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[L1211]

Here's a trivia question for you before the Jamaica review. They call this "Bond Bridge". Anyone know why??!

 

 

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[Tommy3putts]

Here's a trivia question for you before the Jamaica review. They call this "Bond Bridge". Anyone know why??!

 

 

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Thunderball

[Clarea]

Here's a trivia question for you before the Jamaica review. They call this "Bond Bridge". Anyone know why??!

Dr. No had several scenes filmed near Dunn's River Falls.

[L1211]

Thunderball

I'm no authority. It that's not what our guide told us yesterday... can anyone else weigh in???

[L1211]

Dr. No had several scenes filmed near Dunn's River Falls.

 

 

 

Still not the one according to the guide but of course Ian Fleming loved him some Jamaica. I think he even had a house there.

 

 

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[Tommy3putts]

Still not the one according to the guide but of course Ian Fleming loved him some Jamaica. I think he even had a house there.

 

 

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I believe Bob is correct. Thunderball was in Nassau. Jamaica was used in several James Bond movies that location is Dr. No.

[Clarea]

I believe Bob is correct. Thunderball was in Nassau. Jamaica was used in several James Bond movies that location is Dr. No.

Who can forget Ursula Andress on that beach near Dunn's River Falls.

[Tommy3putts]

Who can forget Ursula Andress on that beach near Dunn's River Falls.

 

 

 

Epic!

 

[emoji14][emoji12]

[L1211]

Jamaica- I totally sweated the planning for this port. I would have been happy staying on the ship or in the Disneyland-ish port. I've been to Jamaica for a few land-based vacations. But the girls had not seen Jamaica and the port just didn't feel like it would check that box. They also are adventurers and sports. They wanted to do something.

 

When I started researching, I kept finding videos of Marshall Law in the Mobay area. Really? We were vacationing in the new murder capital of the world? Last summer NCL dropped us in Belize City since Harvest Cay wasn't complete. That was the murder capital for murders per capita at that point. Wow, safety first??? I didn't know what to do. All the boards said take a ship sponsored excursion so I planned a Montego Bay beach and Hip Street shopping quick 2 hour adventure that seemed to as close too the port as I could find.

 

I was in Dallas a couple of weeks ago and my Uber driver was from Jamaica. He had just been home only two short weeks ago. I shared my concerns with him and also shared my plans for the ship excursion. He told me he had many sisters and would not give me bad advice - that he would treat me like a sister. And, there was no way he would let his sisters go to Montego Bay or shopping on hip street right now. But he also felt that Jamaica was overall safe if you stayed in the right areas. He recommended Blue Hole or Green Grotto Caves. He told me we'd be treated like royalty because Jamaica loves their tourist. Just to stick to tourist areas.

 

With that, I researched vendors online and picked Patrice Bailey tours. She had exceptional ratings as did many local vendors. We planned a private day with blue Hole and bluewater beach club.

 

We were emailed a price if $65 pp for the private tour. Another operator was $45 pp but that was for a tour of 15 to 20 people. We didn't want to be on anyone else's schedule. We didn't want the mandatory stops at shops to look at the local wares. We wanted to come as go as we wanted so booked the private day with Ms Bailey. They were outstanding. Instructions to find our driver were clear, we made no deposit, just paid cash once there.

Here was our van.

 

I first saw this and thought oh no! I was wrong of course...

 

 

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[L1211]

The first stop was for cold water, paid for by our guide.

We knew the ride was long. 1.5 hours long...

 

 

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[Nabisco]

Another ??! How old are your girls? My grandson is 16 and on our last cruise he joined the club and did many activities. The ship we were on then wasn't quite so big. With 6000+ passengers do you feel they are safe wherever they go and how do you communicate with them. Just curious. Really hard to fathom a ship being so huge. We come from a small town in Illinois and the ship probably holds 2-3 of our "towns"!

 

 

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[L1211]

The ride was made longer by a traffic accident. There is no way around or alternative route. You just wait.

