Labadee, Haiti

On Monday we saw Hairspray in the main theater. I had seen the original 1988 John Waters film and snippets of the musical starring John Travolta but never the stage musical. What a great show!! Fantastic cast!! Great choreography and sets. And at an hour and a half run time, it's close to the version you'd see on Broadway or the West End. And included with your cruise fare.  

On Tuesday we docked in Labadee which is Royal Caribbean's "private island" experience in Haiti. I hadn't been here since I took my first Royal Caribbean cruise on the Monarch of the Seas in 1996. At the time the largest ship on the sea. So what's changed twenty seven years later? A lot! Back in 1996 I just remembered a beach area with a space for lunch. And a barbed wide fence that separated the area from the main part of the island. Now they've added two zip lines. They have four beach areas. Lots of water activities. A water slide. An "alpine slide" type of ride. And places to just relax. After a short morning walking tour, we found some comfortable couches near a stage where the ship's band was setting up. I may have taken a short nap. 

After the band's first break, we headed to the lunch area. They had a really good assortment of items. Watermelon and tomato salad, pesto bowtie pasta salad and Caesar salad. Then you usually beach cookout staples of hamburgers and hot dogs. They also had some very good jerk chicken. Now it wasn't close to Scotchie's in Jamaica. They tone down the level of seasoning so that it's a bit more approachable. Still well seasoned and perfectly grilled.  

We started heading back to the shop about 1 PM just as we saw the rain clouds clinging to a mountain in the other side of the ship. The rain was imminent so we picked a good time to head back. We had a mandatory rest period in the cabin. Being outside apparently makes you tired. The captain made an announcement during this time that due to high winds and 15 foot swells, we'd have a late arrival into Falmouth Jamaica on Wednesday. A bit later I grabbed a snack from El Loco Fresh which is the Mexican quick service onboard. Some good pulled pork!! They also have make your own nachos and burritos. And they have all the toppings and sauces you could want. Although I would have liked a couple of different choices for salas such as a watermelon jicama like they have at Blue Iguana on most Carnival ships.  

We got ready for dinner. We had a 7 PM comedy reservation but decided to hang out at our "neighborhood" bar, the Trellis Bar. We can see it from our balcony so we can see if our favorite bartenders are there and if seats are available. We talked to Imade who is from Indonesia. We have a Celebrity cruise in December that visits three ports in Indonesia so we chatted about those.  

It was then time for dinner. We hadn't eaten in the main dining room yet so that's where we went. Started with arancini in a tomato sauce, beef carpaccio and a vegan Bolognese. All pretty good. The Bolognese was my favorite. Such an amazing sauce full of vegetables and just enough heat. And the "meat" was crumbly tofu. Mains were chicken parmesan and filet of sole. Angie said the chicken was just okay. I tried some of the pasta and the sauce was very bland. It was surprising to me that we had three dishes with some kind of tomato sauce and all three are completely different. Bolognese for the win!! The sole was well cooked and served with a lush lemony butter sauce!! And the rice was the perfect accompaniment for the dish to soak up the sauce. It rivaled the sole I had a couple of weeks ago on Murano on the Reflection b of course Royal Caribbean knew to use a butter sauce.

Today we'll dock in Falmouth about 11 AM. No plans to get off the ship. Angie plans to do her ship filming today while so many will be off in port. I grabbed a quick breakfast at our neighborhood Cafe across the street. They have a good selection of breakfast sandwiches, fruit and bagels.