(Slightly less so) Cheapo dad's trip report on Independence of the Seas

[harryfat1]

Time to step on land for our first port of call at Labadee. So this is our second time visiting Labadee after the December 2014 Allure visit. As a cheapo dad, I appreciate what the port offers. You have access to beach chairs for free (minus $1 per chair tip for the dude to set it up) and walking/free shuttle service to the beach. On top of that, you get free BBQ lunch.

 

Yes, cynics and critics will say none of these are the best but unlike other ports, you don’t have to take a taxi to the beach, pay for a beach chair/umbrella and pay for lunch.

 

In theory you can even save on the chair tips if you arrive late and take over someone else’s vacated chairs (saw few examples of that) or be situated further back away from the water’s edge and get your own chair, but not like a dollar per chair will kill you. But we are getting way ahead of ourselves.

 

Opening the window to see the ocean and a promising day outside

 

 

First thing is time for breakfast.

 

WJ is busy at 8 AM as people are trying to eat early and head for the beach.

 

 

Ohhh, white glazed donuts. I wanted one but decided I should pass but my son got one almost daily

 

 

More of the same breakfast for me.Oh, I got addicted to the mushrooms. They were pretty good and they had them daily. Didn’t see any while on the Freedom last year so don’t know if it’s a change in the WJ venue or just variance between ships.

 

 

Plate of fruit for the second plate

 

[BIBPhotography]

 

Now I gave you folks the original Sir Mix A lot link in my Allure trip report. Then in the Freedom report, I gave you the link to the Seattle Symphony. With the understanding that not everyone likes rap music or classical music, here is the country version of the song (you still with me - BIBPHOTOGRAPHY? - sing it out loud to the wife):

 

 

 

 

Zoomed in 60X from my camera

 

 

Their flags

 

 

 

Cruisers on the other ship:

 

 

You got it Harry, I'm still here! And being from Nashville, TN (Country Music Capitol of the World) That version was just down right perfect! Keep it up Harry, I'll be here the whole week!

[JamesEM]

Time to step on land for our first port of call at Labadee. So this is our second time visiting Labadee after the December 2014 Allure visit. As a cheapo dad, I appreciate what the port offers. You have access to beach chairs for free (minus $1 per chair tip for the dude to set it up) and walking/free shuttle service to the beach. On top of that, you get free BBQ lunch.

 

When I was in Labadee this past Nov, I did not tip the chair guy and when I returned from my trip to the swim up bar my stuff was on the sand and the chair was gone.

[KmomChicago]

When I was in Labadee this past Nov, I did not tip the chair guy and when I returned from my trip to the swim up bar my stuff was on the sand and the chair was gone.

 

 

 

Obviously it’s not a tip then, it’s a fee. Just tell people it’s $2 per chair or whatever.

 

 

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[Biker19]

 

Out here in US, fanny is another word for butt. What does it mean down under?.

 

Australia.

 

 

 

 

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[lele100]

Harry you mentioned not your era of music at the show. What type of music was it? We are boarding the Indy today

 

 

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[micmacmissy]

Ugh, Indy has the WORST stage shows. Invitation to Dance and another one with a storybook theme...horrible.

 

You can see better theatre at a high school stage performance. MUCH better. Does not even begin to compare to Oasis/Allure.

[bobmacliberty]

Hmmmm. Trying to find a delicate way to say what fanny means down here. Quoting from the episode of Big Bang Theory I'm watching at the moment "lady part". Apologies if anyone is offended.

 

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VERY different from the US. Same town but completely different neighborhood.

[harryfat1]

You got it Harry, I'm still here! And being from Nashville, TN (Country Music Capitol of the World) That version was just down right perfect! Keep it up Harry, I'll be here the whole week!

 

Hope your wife enjoy your rendition. You were up late last night in posting this around 2 AM your time. Thanks for following along.

[harryfat1]

When I was in Labadee this past Nov, I did not tip the chair guy and when I returned from my trip to the swim up bar my stuff was on the sand and the chair was gone.

