Good times in Labadee, Haiti.

Well, I guess I never guessed I'd be vacationing in Haiti at any point in my life.. yet here I was...

But to say I was truly in Haiti is kind of a lie. Labadee is the Disneyfied version of Haiti that Royal Caribbean International wants you to see, clean... cruise goers only.. safe. While absolutely beautiful and a trip highlight for sure, I was kinda left feeling cheated. Yeah, I guess now I can say I have been to Haiti but it didn't really feel it? In fact... Doing research on the private beach location I came to find out Royal Caribbean used to almost go out of their way to make sure people didn't know they were in Haiti at all. Calling Labadee their "Private Island" (while in fact just a beach....) and later on saying it was part of the island of Hispaniola (and while true, its also misleading)  nowadays there is no shame or hiding of the fact you are in fact in Haiti and I myself don't see why there ever was. The fact I was gonna get to go to Haiti made me book this cruise over some of the other options I could have gone with. But seeing how most people have a preconceived notion of what Haiti must be like maybe it was a turn-off for some. Rambling aside...  Labadee was fantastic even if you aren't allowed off Royal Caribbean's property (IE: No going into real Haiti, despite Deka's effort) 

Woo

So, if you read my Freedom of the Seas update you'll know that Haiti was the first of four stops along my seven day cruise. Labadee was the first port but our third day.

After getting up way to early and overeating at FABuffet we were greeted by the island of Hispaniola and the country of Haiti, Labadee our destination.

Ah, Country Credit #15 Haiti! And Labadee, Royal Caribbean's private beach resort/complex.

Welcome, indeed.

Stepping off the boat for the first time in some 40 hours Deka and I made sure we were *first* off!

And in case you forgot what the boat look liked

(or, uh, me?)

Like I mentioned earlier, Royal Caribbean used to avoid mentioning you were in Haiti. Overtime things have changed (a good thing) and they've seemed to embrace it.

What you can see of the country, along with the private beach area is absolutely stunning and far more picturesque than any other port visited.

Deka and I had tickets for the first zip-line adventure of the day. Along with the Alpine Coaster, Royal Caribbean's over-ocean zip-line was a big factor in my trip planning and wasn't to be missed. Tickets are not required in advanced but seeing is how this stop was the only one where you didn't have exterior options, we played it safe and booked ours early.

Before getting to the amazing Dragon's Breath Flight Line zip, you start with the trial run.

Meet the Little Dragon! yaayyy

After a safety lesson and the quick ride on the little dragon we were off on a crazy-ass bus ride up a Haitian mountain. I'm glad the 'bus' had seat-belts.....  and uh, handle bars.

Ahhh..... wonderful.

Looking out over Labadee, 500 feet or so over the beach and with 2,600 feet of cable in front of me... I was so ready for this.

Deka seemed a little unsure... 

but once she got going she loved it

(I did too!)

The ride down is amazing and 100% worth the price, I was tempted to go for a second.

(haha, and at one point we watched someone drop their flip flop about halfway down the zip)

Once we were finished with the zip we made our way over to the other big reason I wanted to take this trip.....

Ah, the Dragon's Tail Coaster.

Once your car makes the 600+ foot climb up the side of the mountain its all down hill from there

And while governed, like the other Wiegand Alpine Coasters...

this one was the best of the three I've done.

The dips on Dragon's Tail were much more severe and some of the turns seemed to toss you more so than the ones at Jiminy Peak and Wisp Resort.

The "beach overlook" helix was my favorite part. Flying out of the jungle and seeing the whole beach below was amazing.... each and every time.

I had gotten myself the all-day pass and took ten rides over the day, Deka only got a single ride ticket as she had planned to try and visit the real parts of Haiti

nerd-shot

((video below))

Once realizing that wasn't gonna happen.. we made our way over to one of the many beaches within the complex (we tried two of the, I believe, five) 

Adrenaline Beach was our first stop as its pretty much at the coasters exit... It was nice but had a rocky/shelly base.

Neat little beach-bed cabana... things we saw in passing.

At the far edge of Adrenaline Beach and the complex's property line was this neat tidal pool

On the other end of the complex was Columbus Cove.

Columbus Cove was our favorite beach area.

smooth sand with palm trees right up to the waters edge 

(And a deep deep end..... I couldn't even make it to the bottom)

But I HATED the market area you had to pass by. 

This photo is of the nicer area.. but there's a HUGE area along what would have been a nice walking trail and all the sellers do is scream at you to come over and buy stuff.

Although I was tempted.....

I left without buying anything.

Ah, thats more like it..

Nice tree-lined paths

 Although even that was tainted by these awful coconuts.

While exploring more of the complex we found the waterslide.

Dragon's Tail, its the newest feature of the resort area.

It's also an upcharge and since we had done the zip and coaster, we passed on it.

(But it did look fun)

 You're Doing It Wrong!

I really liked these rock formations, kinda bummed me out they put the slide over part of them.

Just past the slide is Nellie's Beach and these super cool looking beach huts with private water access.

(Just $250 for the day!)

Nature.

Ooh, and flowers too!

Small little spray-ground area in the middle of the beach.

There's also these neat ruins of an old church

And in a fenced off area close to the dock is an area labeled Dragon's Lookout Point.

Shame this area is off-limits now.

 This doggy was doing a good job making sure people didn't try and sneak out there.

And for those who ate too much at FABuffet......

You can ride around the complex on these little trams, there's three stops in all.

(and yes, one lets off right next to the on-land buffet)

After 8 hours or so, our time in Labadee was running out. Near the end, Deka and I split off so she could run the gauntlet of the market place once more and pick up a few things. I myself took a stroll in a small memorial garden I found before making my way back onto the boat.

Making my way back to the boat I passed what I assume was people doing some sort of traditional singing and dancing.

Back on the ship.... losers were still taking part in the Cupid Shuffle. Just awful

UGH

And, well, that's about it....

The sun sets over Haiti and Hispaniola as we make our way to Jamaica.

yaayyy

Videos!

Dragon's Tail Coaster on-ride video!
...and...

Little Dragon / Dragon's Breath Flight Line on-ride video

So yeah.... Next update will be Falmouth, Jamaica!