Ok all you Labadee veterans...

[WorldTravelerX]

What can you tell me that I should know? I've reserved the Zipline straight off the ship to start things off with a bang, then a little time to walk around, then the jetski excursion at noon. Does that put us back at the right time for the BBQ (where should we go? Is there a "best" place for it, I heard there are 3 sites...), a Labaduzee (again, where - and are there hammocks? :)), and some nice beach time with a frisbee?

 

What else can you tell me? Anything else I should know?

 

How bout that dance show they offer - when and where?

 

Things to avoid or not bother with?

 

Do they happen to have those mini sailboats for 2 people that we could rent or anything like that?

 

Thanks so much - half the pleasure is the daydreaming about it so the more detail I have in my mind the more I can enjoy the surprise of reality when we are actually there!

[Jungle Jane]

What can you tell me that I should know? I've reserved the Zipline straight off the ship to start things off with a bang, then a little time to walk around, then the jetski excursion at noon. Does that put us back at the right time for the BBQ (where should we go? Is there a "best" place for it, I heard there are 3 sites...), a Labaduzee (again, where - and are there hammocks? :)), and some nice beach time with a frisbee?

 

What else can you tell me? Anything else I should know?

 

How bout that dance show they offer - when and where?

 

Things to avoid or not bother with?

 

Do they happen to have those mini sailboats for 2 people that we could rent or anything like that?

 

Thanks so much - half the pleasure is the daydreaming about it so the more detail I have in my mind the more I can enjoy the surprise of reality when we are actually there!

 

 

The food (it's not BBQ, even tho' they call it that) is available starting around 11am, not sure how long your jet ski tour is but I would eat before that b'c if you wait till after that everything may very well be picked over.

 

Labadoozies will be offered to you while on the beach, the guys walk the beaches shouting about them, you can't miss it, unless you aren't spending any time lounging on the beach or in the shallow water.

I wouldn't count too much on any frisbee time, the beaches are usually pretty crowded with folks walking around, not much room for frisbee IMO.

 

I wouldn't avoid anything, it's meant to just be a relaxing beach day with different activities like jet skis, zipline, parasailing, etc. Many will say to stay away from the markets but we really liked the artisan market, (furthest one at the end) where there are no aggressive salespeople. If you don't mind the aggressive salespeople then you should definitely walk around the other market areas as well.

 

We walked the entire peninsula leisurely on foot and that was nice, but the one thing we didn't do that we wished we had was to hop on the tram and see things that way as well.

 

Enjoy Labadee!

[WorldTravelerX]

Great, thanks for the feedback! What do you mean it's not a bbq?...

 

Anyone else think we should hit up the food before the 12p jetski? Is there time, or should I schedule it for 1p?

[Jungle Jane]

Great, thanks for the feedback! What do you mean it's not a bbq?...

 

Anyone else think we should hit up the food before the 12p jetski? Is there time, or should I schedule it for 1p?

 

 

It's not a BBQ nor is it a cookout as some refer to it...meaning it's not food that is actually cooked out on BBQ. It's great food, don't get me wrong, but it's just the food from the ship, they bring it off the ship and set it up buffet style. It's the usual burgers, dogs, chicken, different pasta salads, etc....salads, fruit, desserts, cookies, etc...tons of food and there's the tea or lemonade, stay away from the pink watery stuff, it's gross.

 

If I were you I'd resched the jetski to 1pm. Be in line around 11am for the chow, then eat at a leisurely pace and have time to digest before you head off for your jetskis.

 

Labadee was our favorite beach!

 

Enjoy :)

[sammyjo882]

Are these sold by the locals or the ship - do we need cash or just our ship card?????

 

Are they like a Pina Colada or a Rumrunner - or something totally different? Frozen or on ice???

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

The food is served at 11:30AM in a couple different places on Labadee. The food goes fast so if you have, say, an hour or forty minute waverunner tour at twelve you are pushing your luck on both ends. You will have to rush to eat before the tour and there won't be much food left at the end of the tour. Keep in mind, you can always return to the ship and eat in the Windjammer, but if you plan to spend most of the day at Labadee, you won't find that option attractive.

 

From my view scheduling the waverunner tour at twelve is putting it at a rather bad time. Can you change the time to either later or earlier?

