Montego Bay, Jamaica excursions

[bravesfan19]

I am going to Montego Bay on the Liberty of the Seas in September. I was wondering which excursions are the best to take? Are there alot of good excursions that I can book on my own and not through the cruise line.

 

 

Also, I read about the group from a Carnival ship that got robbed on a bannanna plantation tour, and this makes me a little nervous about going to Jamaica. Has anyone else seen something like this?

[*Mach*]

I've vacationed in Jamaica numerous times and loved ever minute of it. The people are, for the most part, warm, friendly and eager to make you comfortable in their country. It's a beautiful island of contrasts; tall inland mountains often shrouded in mist, white sand beaches that beg you to play, coastlines that are rugged and willing to bite unwary sailors at a moments notice. The Royal Palms are gorgeous, towering above the landscape crowned in a remarkable green.

 

There's a great deal to do when you dock in Montego Bay. You can schedule a shopping tour and a stop at Margaritaville or the Jamaican Bobsled Bar. You can spend some time at Sunset Beach or the beach at Doctor's Cave Bay. Both are glorious. Many people climb Dunn's River falls at Ocho Rios. The locals say if you climb the falls you'll come back to Jamaica. I did and I have.

 

You can tour banana plantations, sugar cane plantations and see where Columbus landed. You can tour the Appleton Plantation, home of some of the most wonderful rum in the world.

 

Look around the boards for more ideas. There are tons of threads discussing the individuals that folks have hired to shepherd them around the island. It's worth the investment in time.

 

Enjoy!

[trosanjohn]

We are taking a trip to the Rockland Bird Sanctuary in October. Have not heard too much about this, but what I have heard it sounds wonderful. We booked through A-Z and will also have lunch and time at Dr. Caves.

[EggDropErin]

Although you asked for independent tours, we (all 5 of us) REALLY enjoyed the Discover the Real Jamaica excursion that was an RCI excursion. If you would like to read more, there is a review of the excursion from when we were on Freedom in my signature.

[oldmedic]

you might want to look at http://www.barrettadventures.com we have used Carolyn several times and have always had a blast!!! never felt in danger, or even threatened. you can contact her through her website. you can see some of my pics of Jamaica at http://www.oldmedic.smugmug.com we love YS Falls and the Rockland bird sanctuary. if you have any more questions, please feel free to ask!!!

[KAWS]

you might want to look at www.barrettadventures.com we have used Carolyn several times and have always had a blast!!! never felt in danger, or even threatened. you can contact her through her website.

 

Wow - these excursions look amazing! I dropped Carolyn a note to ask for the link to the online brochure. Can't wait cause they look great!

[dbl22lady]

I am going to Montego Bay on the Liberty of the Seas in September. I was wondering which excursions are the best to take? Are there alot of good excursions that I can book on my own and not through the cruise line.

 

 

Also, I read about the group from a Carnival ship that got robbed on a bannanna plantation tour, and this makes me a little nervous about going to Jamaica. Has anyone else seen something like this?

 

 

Just returned from there on 08/19/07...we booked an independent excursion to Dunn's River, a stop for Jerk Chicken and a little shopping and had a very safe and wonderful time. We used Maxi Tours (www.montegobaymaxitours.com) BE SURE to request Greg Connell, he is outstanding. We were a little fearful of Jamaica but I told him that and he escorted us in everywhere we went. Very punctual and has a great personality!!!!!! Highly recommended!!

[brcruiser]

Just returned from there on 08/19/07...we booked an independent excursion to Dunn's River, a stop for Jerk Chicken and a little shopping and had a very safe and wonderful time. We used Maxi Tours (www.montegobaymaxitours.com) BE SURE to request Greg Connell, he is outstanding. We were a little fearful of Jamaica but I told him that and he escorted us in everywhere we went. Very punctual and has a great personality!!!!!! Highly recommended!!

I saw in your Conquest review you did the Dolphin swim in Cozumel. I would love to hear how that went and all about Chank. park and what there is to do there. Can you post a message in the Ports of Call-Cozumel section on it? Thanks, and I am glad your trip went so well. We are going 12/9.

[thoneycu]

I am going to Montego Bay on the Liberty of the Seas in September. I was wondering which excursions are the best to take? Are there alot of good excursions that I can book on my own and not through the cruise line.

 

 

Also, I read about the group from a Carnival ship that got robbed on a bannanna plantation tour, and this makes me a little nervous about going to Jamaica. Has anyone else seen something like this?

 

 

We booked a custom tour with Trevor Hudlin. He was awesome and we loved Jamaica. Had 2 dd's, ages 19 and 16 and never felt unsafe. He was a lot cheaper than the cruise ship excursions and well worth every penny :) Have fun!

[Tippy55]

I have used Carolyn with Barrett Adventures in the past. It was the most exciting time I've had on an excursion. She is so informative and we all had a great time. I went to YS Falls and Tubing. The Canopy ride wasn't going when we went in early 2006. She took us to a coffee and pineapple plantation on the way to the falls. It was great!

 

I don't think Jamaica is any different than any city in the USA. We always felt safe.

 

Tippy

 

Conquest 04-06

Imagination 11-02

[moya]

We just got back from Liberty and used A-Z Planners for our private tour.

We were a little concerned as it was a week after Hurricane Dean but all was well. When we got off the ship they were there waiting for us.

 

We had a wonderful guide named Paul with a nice van with cold A/C.

We saw many of the local sites on the way to Mayfield Falls. The roads to the falls was not the best but Paul was a safe and wonderful driver and we were never afraid.

 

He made stops along the way to show us local flora and to take photos and even climbed a tree to get a local tree pod they use for spice. He gave us information on the history of the island and the drive to the falls passed quickly.

 

Mayfield was beautiful but the water was high due to the recent rains but we had a great time . We were there early and only the two of us so it was a great morning.We have climbed Dunns River and Mayfield was much easier to climb.

The water is cold but felt wonderful and made for may photo ops.

Our guide ?Sukie? took photos for us with our water camera .

 

We were to go next to the Hummingbirds but we had hard rains and Paul called ahead to the Santuary. The birds were not out due to the heavy rains so we had a nice lunch at the local jerk place and then went shopping .

Paul took us to an area to shop where we were not harrassed and was very quite with good prices.

 

It was a full day but we would highly recommend A_Z planners and Paul as a driver.

 

He made our day and when we go back to MB we will call A_Z and request Paul for our driver.

 

We would highly reccommend A_Z -

 

Moya

[Gosap]

Just returned from there on 08/19/07...we booked an independent excursion to Dunn's River, a stop for Jerk Chicken and a little shopping and had a very safe and wonderful time. We used Maxi Tours (www.montegobaymaxitours.com) BE SURE to request Greg Connell, he is outstanding. We were a little fearful of Jamaica but I told him that and he escorted us in everywhere we went. Very punctual and has a great personality!!!!!! Highly recommended!!

 

Hi - I clicked on this link and it did not take me to the correct site. Is this addy correct?

[KAWS]

Didn't work for me either. :confused: