What's wrong with Jamaica?

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Let's get our stories straight before posting people...70+ year old ex marine did kill one of the robbers...In COSTA RICA. The other story that filled pages on this board months back was a tour group that was robbed on a tour outside MoBay.

 

Okay this is the story I knew about but thought it was JA - thanks for clearing that up.

I hadn't read (or don't remember:rolleyes: ) the other robbery.

Thanks:D

[camperhawk]

We just visited Ocho again on this past cruise. Once again, one of our favorite days. The first time we did the falls, fern gully, river tubing and had a ball. This time it was a tropical rain storm, brining rushing waters down from the mountains and we still had the best day!!! I will post a full review of our day when the pics are ready. The worst thing about Ocho to me is if you don't get off the ship. The best is to go with a guide that you know and trust!

[DMRick]

We were very nervous bringing our entire family on this cruise. We did get off, although I hadn't planned to. One group went to the falls and stingray tour on a ship tour. Another group walked down to the beach (they told us $3 to get in, but the group took the beach path and paid nothing) and road the wave runners, and went in the water. We walked all through the shopping center, visited Margaritavilles Beach (was small but nice) just going a bit out of the fenced area. After all my warnings to them all, we just had a few people offer to sell us items (no drugs), and every one left us alone when we said no thank you. The group that went to the falls said they were asked to look at items for sale, but it wasn't pushed. I was told the beach smelled of mj, but none was offered there either. We found it no different than any other port..at least close to the port.

[JWestShuh]

My husband and I sailed the Western Caribbean in March and Ocho Rios was our second stop. I think of the 4 (Labadee, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel) it was by far the worst in terms of locals constantly trying to push goods on you. That being said, I was never scared or intimidated. My husband and I just said "No thank you" and kept walking. It was more annoying than scary. We went with a local tour guide, just the two of us, and he explained that tourism is their number 1 source of income. He said that Americans and Europeans are perceived as being very rich (which we are compared to the vast majority of Jamaicans). I kept this in mind when I found myself getting annoyed throughout the trip. :o My husband did find Dunn's River and tubing down the white river to be a great excursion and wouldn't have missed it. I would never stay on the ship.

[mskongfused]

Just back from the Grand Princess. We ported in Ocho Rios on Monday november 19th. We booked a private tour (Mark Morris Tours) to the falls and shopping. I never felt unsafe or worried. As for the falls being covered in merchants there is an area called the marketplace. OUr tour guide walked us all the way down to the bottom of the falls where you meet the guide who will escort you up. He told us to leave using the same route we entered (not through the marketplace) and we had only one person ask if we wanted to buy the pictures of us on the falls and we simply said no thank you and that was that.

 

When we went to the shopping mall it was gated I believe and there were security guards walking around, but I didn't feel intimidated. The store clerks were friendly and not pushy. We were able to negotiate prices and then say no if we weren't interested and walk away.

 

I took my 4 year old son on this excursion and never feared for him. I would go again in a heartbeat. Mark played a big role this! Safety is an issue of common sense a lot of times. I'm sure I would feel more nervous walking down the street of New York City with my 4 year old. But there are risks anywhere you go! Go, have a good time, be smart and be safe!

[wolfganghowell]

Julia - I didn't mean to imply you said it was the cruise line's fault - I was covering my own hiney! :) Sorry for the mixup on the Marine/Costa Rica thing. I could have sworn that was Jamaica as well....but that will teach me to swear. :eek: Be that as it may, Jamaica is a port that requires research and careful thought and a good awareness of your surroundings.

[Eric95403]

Just back from the Grand Princess. We ported in Ocho Rios on Monday november 19th. We booked a private tour (Mark Morris Tours) to the falls and shopping. I never felt unsafe or worried. As for the falls being covered in merchants there is an area called the marketplace. OUr tour guide walked us all the way down to the bottom of the falls where you meet the guide who will escort you up. He told us to leave using the same route we entered (not through the marketplace) and we had only one person ask if we wanted to buy the pictures of us on the falls and we simply said no thank you and that was that.

