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Dropping jamaica as a port?

sawtooth

By sawtooth,
in Princess Cruises

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Strinkle

Strinkle

Posted
Posted

We are leaving on the Coral next week for a Christmas Cruise to the Panama Canal & it is stopping at Ocho Rios. I know that the weeks before the Coral was stopping at Grand Cayman & I would have preferred that but picked this itinerary only because of Christmas. I spent a week in Jamaica 20 years ago & have no intention of getting off the ship.

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redtogo

redtogo

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We have been to Jamaica several times. One time, my son was with me (he was around 14), and men walked up trying to sell him drugs with me standing right beside him.

 

Another time, the people with vans were so aggressive and tried to get us to let them take us on a tour. They would literally grab your arms and try to pull you to the van. We wanted a Hard Rock tee shirt. Got the shirt and went directly back to the ship being hounded every step of the way.

 

I never plan to return to Jamaica. If a cruise includes it, I will stay on the ship. Just too bad that we have to pay port fees for a place that we prefer not to visit.

 

Bottom line, it's dangerous there!!

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Redwing55

Redwing55

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Posted

So, why then is Princess still going to this port? This port is currently on our Feb. itinerary and part of me is OK if it were to be changed. If not, it will give me a chance to see the falls without having to spend an extended time on the island.

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JimAOk1945

JimAOk1945

Posted
Posted (edited)
I read a review of the Panama Canal partial transit that said the Island/Coral we're dropping Jamaica as a port of call and replacing it with Grand Caymans on all their future cruises.

Can anyone confirm this. I wonder why they would stop going there?

 

Our Dec 2014 itinerary shows Grand Cayman. I don't know about any other itineraries.

Edited by JimAOk1945
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Husky61

Husky61

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So, why then is Princess still going to this port? This port is currently on our Feb. itinerary and part of me is OK if it were to be changed. If not, it will give me a chance to see the falls without having to spend an extended time on the island.

 

Ocho Rios is still on our January cruise.

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avcruz

avcruz

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Posted
As a gay man, I would not step a foot on Jamaican soil. The human rights abuses in that country are horrible.

 

+3

 

Human rights abuses and the way the anti-gay violence is condoned by the authorities. There is a distinct lack of any charges or punishment for the cretins who perpetrate these offences. It's sickening and I refuse to support that country in any way.

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tip

tip

Posted
Posted
I would opt out of an itinerary with Jamaica in it. If I had to include it, I would either stay onboard ...

One brief stop in Jamaica on a cruise was enough to know that I didn't want to spend any future time there.[/quote]

 

same here

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H2O skier

H2O skier

Posted
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I avoided any cruises with Jamaica on the itinerary after our first cruise together back in 1989. We enjoyed climbing Dunns River Falls on an organized excursion. It was the unsafe feeling we had in town and rude attitude of some people in the straw market area that made us never want to go back.

 

When the only way we could do a Panama Canal cruise included the stop in Jamaica three years ago, we stayed on the ship and enjoyed the day.

 

Our experience exactly. Felt very unwelcome there.

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pablo222

pablo222

Posted
Posted
As a gay man, I would not step a foot on Jamaican soil. The human rights abuses in that country are horrible.

 

But -- if grand cayman is the alternative, they are very gay unfriendly.

 

A few years ago they refused to allow an all-ship gay charter

to come to the island.

 

On at least one princess itinerary, I saw nicarauga rather or

jamacia or grand cayman.

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darknightsdespiser

darknightsdespiser

Posted
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We are going on Island Princess in January and went for our 2nd choice of date specifically because last time round we found Grand Cayman a bit dull and Jamaica so much fun; Dunns River Falls and Mystic Mountain was a brilliant excursion and we would love to have longer to visit the Blue Mountains etc. Most of us Brits by the time we move onto cruising in middle age have done a fair bit of back packing, "real" travelling etc through Europe and Asia and are a little less worried by different cultures, "threats" etc. It may also be that with the demographic of cruise passengers generally people have reached an age to be more worried. I know this is a shocking generalisation, but just an observation and I would add that there are possibly other places in the world I would be wary of getting off the ship!!

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ontheweb Holiday Sharing Rare

ontheweb

Posted
Posted

I specifically picked a cruise with Jamaica as a port last summer so we could go on the Bob Marley bus. My wife and I had a wonderful time. Yes, we did see a lot of poverty stricken area, but that is reality. Everything is not a tourist area.

 

Many years ago (before we started cruising) we stayed at an all inclusive in Ochos Rios owned and run by the locals. (Unfortunately, it no longer exists.) We had a wonderful time. It was right by Dunns River Falls. Climbing the falls was great fun. And yes, the locals were somewhat pushy, but they did take no for an answer.

 

The cruise we went on last summer also stopped at Grand Caymans, and I found the port very boring except for the turtle farm.

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sjmbruce

sjmbruce

Posted
Posted (edited)

We've been to Jamaica once on a land vacation and once on a cruise. I wouldn't hesitate to go back.

 

I've been on a few vacations and nights out in the United States where I felt uncomfortable or even scared (at a late night ballgame in Detroit, lost in Seattle and NYC, middle of nowhere town in Iowa with some questionable characters).

 

( In response to another post on this thread....I'm not quite sure why the entire population of a country needs to make cruisers feel welcome?)

 

Anyway, I'd go on another cruise with Jamaica as a port and I'd return on a plane as well.

Edited by sjmbruce
forgot the word "in" before Iowa. must be time for bed!
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Strinkle

Strinkle

Posted
Posted
Our cruise in January on the OASIS stops in Jamaica. We'll be staying on the ship.

 

I went to Falmouth Jamaica on the Oasis & the dock is not too bad to walk around & do some shopping since it is a fairly new port but don't go past the gates where the locals have their shops.

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catsdinner

catsdinner

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Posted

Our cruise on the Coral in March is going to Grand Cayman but I wouldn't have minded going to Ochos Rios either. Spent two weeks in Jamaica a few years ago and enjoyed it. Some family members attended a wedding there last year and loved it. Our one visit there on a cruise ship we had a great time. Didn't feel any more threatened there than I would in many US cities.

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