ReggaeRoy

Doctor's Cave Beach Club is a great place to spend a day. Admission, loungers, and umbrellas are not too expensive. Bar right on the beach with decent food.

The snorkeling is decent, but nothing spectacular.

There is some water sports available. Not positive, but I think there is still an island wide ban on jet ski's though.

I am sorry that you didn't enjoy your day there. My wife and I went there last October. We liked it so much that we are going back next month.

What port did you dock at? It is a very short ride from the pier in Ocho Rios.

Mystic Mountain (in Ocho Rios) has both the bob sled ride and a zip line.

We will be in Falmouth in December. We are going on the bamboo rafting trip on the Martha Brae River. Very close to Falmouth and not too expensive.

We had also considered the Green Grotto Caves. This is more like a 30 minute ride (each way).

The Green Wood Great House is probably a 30 minute ride as well. This is an old slave plantation. Lots of history there.

I was also going to suggest Turtle River Falls and Gardens. Lovely place. Lots of waterfalls, but you walk up steps next to them. They also have a koi pond and an aviary. It's really cool to feed the birds and have them perch on your hands, head, etc.

You might also consider Mystic Mountain... It is a bit expensive though. You ride basically a ski lift up to the top of the mountain. They have shops, museum, restaurant, bar, and pool up there. You can take the bob sled ride and/or zip line. Lots of fun.

That's a very workable plan for a day in Montego Bay. It is exactly what my wife and I (in our 50's too) did last October. We took a bus from the port to the hip strip. I think it was $5 each. The driver will try to convince you to stay on the bus and let him take you on a tour. Just get off when you reach Doctor's Cave Beach Club. There will be a decent crowd there for sure. But they have lots of lounge chairs and the bar service is pretty good. Snorkeling is decent out by the rope.

It is about a 5 minute stroll from Doctor's to Margaritaville. You will be approached to buy things and for transportation. A simple polite "no thanks" usually works fine.

Margaritaville will be crowded. You might consider either Biiga's (between Doctors and Margaritaville) or the Pork Pit for lunch. (although Doctors has good food too).

We then took a cab back to the port (make sure it has red license plates).

I am almost certain that the public can come and enjoy the beach - provided that you support the beach bar and grill. You can contact them directly at...

www.mysilversands.com

We have rented a villa in Silver Sands 5 times. We absolutely love it. The beach is one of the nicest any where. Fairly shallow water and nice sandy bottom. The waves can get a bit fun if it is windy. Life guards are on duty during the day.

By "safe" I am assuming that you mean pushy vendors and crime... Yes, safe as can be. There is only one entrance and exit - it is guarded 24/7.

They do have some ammenities... Kayaking, boogie boards, etc. are available. Snorkeling from shore is fair. You can hire a local boat to take you out to the reef (about $30 pp for 1.5 hours, including equipment). No parasailing or jet skis though.

They also have a nice beach bar and grill. Food is good and prices are reasonable. Try the jerk chicken wrap. I think they have recently added a basketbal hoop and ping pong table. Tennis is also available. Small grocery store on site too.

Some days, a local craftsman sets up to sell wood carvings, etc.

It is only about 15 minutes from Falmouth. But I can't help you with taxi fare.

I did Mystic Mountain with a group of 11 back in February (third time there actually).

It was a land based vacation and we had arranged a van/driver through our villa rental agent. So I really can't give any recommendation on drivers. Lots of people seem to like Peat Taylor and Courtney Taylor though. But I have no experience with either.

Mystic Mountain is a blast. The ride up to the top of the mountain is basically a ski lift and is fun. At the top, they have museum, gift shop, local artisans, bar, restaurant, pool, and humming bird area.

I have only done the bob sled ride. It starts at the top and you control the speed. The ride takes about a minute to get to the bottom. The ride then automatically brings you back to the top - so you can buy your picture, buy another ride, eat, etc.

My kids have done the zipline and loved it too.

You take the lift back down to the bottom when you are all done.

