Carnival excursions vs going it alone.

[poz222]

I got a passport card so I can bring that (since I do mostly water excursions) instead of my actual passport.... I know "technically" it is not valid for re-entry to USA, but If you do not make it back to the ship, they will pack up your stuff and leave with the port agent or send to the hospital so hopefully they would grab my passport too! ;)

[RecoveryDude]

We were just in Ocho Rios on the Breeze. At the end of the pier was a Margaritaville which was very nice. Lifeguard on duty, free use of chaises as long as you ordered drinks. They had the tube ride pulled behind a fast boat that my brother-in-law did. They kept coming back around offering reduced prices after the 1st ride. Was not planning on getting off the ship due to past experience in Jamaica. Glad we did.

 

I also have had bad experiences with Jamaica. it's been over 10 years since I've been there, maybe it's better now. If you stay around the port, are you shielded from the little children trying to sell you things and the beggers and such? From the sounds of what you describe, it sounds like they have turned the port into something similar to what they have at Grand Turk????

 

Thanks

 

Jeff aka Recovery Dude

[Micahs Grandad]

I also have had bad experiences with Jamaica. it's been over 10 years since I've been there, maybe it's better now. If you stay around the port, are you shielded from the little children trying to sell you things and the beggers and such? From the sounds of what you describe, it sounds like they have turned the port into something similar to what they have at Grand Turk????

 

Thanks

 

Jeff aka Recovery Dude

 

Have never seen any begging at Grand Turk

[cruiser4four]

Dunns River Falls is not very far away from the cruise port in Ocho Rios. When we visited we walked out and took a taxi to the falls. We did everything on our own while the taxi driver waited. He then took us to a shopping area/mall where we walked around for a bit then he took us back to the small beach right by the port. You don't have to worry too much about missing the ship unless you are extremely careless. The visit to the falls will only last about two hours (if even that long) unless you plan to climb the falls multiple times. And afterwards there are many taxis waiting outside the park to take you back to the ship. Ocho Rios is only scary if you walk around on your own aimlessly. You should be fine if you take a taxi to and from the falls. You should visit Scotchie's for lunch after Dunns River, I've heard a lot about them.

[cruiser4four]

Hello!

My last 4 cruises I've always gone with booking excursions through the cruise line. This year me and my sisters took the Carnival Splendor, we just got back on Sunday, and my sister booked all excursions through an outside vendor. The same exact packages as the cruise line, we just had a different meeting spot outside of the port.

 

As for Jamaica, on our way to the airport while in a shuttle, we spoke with cruisers from other cruise lines who went to Jamaica last week. They said they will never go to Jamaica again. One woman travelled with her teenaged granddaughter and as soon as they stepped off the pier and onto the street, they were surrounded by men telling them they will give them free rides, offered the young girl a job, were saying vulgar things to the young girl. The grandmother (who only looked about 50, she was hot stuff herself!) grabbed her granddaughter and they "Fled" (her words) back to the ship.

 

The shuttle driver (I think also the owner of the shuttlei company) stated that Jamaica is a big place for sex traffickers and that it's not reported in the news but there have been young girls offered free taxi rides when they leave port and they're never seen again.

 

Personally, I wouldn't touch Jamaica with a ten foot pole. While I work with many Jamaicans and they are wonderful people, I remember the time when going there was dangerous to foreigners.

 

I also recall the huge commercial promotion exclaiming with song, "Come Back To Jamaica" because in the 70's and 80's Jamaica was so violent and full of crime. There was also a bunch Venus or Ujena Swimwear models who did a photo shoot in Jamaica back in the late "80's, after the whole "Come Back To Jamaica" promotion. The bus with all the models was hijacked by guerrillas and they were held hostage, shot.

 

No amount of money will get me to Jamaica.

I do wish you well and hope you have a safe trip :)

 

 

Harlem New York was a warzone years ago, taking the subway in the 80s was very dangerous, and Times Square had hookers and sex shops. Miami had cocaine and numerous violent murders. Does that mean no one should visit New York or Miami?

