The starting port for our Royal Caribbean cruise of the western Caribbean was Labadee, Hispaniola which is really a part of Haiti. This specific port is rented out to Royal Caribbean therefore entirely their cruiseships get here. Labadee is actually a peninsula with a a few beaches. Getting to land from the cruiseship is by tender.
There is a fine department for children with floating fake iceberg lettuces to mounting and water slides but they charge an admission fee. Floatation mattresses are also accessible for hire for those who just want to swim in the sea. There are also locals who help with taking beach chairs for you but they require hints. So affairs here are a money grabber. The cruiseship did have optional turns for snorkelling, parasailing, waverunner and kayaking tours but we thought that they were high-priced. Most passengers just spent the day loosing around the beaches.
The area just about Labadee was enjoyable decent but the beaches and lands themselves were fairly rocky so wearing sandals in the water would be advised. Royal Caribbean had directed a beach BBQ at an outdoor picnic facility which was fine but nothing special. There is a market there lying in of two constructions. One is a store where the souveniers and items have marked prices and the other building is like your regular market where locals try to hustle you for business. The locals interior the market were rough but polite. If you don’t mind haggle, you could get some pretty good deals but if you disapproval this type of aspiring aura, then you best head off the market except for the fixed price store.
One big conflict between this port compared to others is that since it is terrible well being used as a close beach, you will not be hassled by locals. The sellers coming around with drinks at the beach locations are really Royal Caribbean staff so if one wishes to buy a drink, the cruiseship passcard is all that is essential. As for cares about being in Haiti given the poverty and political situation, Labadee was not a trouble because the entire site is involved by a high steel fence. Other riders later told us that they wound off near the perimeter of the site and saw many Haitians along the fence begging for handouts and food. The fencing was mostly dark in the space from the main tourist areas.
We found Labadee in general to be a bit of a waste of time for us. The beaches were too rocky and we didn’t have access to inexpensive activities since everything was run by Royal Caribbean. If one wanted to just go lie on the beach all day and not much else, then Labadee would be a suitable place. For those who want to experience some culture, do water sports without going through the cruiseship, or shop duty free.
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