My sons were 4 and 9 the first time they climbed Dunn's River Falls. The young one needed lots of help to make it. We all enjoyed it though.

As much as I love the Blue Hole, I would not recommend it to you. Unless your kids are good swimmers and adventurous.

The tubing on the White River might be good for you. The guides are excellent and will take good care of the kids.

They would probably love Mystic Mountain, but it sounds like you want something cheaper. The bobsled ride there is $69 per person.

Very nice review. Thanks for taking the time to share with us.

Miss T's Kitchen tends to be a bit slow because all food is cooked to order.

Scotchie's has a much smaller menu and the food is almost always ready right away. It's fun watching the guys cook and chop up your food.

Thanks for a great review. My family will be on the Sensation in March and doing the same itinerary... Our plan is also to spend the day at Jack's on Grand Turk. We also have a cabana booked for HMC. I am hoping to get number 11 too!!!

I have taken the Appleton Rum Factory tour twice (land based vacations though). It is a real fun tour. The tour itself lasts about 45 minutes. Then the guide will take you to your tasting room. You can stay as long as you want sampling the many different kinds of rums.

Be prepared for a very long day in the van/car. It is at least 2-3 hours each way. Quite the scenic drive though.

We like Miss T's Kitchen. Right downtown. Good selection of foods. Good service.

Olias - I love your screen name! You must be a Jon Anderson fan.

My wife and I were on the reggae cruise last October on the Pearl. The UBP was not available.

I would highly recommend having most breakfasts and dinners in the main dining room. We were always so afraid to miss something great that we ended up eating too may meals in the buffet. I got tired of the same old same old after 3 days. It is well worth it in the mdr or even the specialty restaurants.

I found the reaf (aft) elevators much less crowded than either the mid ship or forward ones.

They covered one of the pools on the lido deck (deck 12) and put up a stage. We found it better to go up one deck (13) and get a spot to watch the shows from up there. Less crowded, you can get chairs to sit in, waiter service, and rest rooms are close by.

Our shows ran from 8pm until 12 midnight. All shows were outside. This was fine until the very last night when we had torrential downpours.

We are booked for reggae cruise 2015 in December, otherwise we would be going on the CTTE.

RIP Chris Squire.

Loving this review already!

What an outstanding review. Thanks for taking so much time to share your cruise with all of us! :)

What an awesome review. Looking forward to the rest. We are on the Sensation next March - doing the exact itinerary (but in reverse).

Many thanks for the detailed review. We will be on the Sensation in March, so this is great.

We are cruising in March of 2016. Still no HMC cabanas listed yet. As a matter of fact, no excursions at all for HMC and only one listed for Grand Turk.

We love Scotchie's! Service is normally pretty fast and friendly. The food has a bit of a kick to it, but pretty mild. They give you various sauces to put on if you want it spicier. :eek:

My wife and I did this excursion through NCL last October. Overall, we had a really nice time (but I am a Jamaica-holic). The bus ride was short and fun. As soon as you arrive, you are handed a glass of rum punch. Then they lead you to the vip area. Nice loungers, a few tables and chairs, and lots of shade too. The staff was very friendly. The service was outstanding - they just keep coming with more food and drinks. The food was excellent. Started with jerk sausage, then came a salad, then jerk chicken and all the grilled lobster you wanted. You can even get a massage too.

I had two very minor things that I didn't like, The first is that the water dops off very quickly once you enter the water. It makes it a bit tough to get back out. The second was it ended too soon. It seemed like we were all just settling in for a great day when they said it was time to go. Time flies when you are having fun!

The bus ride back to the pier sure was fun. A bunch of drunk people singing Bob Marley songs!!!

Here is a link to my complete cruise review. The Bamboo beach part starts at post 13.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2142968

I emailed White Sands about this same issue a couple weeks ago. They said they do tours with large people all the time.

I would say it is 6 miles (or so) from the port. Best way to get there would be by a private taxi.