 

Jamaica is like many other places..when visiting you have to be careful and smart. If you show fear and act cowardly then people will prey on you. That goes for Europe and Asia too. Simply go with a guide or take a taxi and be aware of your surroundings.

Edited April 13, 2016 by cruiser4four

[BB Huey]

The Margaritaviile in Jamaica is very similar to Grand Turk, but the pool is quite a bit smaller.

[TerReuv]

Harlem New York was a warzone years ago, taking the subway in the 80s was very dangerous, and Times Square had hookers and sex shops. Miami had cocaine and numerous violent murders. Does that mean no one should visit New York or Miami?

 

Jamaica is like many other places..when visiting you have to be careful and smart. If you show fear and act cowardly then people will prey on you. That goes for Europe and Asia too. Simply go with a guide or take a taxi and be aware of your surroundings.

 

This! Just be smart. We researched other tour companies and ended up using Carolyn Barrett (barrettadventures dot com). We had our own driver for the 4 of us and we had specific things we wanted to do and were able to go to something we wouldn't have done with the ship. There is a bird sanctuary there where the hummingbirds will land on your hand to eat. Pretty cool. Our driver went everywhere with us and we never felt worried about anything.

 

We saved a good amount of money and did something different than what the ship offered. We never felt worried or scared. As for reaching an age where you aren't quite as adventurous, I just don't count using an outside vendor for an excursion as being adventurous. My DH & I are mid 50's and we were with my parents who are mid-late 70's. I sure wouldn't say they were very adventurous at all.

 

If you do your homework and research then you will find many excursion vendors in Jamaica that are really good and you will have no worries. As others have said, they care about reviews and need that business from the cruise ship. At least for $50 a person we had no one but the four of us all day and did what we wanted. Much better deal than the cruise ship.

[GOLDENBONNY]

A few friends in our group are thinking of saving some money by trying to do dunns river falls in Ochoa rios on their own. Does anyone know the cost of the falls. And what taxi rides would be to and from the falls from the dock?

 

Also. Are their any benefits or hazards to this

 

 

I would not go in Jamaica on my own . Book ship excursion in this port, you will thank me later. :rolleyes: We did falls once ,it was nice but now we never leave port fence. It's not that I am afraid to become a sex slave in my 44:p but been harassed every 2 seconds it's too much for me .

[Keys2Heaven]

Benefits you will save $$. Hazards are that if you are late they won't wait for you.

 

If you book something that stays relatively close to the port, I'd think you'd be o.k. If you have to get on a bus and travel a couple of hours, then I'd more than likely schedule something via the cruise line. Of course a lot of it going to depend on how reputable the tour operator is as well as their reviews. Tourism is a major, if not the major, source of income in most of the ports, so it would be in the tour operators best interest to abide by the cruise lines rules if they want to stay in business.

 

Most of the excursions we've planned have been outside of the cruise line and have never had an issue. Just our experience, but we really do our homework when booking someone.

Edited April 13, 2016 by Keys2Heaven

[summersigh]

Posting here to explain why DH (who doesn't get around really speedily any more) and I self-imposed our "rule of thumb" about taking ship's excursions when venturing out beyond the reach of taxis. If we can grab a taxi in a pinch we're happy to book privately.

 

Awhile back we were on a Carnival "exotic western Caribbean cruise" (went to Rotan and Belize). We'd booked a ship's excursion including a ride on a rain forest river, authentic Mayan lunch and the Altun Ha ruins. We booked through the ship since we'd be so far out of Belize City - thank goodness !!

 

The tour was great - climbing to the top of the tallest ruin was totally awesome.

 

We left the ruins in plenty of time to get back. The ship was scheduled to sail at 5pm (after the lengthy tender ride out to the ship) ..... but ... at 5pm we were trapped in stand-still traffic in "downtown" Belize City. Nothing except pedestrians was moving.

