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Labadee Stalls


mcoler18

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Randomly came across some reviews of Labadee on Trip advisor, lots of negatives about the market type stalls that are set back from the main Artisan Market. Really pushy and aggressive sellers physically dragging people (mainly women from what I read) into their stores not taking no for an answer.

Has anyone experienced this? To be honest if its like that I’ll give it a wide berth as I will end up being less than polite.   

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@mcoler18 I have not been to Labadee but have been to similar types of markets in Jamaica, Nassau, India and Italy. Some of these places I was solo. Number one rule is don't make eye contact (sunglasses are helpful). Keep your bag tight to your body. Sometimes it pays to not speak at all, I've had people assume I didn't speak English which meant it was harder to communicate and they'd give up. Ignore. Once I had to yell so the guy would stop hitting me to get my attention. 

I'm not sure if it's because I'm from NY and have a "don't effing touch me" look but I'm female and 5'2" and have a physical handicap  - beyond the one yelling incident I haven't had an issue.

 

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Yes, it is exactly like that.  If you are not comfortable with very aggressive vendors, just stay away from that area.  They are restricted from leaving their market area so if you stay away from there, they will not bother you.  If you are going to Columbus Cove, take the tram.  It goes through there but does not stop.

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1 hour ago, mcoler18 said:

Randomly came across some reviews of Labadee on Trip advisor, lots of negatives about the market type stalls that are set back from the main Artisan Market. Really pushy and aggressive sellers physically dragging people (mainly women from what I read) into their stores not taking no for an answer.

Has anyone experienced this? To be honest if its like that I’ll give it a wide berth as I will end up being less than polite.   

We didn't experience any touching/grabbing, and some of the crafts are truly hand-made.  So I recommend taking a look if something piques your interest.  That said, you will need to bargain down at least 50%.  Most of our purchases in Labadee have come from the fixed price store, which has multiple stalls inside and seems reasonably priced.

As a side note I found the merchants in Turkey more aggressive and annoying than Labadee or even Jamaica (Dunn's River Falls), and last week in Mexico the hawkers were everywhere.  You just tune them out unless you are really interested.    

If you ever go to Morocco, beware because that is the only place a hawker grabbed my wife in order to sell a photo (I was off to the restroom and missed the confrontation).

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