Labadee, Haiti-What happens if unrest?

[A&L_Ont]

6 hours ago, mafig said:

One time on a Holland America cruise we were there from early AM to midnight.  We rented a car and drove around the island and stopped where they have the pig dinners (I think they call it "lechan", or something like that...🤔).

The Pork Highway… one day I want to get there. 😋

[A&L_Ont]

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

3) The guy standing across the street from the cruise pier saying that he was a stranded traveler from Minnesota asking for money to get back home.

He never seems to leave the corner .Every time we are in San Juan he is there

I remember reading about him more than a decade ago on the ports of call thread.  People on our cruise roll call “met” him and called his bluff. He took off like rocket. 

[mo&fran]

1 hour ago, death_star said:

There is also the Walgreens there too. My favorite is going to Chocobar Cortes. Their regular food is quite good if you don't like chocolate. 

But their prices are substantially higher than here on the mainland.

[ONECRUISER]

3 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

3) The guy standing across the street from the cruise pier saying that he was a stranded traveler from Minnesota asking for money to get back home.

He never seems to leave the corner .Every time we are in San Juan he is there

First time in San Juan that I ran into "Stranded" panhandler from the Mainland was July 4 1988

Edited July 10, 2021 by ONECRUISER

[lenquixote66]

16 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

First time in San Juan that I ran into "Stranded" panhandler from the Mainland was July 4 1988

For me it was 1994.

[A&L_Ont]

1 minute ago, lenquixote66 said:

For me it was 1994.

It was maybe around 2006 for us. Amazing that the scam lasted that long. Perhaps the son took over the family tradition.

[lenquixote66]

3 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

It was maybe around 2006 for us. Amazing that the scam lasted that long. Perhaps the son took over the family tradition.

He probably made a lot of money doing that.

[jean87510]

3 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Interesting. I would not have thought about biking with the cobblestones and narrow traffic filled streets. And I love to bike.

there was a cool bike path that we used.  Took us from the forts to the beach at ensenada.  The bike company met us at the old san juan pier with the bikes.  They also do tours.

[Jenjer]

Love private islands myself. Haiti has been in unrest before the the ships have docked. Labadee is isolated private tip of the island. It is very protected. They are not going to put people and more importantly to them the ship in harms way.   If they think there is any danger they would absolutely skip the port, weather makes them skip all the time. In truth I would not worry about it but I would not expect any OBC if it happens.  

[fla gang]

I've been on September cruises where the entire cruise locations were changed because of hurricanes. Got back on board in Nassau and the Captain announced instead of Grand Cayman and Cozumel we were going to St Thomas and St Maarten! I was ok with that.

 

[gfountain1]

I doubt any unrest reaches labadee in any capacity. Labadee is quite literally barb wire fenced off from the rest of the country. If you travel near the fence line you will find hungry children begging for scraps from the all you can eat buffet inside the compound. 

[latebuyer]

What do people think of these 2 itineraries?

 

Jewel of the seas: labadee, san juan, st. Maartens, st. John antigua

Radiance of the seas: puerto plata, st. John, antigua, crosstown , barbados, st. Lucia, charlotte, amalie, st. Thomas

 

The jewel of the seas trip is cheaper as it had  no single supplement. I am less concerned with unrest in labadee, than that it seems a bit of a throw away port although if i look at it as a day at the beach it sounds ok. I also want to go to the other ports on that cruise but feel 5 ports is better value.

 

With labadee do you have to take an excursion or can you walk to the beach? It sounds like san juan you can walk to the town although there is a food and culture tour that sounded interesting.

[brillohead]

3 hours ago, christinand said:

With labadee do you have to take an excursion or can you walk to the beach? 

Labadee is heaven to me -- my drink package from the ship works, and food is included, too, so I can spend the whole day ashore (or, rather, floating in the water) and not spend a dime!

