Jamaica a Disappointment (Ocho Rios)

[zcruiser03]

Hey ladyt, I think we might have been on the same cruise. I agree with you. We did take a tour with Phil Lafayette and it was wonderful. Did some river tubing and the Dunns climb. Phil took us on an hour tour of the area and then to the activities. It was great because there was only one other couple in the van with us and the personal attention was unmatched, we booked online before arriving. As far as the people, I think they were quite in your face and would not take no for an answer. The short walk to Island Village was quite an adventure. Next time, we'll stay onboard!

[ladyt]

I agree!!!!!!

[sar]

We were in Ocho Rios on the 19th. We did a tour with Phil Lafayette and we were very very happy. I cannot reccommend him highly enough. We were not approached at all by anyone asking us to buy drugs, and only once did someone want us to buy knicknacks. Others at our dinner table were, however, so it does seem to be a problem. We didn't do any wandering around on our own, and once we were done with the tour we went back to the ship.

[EmJakeBubbie]

Here's my story: cruise port calls to Ocho Rios multiple times, starting early 90's. Each off-the-ship experience worse than the one before w/all the things mentioned above...the weed, the kids selling stuff, being bothered to death, etc. Never enjoyed a single visit! DH & I have a code word which if either says it, the other knows "danger" get the **** outta here! had to use it once in Ocho Rios (one of those shopping areas that's more like a maze). The last story of our visit to O.Rios is scarey, but only upon reflection. We hired a taxi...- in retrospect not a good idea! NoWay do we advise this! Well, this driver stopped at every single roadside "buy-this" stop! and we bought as we got deeper and deeper into the rain forest of Jamaica, we began to realize our safety was unraveling. Well, let's just say we came home loaded w/stuff we no way wanted, but at least we got back to the ship safely. The good part of this story is we know we got deep into the RainForest and what an experience that was - it was beautiful, the driver was courteous and full of information - the view from the top of the mountain was a glorious sight. But, never again!!! I hope the cruises find an alternate port of call - it's just not wholly safe for the naive tourist in Ocho Rios. Caracas was pulled for the same reason - even on organized tours folks got assaulted!

[cruzincajun]

I just got back and without exception everyone I talked too said they were harrased in Jamaica.The tried to sell drugs to our kids entering margaritaville.Next time i would stay ay sunset beach all day.One group hired a cab to dunns falls and walked the falls and the guy brought them back to the boat.It took less time cause they were not with a big group.But i would be hesitant to take a non cruise ship booked tour in jamaica.that is the last place I would want to be left behind.In fact they put one lady off our boat I think for drugs.

 

Now you can leave me in cozumel;) that would be nice.

 

 

 

CC

[12vman]

care to change your mind about Jamaica? im going in September with my familyof 5 (kids 13, 11, 7) these folks are now making me wonder :O)

[Nliedel]

Seriosuly I would not worry about it. While some people have negative experiences thrid world countries are largely what you make them. If you are uncomfortable with poverty and the occaisional unpleasent smell as you are rounding a corner then probably it is best to stay onboard. The locals can be pushy, many of them are desperate. If you can look beyond all of that and see the beauty and smell the heavenly scent of the flowers as you enter the countryside. If you can talk to people one on one and get into the rainforest beyond the tourist trap that Dunn's can be. If you can go to a Jamaican art gallery and see the work of one of their premier artists, Barrington Watson and taste the jerk chicken and goat and not turn up your nose then your experience will be a good one.

 

Visiting the island and going to the ports can and does leave a bad taste in some peoples mouths. There are areas of Chicago the average visitor can wander into that they should not either and yet it is one of my favorite places on earth.

 

Ok look at it this way.. if you have to and this is probably a crummy example but the kids are fighting and dancing to loud music to my pack of metaphors is not full. Have you seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show? The first time you went it was "just a bunch of freaks eating people and dying at the end"... Then maybe the next time you went with friends who dressed up and you had a really good time? (I am dating myself) and then you wanted to go. If you have had an experience like that then maybe that better explains Jamaica.

 

It is another country and one of the places in the Caribbean that really screams that out very loudly. It also has excellent Beer (Red Stripe), great food, amazing music (Reggae), fantastic coffee and is a world unto itself. The people do not look like Americans, they do not talk like Americans and there is not the comforting feeling of it being "just like home" and I really don't want it to be like home because if I wanted it to be like Ann Arbor I am capable of staying here.

 

For some the island will not be a fit and that is fine. For many it will be an experience to tell tales about, sometimes exaggerated (not always and I am not pointing at any poster at all or making any statement about honesty at all). For a lucky few it will be an experience of how beauty triumphs over poor conditions.

