Labadee Beach Bungalows Review

We recently returned from a cruise on Harmony and spent a day on Labadee. I thought I would share our experience in one of their beach bungalows. I made a reservation for a bungalow on Columbus Cove about 6 months before our cruise. They are pricey, but not as much as the over the water cabanas on Nellies Beach which we had on our previous cruise. My family all proclaimed they felt the bungalow experience on Columbus Cove was far superior to our cabana experience.

We disembarked the ship relatively early and took the ferry across from the pier to just past Nellie's Beach. It was so convenient!!! View from the ferry at the pier:

We had a short walk to Columbus Cove where the bungalows are. Upon arriving to the "entrance" of the bungalows (roped off reserved area), I checked in with the attendant. He had a list of the guests with reservations with pre assigned bungalows. He gave us each a red wrist band to identify us as being able to come and go within the reserved area. We were assigned to bungalow 3. Here is a photo of our bungalow:

As you can see, it comes with two floating mats, comfy padded patio type furniture, a large cooler with 6 large bottles of Evian water. We closed the curtains for privacy from neighbouring bungalows. Right in front of the bungalow are two comfy padded loungers.

The bungalow just had 2 towels, and we did not sign any towels out assuming the bungalows came with towels. So I asked our attendant to get us more towels and he brought in plenty of towels for us to use the rest of the day.

Here are more views:

You can see there is a private beach area with plenty of loungers and shade just for the bungalow guests. We did see a few people sneak into the reserved area (which are prime spots with lots of shade!) only to be asked to leave.

The bungalows are super close to the buffet area. We walked over and got our lunch from the buffet to bring back to our bungalow to eat. The attendants were busy filling drink orders, and clearing our lunch plates!

They were also convenient to the restrooms. I remember last time we were in the cabanas and we didn't even bother bringing our food back to the cabana because it was too far a walk!

I highly recommend the lower priced bungalows to the over the water cabanas! We had the option of relaxing in the bungalow or out front the padded loungers, or on beach loungers right by the waters edge! The water at Columbus Cove was super calm and perfect for hanging out. The sand is incredibly soft here too.

If you have any more specific questions, I'll be happy to answer!

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Thank you for sharing this. We had a cabana on barefoot beach last time and loved it. I was debating getting one of these this time, or perhaps just beach hopping for the day. I appreciate the pics and info. I didn't realize it's a private beach area. I just thought it was a cabana on a beach that anyone can visit. Was it crowded? Could you order drinks or was there a bar nearby?

When we were at Barefoot Beach I was able to request a specific cabana in advance through our concierge. Are you able to request a location? We're some better than others or were they all fairly equally close to the water?

Did the bungalows come with champagne and a fruit plate?

The last time we were at Columbus Cove (pre-bungalows), we found the water to have a coating of oil from the nearby boats in the area. There was also a perpetual smell of diesel (also from these boats?) Did you find that to be the case? Those were our only real problems with this beach.

It was not crowded at all because the reserved area is for bungalows only, and I believe there are 8 of them?? Each one holds up to 8 People too I believe. We had so much space on the beach and in the water. Your bungalow attendant is kept busy by bringing you drinks from the nearby bar! I brought my soda cup from the ship too and he will take that for you as well to fill up.

I did not know how to go about requesting a specific bungalow. I thought that if I got there first I could always convince them to switch the preassigned bungalow, but thankfully didn't have to as I loved the location of #3. I wouldn't want #1 as it's not as private being right by the public walking area, and I definitely wouldn't want #8 as it's right against the rock wall thing where a ferry dock is. They are all about the same distance to the water.

No freebies other than the 6 bottles of Evian which we brought back the extras to the ship!

I did not notice any diesel smell nor notice anything in the water this time. I was concerned about being so close to a ferry dock, and other shipping boats... if you looked to the left you saw some not very nice looking commercial boats, so I just tried to ignore that view and looked straight ahead at the Harmony! LOL. I love Columbus Cove because it seems quieter and the sand is nicer. It is the furthest from the ship. But my parents waited for the tram service to get back and it wasn't too bad a walk for us back to the pier.

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Thank you for your review.

Good review, thanks for the info.

We recently returned from a cruise on Harmony and spent a day on Labadee. I thought I would share our experience in one of their beach bungalows. I made a reservation for a bungalow on Columbus Cove about 6 months before our cruise. They are pricey, but not as much as the over the water cabanas on Nellies Beach which we had on our previous cruise. My family all proclaimed they felt the bungalow experience on Columbus Cove was far superior to our cabana experience.

 

We disembarked the ship relatively early and took the ferry across from the pier to just past Nellie's Beach. It was so convenient!!! View from the ferry at the pier:

 

 

We had a short walk to Columbus Cove where the bungalows are. Upon arriving to the "entrance" of the bungalows (roped off reserved area), I checked in with the attendant. He had a list of the guests with reservations with pre assigned bungalows. He gave us each a red wrist band to identify us as being able to come and go within the reserved area. We were assigned to bungalow 3. Here is a photo of our bungalow:

 

 

As you can see, it comes with two floating mats, comfy padded patio type furniture, a large cooler with 6 large bottles of Evian water. We closed the curtains for privacy from neighbouring bungalows. Right in front of the bungalow are two comfy padded loungers.

 

 

The bungalow just had 2 towels, and we did not sign any towels out assuming the bungalows came with towels. So I asked our attendant to get us more towels and he brought in plenty of towels for us to use the rest of the day.