 

Good thing your stuff was not in the water...

[harryfat1]

Harry you mentioned not your era of music at the show. What type of music was it? We are boarding the Indy today

 

 

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I associate it with more like big band music. Maybe it's more international music and I'm just not sophisticated to appreciate it. Music is very subjective so maybe you will like it.

 

Have a great cruise.

[harryfat1]

Ugh, Indy has the WORST stage shows. Invitation to Dance and another one with a storybook theme...horrible.

 

You can see better theatre at a high school stage performance. MUCH better. Does not even begin to compare to Oasis/Allure.

 

Yeah, none of us were that impressed with the entertainment venue overall. But entertainment is subjective in what people like so maybe there are people that likes what Indy has to offer but if I had to rate them, I would agree with you that they are not as good as other ships/cruise lines.

[harryfat1]

After breakfast, it was time to go up one deck to take pictures of the island from the ship. Looks like a nice day at Labadee today. The daily compass says it'll be around 84 today

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

People are already down there at 8:35 AM

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Now that Royal has a life guard during pool opening hours, the dude has to stand there and just look at water

 

 

The thought for day was "To Bokeh or not to Bokeh?" Then I realize I don't need to decide. I can have both.

 

 

 

OK, one last pic of the fam and we are outta here

 

[etoilefj]

Wow this might be the most

comprehensive review I've ever seen! Commenting to follow along and read the rest! Love your photos. We're going on our first RC cruise in May (Harmony).

 

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[harryfat1]

Then it was time to go back down to the cabin to get ready for the beach. We met up with the brother in law at Royal Promenade and made our way down to deck 1. It was great that they had towels for rent right at deck 1. This is so much better compared of the total mess at Freedom where you have to get the towel the night before from the pool deck for Grand Cayman.

 

Back in 2014, when I walked the pier at Labadee for the first time, I thought “Wow, this sucker is long and it was a decent hike to get to the other end if your cabin is in the aft part of the ship. But after the visit to Costa Maya last year, that pier was so much longer. Now in comparison, this was a quick walk to the end.

 

We left the cell phones and the better cameras inside the cabin and only took the underwater Panasonic with us. Technically the Samsung is water resistant but their web site says to avoid contact with salt water so wasn’t taking any chances. We would come back for them later in the afternoon. But for next few hours’ worth of pictures, they are from the tiny Panasonic camera but the quality is decent for a P&S

 

 

Be sure to get back to the ship in time

 

 

 

 

Ahhhh, anyone that has been reading my 2 previous trip reports knows I can't resist these shots. It's like Pavlov and the dog

 

 

 

 

[tropiclvrs]

I Love Labadee...DH, not so much sadly. To me the water and beautiful lush mountains are amazing and love that you don’t really need to think about what to do for the day and plan it all out. We splurged on a cabana a few years ago but right after that they shot the prices of those things way up that it’s out of my budget now. Supply and Demand at its finest! On our last visit we completely forgot about bringing cash to tip for the beach chairs. I felt really bad and such an idiot for doing so, but all our stuff was in place when we went in the water for a good amount of time. While it’s a nice gesture to tip these guys, it’s certainly not mandatory.

 

P.S. Love all your boys’ Warrior gear! Although we live in Laker land, we are Warrior fans!!

 

 

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[harryfat1]

Wow this might be the most

comprehensive review I've ever seen! Commenting to follow along and read the rest! Love your photos. We're going on our first RC cruise in May (Harmony).

 

Sent from my Pixel using Forums mobile app

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for the compliment.

 

Comprehensive may be a good or bad thing, depends on what you are looking for.

 

As I said in the beginning, this is a mailman version of the trip report. I will go step by step at my snail pace to tell my story. Actually come to think of it, it's worst than the snail's pace as at least the snail moves forward, albeit slowly. I tend to digress and start talking about Arizona rocks and dam with Heather and Jim. That's when everything grinds to a stand still.