 

I have been to Jamaica thirteen times. I have stayed in Kingston, Negril, Hanover (Near Mo Bay), Ocho Rios and Port Antonio. I have driven the entire circumfirance of the island and flown over the mountains in a DC3 during a thunderstorm. I have been in a store as it was robbed by a gunman (1970's in Kingston) and never once felt in horrific danger (OK I was hiding in the stacks but I am not stupid). I have never, not once been approached to buy drugs. Does it happen? Yes it does I am sure. I do want to point out that I have been approached to buy drugs in New York City, Miami, Chicago, Las Vegas (a hooker for my husband there, that was interesting. He wanted to know why that woman was asking him for a "date".. he is clueless but adorable) and St. Louis. I have been mugged in Ann Arbor once. I am saying bad things happen everywhere.

 

Will I change my mind about Jamaica? No, probably not. Not even if I go and bad things happen. Of course I travel to third world countries for fun so you can discount much of what I said here if that does not appeal to you.

[TheWog]

Well said. I agree Jamaica is beautiful.

[12vman]

I agree as well.

 

I just wanted to see an eloquent response, so I called out the writer! Haha

 

 

 

I’m well aware of what these places are, but sometimes places do change and taking them off itineraries may be a good idea in some cases...i guess.

 

 

 

Sounds to me like the same Jamaica I loved 15 years ago.

 

 

 

The one I loved (and the other 6 at my table freaked out over)

[genoa73]

I just got back from the Rhapsody as well and I loved Jamaica! We decided just to walk to Island Village and shop and check out Margaritaville. There were many men offering us taxi rides but a simple "no thank you" was all that was needed. One man that I said "no thank you" to and smiled at said he liked my style and that I was nice. It made me wonder how other tourist treat him. We were never approached by anyone selling drugs but maybe it was because we had our two year old daughter with us. I found the vendors in Cozumel much more aggresive than the ones in Ocho Rios, but neither place did we have a problem. I found Jamaica to be a beautiful place and would definately go back again some day.

[DanTheMan]

Hmm, maybe we came in contact with different taxi vendors. I encoutered a couple that demanded I respect them after my polite "no, thank you". One followed us after I repeatedly told him "no thanks mon". I informed him that we were only interested in going to island village and margaritaville and he said it was because I was scared. I had no problem with the vendors inside the village only the taxi drivers. Taxi drivers in Grand Cayman nor Cozumel were that pushy. The shop vendors in Cozumel were more pushy than the shop vendors we encountered in Jamaica though.

[12vman]

a lot of it boils down to your personality...Type "A", "B" whatever.

 

They can feel it. We all can.

 

 

Im not one that gets overly nervous quickly & easily in poor areas.

 

They pick up on it immediately, i know.

 

 

I use to do work in bad areas (in dirt poor high crime areas, apartment complex's and such)

 

Once, i had this really nasty dude who looked strung out on drugs and everything else, start eye balling me and i just had a bad feeling he was going to give me trouble.

 

 

I had a lot of expensive equipment and materials in my van and i decided to take a cigarette break. I called out to him "Hey! wanna go for a ride!? show me where the closest store is and ill buy ya a pack of smokes too!"

 

 

He was a dove the rest of the day, even helped me on my job carry a few things, and all his friends that came around treated me like one of them.

 

 

Very few people are mean at the core. They just want things like you and me.

 

Sometimes a little good conversion levels the playing field between you and them and sometimes even friendships are made with people you wouldnt expect. And it works both ways.

 

 

 

On my first trip to Jamaica. i followed one of the guys at his request (since my wife appeared to have wandered off) into his little personal tent like thing away from the market. We all sat on the dirt floor and they passed around a pipe with me (One claiming to be the King of Jamaica! hehe). They didnt get mad that i didnt buy drugs from them, we spoke, I explained that my wife was probably looking for me about now (something we all understood :-) exchanged pleasantries, and i moved on without issue, shaking hands and smiling back at one another. Now im not suggesting you do THAT! But there are two sides to stories…sometimes 3 or 4! HAHA.

 

 

 

Oh…when I got back, my wife asked “Where the heck have you been!?” I said “I was being entertained by “The King”.

[vanclan]

We were in Jamaica in November. Took a tour with Phil and were never bothered nor approached with offer of drugs. Phil took good care of us and I think prevented any problems from happening. Granted, we didn't mix freely with the local people as we did on our other stops, but our short visit was wonderful and we felt we experienced Jamaica in a safe environment.

