Still loving Labadee! 2/10/15
Back to our day at Labadee!
After Alex and Keith came back from the wave runner excursion that never was...they ate the lunch that we brought back for them, that by now was cold, but still better than nothing!
But, backing up just a bit, when we went over to the Dragon Coaster, we walked past all of the vendors in the Artisan's Market...
The vendors all stay back behind that stone wall and definitely call out to everyone passing to come in and check out their merchandise. For the first couple of yards its not too bad, but by the time you get to the end of the walk, it is a bit frustrating. If you are just passing through to get from one side of the area to another and have no intention of looking or buying anything, it's quite annoying. I'm not one to be rude and I do try to always say "no thank you". But how often can you say this on a walk? I can't imagine if I did want to shop, I would feel that it's much too aggressive of an environment for me to feel comfortable browsing.
So then we walked back over to Columbus Cove to get the wristbands for the Aqua Park. Back when we were at the Dragon Coaster, I mentioned that when they rode the coaster, they removed the wristbands, but when I tried to get the timed bands at Columbus Cove for the combo price, they told me I needed to have already ridden the Coaster for the discount. It seemed none of this made any sense. So after the kids rode the coaster we stopped back at the desk to ask what to do, and most of the guys there had no idea what I was talking about. One guy did though, and just gave us 4 wristbands to prove we paid and wanted the combo pass. I told him only 2 of us rode the coaster, he said no worries. Ok.....moving on. Back to Columbus cove. Again, waiting in line, filling out the waiver forms, which I think would be nice to have one central waiver the way they do on the ship for things like the rock wall, ice rink, flowrider - you do it once and maybe could do it before you board and it's computerized? But anyway - you have to fill out another waiver for the aqua park. We got to the front of the line, showed them the bands and paid whatever the discounted price was and got the new wristbands for the aqua park. Just the kids and Keith were doing that. No way was I going to try climbing up on those floating masses!
They had fun, but other than Alex, said it was HARD work! Even Keith looked a bit tired out there! And Megan had a tough time with a lot of them.
It was windy, remember - so some were closed off and they weren't allowed to go on those - mainly the tallest pyramid ones.
This is the water slide that is over on Columbus Cove, the Dragon's Splash Water Slide. I don't remember seeing many people, if any using it while we were there. I can't remember the cost, but it isn't very big looking!
This is how Columbus Cove Beach looks from the pier where I was waiting for them while they were at the Aqua Park
They spent just under an hour out there. I think it may have started drizzling a bit but nothing to stop them, and it didn't last. When they were done it was about time to head back to the ship anyway. So we went back to the cabana and started to pack up.
You can get a pretty good overall view of the cabana itself here
We said goodbye to our butler and it was time to head back to the ship.
Some pictures from the walk back...
So Labadee....overall we loved it. I thought there was plenty to do to keep everyone happy. It was very clean and there was enough space for everyone. But as I mentioned, we were the only ship in port. If another ship docked, that may be another story because things like the buffet for lunch were quite crowded! I think the zip line is way overpriced, and it's too bad that they charge you for every activity - such as the coaster, the aqua park, the water slide etc, and that it's per use not per visit. It does generate a bit of that nickel and dime feeling.
As for the cabana....for us we didn't make use of it for what we paid. With two active kids, and with it not being so very hot, we just had no need to be out of the sun for any long period of time or time to just sit and relax! The day went far too quickly for that! The main advantage that we saw was a guaranteed place for our belongings all day that we knew they "should" be safe. And we knew we would always have a chair or two if we wanted them, be it in the sun or shade. The floats in the water were great too since they came with the cabana. But I don't know that those benefits were worth the cost. Our butler really didn't make his presence known let alone do anything for us. He never once asked us if we wanted drinks or anything - I'm not even sure what he was there for. But I HOPE that he made sure that our belongings were safe while we were not in the cabana. Aside from when I was in the water, I always had my camera with me so we really didn't have much other than our sea pass cards and beach bags, maybe a small amount of cash, a kindle maybe. Nothing I would want someone to walk off with.
And the artisan's market....that was pushy....but it's totally avoidable.
