out of Labadie ?

[easteregg7]

Royal Caribbean owns a private port at Labadie, Haiti. Do they allow tourists to exit the port and go into the real Haiti? Nearby are ruins of Sans Soucis Palace and the Citadel at Laferriere. I'm more interested in legitimate historical and cultural sites, then a company owned amusement park.

[twangster]

No.  It's a gated compound.   

[firefly333]

30 minutes ago, easteregg7 said:

Royal Caribbean owns a private port at Labadie, Haiti. Do they allow tourists to exit the port and go into the real Haiti? Nearby are ruins of Sans Soucis Palace and the Citadel at Laferriere. I'm more interested in legitimate historical and cultural sites, then a company owned amusement park.

I took the rcl excursion boat ride where we went up the coast a bit... long ago so I dont remember the fence  but other than a small town a ways away where we were told the workers lived, there was nothing around except one other beach you can pay to access. ..

 

No roads to see the real Haiti other than the road for workers where they lived. Idk if its changed but they cut wood to burn and you could see the smoke rising in the town. I dont think they had electricity in the town if I remember. 

 

If you want a easy excursion, I enjoyed the boat ride as it was the only way to view even part of Haiti offered when I went. ..though I got sun burned bad, but lovely sunny day to be out on the water. You saw the fisherman, good view of the back of oasis. 

[BND]

Pretty sure they don't own it, but lease the land from Haiti.  And, no you can't just go into Haiti for several reasons.  One, Labadee is on a pretty undeveloped part of the islands without good roads to get to other locations, two, Haiti is just not set up for tourism and three, it's fenced off for cruisers protection.  Most people who travel to Haiti do it for humanitarian purposes.   

[sfaaa]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

No.  It's a gated compound.   

With armed police patrolling the place.

[TheMastodon]

1 hour ago, easteregg7 said:

Royal Caribbean owns a private port at Labadie, Haiti. Do they allow tourists to exit the port and go into the real Haiti? Nearby are ruins of Sans Soucis Palace and the Citadel at Laferriere. I'm more interested in legitimate historical and cultural sites, then a company owned amusement park.

 

Cruising is probably not for you

[yogimax]

2 hours ago, easteregg7 said:

I'm more interested in legitimate historical and cultural sites, then a company owned amusement park.

I agree.  One of our cruising highlights was a tour of the ruins of Ephesus.  It was truly fascinating.  Like you, we prefer history and culture to water slides.

[ReneeFLL]

1 hour ago, TheMastodon said:

 

Cruising is probably not for you

That's not necessarily true. Why would you even say that? There are plenty of historical sights to be seen in the Islands, but just can't see them in Haiti.

Edited December 9, 2020 by ReneeFLL

[lenquixote66]

3 hours ago, easteregg7 said:

Royal Caribbean owns a private port at Labadie, Haiti. Do they allow tourists to exit the port and go into the real Haiti? Nearby are ruins of Sans Soucis Palace and the Citadel at Laferriere. I'm more interested in legitimate historical and cultural sites, then a company owned amusement park.

I have been to Labadee at least once a year since 2011.I love it and have no desire to ever go to Haiti.

[firefly333]

3 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I have been to Labadee at least once a year since 2011.I love it and have no desire to ever go to Haiti.

Right, just take it for what it is ... a beach day. If you want history, choose another itinerary that doesnt go to this stop.

 

Lots of ruins, belize and mexico. I enjoyed green cave in jamaica where they filmed 007. 

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, yogimax said:

I agree.  One of our cruising highlights was a tour of the ruins of Ephesus.  It was truly fascinating.  Like you, we prefer history and culture to water slides.

Labadee is a private resort day and has never advertised as other than that on Royal Caribbean itineraries.   It is what it is no matter what you or OP prefer.  None can exit the resort area on their own. They do have water excursions that are outside the gated area. I took a guided wave runner tour and we did go along the coast and we got a distant view of the Citadel. Someday possibly there could be tours of the Citadel and Sans Soucis Palace but that would depend on Haiti getting their tourism act together. 

Edited December 9, 2020 by Charles4515

[PelicanBill]

there are two excursions.  The boat ride takes you on a slow ride past the nearby village and you might have an encounter with a floating vendor too.

 

The other excursion takes you to the village and you can interact with the people there.  The village is authentic.