 

When we went to the shopping mall it was gated I believe and there were security guards walking around, but I didn't feel intimidated. The store clerks were friendly and not pushy. We were able to negotiate prices and then say no if we weren't interested and walk away.

 

I took my 4 year old son on this excursion and never feared for him. I would go again in a heartbeat. Mark played a big role this! Safety is an issue of common sense a lot of times. I'm sure I would feel more nervous walking down the street of New York City with my 4 year old. But there are risks anywhere you go! Go, have a good time, be smart and be safe!

 

We were on the same cruise as you (Grand Princess). We had a cruise sponsored excursion (Canopy Tour/Zip line) which was excellent. After our tour, our bus driver took us over to the Island Village. While there we had a fun time and never felt threatened in any manner. Once leaving the shopping center and walking back to the port...no concerns either and not even harrassed. I had read all the warnings and post on how bad this area was...never saw it and it was one of our better days. As a group (10 of us), Jamaica might have been our favorite stop.

[mskongfused]

Eric,

Yeah I tried ot meet up for the roll call meet and greet....we just couldn't make the timing work. I came late on the 1st day, didn't see anyone. Maybe everyone had already mingled and gone on their ways. Glad to hear you all had a good experience. :)

 

We would defintely stop in Jamaica again!

[mooline]

I agree 100% with Eric. I let myself get way too scared by all of the negative posts, which I understand I a believe to be very true - of course, I am no pollyanna and know that bad things DO happen in Jamaica - often... but with a little dose of caution, it was, for us (age 50 something non-party people) a GREAT place.

 

We took the Mountain Bike and Snorkel tour, the same operator as the canopy/zip line tour (which our ship's captain had done and highly recommended.) It was FANtastic, great tour with a first-class outfit! Like Eric, we were never hassled - at all - by anyone, anywhere. We were treated like family and welcomed everywhere.

 

Here's a link to the thread with my post about our Jamaica experience.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=664470

 

PLEASE DO get off the ship in Ocho Rios and take a tour (ship sponsored like we did or whatever one that makes you feel safe and confident.) As our Captain told us, Jamaica is the most beautiful of the Carribean islands (and he has seen them all.)

 

We loved it so much we will definitely go back.

[*Mach*]

I agree 100% with Eric. I let myself get way too scared by all of the negative posts, which I understand I a believe to be very true - of course, I am no pollyanna and know that bad things DO happen in Jamaica - often... but with a little dose of caution, it was, for us (age 50 something non-party people) a GREAT place.

 

We took the Mountain Bike and Snorkel tour, the same operator as the canopy/zip line tour (which our ship's captain had done and highly recommended.) It was FANtastic, great tour with a first-class outfit! Like Eric, we were never hassled - at all - by anyone, anywhere. We were treated like family and welcomed everywhere.

 

Here's a link to the thread with my post about our Jamaica experience.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=664470

 

PLEASE DO get off the ship in Ocho Rios and take a tour (ship sponsored like we did or whatever one that makes you feel safe and confident.) As our Captain told us, Jamaica is the most beautiful of the Carribean islands (and he has seen them all.)

 

We loved it so much we will definitely go back.

 

 

Good for you, mooline!

 

Glad you had a great experience in Jamaica and I also appreciate your realistic approach. Trouble may find you anywhere you go, be it Jamaica, Tortola, or Washington, DC!

 

Anyone who believes they can simply march off a ship, get off a plane or a train, anywhere other than home and not face some modest level of risk as sadly mistaken. I wish it was otherwise but such is the world we live in.

 

Jamaica is a beautiful island with strong, proud people... strong, proud people who happen to be dirt poor, for the most part. They count on our tourist dollars and are very competitive hence the high pressure sell that so many people talk about. I've always found that a simple 'No thanks...' is enough to end the pressure.

 

Perhaps we might run into each other on Jamaica one day!

