Adventures on the Allure, Teen family! 2/8/15, Western Caribbean, LOTS of Pictures!

[vettecruiser1]

I have searched liberty site but can not find any prices, do you mind sharing what the price per person was for this adventure. Also when they contacted you and asked about a private excursion did they mention if they was going to be a different price? I will have a 8 year old and not sure he will want to jump from some of those cliffs, so we might asked them to take us tubing and to lunch and beach.

[ShellDil]

I have searched liberty site but can not find any prices, do you mind sharing what the price per person was for this adventure. Also when they contacted you and asked about a private excursion did they mention if they was going to be a different price? I will have a 8 year old and not sure he will want to jump from some of those cliffs, so we might asked them to take us tubing and to lunch and beach.

 

From Falmouth to the Blue Hole, including the tubing, which I haven't had a chance to post about yet, was $80/person. I thought it was very reasonable! I didn't ask if it would cost more if just the 4 of us went, but I assume it would have. We didn't mind being in the group at all, so I didn't think to ask. My husband and Megan didn't jump from any of the higher cliffs, but they had a fantastic day. Including the tubing, I would rate it as one of the best excursions we've done. Definitely worth the $80/person. Also, as you see, if your son is hesitant, he also can wear a life vest. Both Megan and Keith asked for one and they had them at the site for them to put on. Megan is actually a pretty strong swimmer, but it makes her feel more confident. Keith is not a strong swimmer, so he wouldn't consider not having one.

[ShellDil]

Looking out of the "cave"

 

 

 

You can see the guides helped everyone along, and here you can see the one also holding my camera. I must have had the water camera at this point. This was actually towards the beginning because Megan didn't have her life vest on yet, you can see the other guide in the background still holding onto it.

 

 

After being back behind the falls, we swam across this really beautiful pool of water and then walked across some rocks to this next area where this was a rope swing you could swing from and drop into the next area if you'd like to!

 

 

I was actually surprised Keith did this - he's terrified of heights. But I guess since it was water below and he had his life vest on, he was fine with it.

 

 

 

 

And in he goes!

 

 

 

 

[Thoie]

Subscribed - I'm another one of those people joining in 11 days. We're not going to any of the destinations you went to, but enjoying the review all the same.

[aussielozzie18]

Love your writing style. Really enjoying your review. Thanks for sharing.

 

The divided bed photo made me laugh. One of my teens would have just opted to sleep on the floor. No way brother and sister would share the same bed/couch, even if it was divided.

 

I too was disappointed with my parade photos. Made me feel better that you had problems as well even though you have a top notch camera and are a much better photographer. As you say, the characters are too close and everything moves too quickly during the parade.

 

Looks like your family had a great cruise.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[pharaoh]

Loving this review and your great photos!

 

I love the Blue Hole photos especially. I booked this same excursion for my last cruise several years ago, but the river got washed out in a storm and we ended up just doing a driving tour of Ocho Rios with our guide. I was disappointed because I really wanted to go.

 

It looks like you guys had a lot of fun there!

[ShellDil]

Subscribed - I'm another one of those people joining in 11 days. We're not going to any of the destinations you went to, but enjoying the review all the same.

 

Thanks for following! I'm sure you're going to have a fantastic time on the Allure! Hopefully I can finish up my review before you leave! :)

[ShellDil]

Love your writing style. Really enjoying your review. Thanks for sharing.

 

The divided bed photo made me laugh. One of my teens would have just opted to sleep on the floor. No way brother and sister would share the same bed/couch, even if it was divided.

 

I too was disappointed with my parade photos. Made me feel better that you had problems as well even though you have a top notch camera and are a much better photographer. As you say, the characters are too close and everything moves too quickly during the parade.

 

Looks like your family had a great cruise.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

 

It's so nice to hear that my kids aren't the only ones who are crazy with the bed situation! It sure makes traveling that much more complicated though!

