The beginning port for our Royal Caribbean cruise of the western Caribbean was Labadee, Hispaniola which is actually a portion of Haiti. This specific port is hired out to Royal Caribbean hence just their cruiseships make out here. Labadee is really a peninsula with a few beaches. Starting to land from the cruiseship is by tender.

There is a little department for kids with wandering fake iceberg lettuces to rise and water slips but they buck an admission fee. Flotation mattresses are also easy for rent for those who just want to swim in the sea. There are also locals who help with taking beach chairs for you but they have points. So affairs here are a money grabber. The cruiseship did have optional tours for snorkelling, parasailing, waverunner and kayaking tours but we idea that they were pricey. Most passengers just spent the day unwinding around the beaches.

The area around Labadee was enjoyable decent but the beaches and shores up themselves were fairly rocky so enduring sandals in the water would be considered. Royal Caribbean had devised a beach BBQ at an outdoor picnic adeptness which was fine but nothing special. There is a market there consisting of two constructions. One is a store where the souveniers and items have marked prices and the other building is like your typical market where locals try to hustle you for business. The locals only the market were hard-hitting but nice. If you don't mind wrangling, you could get some pretty good deals but if you disfavor this type of driven 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 pretty well being used as a individual beach, you will not be harassed by locals. The marketers coming around with drinks at the beach locations are really Royal Caribbean staff so if one wishings to buy a drink, the cruiseship passcard is all that is essential. As for concerns about being in Haiti given the poorness and political situation, Labadee was not a problem because the entire site is involved by a high steel fence. Other riders later told us that they rolled off near the perimeter of the site and saw many Haitians along the fence imploring for releases and food. The fencing was mostly secret in the distance from the main tourist countries.

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.