 

Here are more views:

 

 

 

You can see there is a private beach area with plenty of loungers and shade just for the bungalow guests. We did see a few people sneak into the reserved area (which are prime spots with lots of shade!) only to be asked to leave.

 

 

The bungalows are super close to the buffet area. We walked over and got our lunch from the buffet to bring back to our bungalow to eat. The attendants were busy filling drink orders, and clearing our lunch plates!

 

They were also convenient to the restrooms. I remember last time we were in the cabanas and we didn't even bother bringing our food back to the cabana because it was too far a walk!

 

I highly recommend the lower priced bungalows to the over the water cabanas! We had the option of relaxing in the bungalow or out front the padded loungers, or on beach loungers right by the waters edge! The water at Columbus Cove was super calm and perfect for hanging out. The sand is incredibly soft here too.

 

If you have any more specific questions, I'll be happy to answer!

 

 

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Love your review of the bungalows! Are you close to beach/water edge to keep your eyes on little ones? Is this one of the better beaches? TIA

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Great photos, and looks like you had a great day! We normally wouldn't spend this much, but your photos had me sold. I think my wife will really like it once she gets settled in. Thanks again for a really good review!

Great pictures SHOPPGIRL. Enjoyed reading your review. Thanks.

Thanks everyone!

I personally think this is one of the better beaches especially for little ones because the sand is so soft, you don't need water shoes, and the water is super calm. You cannot keep an eye on the little ones from the bungalow, but certainly if you take one of the many loungers right by the waters edge you can keep a close eye on them. My husband was having too much fun bobbing in the water all day taking in the scenery that he barely spent any time in the bungalow. But it was greatly appreciated by our senior parents, and it made a nice retreat when we were all out of the water for lunch/breaks. We changed lounger locations within the reserved section all day because there were so many to choose from!

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The sandy beach looks way better here than Barefoot Beach.

Thank you very much for your review. I just booked one for our cruise as well.

You will enjoy your bungalow for sure @groverdmg!! We did explore all the other beaches on Labadee and noticed how open and hot they were because there's absolutely no shade on the beach!! If you notice the photos there's tons of palm trees to hide under!! That's why we always gravitate to this beach even though it's the furthest beach from the pier. Shade, calm water, soft sand!

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Your review is spot on . We booked 2 this past April and loved it there. They did let us switch to the bungalows that we wanted as we were the first people there. We have 2 more booked for next April as well. Great pictures and review.

Thank You for the review. We have one reserved next week on our Oasis cruise and we too had a cabana the last time on Labadee. We will definitely get out early enough to try to get bungalow # 3! :cool:

Thank you very much for your great review and pictures on the bungalows! I have one booked for November. Someone on a different post mentioned that attendants in small golf carts are also available to take guests to their bungalows. Did you see those? My family would also like to do the zip line on Labadee and go to/return to the bungalows when they're done.

Thanks again for such an informative review!

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Thank you so much for your review. This has been extremely helpful. We're in a suite and have the option of reserving one of those cabanas, but I've had some trouble deciding. I noticed that some of the cabanas have age restrictions of 4 and up, and we are traveling with our 2 year old daughter.

A question - does anyone know if there is zoom/wifi on the beach? Unfortunately I'm required to put in some hours at work. If there's zoom/wifi there, I can think of no better place to "have" to work. Otherwise, I'll stay on the ship until my hours are done and join the family partway through the day.

... A question - does anyone know if there is zoom/wifi on the beach? Unfortunately I'm required to put in some hours at work. If there's zoom/wifi there, I can think of no better place to "have" to work. Otherwise, I'll stay on the ship until my hours are done and join the family partway through the day.

While in a cabana facing the ship, we could see the existence of the WiFi signal on our phones, but could not connect.

While in a cabana facing the ship, we could see the existence of the WiFi signal on our phones, but could not connect.

Thanks, I thought it a long shot.

And to clarify my earlier comment, I'd had trouble deciding between a bungalow (more people, less expensive) or going for a cabana.

Awesome review ! We have one booked in Oct and can't wait !

Most definitely no wifi from the beach here!!!

We thought about looking for the attendants on golf carts but couldn't be bothered with hunting one down/waiting for one to see if they would take us to Columbus Cove. As I said before our timing was perfect because as soon as we walked off the ship and closed in on the ferry it was ready to leave!! Not many people used the ferry and I assume because they really did not know where it was going or how convenient it is. It docks just to the other side of Nellies Beach. And then it's a short walk to Columbus Cove. Ferry service is one way only as you do have to go through security check back at the pier prior to boarding the ship. Coming back there is a tram station at Columbus Cove that takes people but again we did not ask for private golf cart service! Depending on when you leave there can be a long line for the tram. We walked and got back to the ship A LOT faster than my parents who wanted a ride on the tram.

If I had two little ones the beach bungalows at Columbus Cove are definitely better than the over the water cabanas at Nellies. There's absolutely no shade there on the beach and you can only stay inside your cabana for so long when you're a toddler! There's more room to walk around and lay down by the bungalows for sure! More sand for the kiddies to play in and perfect calm waters at Columbus Cove.

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Thank you for answering my questions on the transportation to the bungalows! We haven't ventured to Columbus Cove, so it's all new to us. We're very much looking forward to a relaxing beach day!

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Heylo! Thank you for the photos :) and review !

What would one tip a cabana attendant in this situation ?