 

And yes, the parade photos made me nuts! Between the crowd people, me being short, and the characters so in your face...it was pretty hopeless! I think I was pretty lucky to get what I did!

 

Thank you for following along! :D

[ShellDil]

Loving this review and your great photos!

 

I love the Blue Hole photos especially. I booked this same excursion for my last cruise several years ago, but the river got washed out in a storm and we ended up just doing a driving tour of Ocho Rios with our guide. I was disappointed because I really wanted to go.

 

It looks like you guys had a lot of fun there!

 

That's such a disappointment that you didn't get to go to the Blue Hole! Hopefully you'll get back there one day! I really wasn't sure how we'd like it, but I was so glad we ended up choosing that for our day in Jamaica!

 

I hope to get the rest of the pictures posted either tonight or tomorrow. Cruise Critic keeps giving me errors when I try to post a post with photos.....

[ShellDil]

Next went Alex on the rope swing

 

 

 

 

 

Megan and I as well as some of the others in the group knew we'd never be able to hold onto the rope, so we just jumped. Megan's courage had grown a lot from that jump back at the beginning!

 

 

 

And then we climbed up this ladder, through this hole...here we could either end our blue hole journey, OR jump off the biggest jump yet! Who would do it?

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

Keith and Megan had no intentions of jumping off of anything higher than what they just did...they waited in the water with the water camera....

 

 

 

It really was gorgeous there!

 

 

 

So yea, I guess I'm going first? I don't know how that happened, and believe me, it took a LOT of will power to make me actually step off that edge!

 

 

 

But I did it! And it was so much fun!

 

 

 

And Alex was next....

 

 

 

I can't believe I don't have a picture of him in the air! I'm almost positive we have it on video though. That's what Megan was doing in the water....

 

Alex loved the jump so much that he did it twice!

 

 

[ShellDil]

There's him going in the 2nd time!

 

 

 

 

 

And while this picture should have been at the beginning, based on the "Welcome"! We took it at the end of our time at the Blue Hole...our guides had us all stand together and they took the picture for us.

 

 

Again, I can not say enough positive things about the guides at the Blue Hole. They were fantastic as far as making sure every one of us there felt safe while walking along the rocks, and confident in our abilities. I was so hesitant about bringing my kids to jump off of ledges into the unknown in Jamaica, and there I was jumping off the highest ones in the end!

 

But our day with Liberty Tours wasn't over! We still had river tubing to go!

 

We all piled back into the van with Rose Marie, who made sure that we had a great time, and also introduced us to Ricardo, who runs Liberty Tours. He was there with another tour group. He personally wanted to be sure that our group enjoyed the Blue Hole and that everything was going well so far.

 

Off we were heading over to the river for our tubing!

[LuCruise]

Wow....what awesome pictures of Dunn's Falls! Looks like an amazing day with memories forever. Your family sure is a lot braver than we'd be 😀

[tlc1680]

Did you have to tip the guides at the fall's separately?

[Irish Cath]

OMG Shell what a fantastic review. I'm so impressed by how brave you were in Jamaica - you go girl. As usual your pictures are divine but that's to be expected from you. Looking forward to your next installment. Oh and can I just say how Alex is really growing up into such a handsome young man, you must be so proud of him and Megan.

[Clarea]

Did you have to tip the guides at the fall's separately?

You don't have to tip them, but they are pretty up front about wanting a tip.

[lovelabs2]

I am enjoying your posts very much! My family and I will be sailing on Allure in January 2016! We can't wait. :D

[Khsh08]

Loving this!

[ShellDil]

Did you have to tip the guides at the fall's separately?

 

You definitely don't have to tip the guides, but as with any other tour, they are sort of standing there looking for a tip at the end, and to be honest, I can't imagine NOT tipping them. They were fantastic!

[ShellDil]

OMG Shell what a fantastic review. I'm so impressed by how brave you were in Jamaica - you go girl. As usual your pictures are divine but that's to be expected from you. Looking forward to your next installment. Oh and can I just say how Alex is really growing up into such a handsome young man, you must be so proud of him and Megan.

