Day Four ~ Labadee

I woke up about 6:30 and headed out to the balcony to sit and wait for breakfast, which we had requested to come about 7 or so.  It is HOT and SUNNY and HUMID today!  Going to be a gorgeous day to be at the beach.

I love to be on the balcony while we pull into port.

  

 They are really excited to greet you!

Labadee is an amazing place.  It is Royal Caribbean's private island, and they've really made it feel like paradise.  Being in a suite gives us access to Barefoot Beach Club and the opportunity to rent a Cabana there.  The four of us did that.  We had Cabana B2 ($225).

So after getting off the ship and having the obligatory picture taken (who am I kidding....we love that)

We went over to Barefoot Beach to check in.  There was some kind of mix up with the Cabana reservation sheet, so we had to wait about 15 minutes before being lead to our Cabana.  But before long we were settled in.  Doug and I dropped our stuff and headed to the artisan market to browse.  I bought a coffee mug and a couple Christmas tree ornaments.  We also bought a painting for our dining room. 

We walked around for a little bit and took some pictures.

While we were shopping, Ronald, our Cabana attendant, had brought us floating mats.  We grabbed them and headed into the ocean.  The water was so calm and clear and warm.  It was a HOT day ..... 90s with really high humidity.  The water felt really good.  We floated in the water until 11:30 or so, and then got ready for lunch.

The buffet on Barefoot Beach is awesome.  There was so much to choose from.  I love the beans and rice.  The jerk chicken was good, but really spicy.  They had shrimp and steaks and hot dogs and burgers and fruit and baked potatoes and corn on the cob and assorted breads and cookies and dessert and and and......Here are our plates.  Can you guess which is Doug's and which is mine? ;)

 The view from our cabana is awesome!

After lunch I sat in the cabana and read a while and rested.  And it was Labadoozie time!  It was really yummy, but not as strong as I remembered.  

I was really getting tired.  I headed back into the ocean to float and chat with Michael and Steve and anybody else that wandered by.  Doug, of course.  Joe and Sue.  It was just a great day!

The respectable picture of Sue.  We met Joe and Sue on the last cruise.  We were so excited to find out we would be sailing with them again.  If Sue is around....you are laughing, and laughing, and laughing some more.  She is a hoot!

 I headed back to the ship about 2 and had a shower and a nap.  Doug stayed on the beach with the gang until about 4.  I woke up before then and headed to the pool to read and listen to the band and have a frozen lemonade.  About 4:15 I decided to go the room and get ready for dinner.  First I had to stop by the Solarium Bar and pick up a mudslide!

Doug was back in the room by the time I got there.  On his way back he snapped some pictures.  Here is the ship.  She's so pretty!

They send you off with dancing, too.

 Good-bye Labadee.  Hope to see you again :)

Back in the room we got ready for dinner and then headed out to have pictures taken and collect the ones from the day before, then upstairs for pre-dinner cocktails and appetizers with Steve and Michaela and everybody else that Doug met....Hi Lisa and all you other ladies (I am horrible with name...oops) and Mike and Charlene and Michele and Chip and and and....Doug knew everybody....oh Joe and his group.  Lots and lots of people.

So Steve and Michaela were already upstairs when we got there.  Dillon had brought her a cosmo.  I asked for a Captain and Coke.  We had plenty of time before dinner to hang out this night.  And dinner was going to be a special buffet in the Windjammer for suite and pinnacle guests.  There were several officers there and the food was gorgeous....I'll get to that.  So dinner was not go sit at the table and be served, but a buffet which we'd need to walk through and manage food...which proved to be a little challenging for Michaela and me.

So back to pre-dinner drinks.  Michaela and I finished our first drinks.  Dillon comes by and asks what we'd like.  Michaela told him to surprise her.  I said, heck, surprise me too.  And boy howdy did he!  He brought us what he called the "Dillon Special".  It was AMAZING!  It was midori, peach schnapps, vodka & OJ....not much OJ I don't think.  It was tasty and strong.  And Michaela and I, thankfully, are very happy and giggly when we have a bit much to drink.  We giggled our way through the night!  

So it's time to go to dinner....the buffet where we have to manage walking and a plate of food!  They are serving complimentary champagne and wine.  Cranberry champagne?  I don't mind if I do.....

So the tables were set up beautifully and they had wait staff walking around giving us our drinks and the officers were talking and the captain was there and a very proper, older, pinnacle couple were sitting next to Michaela and me, and the two of us were giggly and laughing our way through the night, and they were not impressed!  We were having a great time, though.  We were trying to figure out how to manage the buffet....really all we had to do was make sure we DID NOT FALL FORWARD!  That would be very bad.....  The guys helped us....so that is good.

The food was amazing.  Some of the offerings were diablo shrimp, lobster, steak stuffed with lobster, lamb chops, butter chicken, prime rib, corn fritters, scalloped potatoes, broccoli, rolls and lots of other things that I cannot even remember.  And lots of wine and champagne going around.  We missed dessert though.  We were talking with Nizar, who sat down to eat with us, and the desserts were gone before we realized we could get some.

So since we missed dessert, the four of us returned to our room to order dessert and coffee from room service.  Another wonderful perk of being in a suite is we can order from the full dining room menu anytime the dining room is open.  And they were still serving dinner, so we were in luck.  We ordered 3 chocolate sensations and a coconut creme for Doug, and a couple pots of coffee, and visited and laughed and sobered up....or so we thought.

And tonight was our second towel animal....a cute little turtle.  I love the towel animals.  And Eleanore does them so well!  I've not talked much about our room steward, Eleanore.  She was awesome to us!

It was the Battle of the Sexes game show that night, so we headed down to Studio B to wait.  The guys and girls sit separately.  So Doug and Steve headed one way, and Michaela and I headed another.  It was loud.....a little sensory overload actually.  I was starting to feel a little queasy.  But not too bad, I could deal until the show started.  And THEN....an older lady sat down next to us and started talking.....but I swear she took a bath in her perfume.  It was just too much....the scent just did me in, and Michaela, and we both decided we needed out...NOW!  I climbed over people making my way out of the row.  Michaela wasn't messing around with that....she went over the back of the chairs and out fast.  The guys saw we were leaving, they met us outside.

We went out on the promenade deck for some air.  Michaela's head was really ick, so they headed back to the room for the night.

I was feeling better after being away from the old lady perfume and music overload, so Doug and I thought, "Why not go check out karaoke?"  Yeah....2 songs in we realized why we never go to karaoke!

So we decided to turn in for the night. This night we had to turn the clocks forward an hour....just when I was getting used to the fall time change.  It was a fabulous day and a fun night.....really fun.  Just remember...Do Not Fall Forward!!

Tomorrow is San Juan.  Not our favorite, but I was really looking forward to Starbucks!!  The coffee this trip is better than the last, but still hit or miss.  Always yummy from the concierge lounge, and Doug got me coffee there most mornings.  Sometimes I made VIA in our room....we had an electric kettle.  But still....Starbucks was in the near future!