Cruzzinagain

If so, any positives or negatives? Any information on this excursion is appreciated. We are cruising in February of 2025.

We were lining up our cruise which left Galveston on July 1st. I was checking around to find out who to take a tour with in Jamaica. Courtney's name kept popping up so I contacted him. We traveled with my elderly in-laws and couldn't do the falls or any of the water activities. I email Courtney and told him a few things that we would like to see and he emailed back very quickly with some other things we might be interested in. Once the schedule was set he emailed me a price and I confirmed.

We arrived in Montego Bay around 9:00am on the Carnival Magic. Once off of the ship, and as suggested by Courtney, we just mentioned his name and were taken to an area where they load the tourists into the waiting vans. Our van pulled up and our driver, Tony (Bright Light) Henry, got out to greet us. He was very friendly. We were loaded up and off we went. I would say that the total time from feet off of the ship until in the van and moving was about 15-20 minutes tops.

Our tour included a trip to James Bond beach on the other side of Ocho Rios so we had a couple of hours drive ahead of us. Tony was very friendly and very knowledgeable about the history of Jamaica and the goings on there. On the way he showed us many things and the drive was far from boring. He realized my interest in Bond so he pointed out Bond related things during the tour. One was the factory that was used in Dr. No.

We arrived at James Bond beach (not exactly where Dr. No was filmed but close to some areas and beautiful none the less) and looked around and spoke with a few of the locals who were also very friendly. We snapped a few pictures and were on our way. On the way back Tony took us to a nice shopping area where we could also get some jerk chicken and Red Stripe beer. The environment and the meal were great. He also guided us toward a store that would deal with us. Me being the skeptic, I told my wife that would check some other stores first before we bought. It turned out that the store he directed us to did have the best prices on what we wanted by far. We were also never hassled by the locals in this shopping area. It was very laid back. Tony told us to take our time, no problem mon (which was his attitude the whole day).

After lunch and shopping we headed back to Montego Bay. On the way Tony took a small side trip to show us an old church and a spot where part of a Bond movie was filmed. He was always pointing out points of interest to us. We arrived back in Montego Bay in plenty of time to get on the ship and freshen up before dinner. Before we left Tony though, I asked him if he was off for the day after that. He told me yes but he had to drive back to Ocho Rios as that's where he lived. That was a two hour drive.

For this tour we paid a grand total of $195.00 ($48.75 a person) for four people in our own van and had a tour guide who was excellent. The tour lasted about 7 hours total. This was our first trip to Jamaica but it won't be our last. There's so much to see and do. It's also a beautiful country. When we go next time we will use Courtney Taylor tours again also.

Steve