[kathy884]

We'll be on the Carnival Liberty in March and Jamacia will be the one port where I'll do a ship sponsored tour vs. venturing out on my own. And when the tour is over, I will stay on the boat for the rest on the stop, so will my son and huband. On a cruise way back in the early 90s, my watch broke, and I made the mistake of going into town on my own without my husband or other relatives to pick up a watch. Mine had broken in the morning after we had gone on a helicopter tour and a Dunn River Falls tour. Being in town by myself was a scary experience for me. I especially felt uneasy about the men following me around. // Things I didn't like: cab drivers shouting at me, men following me around, three or four people trying to sell me drugs, a man who followed me the entire time I was off the boat who wanted me to pay him money for protection, etc. It was certainly poor judgement on my part to go into town on my own, and I would not advise doing this even in broad daylight in popular shopping areas (This was day time and in a busy shopping area). I tried to ignore all this, act like I wasn't intimidated, quickly purchase my watch, and head back to the boat, but I have to say, this is probably the most frightened I have ever felt on vacation. Nothing bad happened, though. Older and wiser now, I would have gone straight back to the boat and skip the idea of making a purchase once I noticed that people were following me. Things may be better now than they were in the early 90s, but with a personal bad experience that I still remember fifteen years later I'm not going to venture out on my own in Ocho Rios this time.

 

Carnival Carnival 1982

NCL Seaward 1992

Will be doing Carnival Libery in March of 2008 // Sixteen years since I've curised and looking forward to it.

[billsrobb]

Good for you, mooline!

 

Glad you had a great experience in Jamaica and I also appreciate your realistic approach. Trouble may find you anywhere you go, be it Jamaica, Tortola, or Washington, DC!

 

Anyone who believes they can simply march off a ship, get off a plane or a train, anywhere other than home and not face some modest level of risk as sadly mistaken. I wish it was otherwise but such is the world we live in.

 

Jamaica is a beautiful island with strong, proud people... strong, proud people who happen to be dirt poor, for the most part. They count on our tourist dollars and are very competitive hence the high pressure sell that so many people talk about. I've always found that a simple 'No thanks...' is enough to end the pressure.

 

Perhaps we might run into each other on Jamaica one day!

Host Mach: thanks for the help of getting rid of my sailed sign. Figured out to get my next cruise posted. Could not of done this without you expert advice.

Robb

[clearwaters]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/12/06/jamaica.murders.ap/index.html

[*Mach*]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/12/06/jamaica.murders.ap/index.html

 

They failed to mention that this violence is Jamaican on Jamiaican. Violence is always terrible but fortunately the targets aren't tourists.

[clearwaters]

Bullets have no names on them...

[ancldaca]

Wow, can't believe how long this thread went. I thought it would die when it was moved from "Ask a cruise question" to the Port area.

 

I had posted part of my cruise review and realize that I should've included some more things of why I won't get off the ship again there.

 

I'm actually, in general, very comfortable in any 3rd world port (and eat just about anything - not quite to the extent of that guy that eats bizarre foods, but I'm neverheless extremely adventurous). Since I speak spanish, english, and portuguese, I don't have any problems with language barriers in roughly 90% of the Americas.

 

As I wrote, I didn't care much for Jaimaica before going on land (and I didn't even consider crime). Sometimes one just has a pre-disposed attitude to things/people/countries. These are often overturned when one tries them for the first time but at times are not.

 

In my case, I knew I wouldn't get away from raeggea music because it's universal there - so I grin and beared it. I went only for the food and it was terrific as I mentioned (and highly recomendable).

 

But I didn't like the port at all. Too many people in too small a place, too much hustling (not that Cozumel was much better), not enough respect for the tourist (or each other). There was a certain "acidity" in attitude of the people I met and a deep seated sense of resentment that seemed to permeate just beneath the surface.

 

And that sense of resentment/the acidity is NOT a function of economic status. I have been to some truly poor places in the Americas and the soul of the people I met in those places was completely different. And in the end, it isn't the geographic wonders, the language, or the economic prowess (or lack thereof) that makes a country but its people.

 

So for me, in this case, there wasn't enough there for my perception to have been changed on Jamaica. No big deal. I'm certain that Jamaica offers plenty to those wishing to travel there. But I certainly won't go ashore again - and even less with an organized tour (my God, I saw part of the Princess DVD shot there and there must have been zillions of people trudging through the waterfalls like lemmings - yikes!)

[clearwaters]

People in discussions such as these who know the ins and outs of Jamaica would acknowledge the problems there and -then- tell prospective tourists why they should visit.

 

When many, many people (not to mention our own Dept of State) say a place is extra ordinarily unsafe, then it is!! Jesus!! Just be honest. Why try to lie? Or hide the facts?? Or mince words? Or BS the US public? US citizens are not very gullible about such things. Lay the cards on the table, for chrissakes, and take the hits! :mad:

 

The darned denials, understatements and apparent lies infuriate me more than any of my expectations of the problems in Jamaica. There's nothing worse than being lied to. Don't tell people "It's Okay," when it's not. Just be honest. And believe it or not, there are quite a few people who would be willing to try a place-if they had honest information and true expectations-even if the place was a little dicey.

 

IMHO.

[whale-watcher]

I only reported my own experience...we felt that the island was far more interesting than Cozumel or Grand Cayman, and had an amazing tour....but we have vacationed many times in the third world, and are planning a trip to the middle east next summer. Everyone has their own comfort level, and everyone has different interests; I would never stay on the ship in Jamaica, but YMMV.

[graf103]

I didn't particularly care for Jamaica because of all the vendors trying to sell you things and offer to braid you hair. Oh and then there was the guy who offered us a ride and when we said no, he then offered us pot! (we declined). It kinda drove me nuts. If I had to do that port again, I would go to an all inclusive resort for the day.

[*Mach*]

People in discussions such as these who know the ins and outs of Jamaica would acknowledge the problems there and -then- tell prospective tourists why they should visit.

 

When many, many people (not to mention our own Dept of State) say a place is extra ordinarily unsafe, then it is!! Jesus!! Just be honest. Why try to lie? Or hide the facts?? Or mince words? Or BS the US public? US citizens are not very gullible about such things. Lay the cards on the table, for chrissakes, and take the hits! :mad:

 

The darned denials, understatements and apparent lies infuriate me more than any of my expectations of the problems in Jamaica. There's nothing worse than being lied to. Don't tell people "It's Okay," when it's not. Just be honest. And believe it or not, there are quite a few people who would be willing to try a place-if they had honest information and true expectations-even if the place was a little dicey.

 

IMHO.

 

I've visited Jamaica many, many times since I first started going there in the early 80s. Call me a liar if you will but I have NEVER had an ounce of trouble other than the minor annoyances that I've repeated time and time again in this forum and others. If violence on tourists happens every day, as you seem to think it does, wouldn't there be people telling their stories here, and on other cruise web sites, constantly?

 

How often have you been to Jamaica? Once, perhaps never and yet you feel competent to sit in judgment on the people of that country.

 

The murder rate in the ENTIRE Caribbean is somewhere around 30/100,000; a deplorable figure. However, New York, Atlanta, Detroit, New Orleans, Baltimore all exceed that figure with Philadelphia, Oakland, CA and Chicago close behind.

 

MILLIONS, over 2,600,000 in fact, of American and European tourists visit Jamaica every year without incident. Certainly, there are risks, much as there may be anywhere tourists congregate. Know the risks, understand what you can do to mitigate them and continue on with your life.

 

A person can elect to visit Jamaica or pass it by. That's up to the individual but to bad mouth folks because they like a country and feel comfortable there is a bit much.

 

That, my friends, is my $.02...

