Just Returned from Montego Bay!

[katavenger]

Hi Everyone!
We just returned from Montego Bay while on the Carnival Conquest. Reading the boards really helped us decide what to do with our day, so I thought I would share our experience so that we might help someone else!

When we got off the boat, there were employees of the Jamaican Tourism Board ready to assist us with tours and taxis. We had decided earlier to go to Rose Hall in the morning and play the afternoon by ear. When we told them we wanted a taxi to Rose Hall, they came back and said it would be $75.00 round trip for my husband and myself! (It is obvious that tourists pay rates well in excess of those charged to locals.) A bit more than we had planned on! Anyways, we decided to go ahead with the taxi to Rose Hall. We insisted on a JUTA taxi, and they tried to convice us that the other taxi companies were all just as safe. We stayed firm and waited for a JUTA taxi to arrive. We rode about a 20-25 min drive to Rose Hall. It was a wonderful place to visit. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves old mansions and history! Oh, it cost us $15.00 per person to get a tour of Rose Hall. Our taxi driver waited for us while we finished our tour. When we got back in the taxi, he said, "We make deal....I show you around town for 3 hours....take you shopping, what ever you want, you name the price." Finally, we made him make us an offer, and we paid him $120.00 for the day to take us around town. (This included the ride to and from Rose Hall.....and yes, this seemed a bit steep to us, but we had a better time than people who went on ship tours and the driver was a witty old man who drove much safer than the other drivers he was dodging.) He showed us the poor & middle class areas, plantations, and countryside, as well as a beautiful place called "Richmond Hills". It's an old house that was made out of limestone and molasses with handmade mahogany furniture and ceilings that has a BEAUTIFUL view of the sea with the Ship in the background! (It didn't cost anything to get into Richmond Hills). At about 2:30pm he took us back to the ship. (He insisted that he could not drop us off at the City Center where all the Recommended Shops were, that he had to take us back to the Ship.) We then took another taxi to the shopping center that cost $3.00 per person. By this time, it was well after lunch and we were hungry! But....the only place to eat at the City Center was a little restrurant called "Caribbean Jerk." We ate there and had a great Jerk Chicken lunch with rice, peas, and french fries that cost about $15.00 for the two of us. We then proceded to shop for a bit. The shop owners and workers were pushy, but most of them can be bargained with. For example, I was looking at a piece of pottery that was first quoted to be $30.00. By the time I made my purchase, I had 2 pieces of the same type of pottery for $25.00! By far, the pushiest were the taxi drivers. Before we could walk into a new store, we would have at least 5 drives ask us if we wanted a ride to the ship. We finally started shaking our heads no before they could even approach us. The ride back to the ship was another $3.00 per person. All in all, we had a very nice day. Our first taxi was much more than we had planned on, but we did get to see a lot of Jamaica that many others probably did not. If you're interested in a private tour, I'm sure that any of the taxi drivers would love to make a deal with you!
Please feel free to ask any questions! I'll be happy to help you anyway I can!
Happy Cruising!