Our view for 30 minutes?

 

And sadly we found this to be the reason...

 

We had time to chat. He told us about the housing system in Jamaica. Did you know they pay a housing tax for about 8 to 10 years then they qualify to own a home? It is financed by the government for 30 years if you were young enough when you applied for your home. Our guide said you would pay about US$5000 down then make a monthly payment of $200-$300 based on the size of the house you purchased. You would live in that house then the rest of your life. As your family grew, you would have to add onto it. They do not sell their homes and move to other homes. The home would survive your death and be passed to your family. Or the mortgage, which ever that be. Interesting system.

 

 

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[L1211]

I believe Bob is correct. Thunderball was in Nassau. Jamaica was used in several James Bond movies that location is Dr. No.

 

Where's yorkvillian? Isn't he our resident trivia champ??? Still not the answer the guide gave.

[A&L_Ont]

And sadly we found this to be the reason...

 

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The irony. Had Bond been around this might not have happened.

[L1211]

The irony. Had Bond been around this might not have happened.

 

 

 

Thank you for the laugh!! No guess on the movie??

 

 

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[L1211]

Here are some Jamaica countryside pics. We saw most of it. This port location is terrible. You pass the OR port and your almost there!!

Fruit trees

Who doesn't love a good sports bar??

A seafood joint

Windy road

Lovely estate

 

 

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[A&L_Ont]

Thank you for the laugh!! No guess on the movie??

 

 

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Ocho Rios has the James Bond Pier, which goes back to Dr No. I’d guess that is the movie. We need Courtney, I mean Tim, to chime in.

[Clarea]

Thank you for the laugh!! No guess on the movie??

[L1211]

 

A locals beach

The Epic And her crown

 

 

 

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[A&L_Ont]

Who doesn't love a good sports bar??

 

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You sure it’s a sports bar? By its title I’d think it might be something more exciting. :')

 

I might need to do this tour just to post a photo of this place in a live review. Oh the descriptives, I don’t think I could contain myself like you did. I could/might lose another CC point.:D

[L1211]

The first sights of Blue Hole are lush and green. Beautiful. You drive down through a rain forest to reach the site. It doesn't disappoint.

 

 

 

The Blue Hole becomes the Mud Hole after rain. We caught it at a perfect time!

 

Our private tour included a private lifeguard and guide on site. Meet Baby T. I wanted to take him home! So much a sweet and polite young man. The girls LOVED him. He was a sugar.

 

 

 

 

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[mom2tcdx2]

Dinner tonight at wonderland. Starting with drinks.

 

 

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The Dream Catcher looks wonderful, I wonder if we can get that on the Allure anywhere? As I believe this is from a restaurant not on the Allure???

[L1211]

The tour starts at the upper Blue Hole. I didn't climb up the falls with them so Baby T took my phone to get pics and videos. We all know with teens, if it isn't recorded, did it even happen???

I understand after this lovely pic Baby T pulled a trick with the waterfall that left them all soaked!

 

The first jump was up top. Go Britt!

And the DD next. if you zoom in on the pic she's smiling ear ear. Isn't this why we vacation with our kids? Bliss!

And a perfect dive from the DH. All 10s!!!

 

 

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[L1211]

The next jump was from much higher. They work you up and up!

 

Next came the rope swing. This was the only line they encountered. This was a ship excursion. Maybe 40 people doing these jumps all together. It was madhouse. Very happy with our decision to go it alone.

 

 

 

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[L1211]

And then The highest jump yet. Oh boy. This one required some thinking. Do I really want to do this??? The DH had been diving at the strong encouragement of Baby T. No way he was diving from this height. He was questioning jumping!!!

 

 

 

Having a private guide was nice. He bypassed the line here and the girls did this jump twice. The impact was so hard it tore off a ceramic nail of the DD. She was in much pain! Yes, the woes of the young.

 

 

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