[clearwaters]

I've visited Jamaica many, many times since I first started going there in the early 80s. Call me a liar if you will but I have NEVER had an ounce of trouble other than the minor annoyances that I've repeated time and time again in this forum and others. If violence on tourists happens every day, as you seem to think it does, wouldn't there be people telling their stories here, and on other cruise web sites, constantly?

 

How often have you been to Jamaica? Once, perhaps never and yet you feel competent to sit in judgment on the people of that country.

 

The murder rate in the ENTIRE Caribbean is somewhere around 30/100,000; a deplorable figure. However, New York, Atlanta, Detroit, New Orleans, Baltimore all exceed that figure with Philadelphia, Oakland, CA and Chicago close behind.

 

MILLIONS, over 2,600,000 in fact, of American and European tourists visit Jamaica every year without incident. Certainly, there are risks, much as there may be anywhere tourists congregate. Know the risks, understand what you can do to mitigate them and continue on with your life.

 

A person can elect to visit Jamaica or pass it by. That's up to the individual but to bad mouth folks because they like a country and feel comfortable there is a bit much.

 

That, my friends, is my $.02...

 

 

Here we go. Again.

 

*"Call me a liar if you will..." I don't know you.

 

*"If violence...as you seem to think it does..." I have ASKED questions. I don't know what is going on there. I have not been there. THAT'S WHY I AM ASKING SO MANY QUESTIONS.

 

*"...wouldn't there be people telling their stories here, and on other cruise web sites constantly?" There are. Plenty. In fact, on EVERY other cruise site I have viewed past visitors are really tough on Jamaica. That's where I am getting my questions from.

 

* ...and yet you feel competent to sit in judgment..." I am asking questions.

 

Well, for every positive comment I have read, I have read many, many negative ones. Now I don't know if all of those people are "passing judgment" or "lying" by something is amiss here.

[giftwrapper]

we Will Be Going To Ocho Rios. And I Have To Admit I Am A Bit Nervous. It Seems Everywhere We Have Traveled I Am A Little Hesitant With My Comfort, In Mexico, Hawaii, Or Las Vegas. This Last Month After Living In The Same House For Fifty Years.my Mothers Home Was Broken Into She Was Not There(she Was With Me) They Only Got Away With Eight Dollars And The Broken Back Door. We Were Lucky. Fear Hit Our Home. Are We Safe Anywhere? We Need To Be Causious In Our Back Yard And When Traveling.

[giftwrapper]

WE Will Be Going To Ocho Rios. And I Have To Admit I Am A Bit Nervous. It Seems Everywhere We Have Traveled I Am A Little Hesitant With My Comfort, In Mexico, Hawaii, Or Las Vegas. This Last Month After Living In The Same House For Fifty Years.my Mothers Home Was Broken Into She Was Not There(she Was With Me) They Only Got Away With Eight Dollars And The Broken Back Door. We Were Lucky. Fear Hit Our Home. Are We Safe Anywhere? We Need To Be Causious In Our Back Yard And When Traveling.

[whale-watcher]

...Well, for every positive comment I have read, I have read many, many negative ones. Now I don't know if all of those people are "passing judgment" or "lying" by something is amiss here.

There will always be differences in opinions about any subject. No one would fault you for choosing to stay on the ship. Those of us who have visited Jamaica and enjoyed the experience will continue to do so; you need to decide what your own comfort level is, but there is really no right or wrong answer. It is a purely personal decision.

[clearwaters]

we Will Be Going To Ocho Rios. And I Have To Admit I Am A Bit Nervous. It Seems Everywhere We Have Traveled I Am A Little Hesitant With My Comfort, In Mexico, Hawaii, Or Las Vegas. This Last Month After Living In The Same House For Fifty Years.my Mothers Home Was Broken Into She Was Not There(she Was With Me) They Only Got Away With Eight Dollars And The Broken Back Door. We Were Lucky. Fear Hit Our Home. Are We Safe Anywhere? We Need To Be Causious In Our Back Yard And When Traveling.

 

Thank goodness your Mom was away. That's scary.