Labadee, Haiti

Yesterday, we were in Labadee, Haiti (there was a good amount of effort spent quelling fears of getting cholera to passengers). According to documents by The Nation of Why Not, “although originally said to have been discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1942, it wasn’t until Royal Caribbean discovered it five centuries later that it became the secluded paradise that it is today” (really, you can’t make this stuff up). Labadee is on the northern coast of Haiti and is a private resort, leased by Royal Caribbean International. A few fun facts from the Wikipedia entry on Labadee (Wikipedia has become my favorite source because it is easy to get to in a short amount of time):

Royal Caribbean International has contributed the largest proportion of tourist revenue to Haiti since 1986, employing 300 locals, allowing another 200 to sell their wares on the premises, and paying the Haitian government US$6 per tourist

In 1991, a journalist revealed that passengers who disembarked at the location were not informed they were in Haiti.

In January 2010, just after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Royal Caribbean decided to continue its luxury cruises to the private port. The corporation announced it would be donating US$1 million to fund relief efforts in Haiti, and to use cruise ships to ferry relief supplies and personnel.

The location is named after Marquis de La'Badie, a Frenchman who first settled the area in the 17th century. The spelling was changed to "Labadee" to make it easier for English-speakers to pronounce.

Unfortunately, there was a torrential downpour yesterday so we didn't get to do much and I didn’t get to take any pictures but a quick Google image search will give you a good idea of what it looks like.

Here are some other pictures from around the ship:

A line of people waiting to get food at 1:30 am



This would mean at least one ice cream every day?