 

It was such a good, good feeling to have our tour guide smile as she pocketed her cell phone to inform us that a rep from our ship was waiting for us on the docks with our tender. All 20 of us visually relaxed :-)

[NightOne]

It was such a good, good feeling to have our tour guide smile as she pocketed her cell phone to inform us that a rep from our ship was waiting for us on the docks with our tender. All 20 of us visually relaxed :-)

 

You'll hear stories like yours all the time because the ship excursions know that they can be late.

 

You are beginning to sound like you work for the cruise line excursions desk. :D

 

Next you're going to tell us what a great value those art auctions are :eek::eek::eek:

 

AGAIN... I am waiting for anyone to post links to legitimate cases of people missing the ship in port because they went on a private excursion with a known operator.

[cruiser4four]

Posting here to explain why DH (who doesn't get around really speedily any more) and I self-imposed our "rule of thumb" about taking ship's excursions when venturing out beyond the reach of taxis. If we can grab a taxi in a pinch we're happy to book privately.

 

Awhile back we were on a Carnival "exotic western Caribbean cruise" (went to Rotan and Belize). We'd booked a ship's excursion including a ride on a rain forest river, authentic Mayan lunch and the Altun Ha ruins. We booked through the ship since we'd be so far out of Belize City - thank goodness !!

 

The tour was great - climbing to the top of the tallest ruin was totally awesome.

 

We left the ruins in plenty of time to get back. The ship was scheduled to sail at 5pm (after the lengthy tender ride out to the ship) ..... but ... at 5pm we were trapped in stand-still traffic in "downtown" Belize City. Nothing except pedestrians was moving.

 

It was such a good, good feeling to have our tour guide smile as she pocketed her cell phone to inform us that a rep from our ship was waiting for us on the docks with our tender. All 20 of us visually relaxed :-)

 

 

Getting to the ruins in Belize requires a lot of driving, takes a lot of time to and fro. Getting to Dunns River in Ocho Rios takes a few minutes, and there are numerous taxis there waiting to take people back to the port. Different ports should be handled differently. I would suggest the OP take a taxi to Dunns River and back.

[ryano]

I have booked a private excursion through Victor Bodden tours in Roatan. My biggest fear of cruising is missing the ship! Ive had nightmares about it! :eek:

 

Victor reassures me via email we will be back in plenty of time.

 

Can anyone here reassure me as well? :D:o I have read countless positive reviews and for some reason, Im still having trouble easing my mind. I generally dont book excursions I guess is the problem.

 

Any good, positive words on Victor Bodden here?

[nealstuber]

When I am researching excursions, it is very apparent that booking outside of Carnival is a HUGE savings. But, as others have said, no guarantee if you are late that the ship won't leave without you. In fact, I have read many reviews about when that indeed happened.:eek: Our previous rule of thumb was, if the excursion is 45 minutes plus, from the port. Do it through Carnival. Especially Jamaica. Now, not an issue as I have not found any excursion worth all the travel time. So, we stick closer to port. Caymans we have had good luck with taking a taxi, just not that far. Some things are just too much travel time and very little excursion time to bother with. The Xplore available from Cozumal, we did from an A.I. and it was wonderful!! From the ship there is so little time you can barely fit 1/8 of the things to do in the time frame. Again, mostly travel.

 

 

 

Personally I would not feel comfortable taking any excursion from Jamaica outside of Carnival. Our next cruise will be our 3rd visit and we plan on staying on the ship.

 

 

In Jamacia SunsetBeach is a five minute cab ride and you can see the ship the whole time you're there,

[summersigh]

Getting to the ruins in Belize requires a lot of driving, takes a lot of time to and fro. Getting to Dunns River in Ocho Rios takes a few minutes, and there are numerous taxis there waiting to take people back to the port. Different ports should be handled differently. I would suggest the OP take a taxi to Dunns River and back.

 

As I said in an earlier post in this thread - if there would be taxis available, just in case, then I would and do take private tours - and it we're going to be out of touch of those then we opt for ship tours.