 

By time I finish my trip reports from beginning to end, some people could have taken 2 separate cruises in the interim and I will still be talking about day 2. But I will aim to finish this one before your cruise date...;p

[harryfat1]

I Love Labadee...DH, not so much sadly. To me the water and beautiful lush mountains are amazing and love that you don’t really need to think about what to do for the day and plan it all out. We splurged on a cabana a few years ago but right after that they shot the prices of those things way up that it’s out of my budget now. Supply and Demand at its finest! On our last visit we completely forgot about bringing cash to tip for the beach chairs. I felt really bad and such an idiot for doing so, but all our stuff was in place when we went in the water for a good amount of time. While it’s a nice gesture to tip these guys, it’s certainly not mandatory.

 

P.S. Love all your boys’ Warrior gear! Although we live in Laker land, we are Warrior fans!!

 

 

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What doesn't he like about it? Too artificial? No choice to see the real island of Haiti? All those are valid points. But if you are lazy and cheap, this is a good stop as you can spend a lot of money or none at all and still have beach/water access and no extra cost lunch.

 

Other ports of call you would need to find taxi, get to beach, pay for chair and umbrella and lunch as well. So if you are not too demanding, I think Labadee is a great value stop.

 

Yeah, we live less than 30 minutes drive from Oracle arena. Big Warriors fans here.

[harryfat1]

We're here...

 

 

For those people who sort of known me through the years will note that I like contradicting statements/ideas. As such, I always smile/smirk at the sign that says ”Welcome to Labadee” on the top and then on the bottom it says “No Entry” (middle of the picture if you are viewing it on PC. Can't see it from cell phone)…I’ll sound like Maxwell Smart the agent – Ahh, yes, the old welcome to our port but you can’t come in philosophy…

 

But as I type this, don’t we all have this concept at our homes? We lay out the “welcome mat” in the front and then we have “no entry” philosophy to all the relatives & friends we don’t like…

 

Anyway, we are here. Welcomed or not.

 

 

 

 

From previous visit, I know there is a free tractor pulled shuttle tram that will take people to Columbus Cove. Just walk toward the middle of the town square area and hop on one. It makes one stop at the shop area but just stay onboard until you get to Columbus Cove.

 

[RickinStl]

Great report.. I love the sarcasm!

[harryfat1]

Jump on the free tram...

 

 

I like their shirts. Maybe I should buy one for my next cruise

 

 

So we're off...

 

 

Clam shell covers facing the other beach but that's not where we're going

 

 

 

Lots of people walking around doing their own thing

 

[harryfat1]

Market place if you want to stop for a look

 

 

 

So after you get off the tram, just walk across the road and head toward the water and you are there. By time we made it there it was around 10 AM or so. Many early beach folks are already there with their front row beach front chairs set up. No big deal. Second row is just as good, if not better as it has more shades toward the back.

 

There will be beach workers there asking If you want chairs and they will set it up wherever you want. This dude wasn’t too happy that I took a picture of him. Maybe he realizes he will be pointed out in CC. He could be happier to work there to just set up chairs for people. But that ain’t working compared to other jobs out there. That leads to the Dire Straits song in my head (Gotta move these beach chairs...):

 

 

[harryfat1]

So we are here. All 8 chairs in a row in the shade. A tad tight but we’re good.

 

 

Here are few pictures of the area. Behind us is the pathed road. They had few beer and alcohol selling carts that drove few times by to sell booze. I wasn’t interested but also forgot to take a picture of it. Oh, well.

 

 

 

 

Time to get into the water. Not super warm water but not cold either. Considering you are able to swim at beach when it’s 2 days before Christmas, can’t complain too much.

 

Don’t expect super clear water at this beach. Soon we were greeted by the local beach resident. HELLO!

 

 

 

We notified the "life guard" guy on the high chair to ask him to pick up couple of these floating by

 

 

Be sure to stay away from these guys.

[harryfat1]