Advertisement
Published: February 22nd 2017
All aboard! Last call. Reflecting back to last Monday, we are still cruising on the Harmony of the Seas. Sunday was a day at sea so we could prowl this massive boat. It will take days to see it all and even then, I think we will not be able to do it all. Hope you enjoyed the photos of this luxury liner that I have already shared with you.
Now, we are going into our first port and investigate the small peninsula of Labadee, Haiti. It is located on the north coast of Hispaniola. Christopher Columbus was the first European to set foot on this peninsula of Hispaniola in 1492, when the Santa Maria ran aground off the coast on Christmas Day. Now, Royal Caribbean has transformed this secluded paradise into its own private retreat. It is not a large area. One is able to walk from one end of this tropical Mecca to the other. There is a tram to transport you if so desire. We did both.
At the far end of this land were low mountains with lush exotic foliage....here you could travel up the mountain side to reach their long and breath taking Zip
Line and the Dragon's Tail Coaster. Each coaster car is operated independently by you. Nope....we did neither! Our feet were happier being planted on the sandy ground. How brave were you?
On this visit, the ship set up an enormous barbecue on the grounds for all its passengers. We sat near the waters edge and enjoyed the view as Zip liners flew past us.
Of course, the peninsula was a beach goers delight. This small plot of land was surrounded on 3 sides with inviting sandy beaches and beautiful, clear water. There were special wooden, room-like cabanas that perched over the glistening water. What a life. We did not partake.
Of course, no port is complete without the various shops to buy their native trinkets. There was one large building at the far end where we bought T-Shirts. Off to one side of this large building, men in orange shirts kept trying to hustle us up to more shops. No one was going .....nor did we. However, as we exited the main building and walked around to another side, there were many huts, full of identical souvenir ware and hundreds of men in orange shirts! They were
so insistent and persistent in getting you to just look at their stuff. Each booth held all the same junk as the other. These men were like vultures attacking their newest pile of carrion. Go away! I did not like it at all. Sandy was more tolerant and stood her ground as she browsed some of their shacks. I just got out of there!
Once we had seen it all, we returned to the ship to indulge in more eating and entertainment. They had their first big "$10.00" sale. What bedlam. I have never seen such pushing, shoving, grabbing in my whole life. I stayed back and just witnessed it. It wasn't worth being crushed to do death for a $10 tote bag or shawl.
Later, we sat in the massive room that held the skating rink. It was fun to watch the various levels of skaters as they made their way around this icy arena. Memories flooded back to the days when I skated on the old pond in Massachusetts. Good days. Good memories.
After # ? meal, we were entertained by a really funny comedy act. Actually, the warm up comedian was funnier than the
main one. We had seen him on a previous Royal Caribbean cruise. He is excellent! We were seated on large, comfy living room furniture - ahhh, this is the good life.
Okay......remember I said I would let our pictures do our talking for us. So I'll end here....for now. I hear you!!! We still have two more ports to go so don't go far. Your life jacket still has your name on it. Meet you in Falmouth, Jamaica next.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.236s; Tpl: 0.022s; cc: 8; qc: 29; dbt: 0.1975s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb
