1st Time to Jamaica

[dodukes]

I just posted mine here , it was an all around review so that it wouldnt be like i was praising a particular tour, but i surely did mention Phil a lot as he was with us most of the day there and was the reason for enjoyin jamaica. Just make sure you make a complete review not just praise marva and i think it would be ok, I like reading others reviews as it helps me make a decision on waht to do.

[CrusinAgain]

We just came back from our cruise with our first time in Jamaica. I researched alot on this board and booked a tour with A-Z Planners and the day was perfect except for the weather being too hot last week - 90 degrees.

 

Our driver was Mickey, a gentleman from England, and stayed with us the entire trip including walking us down the stairs at Dunns River Falls and stayed in the parking lot while we toured Shaw Gardens and the Wassi Art Pottery Factory and then took us shopping. We never felt unsafe on our tour. I would check out A-Z Planners as they have several tour packages for the cruiser. Good luck and have a great trip. :)

[cruisin zonies]

Tour Review of Montego Bay

We met Marva Shaw and her tour guide Maxine in the pier terminal at 9 AM. Had I known that it would be pretty easy to get off the ship after 8 AM, I would have arranged for our group to be in the terminal earlier. After emailing back and forth with Marva for several months, it was like meeting an old friend. Big hugs all around. Marva suggested that we might reconsider YS Falls because of the late start since we wanted to also eat a good lunch somewhere, go shopping, and make a stop at Margaritaville. I had told Marva by email that we would consider other options and I wish we would have listened to her, but since I had a group of 14 of which the majority had wanted to see YS Falls, we decided to keep to our original itinerary. So our decision made the day pretty rushed, but Marva and Maxine made sure we saw everything we wanted to see, and treated us to a wonderful informative fun tour of the island.

We had a large air-conditioned bus all to ourselves, and as we took off from the pier terminal, Maxine took command of the PA and started telling us all about the island, the economy, the industry, the people. She was a wealth of information and she was charming and funny during the two-hour drive. Marva also went with us sharing her knowledge and great personality and I was so happy that she joined us. As we made the two-hour drive to YS Falls, Maxine also taught us how to speak in Jamaican Creole and taught us all the common words and pointing out things about the people and the island as we passed them.

When we arrived at YS Falls, we took the jitney to the Falls and spent our time climbing to the top and swinging from the ropes into the large pool of water. Each level of the Falls has a large shelf (some as long as 40+ feet) before it cascades onto the next one. It was very beautiful even though there were a couple areas that were closed off to the public, but because there were only about 30 people there, we enjoyed the peacefulness and small crowds. Unemployment is very high in Jamaica (about 30%) and the majority of the country is very poor, so we made sure to tip the guides who helped the swimmers climb the ropes and we also tipped the jitney driver when he dropped us back at the main entrance. We won’t soon forget the look on his face when he looked down at the $10 we gave him. If you go, make sure you also stop at the little café on the other side of the building. There we purchased authentic Jamaican patties (pronounced pat-tees) for $1 each and they were awesome, about the size of your palm and filled with a spicy meat filling.

We left YS and found Culloden Café on our way back along the South Coast and since I had read about it on here, we stopped to eat. The owner, Ann, is from Minnesota and serves wonderful gourmet fare. I felt bad for Ann because she wasn’t prepared for a group our size, but she managed wonderfully especially since we ended up having to order our food to go. Culloden Café is nestled off the main road and you will only see the name painted in dark red/orange on a curved stone wall. You have to drive down an unpaved road and pass a couple house before you come to the café, but it’s not too far at all. Culloden has a glorious view of the ocean and the back patio is covered by a vine arbor with gorgeous lilac colored flowers hanging down. There is only a small area where you can go down to the water, no sandy beach, but there is also a covered ramada area near the beach’s edge where you can sip a drink or laze in the hammock. My sister ordered Escoveitch (sp), which is a local fish and is authentic Jamaican fare. The fish came with the head still on and by that time we were eating on the go in the bus, so there was a collective chorus of loud “eewwws” from our group. We all had a good laugh since Marva and Maxine were laughing back at us because to Jamaicans, buying fish without the head is unimaginable. As they explained, you can’t tell the freshness of the fish without seeing its eyes (clear or cloudy), so why would you buy a fish without its head? We had a ton of funny moments like that on this tour with Marva and Maxine.

We had to make a restroom stop on our way back to Mo Bay, and Maxine knew just the place to stop. I will have to email Marva and ask her the name of this place, because again, something as simple as a restroom stop became a wonderful memory for us. The place was called (something) Shanty and it was a very clean small building right off the main road with the owner’s house behind it. A Jamaican man greeted our group when we walked in the small room that had a bar and a single restroom in the back. As I walked to the restroom, I heard someone ask him how his day was going, and in that lovely Jamaican accent that we all came to love, he answered that his day was much better now that we stopped to see him. Everyone laughed and cheered as we bought some beers and chatted with him. He showed us the Carnival mugs hanging from his wall and brought out a photo album of his years as an employee of the cruise line. I wish that I had left some room to eat because he had three items on his menu that day, one of which was curried goat, another Jamaican specialty. I definitely would’ve ordered some had I had the room.

We made it back into Mo Bay after 3 PM and still made it to Margaritaville and the nearby shops. Maxine took command here and carefully navigated us to the shops where we could get good deals on Jamaican Rum Cream and Blue Mountain Coffee. We had time for one drink in Margaritaville, but that was fine by me because I was uncomfortable in that area with all the pushy vendors and “pharmacists” around. The irony for me was that after reading everything about the potential dangers in Jamaica, we should’ve been more concerned about venturing off into the countryside than in the main areas in Mo Bay and the Hip Strip. But out on tour in the country was by far the best experience for me. I felt safer and it was out there that we really connected with the local people and culture, and got to eat some real Jamaican food and that was exactly what we wanted to experience.

All in all, our tour lasted seven hours, cost $48 US including the entrance fee to YS Falls, and we arrived back to the pier terminal in plenty of time to get back on the ship. Parting with Marva, Maxine, and Shabba (our amazing driver and you know what I mean if you’ve ventured off on those narrow mountain roads!) was bittersweet. We promised to stay in touch. Marva and I are exchanging recipes, and we can’t wait to go back for another tour with her. Next time, we are going to totally leave it in her and Maxine’s hands to show us more of their beautiful country.