 

Our 2 stops in Jamaica have been to Falmouth and Montego Bay.... so from them I'd feel most comfortable on a ship tour to Dunn's River BUT if we'd landed in Ocho Rios I'd have done a private tour or taxi.:D:D

Edited April 13, 2016 by summersigh

[rjrice1]

I have done 17 cruises and all excursions were private.

Including Dunn River's Fall. We has such a great time .

We have done all types of excursions and never once have we felt threaten, miss the ship or even close to missing the ship...

Go to your roll call or trip advisor and you can see their reviews.

[KenMo]

I have booked a private excursion through Victor Bodden tours in Roatan. My biggest fear of cruising is missing the ship! Ive had nightmares about it! :eek:

 

Victor reassures me via email we will be back in plenty of time.

 

Can anyone here reassure me as well? :D:o I have read countless positive reviews and for some reason, Im still having trouble easing my mind. I generally dont book excursions I guess is the problem.

 

Any good, positive words on Victor Bodden here?

 

I've used Victor several times.

 

We have never even come close to missing the ship.

 

Relax and have a great cruise!!

Edited April 13, 2016 by KenMo

[poz222]

I have used Victor Bodden twice, both times were wonderful, no issues... Have fun!

[cruzelover55]

Posting here to explain why DH (who doesn't get around really speedily any more) and I self-imposed our "rule of thumb" about taking ship's excursions when venturing out beyond the reach of taxis. If we can grab a taxi in a pinch we're happy to book privately.

 

Awhile back we were on a Carnival "exotic western Caribbean cruise" (went to Rotan and Belize). We'd booked a ship's excursion including a ride on a rain forest river, authentic Mayan lunch and the Altun Ha ruins. We booked through the ship since we'd be so far out of Belize City - thank goodness !!

 

The tour was great - climbing to the top of the tallest ruin was totally awesome.

 

We left the ruins in plenty of time to get back. The ship was scheduled to sail at 5pm (after the lengthy tender ride out to the ship) ..... but ... at 5pm we were trapped in stand-still traffic in "downtown" Belize City. Nothing except pedestrians was moving.

 

It was such a good, good feeling to have our tour guide smile as she pocketed her cell phone to inform us that a rep from our ship was waiting for us on the docks with our tender. All 20 of us visually relaxed :-)

 

A couple of pages back I responded to a post saying I had read reviews about people being left. If you remember, I was challenged to "prove it". I did not dignify it with an answer. How do I know how truthful every post is? Anyway, we have taken the same excursion you just spoke of with the same results. Maybe we were part of your group or maybe it happens frequently? Tour was awesome though. We follow the same rule of thumb as you guys. I wasn't picking on Jamaica when I said I would not do a private tour. I just don't feel comfortable, since we dock in Montego Bay, everything is just too far away. When I was more agile, we did the zipline, through Carnival. Loved it and glad we did it as I doubt I could climb that hill nowadays.:(:)

 

Caymans, we went, years ago, to a stingray and beach excursion. Stingray part was great, but the pitiful beach they took us to, I could have done without. I feel more comfortable taking a cab while there, nowadays, as many options are fairly close and taxis plentiful. 9/16 will be our 3rd time with the Jamaica, Grand Cayman and of course Cozumel ports. May not even leave the ship at some. We really cruise for the ship experience, not the ports, as "been there, done that". But, from this thread some people have given out dotcom's of excursions outside the Carnival box, and we are considering some of them.

 

And, as far as that person not believing people get left, when arriving late. There was another thread couple of days ago, that had a youtube link. It was very entertaining. If you have the time or interest, I'm sure it can be googled. Though I felt sorry for the ones that either got left or were allowed aboard through unconventional methods, the videos showing this were funny. But, was probably a big hoax:D Happy Cruising!! If you happen to be on a cruise we are on, you can't miss me. I'll be the woman hop, skipping along with a cane. It actually comes in handy for many things. While taking walks, to fend off stray dogs, or rapping someone sharply on the knuckles, as they are attempting to take something from me. Cane-foo fighting!

