Reading bad reviews about Jamaica

I'm reading some very bad reviews about the Falmouth Jamaica port such as run down area, only beaches are accessible through excursions, and people saying they wouldn't go back. Anybody experienced any of this and should I be concerned? I guess I should say that I don't want to spend a ton on excursions since I have 6 people (4 children) and would like to spend most of the time on the beach. But from what I'm reading, most all of the beaches are through RCCL excursions.

You will be OK as long as you avoid Miami and New Orleans.

The Jamaican port towns are just a different culture than many Americans are used to. It's not dangerous, just different.

While you can certainly take a cab to a beach on your own, it might be advisable to take one of the least expensive Royal Caribbean beach excursions. The vendors in Jamaica are sort of aggressive and persistent.

Or just enjoy lunch and a walk around inside the port area of Falmouth; and do your beach trips at the other stops. :D

I'm reading some very bad reviews about the Falmouth Jamaica port such as run down area, only beaches are accessible through excursions, and people saying they wouldn't go back. Anybody experienced any of this and should I be concerned? I guess I should say that I don't want to spend a ton on excursions since I have 6 people (4 children) and would like to spend most of the time on the beach. But from what I'm reading, most all of the beaches are through RCCL excursions.

We've never been to Falmouth, but we love Jamaica. We enjoyed it so much we got married there. Maybe it's different in Falmouth, but Negril is a great place.

no way would I go outside of the port area unless on a ship sponsored excursion. but in all fairness, we don't do beaches at all. I do Jamaica for the coffee.

We went on a 7 hour island tour, which basically went to a Diamonds International barricaded strip mall in Ocho Rios, and a "No Locals" allowed police guarded BBQ beach restaurant. Can't say I enjoyed much of it, but it does look like they beefed up that excursion now.

The place feels fairly oppressed, and I have no intention of going back unless it's on an attractive itinerary. If so, I wouldn't go beyond the port area, or maybe tubing / water sports / ziplining.

The port itself is fully contained and quite nice, with your usual tourist shops for t-shirts and souvenirs. We had a little snack - well, several Jamaican patties, yum, and bought some Blue Mountain coffee from the actual store to bring home. The "adventure" is to be had if you leave the gated area, and in some cases passengers have had bad experiences, were bothered by locals selling drugs, aggressive vendors, etc. I have read equally wonderful reviews on this port, so the decision is yours on what to do.

Here is a link to the Jamaica board, which is where you will find dozens and dozens of threads on Falmouth:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=111 <---click here

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You would probably get better responses on the Jamaica forum but that said, we have gone to Falmouth but didnt leave the gates. We did leave the area at Ochos Rios but only on a tour. My suggestion is this is one port to take a ship sponsored excursion to the beach unless you found a highly recommended vendor on the Jamaica forum. Royal doesn't charge nearly as much as the other cruiselines for the excursions.

The Jamaican port towns are just a different culture than many Americans are used to. It's not dangerous, just different.

 

my husband is currently deployed( Continuing Promise, look it up on Facebook)

when they were in Jamaica a couple of weeks ago, the town was off limits to all personnel unless they were part of the teams sent out to do the medical exams or the SeaBees sent out to do their projects. they could not even leave the ship.

I stand by my reticence to not go outside the vendor pier.

no way would I go outside of the port area unless on a ship sponsored excursion. but in all fairness, we don't do beaches at all. I do Jamaica for the coffee.

OH yeah, and don't buy any Blue Mountain coffee from a street vender, you might end up with a repackaged bag of twigs like us. Rum Cream, that we did like. ;)

OH yeah, and don't buy any Blue Mountain coffee from a street vender, you might end up with a repackaged bag of twigs like us. Rum Cream, that we did like. ;)

my major disappointment was the fact that the Tortuga shop did NOT carry the ginger rum cake. I had to settle for the JBM flavor.

I found that the prices for JBM was pretty much the same at all the tee shirt shops, but I bought it from the JBM shop.

I did the Red a River Beach excursion (I think that was what it was called). It included lunch. The beach was beautiful and the lunch well organized. $39 pp I think. I'd go back.

To get to a beach you will need to book an excursion (thru the ship or independent) or take a taxi to go to the beach.

Margaritaville has a pool within the secured port area which might be another option.

LuLu

Lots of folks freak out about Jamaica....as another poster said...it's not "dangerous"...just different.

You aren't in America...so relish the difference!

Falmouth is a ship-created port....it was made for RCI....there is nothing really close by, but you can either take a ship's excursion, or a local cab and get to a beach. It's not dangerous.....these are friendly people...take a chance...have fun!

A day pass at the Hilton with lazy river as so much fun!

Lots of folks freak out about Jamaica....as another poster said...it's not "dangerous"...just different.

You aren't in America...so relish the difference!

Falmouth is a ship-created port....it was made for RCI....there is nothing really close by, but you can either take a ship's excursion, or a local cab and get to a beach. It's not dangerous.....these are friendly people...take a chance...have fun!

Falmouth isn't exactly a RCI created port, only the closed off port area was created by RCI. It's really just a very small town and the people of Farmouth have all been wonderful. Be aggressive vendors that are there are actually from Montenegro Bay and Ocho Rios. Once you get past those aggressive vendors the actual town people are very friendly. The bakeries restaurants and shops in town are wonderful as well, better than any of the food you'll get in port. We've eaten several times with locals who are there getting lunch themselves or shopping in the bakeries for food to take home. For a slightly different perspective check out Winkscruises freedom review or my Freedom review.

We live in Florida and usually don't go to the beach on vacation so I'm sorry I can't really provide a recommendation for you there.