 

As for Frisbee, there is a spot where you could play Frisbee. Hubby and I love to hang out at a part of the beach that is near the end of the Zipline run and views the Dragon's Breath rocks. For some reason that wonderful spot of beach has always been quite neglected by ship passengers and we are often alone there. It is very easy to get a lounge chair and no Haitians are there expecting a tip to get you a lounge chair. At this site you could play Frisbee, just be careful to keep it out of the water because the waves can be quite rough at the site which may be why it is not so crowded.

 

I hope you love Labadee as much as we do. I've been there three times. I never tire of it.

[Jungle Jane]

Are these sold by the locals or the ship - do we need cash or just our ship card?????

 

Are they like a Pina Colada or a Rumrunner - or something totally different? Frozen or on ice???

Sold by locals who wear ship shirts and name badges so you know it's not some whacked out who knows what you're buying. They put it on your card. It's a fruity drink, frozen like a slushie. I won't tell you what's in it, want you to be surprised like I was. Soooooooooooo good. They come virgin, you pay a couple bucks more if you want booze added to it. It comes in a souvenir type cup with a straw and cover, says Labadee on it. SO NICE! ( You'll hear that being shouted all over! )

 

The food is served at 11:30AM in a couple different places on Labadee. Started at 11 when we were there, I guess it differs, but you'll smell it when it's ready. The food goes fast so if you have, say, an hour or forty minute waverunner tour at twelve you are pushing your luck on both ends. You will have to rush to eat before the tour and there won't be much food left at the end of the tour. Keep in mind, you can always return to the ship and eat in the Windjammer, but if you plan to spend most of the day at Labadee, you won't find that option attractive. Totally agree.

 

From my view scheduling the waverunner tour at twelve is putting it at a rather bad time. Can you change the time to either later or earlier? Agree again.

 

As for Frisbee, there is a spot where you could play Frisbee. Hubby and I love to hang out at a part of the beach that is near the end of the Zipline run and views the Dragon's Breath rocks. For some reason that wonderful spot of beach has always been quite neglected by ship passengers and we are often alone there. It is very easy to get a lounge chair and no Haitians are there expecting a tip to get you a lounge chair. At this site you could play Frisbee, just be careful to keep it out of the water because the waves can be quite rough at the site which may be why it is not so crowded. Totally disagree-see pic below.

I hope you love Labadee as much as we do. I've been there three times. I never tire of it.

 

This is a pic of the general area that HeavySurf is referring to, where the zipline ends. It was very hard to get this pic without having ppl walk thru it. There were ppl coming off the zipline, ppl coming to meet ppl coming off the zipline, ppl watching the zipline, ppl walking in and out of the water and along what waters edge...IMO there would have never been enough room for a frisbee game here, at least when we were there. Maybe the island didn't have as many pax there when HeavySurf was there, but when we were there in Feb there was no room for Frisbee anywhere. Can't hurt to bring it anyway, but don't be heartbroken if it doesn't work out.

[OttoCal]

You will have a busy day- not much time for lounging. The zipline is fun, but I think it took us about 2 hours from start to finish- training talk, practice run, range rover rides to the top of the zipline, then sending down in groups of up to 5 people. If you are on the first group- you will be done sooner. If you are on the last groups (think the heaviest guys), you will take that whole 2 hrs.

 

We didn't do the jetski excursion- but reading the other posts it is a love/hate excursion. It is not a free open water trip where you just jet around to wherever you want. It is a follow-the-leader no questions asked, no opportunity for your own exploring, and the pace may be either too fast, too slow, or just right for you depending on what you like to do. I can't imagine it being too fast, but some posts have indicated that is the case. I hope you are one of the ones who loves it!! :D

 

The bbq thing- just think of it is a picnic. Maybe that would be a more helpful description for people who have a very specific idea of what barbque is. I was OK with it being called a bbq, or picnic, or cookout- it is food served outdoors. ;)

 

The market areas are also one of those things you love or hate- I was not a fan of the straw market (excessive haggling, and very interactive- you can't walk by any stalls without having the vendors call out to you- fun for some people, scary for others). I did like the other shoppers village area- more like what US shoppers are used to. marked prices, no haggling, and no one will acknowledge you until you are about 2 seconds away from giving up in frustration at not finding a clerk to ring you up- kind of like what I experience at my local department stores, ha ha. Depends on what you want, what your tolerance for the bargaining culture is.

