TOUR HIGHLIGHTS

Well firstly, it is well named, a short boat ride from the ship, you enter an idyllic cove, flanked with trees offering plenty of shade and shallow water to enjoy. Just a little way up the hill behind the cove is an authentic-looking collection of huts that they will tour with you to show some Haitian customs and culture.

PRE-TOUR

All tours on Labadee are controlled by Royal Caribbean as they are the only cruise company to visit this port. Finding the tour was very easy as they all are found at the first building on the right as you exit the quay. Once they know everyone is ready, someone walks around shouting the name of your tour to attract your attention and you then board your boat ready for the off.

On our tour, we made a short stop at a sailing ship where some of the people transferred on to their excursion for the day, before we set off towards Paradise Cove.

BOAT RIDE AND ARRIVAL IN PARADISE COVE

Initially, the boat took a sedate pace as our guide explained a little bit about our tour and what to expect, the reason for this became clear once she’d finished and the boat set off more briskly, and a lot more noisily! It would have been hard to hear her over the engine.

As you move away from the ship, you might see them performing some kind of drill as they often do this in Labadee. For us we heard, from quite some distance away from the ship, the tannoy announcing Bravo, Bravo, Bravo and could see a lifeboat being lowered on the port side. On Royal Caribbean, Bravo, Bravo, Bravo is the code for a fire onboard, so you don’t want to hear it for real!

With the ship out of sight, we entered Paradise Cove and immediately liked it, fringed with trees, almost white sand and shallow water to enjoy, we couldn’t wait to get started. And that doesn’t take long, as it’s important to know that you will get off the boat, once it’s securely anchored, directly into knee-deep water! So make sure you have your swimsuits on ready to go!

Once you’ve waded ashore you can collect your welcome drink from the bar, this is a fruit punch, which you can add alcohol too for an additional charge. I’m not sure what fruits were in it, but it was delicious and refreshing, so good in fact, that we bought another one at the end of the village tour!

THE VILLAGE TOUR

The village tour starts with a climb up several flights of steps, which keeps the village away from any bad weather. As you climb, the guide pointed out some the trees and foliage that we passed. Once at the village, we were introduced to a lady making peanut butter. A few, still warm, roasted peanuts were given to each of us to try, and then, we got to taste a little of the freshly made peanut butter. It’s amazing how the taste of peanuts and peanut butter can be so different, the only addition to the peanut butter was a little cinnamon.

We were then also shown that they roast both coffee and cocoa in similar ways, one guest asked whether they sold any of the coffee, which they didn’t, but maybe that will spark an idea to generate additional revenue for the village?

Moving on, we saw a man making hats and bags; they were impressively light, almost ethereal, they weighed so little. His items were for sale for anyone who was interested.

Our next stop was a man grating ingredients for the bread that was being baked next to him. They flipped the bread in front of us, which was an impressive feat, as it was at least 3 feet across! You get to taste some of the bread, which was still warm and tasted absolutely delicious.

Our final stop was at the artisan’s workshop, here paintings and other artwork were on show and we were each presented with a red flower. The artwork was excellent and we purchased a small piece as a souvenir. It’s important to realise in Labadee that anything you book through the ship, benefits Royal Caribbean mostly, that’s why the lines have these private ports. So anything you buy directly with cash benefits the locals far more and perhaps can help what remains a terribly poor country.

FREE TIME IN PARADISE COVE

By now, even though we visited in November, it was quite hot and muggy and as you descend back down to the beach, that water looks mightily inviting! Almost everyone grabbed a lounger and either relaxed or headed straight to the cool clear water.

You will probably have around 90 minutes to enjoy the cove once the village tour is over and we found this a good amount of time. There are a couple of kayaks you can take out, you will have to put on life jackets or vests, and for some reason, there was only one oar for each kayak! We tried these out briefly as did several of the others on the tour, but mostly we just enjoyed the water. Due to the stream that enters the cove, the water has warm and cool patches as you enjoy it.

And then it was sadly time to return to the port, as we waded back to the boat to take us back and sped away, we looked back at the cove and thought, maybe we could just stay here, you know, forever!?

The boat drops you back at the end of the quay to the ship, where you can return to the ship for lunch, or enjoy ship food which has been brought ashore for you. And then the rest of Labadee is yours to explore.

HOW TO BOOK THE TOUR

There was only one time of departure for this tour which was soon after the ship docked, so you spend the rest of the morning on the tour and arrive back in Labadee towards the end of lunchtime.

From your reservations page on the website or through your Crown and Anchor account, you can goto to the excursions section and find this tour. You can enter the number of tickets you want to purchase and your tickets for the excursion will be in your stateroom when you board the ship.

WHAT TO BRING WITH YOU

You have to wade through knee-deep water to get to the cove from the boat, therefore you need to wear your swimsuit right from the start of the tour. The water IS only knee-deep, so you can take personal belongings such as a rucksack to carry towels and other essentials to the beach no problem. As you get off the boat, the staff will take your belongings and hand them back to you once you’ve descended the ladder into the water.

Things to remember to bring are:

• Your ship access card
• Water: The tour of the village can be warm and the drinks are only for sale on the beach.
• Camera! You’re allowed to bring cameras and phones and there will be lots of opportunities for photos and videos.
• An underwater camera if you want to take pictures out in the cove.
• Insect repellent: The river is a natural home to bugs which might see you as lunch, so bug spray is worth bringing.
• Sturdy/grippy shoes to tour the village, the ground is rough and loose in places. We used water shoes to tour the village and then enjoy the cove.

CHECK-IN

You need to arrive at your assigned meeting point at the first building on the right once you exit the quay around 10-15 minutes before your tour is due to depart. Check your excursion tickets to identify the precise meeting point for your tour, once in the vicinity, all the tours are well signed and you should find “Paradise Cove” quite easily.

You will then be informed to wait nearby and your guide will call out the name of the tour nice and loudly once they are ready to depart.

WAS IT WORTH IT?

We feel this tour is a good value for what you get. It gave us a feel for Haiti that we simply couldn’t have gotten if we had have stayed on the Labadee peninsula all day. It was well organised and the guided tour of the village was interesting and informative. The time afterwards on the beach, kayaking, and just enjoying the cove was very pleasant and relaxing.