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Getting out of the Labadee compound?


dutchie260

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Has anyone here ever signed themselves out of the Labadee compound and taken an excursion to the nearby town of Cap-Haiten and or the Citadelle or Palais Sans-Soucis.

I am going to be on the Allure in Oct and I have been told that you are able to leave Labadee and go on your own to explore the nearby sights and city.  Apparently RC does not like to have you leave, but they won't stop you.

I have been communicating with a well reviewed local tour company that would pick me up and take me around.

I was just wondering if anyone else has ever done anything similar and how it went?

 

regards

Herb

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Hi Matt

Yes you can definitely leave.  I am researching this right now and have been in contact with several Haitian tour companies that assure me they have been doing this regularly for years.  I have found several reviews on Tripadvisor  that mention being on a cruise in Labadee and being picked up by said tour companies and being taken to the Unesco world heritage site of Citadelle Laferriere.  I thought maybe someone here could corroborate and or provide a recent experience.

 

thanks

 

 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have been to Cap Haitien when I was in the Military stationed in Haiti, Port-au-Prince, circa 1997, with United States Support Group-Haiti building wells and roads. It is actually a very nice place, in regards to overall Haiti, and the Haitian people are a really nice lot. All that being said, you can get placed in dangerous situations really fast and the place is prone to political turmoil. One minute it can be calm and the next there are machetes being carried by the crowd. And the problem is unless you understand Creole you won't understand the situation. It can be calm as can be, and you can have an awesome time, with great people; however, there is that one-time, maybe 1 out of a 100, and it can go bad. It's all about calculated risk and only you know your tolerance. And, understand the nearest security is not going to help you unless you pay them too. For perspective, when I was in Cap Haitien I was armed and still felt odd sometimes.

 

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Just now, Tim B. said:

I have been to Cap Haitien when I was in the Military stationed in Haiti, Port-au-Prince, circa 1997, with United States Support Group-Haiti building wells and roads. It is actually a very nice place, in regards to overall Haiti, and the Haitian people are a really nice lot. All that being said, you can get placed in dangerous situations really fast and the place is prone to political turmoil. One minute it can be calm and the next there are machetes being carried by the crowd. And the problem is unless you understand Creole you won't understand the situation. It can be calm as can be, and you can have an awesome time, with great people; however, there is that one-time, maybe 1 out of a 100, and it can go bad. It's all about calculated risk and only you know your tolerance. And, understand the nearest security is not going to help you unless you pay them too. For perspective, when I was in Cap Haitien I was armed and still felt odd sometimes.

 

I would say Tim B sums it up pretty nicely! Stay the hell out of Cap Haitian and enjoy the beautiful beaches of Labadee. I’ve ventured into Cap Haitian and witnessed first hand the violence and Tim is correct, the shit hits the fan really quick and if your not carrying a side arm or have paid protection you are as good as minced meat. The most unfortunate part is you won’t even see it coming if you don’t speak Creole. Don’t leave the compound people! 

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30 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

Stay the hell out of Cap Haitian and enjoy the beautiful beaches of Labadee

Why do you think there is a very tall chain link fence separating Labadee from the rest of Haiti? And it is patrolled to keep the Haitians from begging/attempting to scale the fence. I agree with tony fsu21 above "don't leave the compound people!". :27_sunglasses:

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On 11/3/2018 at 4:56 PM, tonyfsu21 said:

I would say Tim B sums it up pretty nicely! Stay the hell out of Cap Haitian and enjoy the beautiful beaches of Labadee. I’ve ventured into Cap Haitian and witnessed first hand the violence and Tim is correct, the shit hits the fan really quick and if your not carrying a side arm or have paid protection you are as good as minced meat. The most unfortunate part is you won’t even see it coming if you don’t speak Creole. Don’t leave the compound people! 

 

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Thanks for the warnings everyone. That said, most of the warnings posted could be attributed to most third world countries. I would not have traveled to citadel on my own but with a Haiten tour guide. To see the 8th wonder of the world I think would have been worth the small risk..  Haiti is seeing more and more tourists all the time with Citadel being one of the prime tourist destinations. There is now a brand new highway between Cap Haiten and the Labadee compound. I don't think they spent all that money building it so the workers and vendors have an easier time getting to work. I think in the very near future you will see royal Caribbean offering tours to the citadel. It would have been pretty cool to have seen it before it gets over run by mass tourism. 

