allgood
February 6th, 2006, 07:05 AM
This is my first post here on Cruise Critic, but I did spend several months "lurking" before our Mariner of the Seas cruise 1/15. I'm already in the process of planning the next one! Before I start (finally) asking my own questions, I wanted to make two comments on our experience in Jamaica.
First, I highly recommend Marva Shaw if you are looking for a tour guide for the day (or even half-day). We reserved her services after seeing her recommended here many times and could not have been happier. She is warm, friendly, courteous, efficient and we ended up having a blast in Jamaica! After she took us to Dunns River Falls (got us tickets ahead of time and got us there early!) she helped us figure out what we wanted to do and took us there (we ended up shopping and having lunch at the local jerk place that she recommends - she even helped us order so we could try a few "different" things.) It's great having a tour van to yourselves and still being able to make decisions on the fly. Try her, you'll love her! (and hi Marva from Lynne and the girls from 1/18!)
Regarding Dunn's River Falls: This was our favorite excursion. I was cruising with 4 of my old high school girlfriends, we're all in our mid-40s and none of us are athletes, but we had no problem with the Falls - although I was a little apprehensive when I first saw them. The problem was with a lot of the kids who were climbing. There were no children in our group (or our "human chain"), but we passed many along the way ranging from about 6 to 12 or 13 who were crying and begging to stop the climb. I don't really think that it was because it was too much for them (although it is a little work) but because they kept seeing people slip and/or fall, especially their parents, and they were very scared. I know everyone's child is different and only you know what your child is ready for (I have kids of my own) but I would really recommend to any parent who's taking a child of this age on the climb to prepare them for it. Let them know that even though its a lot of fun, it can be tough going at times and people sometimes slip and fall. I think that if they know its going to happen, they won't see it as such a big deal and they might actually enjoy their excursion. Kids can do this climb (easily) but they should be having fun! :) Just my 2 cents.
First, I highly recommend Marva Shaw if you are looking for a tour guide for the day (or even half-day). We reserved her services after seeing her recommended here many times and could not have been happier. She is warm, friendly, courteous, efficient and we ended up having a blast in Jamaica! After she took us to Dunns River Falls (got us tickets ahead of time and got us there early!) she helped us figure out what we wanted to do and took us there (we ended up shopping and having lunch at the local jerk place that she recommends - she even helped us order so we could try a few "different" things.) It's great having a tour van to yourselves and still being able to make decisions on the fly. Try her, you'll love her! (and hi Marva from Lynne and the girls from 1/18!)
Regarding Dunn's River Falls: This was our favorite excursion. I was cruising with 4 of my old high school girlfriends, we're all in our mid-40s and none of us are athletes, but we had no problem with the Falls - although I was a little apprehensive when I first saw them. The problem was with a lot of the kids who were climbing. There were no children in our group (or our "human chain"), but we passed many along the way ranging from about 6 to 12 or 13 who were crying and begging to stop the climb. I don't really think that it was because it was too much for them (although it is a little work) but because they kept seeing people slip and/or fall, especially their parents, and they were very scared. I know everyone's child is different and only you know what your child is ready for (I have kids of my own) but I would really recommend to any parent who's taking a child of this age on the climb to prepare them for it. Let them know that even though its a lot of fun, it can be tough going at times and people sometimes slip and fall. I think that if they know its going to happen, they won't see it as such a big deal and they might actually enjoy their excursion. Kids can do this climb (easily) but they should be having fun! :) Just my 2 cents.