Changes to Labadee

[soremekun]

With the instability of Haiti and leasing and not owning the land, I think changes their investment strategy.

 

Royal Caribbean owns CocoCay (fact) and that gives them a certain level of investment confidence.  

[John&LaLa]

30 minutes ago, soremekun said:

With the instability of Haiti and leasing and not owning the land, I think changes their investment strategy.

 

Royal Caribbean owns CocoCay (fact) and that gives them a certain level of investment confidence.  

 

Pretty sure some bank owns PDCC now😉

[twangster]

Confirmed on Mariner BB Cabanas are open to all.  Labadee tomorrow.  

[Cruise a holic]

I actually used to enjoy Labadee- one of our favorite ports.  However, we prefer cococay.  So much nicer- more to do for all ages.  The Beach club is wonderful.  

Now the cabanas in Labadee (also Coco Cay) are so overpriced.  We will not get one on our next trip.  Would pay half of what they are asking.

[gcelkk]

FYI,

 

Haiti is the poorest country in the world.  They have no natural recourses.  No hope.  They have to decide which child to feed on a given day.  Please don't be annoyed with them but be generous with them.  My heart hurts for these people.

[Ocean Boy]

4 minutes ago, gcelkk said:

FYI,

 

Haiti is the poorest country in the world.  They have no natural recourses.  No hope.  They have to decide which child to feed on a given day.  Please don't be annoyed with them but be generous with them.  My heart hurts for these people.

When they learn the American version of personal space my level of annoyance might improve. I was quite sure if I was going to catch covid on the cruise it would happen there.

[gcelkk]

5 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

When they learn the American version of personal space my level of annoyance might improve. I was quite sure if I was going to catch covid on the cruise it would happen there.

God have mercy on your soul.

[Ocean Boy]

13 minutes ago, gcelkk said:

God have mercy on your soul.

My soul is doing just fine. Thanks for your concern.

[brillohead]

11 hours ago, carlosalonsor said:

I'm a little confused, the beach loungers at labadee are free to use them or do you have to pay? 

They are free, as are the umbrellas over them.

[brillohead]

7 hours ago, Air&Sea said:

We are going to Labadee next week.

 

I see that there is a floating Aqua Park and water slide. Both of them charge a fee. I am curious if there is a time limit on either of them. 

 

Any input is appreciated.

The water slide is a one-time-use (and nothing all that special).

The inflatable Aqua Park is one hour of use, life jackets must be worn by all, and lots of upper body strength is required to climb up onto the obstacles. 

[orville99]

On 6/29/2022 at 2:35 PM, BillOh said:

Hi folks, I left the title a little vague on purpose as I'll probably be happy to hear almost any feedback.    We are making our first return to Labadee in Mid September.  I was last there in the spring of 2015, so I am looking for any thoughts about the area since then, and of course there is probably a lot you might want to say about it since cruising returned to their after the covid shut down.  Even though I use to consider myself a news junkie, I've had to stop watching as much news as I use to for my mental health.   

 

We have been to the updated PEREFECT DAY COCOCAY twice now, and I know this isn't the same, but will welcome anything you have to say.   One specific question,  I see they have an excursion, to a ADULTS ONLY private island.  Any feedback on that? I know it has a bar, and my assumption is you can use your seapass card, or its included if you have an appropriate drink package.  I know that is a big assumption, but tell me about it.     Do they also serve lunch thinking you will be there a few hours.  I have plenty to think about so all opinions/thoughts are welcome

We are at Labadee right now, and the improvements that have been done are quite impressive. There are dozens of new buildings and pavilions, the old reentry building is gone so you flow freely from and back to the ship. There are a ton of new paved walkways that run throughout the compound, and there are few if any locals jonesing for tips to get you a lounger. All the loungers are new with tons of umbrellas, and no “attendants”.

 

all in all, it is 1000% better than before the shutdown. We walked around for three hours and never got a grain of sand in our shoes. 

[AlohaLivin]

18 minutes ago, orville99 said:

We are at Labadee right now, and the improvements that have been done are quite impressive. There are dozens of new buildings and pavilions, the old reentry building is gone so you flow freely from and back to the ship. There are a ton of new paved walkways that run throughout the compound, and there are few if any locals jonesing for tips to get you a lounger. All the loungers are new with tons of umbrellas, and no “attendants”.

 

all in all, it is 1000% better than before the shutdown. We walked around for three hours and never got a grain of sand in our shoes. 

 
Great to hear - we will be there twice in August. We love Labadee, sounds like these changes will only improved the experience. 

[time4u2go]

22 minutes ago, orville99 said:

We walked around for three hours and never got a grain of sand in our shoes. 

Is that good or bad? 😁😉

[Ocean Boy]

26 minutes ago, orville99 said:

 We walked around for three hours and never got a grain of sand in our shoes. 

Apparently we were not walking in the same places. I definitely missed the tons of new paved walkways.

[BillOh]

15 hours ago, brillohead said:

The water slide is a one-time-use (and nothing all that special).

The inflatable Aqua Park is one hour of use, life jackets must be worn by all, and lots of upper body strength is required to climb up onto the obstacles. 

The last time I did that was 2009 and I had just turned 50, I had run several marathons, but my lack of upper body strength was apparent.  Good thing cell phones with quality cameras and storage space weren't that prevalent then.  

[Vera/Lee]

I'm booked on Mariner next month and we stop at Labadee for the day. I checked my cruise planner and I see 3 Cabana offers at Barefoot Beach. Over The Water for $1499, Hilltop for $1099 and Standard Cabana for $999. All three options are sold out at this time.

