Operation D.A.T.E. Day 3: 'Snow Day'

Day 3 of our cruise was spent in Labadee, Haiti (a private resort on the island owned by Royal Caribbean) and started off with another beautiful early morning sunrise which we enjoyed while the ship made its way into port...

While we watched the ship near Labadee we also noticed a fog coming out of the lush woods.  We quickly realized that they were fogging for mosquitos in preparation for our arrival, which made us happy as the Zika virus is one of the reasons we've been hesitant to go on a cruise in the last few years.

As the ship arrived in Labadee we were greeted by a welcoming committee of jet skiers!

After the sunrise we enjoyed a not so quick breakfast (we ate a little bit at 3 different locations on the ship...because we could and I was looking for a yogurt buffet like the one I had enjoyed on our last cruise...we didn't find it) and then we prepared to leave the ship and spend the day in tropical paradise.  I've heard that a lot of people don't like the port of Labadee because they think it is boring, but if you enjoy the beach it is perfect.  Honestly, I think it is one of my favorite ports of call.  It is a beautiful slice of the earth with warm salty water, clean beaches and palm trees swinging overhead.  Needless to say Eric and I had a great day there!

We spent most of the day laying on the beach laying under the shade of a palm tree, playing in the sand and swimming in the ocean.  It was glorious.

<3 Tradition

We realized that the sand packed so well that you could easily make little balls of sand, which lead to a Sandman (in all honestly made in partial to taunt those back north).  :P

The water only took a few seconds to get used to and once I did I didn't want to get out.  It was so salty that I was able to simply lay on the surface and float around with no effort to remain that way.  It was wonderful.

When we were done at the beach we briefly checked out what the locals had for sale (we got suckered into getting 4 bracelets for us and the kids and a few hand painted magnets).  Then we headed back to the entry of port to go on a jet ski tour.  It was a fun time cruising the coast of Haiti with people on 7 other jet skis.  The only downfall was that our jet ski wasn't working properly and even though it should have been able to go up to 80 mph (not that we would have gone that fast) it topped out at 33 mph. :(  Even though we were the only ones besides one other driver and the two guides that had driven before we turned out to be the slow pokes of the tour.  We may have been slow but at least we were not terrible drivers.  There was one guy on our tour that was the worst jet ski driver I've ever seen.  He had no idea how to control the ski and didn't speak english which made it difficult for the guides to communicate with him.

When our jet skiing fun was over, we got back on board the ship to enjoy the remainder of our day...

The Royal Promanade

Something about being near the rails of the ship at night creeps me out.  The black abyss of the ocean is more than I can handle.

Eric and I also enjoyed a fun round of mini golf.  (I won, but who cares...right?...)  :P

We even broke all the rules by savoring a chocolatey ice cream dessert BEFORE we had dinner!

For dinner we had looked at the menu for the week in the Main Dining room and decided that there were a few nights we didn't want to bother eating in there.  Tonight was one of those nights.  Instead we ate at the Windjammer Buffet.  Here I discovered the Pasta Station which had a selection of noodles, sauces, vegetables, spices and meats that you could choose from to have a chef prepare your food.  It was amazing!  With the chef's help and suggestions I had bowtie pasta with olive oil, fresh garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, bacon, peas, mushrooms, tomatoes and fresh parmesan.  It was seriously the best thing I ate all week!  Yum!!

Sooooooo Gooooood!!  ...Determined to figure out how to make this myself at home, I made an attempt at it this week.  It was not quite as wonderful as this was but it was pretty good so I'll have to keep working at it!

For dessert (yes again) I think I had some cake with a scoop of ice cream.  I didn't eat a donut, but I did enjoy checking out the massive donuts on display!

When we were sufficiently stuffed, we headed to the Theater for the Headliner show.  The show was a professional juggler and although that likely sounds a bit boring it was actually quite entertaining.  We enjoyed the show and then headed back to our room on deck 8 to get some sleep.

(2) Videos: Juggling Headliner Show

Stateroom Towel Animal