Day 5 – Labadee, Haiti
Our last stop on the cruise was in Labadee, Haiti. It was a strange place to visit. Haiti has never been a place I’ve been particularly interested in visiting and right now, the U.S. lists it as a level 4 travel advisory (do not travel). There is a lot of violence and unrest in the country, so it’s not a safe place for people to visit. Labadee is Royal Caribbean’s private island in Haiti, so we were in a secluded part of the country, far from the unrest. Still, I felt very weird being here. It just feels like a very strange location to have a cruise port, you know?
Our excursion in Haiti was “sip and paint” and I was looking forward to that. I’m hoping that these excursions somewhat benefit local Haitians. But I think that may be wishful thinking. We were scheduled to do our excursion around 12:30, which meant we got to sleep in a bit before getting off the ship. I woke up a little earlier than needed, and was greeted to a gorgeous view of the island. It was so pretty! I wanted to sit outside with my book and read, but after just 10 minutes, I had to go inside because the balcony was right in the sun’s path and it was beating down on me.
Eventually, we took showers and got ready for the day. We got off the ship a little after 11 am and there were a few wonderful little photo opps right off the ship. I was really grateful when a man offered to take pictures of my mom and me, and his wife must have trained him very well because he took multiple photos from multiple angles. Instagram husband, FTW!
We strolled around the island for a bit, taking it all in. It was really such a beautiful place! We got drinks and then sat down at the buffet for lunch. Since this is Royal’s private island, all of the food was from the ship, which meant it was free. So that’s nice, at least! I enjoyed some pasta salad, a hamburger, corn on the cob, and a delicious mini chocolate cake for dessert. Yum, yum!
After lunch, we took a tram to the market to poke around in the shops for a bit, since we had time to kill. The shops were filled with local artists’ work, and I really wanted to take home one of the paintings but I didn’t feel like lugging it around until it was time to go back on the ship. Ah, well. Maybe next time!
We checked in for our painting excursion a little bit before 12:30, and we were soon taken to a beautiful little spot that was shady and provided a nice island breeze. It felt so good because we had been walking around in the heat for a while and we were ready to cool down. We had three options to paint: a flower pot, a plate, and a boat. I chose the boat because I figured it would be something fun to paint.
And then we were given rum punch to drink and the freedom to paint our items however we wanted to! I love the meditative nature of painting like this. I don’t care about being creative or making it look particularly beautiful. I just like the act of painting something over and over again. There’s something so soothing about it! My boat did not turn out particularly well, but I couldn’t help painting a cat face on the top and calling it “The LE,” which are the girls’ initials. 🙂
Throughout our time painting, our tour guides talked to us about life in Haiti and the items we were painting. The boat I was painting, in particular, is a version of the boat that carries Haitians around the island: to work, to the grocery store, to school, etc. Afterward, one of the tour guides took us to view a real version of this boat, and that was really cool.
We spent a little more time on the island when we were finished, but eventually made our way back to the ship where we promptly took naps. Are you even surprised by now?! You shouldn’t be. We are napping queens, that’s for sure.
Our night was pretty low-key! We got up around 6 and went down to the dining room for dinner. We had a delicious meal and afterward, we spent some time walking around the ship. Mom wanted to go to the gift shop, so we did that, and then came back to the cabin to play cards and then called it a night.
Day 6 – At Sea
Our last day of the cruise! I’ll be totally honest with you: By day 6, I was ready to be home. I loved this cruise and I had a blast, but I missed my cats a lot and just wanted to be in my own bed. And to have reliable Internet once again.
I woke up to a very rocky cruise ship. For the most part, it’s rare to feel the rockiness of a cruise ship but when the weather gets bad, it becomes very noticeable. I could tell that it was going to be an interesting day on the ship because I could feel the rocking when I was in bed and then stumbled my way to the bathroom. How fun!
Mom and I got up around 11 and put on comfy clothes before going down to the dining room for lunch. The weather looked crummy from our balcony, so I figured it wasn’t going to be a day for laying by the pool! I happily ordered my mozzarella sticks appetizer for lunch as well as a steak quesadilla. Yummmm.
Then, we ventured over to the solarium where they had drained the pool and set up a net to keep people away from it. Apparently, the pool water had been cresting over the pool and onto the deck chairs due to the ship’s rockiness, so they made the choice to drain it. At least it was easy to find a deck chair!
Mom and I ordered drinks and then we read our books for a bit. Around 3, we headed over to the lounge to buy bingo cards. Yay! We didn’t want to miss the opportunity today. Bingo was a lot of fun, although Mom and I didn’t win anything, womp womp. But I just enjoy playing either way. It’s fun to check off the numbers with the dabber.
After bingo, we headed to the centrum area of the ship so we could see the Christmas tree lighting! Funnily enough, the couple we sat next to during lunch was sitting on the couch right next to the Christmas tree and Mom asked if we could share the seat, and they graciously said yes. So we had a great view of the tree! They gave everyone free champagne and played Christmas music, so it really got me in the holiday spirit. The Christmas tree all lit up was so beautiful!
Eventually, we meandered back to our cabin. We both tried to take naps, but we weren’t very tired so instead, we played some cards and then started getting ready for dinner. After dinner, Mom and I played another game of Scrabble in the lounge where Mom absolutely trounced me. It was quite a showing from her. While we were playing Scrabble, we witnessed a major fight between two people that included a lot of f-bombs, so Mom and I couldn’t help repeating their words. “Mom, we need to fucking go back to our fucking cabin so we can fucking pack our shit.” It’s the little things sometimes, you guys. 🙂
And that was our cruise! We went back to our cabin (to “fucking pack our shit,” you know) and were in bed pretty early. I was so excited to get back to Port Canaveral and get home to my kitties. I missed them so, so, SO much.
Rebecca J Vincent
Haiti is a strange port! Probably cheap to port there.
There is something therapeutic just dabbing on bingo cards. My BFF & I used to go with my mom when we were teenagers & my BFF would just dab… not even listening to numbers. It would drive my mom CRAZY… its like, she paid for her cards – let her just do what she wants LOL
Stephany
The dabbing is the most fun part of Bingo! They now have these electronic tablets you can buy for Bingo and they check off the numbers automatically for you. How boring!
Suzanne
Sounds like a fantastic trip!
Nicole MacPherson
You got to play bingo! I was worried, after the last post!! YAY!
Lisa of Lisa's Yarns
Haiti is an interesting port for a cruise. The situation in that country is so sad. At my last job, there were a couple of people who did mission/volunteer trips to an orphanage in Haiti. That was before I had kids so I was interested in trying that some day. But then I got married and had kids and a week trip like that isn’t in the cards for me. But maybe someday I could do something like that. I do hope the excursions in Haiti somehow benefits that country, though!
You guys are champion nappers! It is going to be interesting to see how much we sleep and nap in Mexico. I haven’t really had a true break from my kids ever… I’ve traveled for work but those days tend to be intense/exhausting. I did go to bed at 8:30 on Tuesday night when I got to Chicago and slept until 6 which felt glorious. But I wonder how much I am going to sleep in Mexico!!
Stephany
I hope that this little island helps out the Haitian community. The tour guides are Haitian locals so I know they at least benefit somewhat. It just felt really weird to be in this country.
Mom and I love a good nap, that’s for sure! I think that’s one of the reasons we travel so well together is we don’t feel the need to be on the go all the time!
San
I am so glad to hear you had such a great cruise. 🙂
Kim
OMG the f bombs. I hope you two are still doing that! Ha!
The photo of you in front of the boat is lovely! I would feel weird about Haiti too, but I think it’s cool you got to learn a little about the culture there while you painted.
I would miss my fur babies so much too!!! Did you bring them back anything? LOL.
Stephany
Haha, I didn’t bring them back anything. I didn’t really see any toys for cats in any of our stops. Justice for cats!
Jenny
Ah, I think I need to go on a cruise just so I can get a good night’s sleep. And naps…. i LOVE naps! Any vacation that includes daily naps is the vacation for me.
Stephany
Cruise sleep is the BEST SLEEP EVER. The gentle rocking motion of the ship just lulls you into the deepest sleep. It’s sensational.
Anne
You two are champion nappers! Also, yes, Haiti is an odd stop – but I am glad that the painting activity was so enjoyable, and it sounds like they did try to connect you to the local culture. Just to shock you – and, apparently, others – I can honestly say that I have never played bingo. And yet, I can totally see the appeal of just dabbing (what do you use??) the numbers that are called. Same thing as painting – repetitive and calming. 🙂