Labadee opening soon?

[BND]

18 hours ago, parrotfeathers said:

 

I cannot remember the port but I'm thinking it was Jamaica and a group of us were doing the ship sponsored zip line.  It was really a great set of zip lines nice and high up.  Lots of walking to get to them--that much I remember.  The group was walking up and I started talking with a guy sort of dragging behind.  He was with the zip line company to watch out for whatever there was to watch out for.  And he had a gun.  So it sure makes me wonder now what the definition of safe really is.

Jamaica is different than Haiti but they do have crimes against tourists like armed robbery.  Our one excursion from Falmouth to a beach, we had two former police offers on the bus and once at the beach, they and at least one other guarded the beach to keep locals from coming into the area.  One was facing the road leading into area and the other two were on the beach at each end of the property.  We never felt unsafe, but it did make us pay a lot more attention.   

[John&LaLa]

51 minutes ago, nelblu said:

You should go to Jamie's, they had wonderful & tasty lamb chops, prior to the pandemic.

 

Laura is actually cooking them tonight😁

[sfaaa]

On 1/19/2022 at 3:09 PM, topnole said:

What is all the security?   I’ve been there many times and honestly never seen it.  Do they have armed Security?   Anyone know how many?   Are they adding more now or is it like before (which I have never even noticed).  

Perhaps you didn't look closely? They were Haitian police dressed in desert camouflage, with official insignia sewed on their uniforms and armed with 9mm pistols plus a radio. That said, Haitian police can't even fend for themselves these days and are in no shape to protect themselves or thousands of  tourists coming off a cruise ship.

[ReneeFLL]

9 hours ago, Kmermaid said:

Symphony 2/05 updated itinerary saying because no San Juan they are giving us extra time at Labadee:

 

Dear Guest,

Due to new restrictions by the Puerto Rican government, we’ll no longer be able to sail there. Instead, we’ll now have a sea day. To help make up for this change, we’ve added extra time to our visit in Labadee, Haiti – giving you more time to enjoy this beautiful destination. We know how much time and effort go into planning your vacation, and we’re sorry for any inconvenience caused by this. Nevertheless, we know you’ll have an excellent time! Below, please find our revised Symphony of the Seas February 5^th, 2022 itinerary

Day	Port of Call	Arrive	Depart
Sat	Miami, Florida		5:30 PM
Sun	Cruising
Mon	Labadee, Haiti	8:00 AM	5:00 PM
Tue	Cruising
Wed	Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas	7:00 AM	4:00 PM
Thu	Cruising
Fri	Perfect Day at CocoCay	10:00 AM	5:00 PM
Sat	Miami, Florida	6:00 AM

They extended the time in Labadee? What was it before because it doesn't seem like much extra.

[luckyinpa]

On 1/19/2022 at 1:14 PM, toad455 said:

At the Captain's corner on the Anthem earlier today, he confirmed that Labadee is reopening on January 27. Will be such a bonus for RCCL if they need to substitute this island, especially with San Juan off the table and other islands still turning away ships. 

 

i was looking at feb 9 anthem and the only ports are labadee, san juan and phillipsburg. i'm glad im researching before booking. didnt know san juan isnt taking anyone and labadee is iffy. whats the status of phillipsburg?  

[DevonfromAcme]

2 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

 

i was looking at feb 9 anthem and the only ports are labadee, san juan and phillipsburg. i'm glad im researching before booking. didnt know san juan isnt taking anyone and labadee is iffy. whats the status of phillipsburg?  

San Juan is definitely not happening, but apparently Labadee is not iffy— it’s been confirmed by official RCI communications as a go. 
 

St Maarten has been regularly accepting all ships, even those other islands have turned away, and has had the Rhapsody docked there for several weeks at this point as a Covid quarantine ship. I think you can be confident you will dock there. 

[luckyinpa]

1 minute ago, DevonfromAcme said:

San Juan is definitely not happening, but apparently Labadee is not iffy— it’s been confirmed by official RCI communications as a go. 
 

St Maarten has been regularly accepting all ships, even those other islands have turned away, and has had the Rhapsody docked there for several weeks at this point as a Covid quarantine ship. I think you can be confident you will dock there. 

 

what have them be subbing for san juan. is already 5 sea days out of the 9. ive never been on anthem so im sure ill have fun but would have liked one more port in place of SJ

[DevonfromAcme]

1 minute ago, luckyinpa said:

 

what have them be subbing for san juan. is already 5 sea days out of the 9. ive never been on anthem so im sure ill have fun but would have liked one more port in place of SJ

 

It depends on the rest of the itinerary. Some have had another sea day, some went to the Dominican Republic, some had more time at another port already on the schedule. 