[Disneyjunkie]

The people do not look like Americans, they do not talk like Americans and there is not the comforting feeling of it being "just like home" and I really don't want it to be like home because if I wanted it to be like Ann Arbor I am capable of staying here.

 

 

Jamaicans do look like some of us. LOL

 

My son and I are looking forward to visiting Ocho Rios next spring. I haven't heard anything about Jamaica that can't happen here in our own country.

[Dave&Jeannie]

It is sad they have to beg, but if you act like you can't understand what they are saying and stick to the better shopping places I really think you will be o.k, as for pushie people, yes, we got a lot of that, but a smile and just keep walking and they will for the most of it turn around and go to the next person...We were offered around four times drugs,,,and we are in our late fourtys and fiftys, so it doesn't matter to them, they just want to make money. We went to Margaritaviile, it was great, but they were pouring and I do mean pouring double bottles of booze into very young guys mouths two bottles at a time, and by the time we were ready to leave these poor kids couldn't walk,,makes a person wonder what might happen when they try to walk back to the ship?

We did some great shopping, and bought nice rings for a good price, they bought the price down on everything we got, and if you state a price and you have cash they for the most of it will say alright. If I had young children I don't think I would take them there because there is no room to get around, the sidewalks are full and they drive fast and crazy there, it makes me sad for those people, but like some one else wrote you see this everywhere and you just have to be thankful that we don't have to live like that.

Would we go back,,,,no,,,wonderful things to buy, but I would think the cruise lines would talk to the people and let them know that if they keep this up they might loose the cruise ships porting. Always go with as many people as you can if you are going, some young girls told us a taxi cab driver drove them out of town and told them they had to pay a lot of money and MORE, they said they yelled at him to take them back to town and hurried out of his car and ran back to the ship. We did see a lot of policeman, but remember they work for their own people not us...Have fun stay safe.....

[Stormy]

Dave&Jeannie,

Do you live in Va Beach?

[Dave&Jeannie]

no we live in Tn., for now.....

[fnewman]

Having been to Jamiaca for a least a week more thna 20 times, I can honestly say that I have never felt threatened. Generally a polite 'no, thank you' will work jsut fine in most situations. Yes , it is a poor country and yes, they know that if they don't sell the cruisers something they may not get to eat, but get out into the countyrside and the people are as friendly and polite as any you will ever meet. Sure, ther is good and bad wherever you go, and Jamaica is no exception. It is a shame that so many do get a bad impression there.

[RobNC2001]

Ladyt -- I can confirm your experience. I was just there on Mariner in January. I'm a clean cut, athletic guy in my 30s (I don't do drugs and I don't look anywhere near like someone that would). I happen to be a criminal defense lawyer and after years in practice very little shocks me, but Jamaica was a definite "experience". No one else in my party wanted to get off the ship because they had heard horror stories. I thought it couldn't possibly be that bad. So I disembarked to walk around for a while. Well, once off the ship, I couldn't take 5 steps without being hassled to buy drugs...weed, heroin, cocaine...pretty much anything. I was even offered "free" samples. I can definitely say that nobody was bashful. This was all done right in the open in the "nice" parts of the port area. Once I would finally get rid of one drug dealer, I would be aggressively accosted by another. I tried being nice but they just wouldn't take no for an answer. It wasn't so much that the sale of drugs shocked me; after all, I've represented enough drug dealers in my time, it was the aggressiveness of the sales pitch and the fact that I literally couldn't take 5 steps without being accosted. After about 20 minutes of making minimal progress toward seeing the town, I just fled back to the ship because it was so unpleasant. I'm glad to hear from other posters that there are nice parts of Jamaica. I thought there had to be some reason the cruise ships stop there. Maybe people just need to beware the area by the port. And definitely, if you have kids, particularly teenagers, they shouldn't be unsupervised for even a minute on this island.

[mceyd]

We went to Jamaica on Norweigian Sun. Our first excusion was quad riding through trails. We stopped at a one room school house and the children were so excited that we were there. Our next stop there was an old Jamaica man selling wood statues. He even showed us his pot plant. But he didn't ask any of us if we wanted to buy any. The second excursions was a "booze cruise" where we went snorkling and stopped at Margaritaville for souvenirs and of course more drinks (It's 5:00 somewhere!) The crew made us laugh from the time we got on till the time we got off. There is no doubt in my mind that I would jump at the chance to go back there.

 

We were only offered drugs twice. Once in the Bahamas exiting a taxi and when we stayed in a hotel in Mexico and a waiter asked me if I wanted any pot. I was shocked that an employee would ask, but we just said no and he was fine with that.