[ebkallen]

We've been to Cococay and were able to snorkel for a fee like 30$ at our leisure while we were there. Does the same hold true for this island? I don't see this as an excurision on RC website.

[Best Buds]

We too found it hard to plan our day on Labadee because there is so little information on this private peninsula (Haiti) on the internet (or even on CruiseCritic). Just couldn't imagine how it was laid out and where to go. We did finally find some maps and many personal reviews gleaned from these forums and put them in a mini-website to share with our friends (see signature link below). You might find it helps your daydreaming too...

 

We brought our own snorkel equipment ashore on Labadee and spent much of the visit in the water. They require that you rent/wear a snorkel (self-de/inflatable) vest while snorkeling. You can locate the dive shop (and BBQ, jetski, Dragon Rock and bar locations etc.) on the map of Labadee on our mini-website. They have guys in kayaks that come along checking up on snorkelers along the shoreline (we actually got escorted back toward shore because we were almost out to where the ship was moored--heard there was a sunken plane or boat out there--but he never mentioned that we did not have our vests on!) They have a lot of "articifical reefs" made from sunken objects that contain some VERY interesting sealife critters here! There were also fans and brain corals in small amounts. The rocks and crevices along the shore were interesting but not a lot of bright-colored fish as we expected. Labadee is mostly about relaxation to me and the beach hammocks, ocean sounds and Labadoozies do the trick!

 

PS We saw several fishermen in wooden boats with tree branches holding up their "sails" as we prepared to disembark. The locals who come to the private beach area are fairly desperate to sell you their handmade goods or move your beach chair for you and are ever so grateful when you tip them any small amount for playing their music for you or bringing you your drink. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere (by no fault of the common people) and I just hope that we all remember THAT when visiting their country. There are many Haitians that are just plain hungry each day (yes, even including those that are lucky enough to work on RCL's private peninsula) and they and their families would certainly benefit from any small kindness you could spare. Enough said....

[Mistletoe76]

We didn't do the jetski excursion- but reading the other posts it is a love/hate excursion. It is not a free open water trip where you just jet around to wherever you want. It is a follow-the-leader no questions asked, no opportunity for your own exploring, and the pace may be either too fast, too slow, or just right for you depending on what you like to do. I can't imagine it being too fast, but some posts have indicated that is the case. I hope you are one of the ones who loves it!! :D

 

I did the Jet Ski Excursion with my hubby last July in Labadee. This was my first (and only) experience on a Jet Ski and it was a little rough for me. The water was quite choppy during 2 of the 4 jet ski runs and there were times I thought I was going to fall off of it. I felt like I was airborne after hitting the waves but I guess in retrospect I was just scared. There were 10 people in our line and I was number 9 and my hubby was number 10 since I wanted him behind me.

 

If the water was more calm I would have LOVED it but I do think you'll enjoy it! I really enjoyed Labadee. We swam and sunbathed the rest of the day and to be honest we had no clue about the cookout that was provided for the cruise passengers. I did NOT research the cruise too much before hand because we booked last minute after my hubby's 16 month Afghanistan deployment.

 

Original Poster: I hop you Enjoy! I hope you'll post reviews afterwards!

 

Melissa

[kmunis]

What can you tell me that I should know? I've reserved the Zipline straight off the ship to start things off with a bang, then a little time to walk around, then the jetski excursion at noon. Does that put us back at the right time for the BBQ (where should we go? Is there a "best" place for it, I heard there are 3 sites...), a Labaduzee (again, where - and are there hammocks? :)), and some nice beach time with a frisbee?

 

What else can you tell me? Anything else I should know?

 

How bout that dance show they offer - when and where?

 

Things to avoid or not bother with?

 

Do they happen to have those mini sailboats for 2 people that we could rent or anything like that?

 

Thanks so much - half the pleasure is the daydreaming about it so the more detail I have in my mind the more I can enjoy the surprise of reality when we are actually there!

 

 

One of the "BBQ" venues is right where you get off the zip line. If its not ready yet you can take a walk to Dragon's Breath Point which is right there as well or its a very short walk to Hideaway Beach. Where the jet skis are is back over past the tender station, about a ten minute walk so I agree with the other posters that you should try to eat first. Our ship was very full and the food areas got very crowded. In many cases people where waiting in line for 15 minutes just to get to the food once lunch time was in full swing.