[mpdog42]

Has anybody done the Private yacht Experence for Three hours.Thanks for any imput!!

[George C]

On 7/1/2022 at 8:25 AM, cruisegirl1 said:

The poster was writing about Barefoot Beach, the beach for suite and/or pinnacle guests. The buffet is different from the general buffet.
 

We’ve been to Labadee /barefoot beach  a few times recently, on two different ships. The upgraded buffet was different per ship. Harmony had thin steaks and Mariner had (decent size for a buffet-similar to the shrimp cocktail on board,) shrimp as well as shrimp salad. A few other buffet items were different from each ship and also several items on the general buffet. Plenty of selection. 
 

A nice lunch treat 

 

m
 

I will take ladabee over coco cay any day because of suite beach, rccl has nothing special on coco cay for suites. But best suite beach we had visited is the one MSc yacht club has , they had great service with waiters and lobster rolls.

[twangster]

Mariner's visit on July 19, 2022:

 

 

Testing out a new Galaxy phone with a super zoom.  Looks like the local Royal staff were escorting some local fishermen out of the ship's way as we approached. 

 

First shot is with the ultra wide lens so you get the idea of the scene.

 

 

Zoomed in a bit.

 

 

Not a bad zoom for a smartphone.

 

 

I wasn't paying very good attention as we docked as I was immediately disoriented upon reaching the pier.  It seems we docked at the inside berth today. so a right turn off the ship.

 

 

Saw them connecting the ship to the pier's fiber box for data networking.  Hmmm.

 

 

As noted upthread the entrance area has had the old security building removed so it's more open now.  Towel station in the building on the left at the end of the pier.

 

 

So weird seeing the ship on this side of the pier.

 

 

 

 

Ceremony setup of some kind.  Wedding maybe?  Vow renewals?

 

 

 

The point was open today.

 

 

 

 

Barefoot Beach signage reads "Barefoot Beach Club" in most places.  Friends in a balcony (non-suite, non-pinnacle) booked an overwater cabana at BB and had no issues accessing BB. 

 

 

 

 

Saw some interlopers try to slip into the BB alternate entrance and they were asked to leave.  Wristbands still used at BB.

 

 

[brillohead]

2 hours ago, BillOh said:

The last time I did that was 2009 and I had just turned 50, I had run several marathons, but my lack of upper body strength was apparent.  Good thing cell phones with quality cameras and storage space weren't that prevalent then.  

I pretty much only see kids on the inflatables.... when you have an adult body and weak arms, the inflatables are much more "work" than they are "fun"!!!

[twangster]

Cheers!  It's gotta be 5 o'clock somewhere...

 

 

While the ship did plug into the pier fiber pedestal I couldn't find any WiFi broadcasting anywhere so while some of the bars at Labadee are connected still no guest WiFi.  My first drink yielded a paper ticket but subsequent drinks at island schooner bar, columbus cove and barefoot beach bar were swiped at POS stations. 

 

 

 

Bar staff reported these were connected to the ship. Back on the ship at 4pm no drinks posted to my ship account yet (for today).

 

The move from paper tickets to POS terminals is pretty big so it's a huge step in the right direction.  Ship bar staff who work at Labadee used to come back to the ship and enter all those paper tickets by hand once the ship departed and still do their regular bar jobs that night.  

 

BB lunch had a few shrimp options.  Not my thing so I did the jerk chicken.  You are what you eat... 

 

 

The premade salads were perfect.  Grab and go.

 

 

Shrimp offerings.

 

 

 

 

The only other thing I saw this trip was some LED lighting in a few places on a pole with a solar panel.  At the marina, path to the point,  Columbus cove dock and Barefoot Beach at a minimum.  I didn't go hunt for them so they could be more.  These might have been here in March for my last visit and I missed them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Random pictures walking around.

 

 

Kiddie splash zone. 

 

 

 

With 3,500 on board there was lots of seating.  Front row oceanfront loungers went early but still lots of loungers and umbrellas to be had all day.  

 

 

 

 

 

The "Pinta" tender (ferry) is still here but given our inside berth today it wasn't in use.

 

 

The aqua park.

 

 

 

The arrivals plaza opened up with the security building gone.

 

 

 

Still not used to seeing the ship on that side of the pier.

 

 

In summary it's mostly the same as it has been with new signage and a revamped arrivals plaza.  Connecting the ship to the pier for networking open the potential that one day soon maybe WiFi coverage will be extended onto Labadee.  My cell phone worked with the included international data from my cell provider.  It was pretty strong early (8Mb down, 3 Mb up) but once more cell phones loaded up the one tower it wasn't as fast later in the day. 

 

They were running the starboard lifeboats later in the day so I think that's why we docked where we did.

[brillohead]

27 minutes ago, twangster said:

So weird seeing the ship on this side of the pier.

 

 

Did they do any lifeboat drills on the starboard side?  Might explain docking "inside out"???

[brillohead]

3 minutes ago, twangster said:

They were running the starboard lifeboats later in the day so I think that's why we docked where we did.

I was writing my post while you were posting yours.... 

[orville99]

17 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Apparently we were not walking in the same places. I definitely missed the tons of new paved walkways.

From the time we walked off the ship until when we walked back on, my fitness tracker logged 2.5 miles, and we never left the paved walkways.

[Ocean Boy]

53 minutes ago, orville99 said:

From the time we walked off the ship until when we walked back on, my fitness tracker logged 2.5 miles, and we never left the paved walkways.

When were you previously there?