I would definitely love to go back!
After Alex and Keith came back from the wave runner excursion that never was...they ate the lunch that we brought back for them, that by now was cold, but still better than nothing!
But, backing up just a bit, when we went over to the Dragon Coaster, we walked past all of the vendors in the Artisan's Market...
The vendors all stay back behind that stone wall and definitely call out to everyone passing to come in and check out their merchandise. For the first couple of yards its not too bad, but by the time you get to the end of the walk, it is a bit frustrating. If you are just passing through to get from one side of the area to another and have no intention of looking or buying anything, it's quite annoying. I'm not one to be rude and I do try to always say "no thank you". But how often can you say this on a walk? I can't imagine if I did want to shop, I would feel that it's much too aggressive of an environment for me to feel comfortable browsing.
So then we walked back over to Columbus Cove to get the wristbands for the Aqua Park. Back when we were at the Dragon Coaster, I mentioned that when they rode the coaster, they removed the wristbands, but when I tried to get the timed bands at Columbus Cove for the combo price, they told me I needed to have already ridden the Coaster for the discount. It seemed none of this made any sense. So after the kids rode the coaster we stopped back at the desk to ask what to do, and most of the guys there had no idea what I was talking about. One guy did though, and just gave us 4 wristbands to prove we paid and wanted the combo pass. I told him only 2 of us rode the coaster, he said no worries. Ok.....moving on. Back to Columbus cove. Again, waiting in line, filling out the waiver forms, which I think would be nice to have one central waiver the way they do on the ship for things like the rock wall, ice rink, flowrider - you do it once and maybe could do it before you board and it's computerized? But anyway - you have to fill out another waiver for the aqua park. We got to the front of the line, showed them the bands and paid whatever the discounted price was and got the new wristbands for the aqua park. Just the kids and Keith were doing that. No way was I going to try climbing up on those floating masses!
They had fun, but other than Alex, said it was HARD work! Even Keith looked a bit tired out there! And Megan had a tough time with a lot of them.
It was windy, remember - so some were closed off and they weren't allowed to go on those - mainly the tallest pyramid ones.
This is the water slide that is over on Columbus Cove, the Dragon's Splash Water Slide. I don't remember seeing many people, if any using it while we were there. I can't remember the cost, but it isn't very big looking!
This is how Columbus Cove Beach looks from the pier where I was waiting for them while they were at the Aqua Park
They spent just under an hour out there. I think it may have started drizzling a bit but nothing to stop them, and it didn't last. When they were done it was about time to head back to the ship anyway. So we went back to the cabana and started to pack up.
You can get a pretty good overall view of the cabana itself here
We said goodbye to our butler and it was time to head back to the ship.
Some pictures from the walk back...
So Labadee....overall we loved it. I thought there was plenty to do to keep everyone happy. It was very clean and there was enough space for everyone. But as I mentioned, we were the only ship in port. If another ship docked, that may be another story because things like the buffet for lunch were quite crowded! I think the zip line is way overpriced, and it's too bad that they charge you for every activity - such as the coaster, the aqua park, the water slide etc, and that it's per use not per visit. It does generate a bit of that nickel and dime feeling.
As for the cabana....for us we didn't make use of it for what we paid. With two active kids, and with it not being so very hot, we just had no need to be out of the sun for any long period of time or time to just sit and relax! The day went far too quickly for that! The main advantage that we saw was a guaranteed place for our belongings all day that we knew they "should" be safe. And we knew we would always have a chair or two if we wanted them, be it in the sun or shade. The floats in the water were great too since they came with the cabana. But I don't know that those benefits were worth the cost. Our butler really didn't make his presence known let alone do anything for us. He never once asked us if we wanted drinks or anything - I'm not even sure what he was there for. But I HOPE that he made sure that our belongings were safe while we were not in the cabana. Aside from when I was in the water, I always had my camera with me so we really didn't have much other than our sea pass cards and beach bags, maybe a small amount of cash, a kindle maybe. Nothing I would want someone to walk off with.
And the artisan's market....that was pushy....but it's totally avoidable.
I would definitely love to go back!
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