Ocho Rios Question

[mlanz]

Cruising (1st time for wife and I) on Navigator 2/16 and have stops in Ocho Rios and GC.....have already set up day with Capt Marvin, per info gained on this board....I am looking for help on quality tour/guide @ ocho rios and what everyones thoughts are where/when/how to go to some of sites....we've never been to Ocho Rios before so I'm thinking I'm obligated to walk up the falls so that's on my short list....parasailing/zip lines/atv's probably not....I saw some info on Plantation tour is this any good...also horseback riding on beach? Look forward to your thoughts and suggestions.

 

Also does anyone know of site where I can tell how many other ships will be in port on same day we are?

 

mlanz

[dontpanik]

We stayed in Ocho Rios and our resort offered a great tour of the Coyoba River Gardens and Museum. I don't know who the tour operator was, but I highly recommend it. As far as Dunns river Falls, I am not a fan. People will always tell you "you just have to do it", but given the opportunity, I would have skipped it in a heartbeat. Your "guide" has you hold hands with a bunch of people and literally get dragged up waterfalls. What they don't want you to know, is there is a perfectly serviceable boardwalk running parallel to the trek and you can walk up it and at various points enter the falls for frollicking and photos. Just MHO, but if you go to the falls, take a cab not a guided tour....walk briskly through the flea market, and go it alone with your group.:p

[cruiser1163]

You should probably check out the Jamaica thread. I'm sure they will move this over there anyways. I would suggest going to the Ocho Rios Jerk Center for a bite to eat. It seems to get pretty good reviews.

[JJSMaine]

Also does anyone know of site where I can tell how many other ships will be in port on same day we are?

 

mlanz

 

When I was there I hired a woman named Ioni to schlepp us around... we drove up the Fern Gully and then went to the Falls ( go it alone, the chain thing is dangerous and not as much fun) and then off to get hair braided and then a stop a a local beach for a bit. She is an independent woman who is raising her kids and working her butt off to be productive in a place where it is hard to scrape a living.

 

My review below has a bit more info...

 

Here is a link to a site that allows you to see who is in port with you.

 

http://www.cruisecal.com/portal/ExplorerOfTheSeas/tabid/266/Default.aspx

 

the above is for the Explorer.. once in the site you can choose your own ship and ports....

[ColoradoMom!!]

Yes, check out the Jamaica thread in the Ports of Call forum - although it doesn't see as much "action" as this board.

 

We are debating going with Marva Shaw (there are lots of good private tour guides) to do the falls and then a shorter version of tubing or doing the RCI's River Tubing Safari that starts further up river and is a bit longer. STILL can't decide, and I am running out of time!

 

Question for those of you who have been there in late fall/winter - do I need bug spray??

[Pomperaugrr]

We've been to Ocho Rios numerous times. My all time favorite excursion is the horseback riding on the beach and in the ocean. They are a class operation (yes, they do try to sell you pictures...we bought them). The animals are well cared for and they really match the rider to the horse. I've ridden all my life, but my wife is relatively new to riding. They really matched her to a great horse. It is an awesome experience, once they change the saddles and you head into the ocean. The guides were great. This is a must do excursion for novice or experienced riders.

 

Eric

[Cruzin Carol]

We have used both of these in Jamaica many times. They are reasonable and both great.

 

 

http://www.geocities.com/peattaylor/index.html

 

http://www.phil-lafayette-tours.com/

[CruiseCrAzieS]

We LOVED Ocho Rios! We went to Dunn's River Falls with "Peat Taylor Tours", here is the link, check it out!

http://www.geocities.com/peattaylor/island_tour.html

[rclcruzer]

We chose to do the horseback riding booked independently,(ocho) and it stated in the brochure we would ride along the beach. Showed the horses in the water.