You can walk to one of the three beaches for free, or you can ride the "trolley" there for free.  If you're not happy with a Beach Day, you're better off with an excursion or staying on the ship, but I love a relaxing day at the beach.

[Ocean Boy]

3 hours ago, brillohead said:

Labadee is heaven to me -- my drink package from the ship works, and food is included, too, so I can spend the whole day ashore (or, rather, floating in the water) and not spend a dime!

 

RCI would be nuts charging for the food offerings there.

[island lady]

On 7/10/2021 at 4:28 PM, Ocean Boy said:

Interesting. I would not have thought about biking with the cobblestones and narrow traffic filled streets. And I love to bike.

 

We like Old Town for the walking experience.  Would be cumbersome to us to have the bikes.  

[ReneeFLL]

On 7/10/2021 at 4:04 PM, Iamcruzin said:

That CVS must make money hand over fist with all of the cruise ship shoppers. They are probably feeling the pinch this past year.

About 4 - 5 years ago I came down with a bad cold.  Hubby went to CVS to get cough drops. All they had was a monster bag so he ended up getting it anyway. It must have been for a family of 10 since we haven’t even put a dent in it. Either they were out of the smaller bags or they keep the big bags in stock so you have to buy more than you need. 
 

[Iamcruzin]

2 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

About 4 - 5 years ago I came down with a bad cold.  Hubby went to CVS to get cough drops. All they had was a monster bag so he ended up getting it anyway. It must have been for a family of 10 since we haven’t even put a dent in it. Either they were out of the smaller bags or they keep the big bags in stock so you have to buy more than you need. 
 

They usually have them on sale buy one get one 50% off. Unless you are buying vitamins nobody needs two of anything. Most of the time they will expire before you finish the first package.

[loman]

13 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

RCI would be nuts charging for the food offerings there.

I stopped eating there a while ago . We go back to the ship to eat . Windjammer has less flies.

[island lady]

17 minutes ago, loman said:

I stopped eating there a while ago . We go back to the ship to eat . Windjammer has less flies.

 

LOL...same thing we do. 

 

And we always make the same joke about the island buffet.  

 

The server asks us...."you want flies with that?".   😁

[Iamcruzin]

14 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

RCI would be nuts charging for the food offerings there.

Isn't that the truth. That private Island food is horrendous on any cruise lines private island.  I hope those who book those over priced cabanas can get a hamburger that's more beef than mushy filler.

[loman]

2 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

LOL...same thing we do. 

 

And we always make the same joke about the island buffet.  

 

The server asks us...."you want flies with that?".   😁

Oh ,  I didnt know you could ask them to hold the flies ?

I didnt know they were optional. I thought they were part of the meal. 

As you can probably tell , im not the outdoorsy type.

[At Sea At Peace]

33 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

Isn't that the truth. That private Island food is horrendous on any cruise lines private island.  I hope those who book those over priced cabanas can get a hamburger that's more beef than mushy filler.

 

We found MSC's Ocean Cay to be a pleasant exception to your generally accurate assessment of our other experiences.

[grandgeezer]

37 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

Isn't that the truth. That private Island food is horrendous on any cruise lines private island.  I hope those who book those over priced cabanas can get a hamburger that's more beef than mushy filler.

I thought most of the food came from the ship, if so, you would be eating the same stuff if you staid on the ship.

[time4u2go]

8 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

I thought most of the food came from the ship, if so, you would be eating the same stuff if you staid on the ship.

There's WAY more selections on the ship. And less flies. 

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, loman said:

I stopped eating there a while ago . We go back to the ship to eat . Windjammer has less flies.

 

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

LOL...same thing we do. 

 

And we always make the same joke about the island buffet.  

 

The server asks us...."you want flies with that?".   😁

 

1 hour ago, Iamcruzin said:

Isn't that the truth. That private Island food is horrendous on any cruise lines private island.  I hope those who book those over priced cabanas can get a hamburger that's more beef than mushy filler.

I'll see you all in the Windjammer.