[cruzelover55]

In Jamacia SunsetBeach is a five minute cab ride and you can see the ship the whole time you're there,

 

That sounds great, but is that 5 minutes from Montego Bay, where we dock?

[KatieCharlotte]

I have booked a private excursion through Victor Bodden tours in Roatan. My biggest fear of cruising is missing the ship! Ive had nightmares about it! :eek:

 

Victor reassures me via email we will be back in plenty of time.

 

Can anyone here reassure me as well? :D:o I have read countless positive reviews and for some reason, Im still having trouble easing my mind. I generally dont book excursions I guess is the problem.

 

Any good, positive words on Victor Bodden here?

 

Yes, we loved our private tour with a Victor Bodden guide. We recommended them to friends who also had an excellent time. You have no reason to worry.

[Micahs Grandad]

I have booked a private excursion through Victor Bodden tours in Roatan. My biggest fear of cruising is missing the ship! Ive had nightmares about it! :eek:

 

Victor reassures me via email we will be back in plenty of time.

 

Can anyone here reassure me as well? :D:o I have read countless positive reviews and for some reason, Im still having trouble easing my mind. I generally dont book excursions I guess is the problem.

 

Any good, positive words on Victor Bodden here?

 

If he was late getting back to the ship and the ship left there would be tons of comments around here and trip advisor telling the world about this. Would do real damage to his business so he will take care to make sure this doesnt happen.

 

BTW the one tour we have taken here was with Carnival. One of our stops was being left at a gift shop mall and fending for ourselves. I was given a gift of a necklace and than pushed to buy it. Finally just handed it back to the guy and learned a very good lesson.

 

This gift shop part wasted just over an hour of a 5 hour tour.

 

Tour guide took us to Dunns Falls who turned us over to a guide to take us up and he was more interested in selling us pictures than helping us up the falls.

 

I would much rather be on a tour with say 8 people in a van and tell them we dont really want to spend a major part of our tour at gift shops.

[Halya50]

A few friends in our group are thinking of saving some money by trying to do dunns river falls in Ochoa rios on their own. Does anyone know the cost of the falls. And what taxi rides would be to and from the falls from the dock?

 

Also. Are their any benefits or hazards to this

 

We only do our own tours, we do a private excursion in every port and have never ever even came close to missing the ship.

 

We went to Jamaica twice and used Marva Shaw. They will customize your tours. Highly recommended on trip advisor as well.

[summersigh]

:D Happy Cruising!! If you happen to be on a cruise we are on, you can't miss me. I'll be the woman hop, skipping along with a cane. It actually comes in handy for many things. While taking walks, to fend off stray dogs, or rapping someone sharply on the knuckles, as they are attempting to take something from me. Cane-foo fighting!

 

Maybe you and my DH will have matching canes?? :D:D

[k2excursion]

I have booked a private excursion through Victor Bodden tours in Roatan. My biggest fear of cruising is missing the ship! Ive had nightmares about it! :eek:

 

Victor reassures me via email we will be back in plenty of time.

 

Can anyone here reassure me as well? :D:o I have read countless positive reviews and for some reason, Im still having trouble easing my mind. I generally dont book excursions I guess is the problem.

 

Any good, positive words on Victor Bodden here?

 

Victor Bodden is one of the best of the best in the entire Caribbean! You have no reason to worry at all. They do have group tours & private tours. I don't know which one you booked, but private tours are only slightly more expensive, & you get to choose what you want to do & what you want to skip, as you have your own driver for the day. And you can head back to the ship early if you wish. We ended ours a little bit early, as we got to do all that we wanted, & then some. And in the highly unlikely event of a car breakdown, Victor has plenty of other drivers that will be ready to go pick you up wherever you're at, and you'll be fine. It's not a huge island.

Edited April 14, 2016 by k2excursion