However, we ended up riding about 1/8 mile next to the beach. We could see it, just didn't go near it. Kids were dissappointed, as well as we were with the company. They gave us all some lame excuse as to why we could not get near the water. Some people complained, we did not. Just chalked it up to a "whatever" kind of thing (we are pretty easy going). It was fun though, just wanted to ride on the beach. So be careful when you book, this could easily happen if you are booked through the ship as well.

Loved Margaritaville, fun! (but very loud too!)

 

Have a great cruise!

[DonnaK]

Yes, check out the Jamaica thread in the Ports of Call forum - although it doesn't see as much "action" as this board.

 

We are debating going with Marva Shaw (there are lots of good private tour guides) to do the falls and then a shorter version of tubing or doing the RCI's River Tubing Safari that starts further up river and is a bit longer. STILL can't decide, and I am running out of time!

 

Question for those of you who have been there in late fall/winter - do I need bug spray??

 

We've done both. The RCI version of Tubing isn't that much longer than the version you get with any private tour guide. It's certainly not worth the extra price, plus the hassle of having to deal with being on a crowded ship-sponsored tour.

 

Marva and her son do an outstanding job! They are very hospitible, provide personalized service, will alter the tour in any way you'd like (a stop at the beach, etc.. We highly recommend them. We did tubing only because we had done the falls many years ago, and were not impressed - Marva tailored a tour for us, so that we didn't have to do the "package" of both falls and tubing.

[richbum]

Last January we went on Navigator to and we booked with Phil Lafayette. He was fun, and very funny. He sang to us, and was very informative about "his country". After Dunns falls (which was amazing) we went river tubing, then he took us on a tour. We saw the good and the bad of Jamaica, but is was such a great tme we would definetly book again. Have a great cruise, the navigator is a beautiful ship. If Jeremy James is still on board, tell him we miss him.:D

[Northshorecruisers]

Peat Taylor is great!! We used him last week when we were in Ochee. The weather was terrible - rain - and even though we couldn't do Dunn's River as we had planned he gave us a great tour and we had a lot of fun. He will customize tours to your group.

We also used Captain Marvin's in GC and they were wonderful!

 

Have a great cruise!

[mshight]

I have to say Ocho Rios was the port I was probably looking forward to least on our Panama Canal Cruise last week. I booked a tour with Mark Morris (based on info here on the CC) and it totally changed my attitude! My husband and I were the only 2 he had booked from the cruise ship and I know he would have liked to have had more people but he treated us as though we were all that mattered.

 

Mark showed up on time with a very nice mini-bus. It had rained quite a bit over the last few days and we could not do the falls and tubing because it would have been too dangerous. We did see one person that had gotten hurt trying to climb the falls (when we were getting back on the ship) and I respect Mark for advising against that. We did have an opportunity to see the falls and get some great pictures. He also took us to the river where the tubing took place. The river was very muddy and swift from the rains -- not a good situation for tubing.

 

Mark is extremely loyal to his country and his love for Jamaica is obvious. He speaks great English, is very intelligent and well-informed. We went to his father's house where we saw his pottery studio and learned step by step how it is created. His dad has been a potter for many years and we saw some of his pieces at a store near the dock after Mark dropped us back off at the ship. As we read on another thread, his dad is a big Red Sox fan too!

 

We did a lot of touring while he told us all about his country, stopped for some shopping and had a typical meal at the Jerk Center. Try the bread they call "festival" -- delicious!

 

He gave us the full 4-1/2 hours, never seemed in a hurry to get us back to the ship and discounted our prices to $35 each because of the things we missed. Gas prices are high there and I am not even sure that amount covered the cost of gas for the bus. We did not hesitate to give him a tip because we felt his service was professional and top notch.

 

Neither of us had any bad experiences with the people there and never felt in any kind of danger. We were hounded FAR MORE in Cartagena than in Ocho Rios. Mark was great and if I went back to Ocho Rios, would not hesitate to contact him again.:)

[panthea1]

The falls are beautiful but I wasn't overly impresses. The horseback riding on the beach is nice and The Bob Marley tour was very interesting and gives a good insight to Jamaica's evolution. I've been to Ocho Rios often and on my last visit (October) I went to The Seville Great House which features a lot of history and artifacts. The Ocho Rios Highlights tour is a good one too.

 

Check out this link. I've used them often and they're GREAT! Have a great trip!

 

http://www.yardietours.com/index.htm

[swier]

The beach horse back riding is great some guides let you ride up to waist deep in the water you will enjoy it.

[tlk0254]

I have to say Ocho Rios was the port I was probably looking forward to least on our Panama Canal Cruise last week. I booked a tour with Mark Morris (based on info here on the CC) and it totally changed my attitude! My husband and I were the only 2 he had booked from the cruise ship and I know he would have liked to have had more people but he treated us as though we were all that mattered.

 

Mark showed up on time with a very nice mini-bus. It had rained quite a bit over the last few days and we could not do the falls and tubing because it would have been too dangerous. We did see one person that had gotten hurt trying to climb the falls (when we were getting back on the ship) and I respect Mark for advising against that. We did have an opportunity to see the falls and get some great pictures. He also took us to the river where the tubing took place. The river was very muddy and swift from the rains -- not a good situation for tubing.

 

Mark is extremely loyal to his country and his love for Jamaica is obvious. He speaks great English, is very intelligent and well-informed. We went to his father's house where we saw his pottery studio and learned step by step how it is created. His dad has been a potter for many years and we saw some of his pieces at a store near the dock after Mark dropped us back off at the ship. As we read on another thread, his dad is a big Red Sox fan too!

 

We did a lot of touring while he told us all about his country, stopped for some shopping and had a typical meal at the Jerk Center. Try the bread they call "festival" -- delicious!

 

He gave us the full 4-1/2 hours, never seemed in a hurry to get us back to the ship and discounted our prices to $35 each because of the things we missed. Gas prices are high there and I am not even sure that amount covered the cost of gas for the bus. We did not hesitate to give him a tip because we felt his service was professional and top notch.

 

Neither of us had any bad experiences with the people there and never felt in any kind of danger. We were hounded FAR MORE in Cartagena than in Ocho Rios. Mark was great and if I went back to Ocho Rios, would not hesitate to contact him again.:)

 

 

We booked with Mark Morris coming off the Grand Princess on Nov 19. I agree completely with "mshight". We were 4 adults and 1 4-year old, and he treated us to a wonderful time. You can find his website at:

 

http://www.markstours.com/home.html

 

Have a wonderful time, we did :D

 

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

We booked with Mark Morris coming off the Grand Princess on Nov 19. I agree completely with "mshight". We were 4 adults and 1 4-year old, and he treated us to a wonderful time. You can find his website at:

 

http://www.markstours.com/home.html

 

Have a wonderful time, we did :D

 

 

 

Did you do the River Tubing? We did book with Mark, and have read a few posts lately about bugs and murky water along the tubing. Just concerned.

[wcm24]

We just returned last week from our cruise with Grand Princess, where we went to Jamaica. We booked a private tour with the Taylor family and was very happy with their service.

My husband is very independent and when we arrived at Dunns River Falls, he said he didn't want to use a guide. So, the 5 of us in our family had him help us up the falls and it worked out great! I was glad we were not holding on to a long line of people as I think we were much safer by ourselves than not having our hands free to stablilize us in the harder parts of the climb up the fall.

When getting off the ship, all I had to do was tell people at the pier that I was looking for the Taylors. Everyone knows them and they are great to work with.

Our guide also took us to the pottery factory and it was cool to learn how pottery and clay are worked up into the beautiful creations.

I will be honest in saying that I never care to go to Jamaica again. Once done with our 5 hr. private tour, we walked straight back to the ship and felt good to be back on it.

[tlk0254]

Did you do the River Tubing? We did book with Mark, and have read a few posts lately about bugs and murky water along the tubing. Just concerned.

 

We did not do the tubing, out of concern for the 4-yr old. But Mark will treat you great!