[parrotfeathers]

My Oasis cruise I cancelled was supposed to go to Labadee.  I hope if anyone does go back in the next few weeks they report back as to the condition of the equipment.  I had all these awful visions of the "locals" going stone hammer nuts destroying RCL's investment after reading reports. here.  Going to try that roller coaster one day hopefully.  If it's still there.  

[rockmom]

3 hours ago, parrotfeathers said:

My Oasis cruise I cancelled was supposed to go to Labadee.  I hope if anyone does go back in the next few weeks they report back as to the condition of the equipment.  I had all these awful visions of the "locals" going stone hammer nuts destroying RCL's investment after reading reports. here.  Going to try that roller coaster one day hopefully.  If it's still there.  

Those were rumors that once started, went rampant and no one was ever able to verify or show visual proof.  There have been recent photos posted on various sites (that can't be named here) that show that nothing was destroyed by 'locals going stone hammer nuts'.  The photos were taken by people working on the preparations for the re-opening this coming week, and Royal has confirmed they are resuming stops there.  

Edited January 22, 2022 by rockmom

[Kmermaid]

Anyone know the first ships stopping there?  

[Knee Deep]

59 minutes ago, Kmermaid said:

Anyone know the first ships stopping there?  

Harmony on Thurs

[BND]

Haiti was hit by two earthquakes this morning.  It's always something.

[dmrichards26]

On 1/24/2022 at 12:46 PM, BND said:

Haiti was hit by two earthquakes this morning.  It's always something.

It appears that this may have derailed the plans to reopen Labadee this month.

 

We just received the following message on our Anthem February 11th sailing, previous scheduled for Labadee:

 

[rockmom]

3 minutes ago, dmrichards26 said:

It appears that this may have derailed the plans to reopen Labadee this month.

 

We just received the following message on our Anthem February 11th sailing, previous scheduled for Labadee:

 

In this case, my bet would be it's more about travel distance/time to get to St. Thomas versus San Juan.  

 

The earthquakes in Haiti were on the southern side and according to news reports, did minimal damage.  Reports were that these quakes did cause previously damaged structures/homes to come down, but nothing major.   Labadee is on the north side, not near where the quakes occurred.   

[Biker19]

7 minutes ago, dmrichards26 said:

It appears that this may have derailed the plans to reopen Labadee this month.

I don't see anything in that text that says Labadee was dropped due to an earthquake - did I miss it?

[Mullwi]

I think that may have been before earthquakes?  Hope I am still going 2/5. 

Edited January 26, 2022 by Mullwi

[HicksRA]

On Harmony. 
We’re still on track to hit Labadee tomorrow. 
First ship back to Falmouth today. It’s just like it’s always been.  Blood on the sidewalk…. 😯😁

 

[AstoriaPreppy]

1 hour ago, dmrichards26 said:

It appears that this may have derailed the plans to reopen Labadee this month.

 

We just received the following message on our Anthem February 11th sailing, previous scheduled for Labadee:

 

As someone on this sailing, it's *super* frustrating... we were really looking forward to a great beach day with vaccinated guests and staff (with little to no effort on our part). Nevertheless, I see lots of enthusiastic responses from the f b group for this sailing, because we "won't be at sea for nine days." 

 

1 hour ago, rockmom said:

In this case, my bet would be it's more about travel distance/time to get to St. Thomas versus San Juan.  

 

Agree totally. That said, Royal just processed a ton of Royal Up upgrades yesterday, before announcing the itinerary change this morning... which seems suspicious but I'm sure is probably just coincidence 😉 

Edited January 26, 2022 by AstoriaPreppy

[SilkySal]

Mariner is scheduled to go to Labadee on February 15th.

[3eaglesfam]

Symphony is still scheduled to go to Labadee and San Juan on my March 5th Sailing. 

[Starry Eyes]

1 hour ago, HicksRA said:

On Harmony. 
We’re still on track to hit Labadee tomorrow. 
First ship back to Falmouth today. It’s just like it’s always been.  Blood on the sidewalk…. 😯😁

 

Hey, you crazy kids have to stop hurting each other in Falmouth.  You are scaring the locals!😉

[A&L_Ont]

2 hours ago, HicksRA said:

On Harmony. 
We’re still on track to hit Labadee tomorrow. 
First ship back to Falmouth today. It’s just like it’s always been.  Blood on the sidewalk…. 😯😁

 

 

More importantly, was the patty hut open?😀

[HicksRA]

5 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

 

More importantly, was the patty hut open?😀

Some of those huts were open but I didn’t notice any selling the fried pie things. 

[A&L_Ont]

18 minutes ago, HicksRA said:

Some of those huts were open but I didn’t notice any selling the fried pie things. 

 

Time to shed more blood in the port area. 😉😂