bradynsmom

Right before we left they sent us an email with where and when to meet them. I didn't get anything from him either if I recall so I just emailed to confirm down payment was received. He is very quick to respond to emails. When we got of boat and went into port there is a bunch of guards and people to help direct you. We just told them we were with Maryn's tours and they had the drive come get us. Then everyone who has a tour booked with them for that day get on a small bus and they drive you to the home office where you meet Marvyn and your personal driver for the day. It is very close to the port bus since they redid and changed the port about a 5 minute drive.

I would say it took about a half hour or less with transfer to the tour company.

Don't really know if I am looking for a refined cruise per say, just one that is family friendly and has things for us to do as a family unit. With the Victory it felt like you were supposed to take your child and drop them off at kids club all day, not my idea of a family vacation.

We took our 2nd grader out this year for our cruise and I was nervous. He is never one to miss a lot of school and I spoke with his teacher and principal before planning anything. The were both thrilled for him to go.

His teacher gave us his work a week before we left and I took it with us so he did a little each day as his class did it. Also he kept a journal and took pictures to show his class. Once home he did a project that compared life here in Ohio to life on the islands we visited. For example we went to Ocho Rios (loved it) and he took pictures of the schools and children in school uniforms and even the soccer field. He compared them to a picture of his school, his non-uniform schoolwear and our hometown soccer field. His teacher loved it and let him kinda be the social studies teacher for a few days after we returned.

As long as his grades are up and he is not falling behind I would do it again in a heartbeat! Something just cannot be taught in a class room. And family time precious, I personally believe that is what is wrong with the world today is no one makes time for family.

I am curious as to what you did not like about Carnival?

I am not sure it was Carnival that we didn't care for as much as the ship we were on. We were on the Victory so it only had one waterslide with a very long line at times. There were three pools, one was adult only and always empty of people and two were for everyone. Twice I had to remove my son from the pools as drunk people were having sex in them, As the ship staff just walked by.

While at sea most of the events were for adults or bingo and most events at the kids club were more girl oriented, a lot of dance parties. Because of this he only went to a few events and we did a few of the family events. It often felt if you were not there for drinking then you should pretty much just stay in room. They were also doing a lot of loud repairs on the ship while we were at sea and had few of the decks and areas of an already smaller ship closed. This ship just came out of dry dock and it was had a lot of work still to be done. Should not have been removed from drydock.

The food was only so-so, there was often times I could not find a main entrée that even sounded good to me. And I am not a picky eater. For my son the kids menu was junk food; hotdog, hamburger, pizza, chicken nuggets. He asked our server one night if they had green beans or broccoli because he wanted some veggies instead of french fries, the did not or any regular vegetable to offer. Even on the adult menu a vegetable that was not a wedge of lettuce was hard to find. And the buffet had the same hand carved turkey 3 of the 5 days we were at sea.

The Kid Carnival was poorly ran a few of the events he wanted to attend did not start on time and ended up being a bunch of kids standing around while the staff stood around talking to each other. One of the events we attended was the digital scavenger hunt which we had fun doing but when we returned to the kids club 10 minutes before the time limit found out the prize was already given out even though the guy running it said we were the only ones to do a picture of every deck and put smiley faces on our foreheads as per directions. So I had to explain to my child why we didn't win if we were the only ones to complete two of the task. He is almost 8 he knows cheating when he sees it.

We made the most of our days at sea and our ocean view room was very roomy. With three of us in there it still had plenty of room. Although the window was so dirty you could hardly see out of it. The beds were comfy and our room attendant was very nice. He always greeted us with a smile and high five for my son. He seemed to know what were needed before we did. We also had a great server who towards the end of the cruise knew my son loved his fruit so had it waiting for him when we got to dinner. He also always made his kids menu into an origami animal by the end of the meal. It was those little things that made the trip nice. And the great times we had at port which made it a great vacation.

If I was to pick what to do again in Ocho Rios my first choice would be Blue Hole it was amazing. We were in port from 10-5 which means back to boat by 4:30 and the time seemed to fly. We were able to go to the Blue Hole, Scotchies, Bamboo Blue beach, some sight seeing and a stop off for my son to play soccer. So if you are one of the first ones off the ship you whould be able to get a lot in. I would contact a private company and they will know what you can fit in and make sure you make it back in time.

While we were in Grand Cayman we did the turtle farm. We did not book through the boat just grab a local bus ( a white mini van just stand by side of road and the will stop, has a green dot sticker on them). It was $2.50 each way for all of us. We purchased the whole farm pass and it was very nice. As we entered we went and changed while the cruise groups were led through a tour and talk about the turtles and then had the place to ourselves. We did a short walk through and held the turtles then went on to the pool. There is a water slide, a water fall and a pool to enjoy. We then went to the lagoon and snorkeling with the turtles. The water does get rather deep in areas towards the middle of the lagoon but with a life jacket my son had no problem. It was a great day with very little walking but a lot to do. The changing areas were clean and there were covered beach chairs to get out of the sun if need be.