I was there a few weeks ago and never felt like I was in danger at all. I've been several places in the Caribbean and Mexico, and Jamaica didn't feel any less safe than anywhere else I've been. I think people freak out over nothing or over something they heard happened to someone. Just use common sense, be aware of your surroundings and you will be fine.

I did a private tour that picked us up in Falmouth and took us to Rose Hall great house for a tour which was awesome, then to Doctor's Cave beach for a few hours which was FABULOUS, then we had lunch at Scotchies, again fabulous, then back to the pier. It was a great day & my favorite part of the cruise! Don't be afraid to venture out & have some fun! [emoji2]

PS - If you go to Doctor's Cave beach try the hummingbird drink it's awesome!!

I was there a few weeks ago and never felt like I was in danger at all. I've been several places in the Caribbean and Mexico, and Jamaica didn't feel any less safe than anywhere else I've been. I think people freak out over nothing or over something they heard happened to someone. Just use common sense, be aware of your surroundings and you will be fine.

 

I did a private tour that picked us up in Falmouth and took us to Rose Hall great house for a tour which was awesome, then to Doctor's Cave beach for a few hours which was FABULOUS, then we had lunch at Scotchies, again fabulous, then back to the pier. It was a great day & my favorite part of the cruise! Don't be afraid to venture out & have some fun! [emoji2]

 

PS - If you go to Doctor's Cave beach try the hummingbird drink it's awesome!!

And you were on a tour which is what is being suggested here. We didn't feel danger on a tour either but get off that tour and walk around is a bit different but we did not have a male figure with us either.

We booked a Jamaica culinary tour online in Falmouth in July 2014 and had a great time. The only reason we did not go outside the gates on our own was because we are two girls traveling without our boys. I wouldn't say it was dangerous; like others said it's different. We enjoyed our tour and as 2 females would have never gone out on our own. This is how we travel in most foreign countries. We went into the real part of Falmouth to have a real experience and it was delivered. Our tour guide would just shoo anyone away and the "worst" offenders were the kids who were trying to sell us things. I personally did not want to sit on on a tour for 45 minutes each way so it wasn't worth it for us to book a beach day and that's what Labadee was for. The gated area is so touristy and it doesn't allow you to have a real Falmouth experience. Once we finished our tour the only thing we requested was to go to a supermarket where we can buy jerk sauces and such. Did you ever hear how people feel about Roatan? That is one of my favorite ports in addition to Bermuda and people "freaked out" about the "dangers" outside the gates.

The fenced in port area is a VERY sanitized, Americanized tourist trap (Dairy Queen, Quiznos? WTH???). Outside of the gates is a dump.

We did enjoy our Good Hope Estate excursion, but if a ship never took us back to Jamaica it would be no great loss.

I'm reading some very bad reviews about the Falmouth Jamaica port such as run down area, only beaches are accessible through excursions, and people saying they wouldn't go back. Anybody experienced any of this and should I be concerned? I guess I should say that I don't want to spend a ton on excursions since I have 6 people (4 children) and would like to spend most of the time on the beach. But from what I'm reading, most all of the beaches are through RCCL excursions.

Stay on the ship.

We did Red Stripe beach in April of this year, it's an RCCL excursion, I think it $29 and it was great. The beach was really nice and its only open to RCCL guests. You have to buy your lunch but the jerk pork and chicken were awesome! The staff at the beach were all awesome and definitely felt safe. Its only a 10 minute bus ride from the port and you can go back to the dock when ever you want, they have buses running back and forth. Here's a few pics

I'm reading some very bad reviews about the Falmouth Jamaica port such as run down area, only beaches are accessible through excursions, and people saying they wouldn't go back. Anybody experienced any of this and should I be concerned? I guess I should say that I don't want to spend a ton on excursions since I have 6 people (4 children) and would like to spend most of the time on the beach. But from what I'm reading, most all of the beaches are through RCCL excursions.

Well, Jamaica is one of those ports where I would highly recommend an organized tour through the cruise lines. I would just bit the bullet and book it. This way you don't have to worry about anything other then just showing up for the tour. I do believe that RCI has a beach shuttle for $29pp/$15kids plus it's a private beach (Redstrip) and you know they will be back to pick you up and get you back to the ship on time. IMO dealing with local taxis, etc is dicey at best. As far as safety is Jamaica...as long as you remain the major tourist areas and/or an organized tour you should have no issues. It you go off on your own then you are doing it your own risk and you should never wonder off to unfamiliar areas. I've been to Jamaican many times and it's a really beautiful island and the people really friendly and nice. However, Jamaica is one of those port where people either love it or hate it. It's a third world country and the vendors are extremely pushy to the point of being annoying whereas most Americans are not used to this aggressive behavior. If you have any other concerns just inquire at the shore excursion desk onboard the ship.

We took a ship's tour, stopped a couple of times in Falmouth (nice people), after that basically a drive-by of a few places before they dropped us off in Montego Bay for a couple of hours. No problems, vendors accepted a polite "No, thanks" and we ended up in the downtown Margaritaville for lunch. Good fun tho' noisy then we walked the main drag, again no issues. Would cheerfully do it again.

We took a private tour to Dunn's River Falls and then stopped somewhere for lunch. It's was nice doing the Falls with a small group (I think there were about 7 of us) and going at our own pace. We saw large groups, where the guides made them hold hands, which just made it more slippery and harder to climb (I would have refused, honestly, there's no requirement that you do that). It's a bit of a drive (~40 miles from Falmouth), so by the time got back, we didn't have time to walk around the port are. I did some souvenir shopping in the cruise terminal and we had to get back to the ship at that point. I don't think I'd care one way or another if I go back to Jamaica...nothing else there is particularly interesting to me.