Jamaica safe or unsafe?

[BnDcruisers]

I was wondering how cruisers feel about stopping at Jamaica? 
The US State Department issued a level 3 out of 4 advisory on May 10 for Jamaica. Level 3 says to “reconsider your travel plans”.

The issue is criminal activity in Jamaica and lack of police presence.
Do you feel safe during the Jamaica stops? 
Any thoughts? 
Thanks

[SargassoPirate]

There are several ports that I would not leave the ship solo, and Jamaica is one of them.  

 

[CynCyn]

3 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

There are several ports that I would not leave the ship solo, and Jamaica is one of them.  

 

I’m so much more careful solo!

[BamaVol]

We took a ships tour out of Falmouth.  I never felt unsafe for a minute.  Would I wander around the town?  Maybe not, but I saw people doing it.  Albeit at 11:00 AM as opposed to after dark. I don’t believe any ships call on Kingston, where the violence is worst.  Other than there, is any port that much more dangerous than somewhere else a ship stops?  Of course you can cite examples of crimes anywhere in Jamaica.  I can do the same for the US. Statistically, are you at greater risk in Ocho Rios than parts of San Francisco or Miami?  I dunno.  

Edited May 23, 2023 by BamaVol

[mtnesterz]

We ported in Falmouth, Jamaica on a Princess cruise. There is a port area with shopping and restaurants... it's super clean and nice there to walk around, shop, have lunch or a Red Stripe beer. The ship advised passengers not to go past the gate unless on an excursion bus. 

Since we did not go on an excursion, we walked down to the metal gate for excercise, but not beyond.

Yes, we felt safe in the secured gated port shopping/dining area. 

Just follow recommendations.

Edited May 23, 2023 by mtnesterz

[CATGUY7]

We try to avoid stops in Jamaica.  It's been years ago, but the last time we were there we wandered around outside the gates and had people follow us everywhere.  And then there was the man that tried to sell us ganja.  It was just uncomfortable.

[ontheweb]

We went on a Bob Marley bus excursion with a different cruise line, and had a wonderful time. We were glad we got to see a part of Jamaica that those of you who never leave the gated port area never see. And we felt perfectly safe.

 

We also did a land trip to Jamaica and stayed at the only resort run by the locals (no longer in existence) back in 1997 for our 20th anniversary. We also totally enjoyed that and never felt threatened.

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, BnDcruisers said:

I was wondering how cruisers feel about stopping at Jamaica? 
The US State Department issued a level 3 out of 4 advisory on May 10 for Jamaica. Level 3 says to “reconsider your travel plans”.

The issue is criminal activity in Jamaica and lack of police presence.
Do you feel safe during the Jamaica stops? 
Any thoughts? 
Thanks

I've had two cruise ship stops in Jamaica - Falmouth and Ocho Rios.  I had cruise ships excursions in both.  I felt safe at all times.  Then again, my last visit to Jamaica was at least 4 years ago.  I'm not sure how I feel now.

[lx200gps]

Our first visit to Jamaica on a Princess ship was to Falmouth. We stayed in the immediate port area and found it just boring, nothing special. Our second visit to Jamaica stopped at Ochos Rios. An utterly dreadful experience walking away from the immediate port up towards "Main Street", a distance of maybe 300 yards past rows of taxis and VERY forceful and aggressive locals shoving unwanted excursion etc down our throats. We are well used to gentle harassment on other islands in the Caribbean and in Mexico, particularly Cabo, but this was on an entirely different level, at one point bordering on threatening. If we ever do have to stop in Jamaica on a cruise again, we sure won't be getting off the ship. Maybe we'll have a shot at actually getting Sanctuary loungers ;o)

 

[MissP22]

If there was anyplace to utilize a ships tour it would be Jamaica and definitely Trinidad. It seems that we never go to either of those ports without hearing about an incident happening. 

[tobyt]

I would have to say that given the opportunity I would select a cruise that did not stop in Jamaica. If for whatever reason the ship stopped I would not be venturing off. We found the island not our cup of tea and both of us were quite uncomfortable there! It would be a lovely day onboard for us!

[sfaaa]

In port area, I felt safe as there were police around. Outside port area, no. Area looked sketchy and I didn't like the vibes.