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9 minutes ago, dutchie260 said:

Thanks for the warnings everyone. That said, most of the warnings posted could be attributed to most third world countries. I would not have traveled to citadel on my own but with a Haiten tour guide. To see the 8th wonder of the world I think would have been worth the small risk..  Haiti is seeing more and more tourists all the time with Citadel being one of the prime tourist destinations. There is now a brand new highway between Cap Haiten and the Labadee compound. I don't think they spent all that money building it so the workers and vendors have an easier time getting to work. I think in the very near future you will see royal Caribbean offering tours to the citadel. It would have been pretty cool to have seen it before it gets over run by mass tourism. 

Understood. To each his own. I am speaking from first hand experience telling you I have witnessed knife fights, beatings with clubs and shots fired. A tour guide is NOT private security. You are literally up shits creek w/o a paddle unless:

A: You carry a lot of cash for bribery.

B: Your really lucky (like win the lottery lucky).

I can only hope that you are not toting children along for this journey because it can get rough really quick. Don’t let the new road and the Citadel put lipstick on that pig. 

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I too would exercise extreme caution and advise to wait a couple years and see I just for information purposes spoke with a couple of Haitian friends about leaving the compound with or without a local guide and they said NO not just yet be patient they are cleaning up there act over there there are still some very powerful criminal factions over there the government is still never to be trusted tony was not kidding money talks over there and makes things that are illegal and immoral legal for a time many old Duvalier ways still can be seen as the sun rises my friends advise give it time its getting better and safer there let them clean house first if you could somewhat blend in with the populace maybe but we stick out like a sore thumb and make a sure target if you might think you will leave the jewelry and money on the ship wrong if you are accosted it will become tragic if you have nothing to give the perps my personal advice give it time it WILL get better the Haitian people are a wonderful people with a rich heritage I for one look forward to dinner at deniers parents house in port au prince once the all clear is sounded

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3 minutes ago, henrysea13 said:

I too would exercise extreme caution and advise to wait a couple years and see I just for information purposes spoke with a couple of Haitian friends about leaving the compound with or without a local guide and they said NO not just yet be patient they are cleaning up there act over there there are still some very powerful criminal factions over there the government is still never to be trusted tony was not kidding money talks over there and makes things that are illegal and immoral legal for a time many old Duvalier ways still can be seen as the sun rises my friends advise give it time its getting better and safer there let them clean house first if you could somewhat blend in with the populace maybe but we stick out like a sore thumb and make a sure target if you might think you will leave the jewelry and money on the ship wrong if you are accosted it will become tragic if you have nothing to give the perps my personal advice give it time it WILL get better the Haitian people are a wonderful people with a rich heritage I for one look forward to dinner at deniers parents house in port au prince once the all clear is sounded

Even more dangerous then Cap Haitian is Henry’s ultimate run on sentence that miraculously isn’t even a sentence w/o any punctuation. LOL. In all seriousness the place is dangerous. There are still mafia’s that only talk money. If you are accosted by one of the gangs and you don’t have enough money they will kill you without hesitation. The government is not going to intervene. Trust me when I say there is a good reason for the compound as it keeps the good people in and the bad people out. 

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  • 2 months later...
22 minutes ago, Fuzzywuzzy said:

Hell, just do it. Remember, when you should find yourselves in harms way and suffer an unimaginable horror but managed to get out, you can then hire a "Miami based Maritime Lawyer" and blame the entire misadventure on Royal Caribbean. Because that's what people do.

Lol, now this is funny! My wife is a pit bull in court and if you make it out alive, she will make sure that you are able to dock your new ship “oasis of the seas” behind your new mansion on the water! 

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  • 4 years later...
7 hours ago, MisterBill said:

Is this still possible? I never thought you could get out of Labadee. I have a cruise friend who's going to be there later this year, and his son really wanted to visit Haiti (they like to visit different countries). 

No it isn't, and no they don't really want to.  

The compound is safe and they can interact with local artisans in the shopping area.  

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4 hours ago, twangster said:

No it isn't, and no they don't really want to. 

Agreed. There is a reason why no one, in the 4.5 years since the original post, responded that they actually said they were able to escape the Lebadee compound to go explore Haiti on their own or with a company completely unrelated to RC. This is why Lebadee is very safe, certainly more safe than any US port city I can think of, and why RC continues to go there despite any unrest that goes on in other parts of the country.

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1 hour ago, Ryan79 said:

Agreed. There is a reason why no one, in the 4.5 years since the original post, responded that they actually said they were able to escape the Lebadee compound to go explore Haiti on their own or with a company completely unrelated to RC. This is why Lebadee is very safe, certainly more safe than any US port city I can think of, and why RC continues to go there despite any unrest that goes on in other parts of the country.

 

Actually, I found a 2022 review on TA from someone who said that they did a tour from Labadee. I emailed the provider to see if they still offer it. I know that Haiti isn't the safest place to visit.

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