on bringing any valuables (but will carry a small amount of money in a waterproof wallet.)I'm talking more about the actual chair, and towels we bring. Will they be left alone if we're not right with them every second? I felt totally comfortable leaving my things on our chairs. We had snorkel equipment, towels, coverups, water wallet and a camera. The last 2 came with us when we wandered, everything else was fine.

 

Also what if upon wandering we decide we might like another spot better-do we have to go thru the whole tip the chair guy thing again?? I don't mind tipping at all, just don't want to spend my day dealing with chair offerers. We found that our original spot was best since the water on that side is so calm, perfect for snorkeling and mat floating. The other side was nice for walking/playing in the surf and shell finding, but we spent most of our time on Barefoot and Nellies.

Finally, is there anything such as bugs or something to keep us from skipping a chair altogether? It's not the whole tipping the chair person idea, I don't mind tipping at all, but after the winter we've had so far here in New England, I just might want to throw down a towel and lay right on the sand :) No bugs, but the sand is rough, not fine like some beaches, so we were best off on the chairs.

 

Finally finally for real...I have seen mention of Banana Boat rides, but don't see this offered in the list of excursions for my sailing. Do they still do this at Labadee? Does anyone who has done it have any details to share such as price, was it worth it, exactly how does it work, etc. There was a big sign that said "Banana Boats" but we asked and were told they don't do them anymore. (I gave a tip to this guy for answering my question! I was tip happy that day!!!)

 

 

Thank you all so very much :)

[mattwright]

Glad to hear that your day at Labadee went well, Jane! I had a great time there again a couple of weeks ago, too. I'm already looking forward to going back this December. It's such a great place to spend a day.