[BamaVol]

We visited one of the Great Houses.  It was beautiful and the ride takes you out into the hills where the weather folks live.  I would go back for another visit, but it would have to involve another ships tour.  And if there were such a thing as a HOHO bus, I would pass.  There didn’t appear to be any place in Falmouth I would want to stop.  I was there in the early 90’s on business.  The general poverty and decrepitude hasn’t changed in 30 years.

[MissP22]

33 minutes ago, BamaVol said:

We visited one of the Great Houses.  It was beautiful and the ride takes you out into the hills where the weather folks live.  I would go back for another visit, but it would have to involve another ships tour.  And if there were such a thing as a HOHO bus, I would pass.  There didn’t appear to be any place in Falmouth I would want to stop.  I was there in the early 90’s on business.  The general poverty and decrepitude hasn’t changed in 30 years.

What are weather folks?

[lx200gps]

Around the time of our first visit to Jamaica on a Princess ship, a few years pre-pandemic, we actually received via Email a targeted mini-survey from Princess specifically asking about our feelings re Jamaica and whether it was a worthy cruise port stop. We certainly answered in the negative. I guess even back then they were aware of issues with that particular island, but it appears that folks like us who don't particularly care for the place were in the minority, as Princess kept going there and still has it on their itineraries.

[beg3yrs]

34 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

What are weather folks?

Probably the wealthier folks.

[BamaVol]

9 minutes ago, beg3yrs said:

Probably the wealthier folks.

Correctly interpreted. I probably missed typing the ‘l’ and spellcheck misunderstood.  My eyes aren’t what they used to be.

[beg3yrs]

54 minutes ago, BamaVol said:

Correctly interpreted. I probably missed typing the ‘l’ and spellcheck misunderstood.  My eyes aren’t what they used to be.

Only interpreted cuz I'm fully capable of making similar errors!

[railman]

We have ported at Ocho Ries twice, both several years ago and did not feel safe.  I doubt it has changed for the better.  On one stop we were directly asked if we wanted to buy drugs.  Jamaica is off our travel list.

[cruisetraveler2]

I was on a ship that stopped at Ocho Rios a couple of weeks ago.  I have always avoided Jamaica in the past.  I rarely do ship excursions.  I hired a guide to do a short tour.  It just confirmed in my mind why I was right to avoid Jamaica.  This is one of the few ports that I would recommend taking a ship excursion or just not getting off at all. 

[UNCFanatik]

Did a cruise last week and stopped in Falmouth on Tuesday, May 23. Group of 8 of us with my grandkids ages 5 & 2. Booked day passes at Hilton Rose Hall through resort for a day with transportation included. It was a 20 minute ride in a private bus and experienced ZERO issues and never felt unsafe

[Marie51]

On 5/30/2023 at 1:46 PM, UNCFanatik said:

Did a cruise last week and stopped in Falmouth on Tuesday, May 23. Group of 8 of us with my grandkids ages 5 & 2. Booked day passes at Hilton Rose Hall through resort for a day with transportation included. It was a 20 minute ride in a private bus and experienced ZERO issues and never felt unsafe

Thank goodness something positive, this is good to hear. We will be in Jamaica in September and booked the Rose Hall resort. Could you please tell me how far it is when you get off the ship to the place where you get on the bus? I have some mobility problems and cannot walk a long distance so this is my concern. Thank you.

[2xprincess]

@Marie51 thinking of rose hall day pass for our January cruise.  What did you think?

[Marie51]

3 hours ago, 2xprincess said:

@Marie51 thinking of rose hall day pass for our January cruise.  What did you think?

We did not enjoy it. The driver was one hour late to pick us up and there was a lot of confusion. The resort looked nice, there were two swimming pools which were great but the water at the beach was cloudy, not that clear beautiful water that you can see through.

We ordered lunch from a little restaurant right by one of the swimming pools. There were four of us and we all thought the food was mediocre at best. Perhaps it would’ve been better if we had gone to the big buffet, but we didn’t do that.

 

this is not the resorts fault, but we had to go back to the ship two hours earlier than originally planned. The captain of the ship wanted to leave two hours early to avoid bad weather so our trip to the resort was cut short. 
 

We paid a lot of money for the four of us to go and I don’t feel that we really got our moneys worth, we ended up staying from about 11 AM till around 2:30 PM and then we had to go back to the ship.

[2xprincess]

@Marie51

 

thank you! i appreciate your response.