When you talk about my favorite places to visit in the Caribbean, one of them will always be Royal Caribbean's private island of Labadee and today we're stopping at Labadee to indulge in a little paradise.
The ship docked at 8am, which actually woke me up. For some reason when the ship goes to dock or leave port, the jitters a lot. Very odd but I knew we were pulling in.
Just like San Juan, I decided to hang back a little bit and get off the ship a bit later. I got off the ship at 9am and there was no line or anything.
In Labadee we dock at the pier and then it's a short walk to the beach.
Today, my friends at MEI-Travel reserved a cabana for our use and I made my way to Nellie's Beach.
Labadee has two cabana areas: Barefoot Beach Club and Nellie's Beach. Barefoot Beach Club has its own private beach for cabana guests as well as suite guests. At Nellie's Beach, cabana guests share the beach with other guests.
We had an over water cabana, which at Nellie's was a real advantage. We had direct access to the ocean via a private walkway and ladder.
The cabana experience is a great way to spend the day in Labadee and I was quite happy to do it. I think when I return next with my family I will reserve one again.
At about 11am, we had our next group cruise meet, which was the Labadooze Appreciation Society meet. I bought everyone in attendance the first round of Labadoozies and it was as good as I remember.
Lunch was the usual island BBQ and I went with the burgers. Simple, yet effective.
After lunch I headed back to the ship to drop off my stuff so I wouldn't be saddled with it when it was time to go on the zip line.
Back on the ship, it was not very crowded and I took the opportunity since I was kind of hot anyway from the walk back to hop in the pool. For those keeping score at home, that would be my first time in the pool this cruise. It was so empty I just couldn't resist!
After a quick swim, I headed back to the room to unload my stuff, went down to the gangway and back onto the pier to head to Labadee. Until I realized I forgot to change into sneakers for the zip line.
I ran back up the pier, through security and upstairs to change and then reversed it all, again. Luckily, I still made it to the check in area for the zip line early.
I apologize in advance for not having photos of my zip line adventure. The literature indicated no camers except ones that are attached to you. In reality, you can bring anything you can hold onto or stuff in your pocket. Lesson learned for next time.
It's a three step process to doing the zip line. First, you get your harness and watch a primer video. Nothing too exciting yet.
Next, you walk about two minutes away to a practice zip line course, where you try the techniques from the video out before doing it on the real thing. Evidently a 20 foot drop is less lethan than a 500 foot drop.
Because of high winds, we all had to position ourselves to go as slow as possible. That means it looks like we are sitting in a chair with our arms up and not like an Olympic luge competitor.
The first training course was simple enough, although 3 people chickened out at this point. I was worried about my form but seemed to be doing things correctly so we were off for the real thing!
We hopped in a truck and went up a very steep and winding road. It was bumpy and I had read others saying this was the scariest part of the excursion but I did not think it was that bad.
Once at the top of the mountain, we got ready to go. I was more apprehensive than I was scared because I just wanted to get it over with. I'll admit once seated and ready to go at the top, you definitely have a moment of "woa". Thankfully they initiate the process and off you go!
It's an amazing view and we had great weather, so we saw a lot of the island and after a few seconds of jitters, I enjoyed it. Like so many others have said, it's a great experience but on the expensive side ($99 per person).
Back on the ship, I showered and changed and got ready for this evening's activities. I'm worried just because news like that makes me worried about sea sickness. I do have Bonine, which I will be taking in advance of the storm to prepare but mentally it's alarming. Hoping for the best!
First up was the top-tier Crown and Anchor Society party for platinum and above members. There was not a whole lot that was different than what we saw and heard in the first Crown and Anchor party.
The Captain did tell us we were heading into some bad weather. Like, close the pool decks and take some medicine bad weather.
By now I was actually pretty hungry and my dinner was still a few hours off so I decided to go up to the Windjammer for a pre-dinner snack. As I walked to it, I passed by the suites-only restaurant Coastal Kitchen and thought to myself I should ask if I can eat there because I have nothing to lose. Sure enough, the crew member at the door let me in!
Coastal Kitchen is a California-inspired restaurant that is on deck 14 right outside the Windjammer. Because I was eating a full meal later, I decided to stick with a few appetizers to keep it light.
Everything I got (including the breads everyone gets) were really good. I liked the takes Coastal Kitchen had on some established dishes and would definitely go back to eat there again. If I was staying in a suite.
I wandered onto the pool deck after eating at Coastal Kitchen and saw literally two people in line for North Star. I quickly jumped on the line and the crew member told us this would be the last ride of the day. Besides the fact I was ecstatic I walked onto North Star, the sun was setting and it would give us a great vantage point.
I should point out it was really windy and as soon as North Star engaged, we were rocking quite a bit in there. At first, I was nervous about it but you get used to it and I spoke to the crew member inside who said it's not a big deal. He said as long as the ship isn't rocking too badly, they can handle most any winds.
I wandered around the ship a bit more and then finally it was time or my dinner at Jamie's Italian.
I had heard lots of good things about Jamie's and I think the reputation held up.. Everything we ordered was good or great and their focus on fresh ingredients that are also quality ingredients really shows. In fact, they make their own pasta everyday.
Our table of 4 ordered a little of everything and we were stuffed. I loved the arincini balls, eggplant parmesan and epic homemade brownie.
Tomorrow is a sea day!