[crb04]

RobNC--we had a similar experience in Ocho Rios recently and I highly doubt is was due to any supposed nervousness or naivete on our part (my DH is a narcotics cop in one of the "meaner" parts of the golden state, and I work in a pretty rough environment myself--understatement). While we are not remotely intimidated by, or uncomfortable in presence of, certain rougher segments in society, we also do not bring our children and ourselves to particular streets in LA, SF, or even Chicago for the purpose of "enjoyment." Being offered drugs every few feet, treated rudely repeatedly when told "no thank you" politely is just not our idea of a good time on vacation. We have had wonderful vacations in Cozumel, Tijuana, Nuevo Laredo, Ensenada, Haiti, and numerous other "poor" cities with "pushy" locals. Magaritaville was pleasant. Red stripe beer is tasty, as is jerk chicken and pork. Sounds like others have had more enjoyable experiences without the harassment we were subjected too. I am happy for them and hope to have a better time the next time I am in Jamaica. To cast blame for how we were treated on our supposed perceptions or personality type, makes no sense to me. Why would someone make assumptions about what someone else experienced? We have also been to other 'third world countries', and have missionary relatives in several--abject poverty is sadly not something we are unfamiliar with. The favelas outside Rio, or shantytowns in India make Jamaica look wealthy. Different people have different experiences, not based on what they did wrong or right. I have a former coworker who was stabbed while caring for a wounded gang member. She followed all the correct safety procedures and does the job we do because of her innate compassion, because believe me, it ain't for the $$$. Maybe it was her fault--she must have been the wrong personality type....

[camperhawk]

Amen! I had the pleasure to meet a lovely man from Jamaica,who was here on a work grant. He not only was very pleasant but shared with me his insights on his home. He did share that yes, people are poor, but also a polite no will suffice instead of the "look" that says I'm better than you. He also said that we in the United States have the same thing happening.

 

I am looking forward to going to Jamaica in Oct. and will keep in mind the many things he shared.

[crb04]

Hope you have a great time. Most Jamaicans I've made the acquaintance of here in the U.S. are lovely people--one of the reasons I was disappointed on our Ocho Rios stop. A polite no wasn't sufficient on our recent visit, but maybe next trip.

[gime]

I and my family have made several trips to Jamaica and we have enjoyed our brief stay tremendeously. What I realise, is that if you take one of the tours, it works out better for you because the tour guides knows where to take you to have a wonderful time and at the same time you do not undergo the type of harrassment you discribe. I have taken a tour guide several times. His name is Trevor, and you might want to visit his website and retain his email address for the next time you cruise. It is as follows: www.trevorhudlintours.com and the e-mail addresses; trevorhudlin@hotmail.com and cooltrevh@yahoo.com . He is very reliable and responds to his mails promptly.

[sugar n spice]

My DH, DD and I were just in Ocho Rios, Jamaica in May. I wasn't really looking forward to this port because I had read so many negative accounts of it. I had even considered staying on the ship. I am sooooo glad we didn't. We went on our own to Mahagony Beach...well, we took a small bus which carried other tourists various places...we just didn't hire a guide. After the beach, the driver dropped us off at a shopping center a few blocks from Margaritaville. I had told him I wanted to do some shopping. After shopping, we walked to Margaritaville and enjoyed the beach and food there as we had done on Mahagony Beach. My DH said he was offered weed and women a couple of times but my DD and I never knew it. I guess it's a "guy" thing. I dunno. It didn't seem to be a problem for him though. He just said, "no" and that was that. I found the Jamaican people to be friendly, helpful, courteous and kind. I talked to many of them and they were very interested in what we thought of their island and wanted us to like it and to come back. Yes, they need our money but they seemed truly interested in us too. Maybe it is because I like to meet the locals, talk to them, ask questions, tell them about the things in their country that I really like &/or impressed with. I can't really say. We did encounter soliciting of necklaces, carved goods, etc. at Margaritaville Beach but I suspect that is because it is so near the port and so many tourists go to Margaritaville. The guys who work for Margaritaville Beach pretty well kept the solicitors away from us. I would love to go back to Jamaica. If it is a port of call on a future cruise, I will look forward to it with great anticipation. Frankly, I liked Ocho Rios, Jamaica better than Georgetown, Grand Cayman. I thought it would be the other way around. I have to wonder if I missed something along the way in the Caymans. Seems I should have liked it more than I did. By the way, I found my best bargains in Jamaica (Blue Mountain coffee, T-shirts, hot sauce, etc.).