We just came back from a 5 day cruise on the Carnival Victory and although it was a nice cruise and a great trip it was not what I expected. We want to do another cruise and the only thing we are sure of is we want one port to be Ocho Rios. So if you were traveling with an 8 year old boy which line would you choose?

There was one day the ChopStix had hot and sour soup. The food there was good but the line gets very long and they are not open long. My son ate well here.

I would have to say as far as the MDR food goes it was better then the buffet but not by much. It often took a very long time between servings and with a child there was not much for them to choose from other then junk food ( chicken nuggets, hamburger, hot dog, and pizza). My son would order off the adult menu a few nights but as far as a veggie there was not many on either menu that a child could eat.

We did enjoy the chocolate melting cake for dessert.

We just had an oceanview room last week it was nice and roomy even with three of us in there. I liked that it was more of a window then a porthole, however if you don't keep the blinds closed during the day it can get rather warm in the room.

We just got back and Jamaica was by far the best part of our whole trip. We had Shane as a driver and he taught us so much about Jamaica and showed us a ton in the short time we had on the island. The Blue Hole was amazing our guide was Glenn and he was great with our son. He made sure all of his nerves and ours were put to rest.

As far as Bamboo Blu Beach it is a very clean and private beach. They have a few stores there you can pick up some things and a lady that is on the beach that will braid your hair. As far as the pushy sales people though there are none there. I wish we would have had more time here as my son really liked just swimming in the clear blue water. They have a bar and food available and very clean restrooms and changing areas.

We went to Bamboo beach during our private tour and I know they offer an all day pass for there from ship. i was very clean and my 7 year old had a great time swimming. The water is shallow enough he was able to touch everywhere. They also have drinks, food, and clean changing and restroom areas.

We leave very shortly and have a private tour to go to the Blue Hole, tour the countryside, Scotchies for lunch and Bamboo beach. Has anyone done this tour with them? Anything we should add? I am a bit nervous not taking a ship sponsored excursion.

Just for curiosity's sake, can you direct me to the reviews you are referring? I tried, unsuccessfully, to search on my own.

It is under a Marvyn's Paradise Tours review labeled " Good Day" under the very good reviews. After reading it closer I think they may have only tipped $10 where as I was thinking $ 30 or $10 a piece.

You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, I was just reading how a review on tripadvisor. com about tipping the tour guides at the Blue Hole and from the tour company.

If I remember correctly I think they said they tipped $10 a piece and that the tour guide did not seem happy with that. I was thinking of doing something similar for husband, myself and our 7 year old. I don't want to offend them. I was also going to do something similar for the tour guide, but same review says guide was not impressed also.

Is there a certain % you are supposed to tip like a server and the usual 18/20%.

Watched your video and It looks so fun, can't wait. About how long would you say you were at the Blue Hole. I agree with you don't think I will be doing that rope swing either.

Thank you for posting we are going in a few weeks and I can't wait. It looks very fun.

I am just concerned because we are taking out 7 year old and some of the jumps look like you have to be very careful how and where you land. Also he is only an ok swimmer so I am kinda nervous about that. Our tour guide says they offer life jackets or i can bring my own.

Anything I should watch out for or be concerned taking a little one?

We are thinking about doing the same thing while in port in May. I am hoping that we have time to do both the farm and the beach. Are you planning on doing the whole park pass or just the farm?

Thanks I keep looking at the reviews and things online and am pretty sure we are going to want to just do the farm and not the sting rays. As cool as that sounds to do.

I think we are just going to do it on our own instead of with ship as well but have read about the traffic getting thick in afternoon. What time did you head back to ship? did you have time for any shopping or anything?

We are going on our first cruise and have been looking at three different excursions to the turtle farm.

1. Just the farm which I think we could do without booking through Carnival after reading some of the reviews.

2. Turtles and Rays

3. Turtles and sub

We will have 7 year old son with us and he loves turtles but not sure if that is all we want to do for the day. I would love for him to do more while in port. I was also thinking of doing turtles and just beach but not sure how to go about that.

I have a 7 year old son who is an ok swimmer not great but ok. He is on the smaller size for his age only 4 ft. We are trying to decide if we should do Dunn River Falls or the Blue Hole. I have done Dunn Rivers 11 years ago but don't really remember it.

Also does anyone know if the Blue Hole offers life jackets or we should bring one from home. I watched a few videos on it but only saw a few children in them.