 

Hi Cath! Was I brave or crazy??? :D Thanks for stopping in and reading along! It is quite amazing how Alex has grown! They grow up too quickly! Yes, I'm definitely proud of them!

[ShellDil]

So after our adventures at the Blue Hole, we all piled into the van and drove just a short distance to the next stop, our tubing location.

 

 

We were the only people here, and to be honest it seemed a bit odd, a place you'd never find on your own, that's for sure! But as we turned off the main road, another van pulled in behind us, so that was a good sign! The way it worked was that we all got tubes and there was a guide in the front and one in the back. Sort of like if you've ever gone white water rafting. They kept us all from getting stuck in the bushes along the sides of the river.

 

 

 

There were some little rapids that were a lot of fun to tube across

 

 

You can tell how much fun this was!

 

 

The guides were singing everything from nursery rhymes to pop songs, all with a reggae twist! It really set the tone of the ride along the river!

 

 

 

Here you see one of the guides helping part of our group who was stuck in the weeds!

 

 

I would say the entire ride was maybe 20-30 minutes? It wasn't long, but it was probably long enough!

 

After we got out there was a little changing room that we got changed into dry clothes. Our original plan was to go to the "famous" Scotchies for jerk food, but we voted and decided to just grab something on the way back to the ship. We stopped at some little fast food place. Note that they don't have US fast food there, we got the typical Jamaican Patties to go. Definitely unique and when you've been climbing and jumping off cliffs and tubing, they were pretty good! Not sure I'd feel the same way about eating that today!

 

 

[ShellDil]

We arrived back at the port with plenty of time. This was a late departure port, we were in port from 10:30 - 7 I think, and didn't have to be back on board until 6:15.

 

 

Keith and Alex went right back to the ship to get something to eat, Megan and I decided to do a bit of shopping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If I thought the vendors in Labadee were aggressive, well the ones here were really just as aggressive. In the shops they were pretty relentless. I just want a t-shirt and a magnet....I just really want to browse in peace and buy my souvenirs. It really bugs me that I have to be forced to look a things I don't want or need....

 

But that being said, my obsession with Alex and Ani bracelets began here in Jamaica! Megan and I each got one at a lovely jeweler, the salesperson was super nice, not pushy and they were priced no more than here in the US! I got a cruise ship and Megan got a starfish!

 

That is one huge ship isn't it?

 

 

 

[soccerdad72]

Great pics from Jamaica!

 

We did the Blue Hole tour with Liberty as well, although ours was a little different - we did the rope swing into the Blue Hole and the "secret falls" (including jumping from the very top), but no tubing and we did stop by Scotchies - which was really good!).

 

The only problem we had was that a family with us got angry at Ricardo when they found out they didn't have a private tour, so our family and one other family got separated from them and went with Rose Marie, who was nice, but I think at the time, she was pretty new, because we got lost on the way to Blue Hole.

 

I am glad we were separated from the other family, though, as they seemed pretty miserable and I think we were better off without them. :cool:

[Rod&Deb]

Hi Loving your report. We are in Australia and will do this cruise in April 2016. We don't tip in Australia so could you please advise what to give to the guides and do you do that for the driver as well. We have no idea about tips and don't want to give someone too little or too much. Looking forward to the rest of your report. :)

[ShellDil]

Hi Loving your report. We are in Australia and will do this cruise in April 2016. We don't tip in Australia so could you please advise what to give to the guides and do you do that for the driver as well. We have no idea about tips and don't want to give someone too little or too much. Looking forward to the rest of your report. :)

 

Hi! If I remember correctly, we tipped each of the guides at the falls $10? So $20 for the Blue Hole. I don't remember if we tipped the tubing "guides" or not. If we did, maybe $5 or $10 total for the two of them. And we probably tipped our driver another $15 or $20 for the day. I honestly can not remember.