 

[sfaaa]

49 minutes ago, PelicanBill said:

 

 

The other excursion takes you to the village and you can interact with the people there.  The village is authentic.

 

Would you get mobbed by pesky vendors in the village like the ones you encounter on the way to Labedee beach and BBQ? If so, no thanks.

[Cruise a holic]

If you go into the Labadee straw market in the compound, it is authentic, in that residence of Haiti are selling souvenirs- albeit some made in china- however the people are very poor, so we feel good about buying some of the stuff from them- Even if we leave on the ship.  They also have "native" dancers putting on a show by the barbecue, so they typically have a tip jar. 

 

 We also tip generously if in a cabana as the attendant is also from Haiti.

[Ocean Boy]

16 hours ago, TheMastodon said:

 

Cruising is probably not for you

Why do you say that? Other than the private stops the OP can find what they are looking for taking a cruise.

[Ocean Boy]

15 hours ago, yogimax said:

I agree.  One of our cruising highlights was a tour of the ruins of Ephesus.  It was truly fascinating.  Like you, we prefer history and culture to water slides.

I try to avoid itineraries with private stops. I do book the eight nighters out of Ft. Lauderdale that has them as I view Labadee as the tradeoff for getting the extra day.

 

I don't cruise to go to the beach. I can do that down the street. I like exploring or just interacting with the locals.

[FSHLOT]

Labadee is nice, but no way would i want to venture away from the isolated beach. Just the vendors they let sell souveiners are kind of sketchy and aggressive. Not the safest place to venture away from. IMO

[BND]

15 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I have been to Labadee at least once a year since 2011.I love it and have no desire to ever go to Haiti.

We've been there about 8 times and I agree.  It's not a Haiti port stop.  It's a private beach stop.  Some miss that point.

[Ocean Boy]

12 hours ago, sfaaa said:

Would you get mobbed by pesky vendors in the village like the ones you encounter on the way to Labedee beach and BBQ? If so, no thanks.

I tend to not be a very squeamish person and I'd love to go to the Cidadel if RCI offered an excursion. However, Labadee is one place where I have no desire to venture beyond the fence on my own. The place is way too isolated. I feel safer walking around Ocho Rios in Jamaica.

[Milwaukee Eight]

16 hours ago, yogimax said:

I agree.  One of our cruising highlights was a tour of the ruins of Ephesus.  It was truly fascinating.  Like you, we prefer history and culture to water slides.

In Labadie?

[strathcona]

Haiti is a country still at civil war. there is still armed troops from UN there. Haiti has no tourist attraction or tours. Labadee is a gated tip off the west coast.  it is completely fenced off. Even the food is taken directly off the ship. Having been going to Labadee when it was open over 20 years ago, it is a very nice beach day. Back in the old days, there was no docks, zip line or coasters. 

[TravelerThom]

3 hours ago, strathcona said:

Haiti has no tourist attraction or tours.

Yet in less than one minute on the internet I can indeed find offers of tours to the Citadelle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

https://www.viator.com/Haiti-attractions/Citadelle-Laferriere/d4324-a29161?sortType=featured

These tours are NOT available from the RCI compound however. 

Edited December 10, 2020 by TravelerThom

[lenquixote66]

5 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I tend to not be a very squeamish person and I'd love to go to the Cidadel if RCI offered an excursion. However, Labadee is one place where I have no desire to venture beyond the fence on my own. The place is way too isolated. I feel safer walking around Ocho Rios in Jamaica.

We have a friend who grew up in Ocho Rios .She does not feel safe walking around there.Labadee is 100 % safe.

[Ocean Boy]

45 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

We have a friend who grew up in Ocho Rios .She does not feel safe walking around there.Labadee is 100 % safe.

You are saying it is 100% safe outside of the fence?

[Tree_skier]

I have been to Haiti.  I spent 2 weeks in Port-au-prince and surrounding areas in 2016.  Haiti had zero tourism and things have only gotten worse since then.  Traveling anywhere in Haiti is very dangerous. While Viator might offer tours traveling anywhere in Haiti getting there is very dangerous.  Prior to the virus the State dept. issued a level 3 warning to Haiti due to crime, civil unrest and kidnapping. They have since upgraded the warning to level 4 with Covid.  Travel to Haiti will be impossible for the foreseeable future.