Need help from all you experienced cruisers in supporting my side of an argument!!!

[chianti31]

Jujappers -- This is Mrs. Detective20. We went to Maritaville in Montego Bay, so can't help you with Ocho Rios pier.

If the tubing is the same as the excursions booked out of MB, then it is slow.

I guess you get the message RE safety issues but stay with the tour and you'll be okay. Have a great time.

TTFN, Lisa

[spiritofscouse]

This is my advice my friend. If you are thinking of taking shore excursions privately you must remember that you you might have to pay these private companies beforehand.
Check eaxactly where you will meet the group.
Check what happens if the tour is cancelled.
MY ADVICE IS THAT IF THE PRICE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SHIP EXCURSION AND THE PRIVATE EXCURSION IS NOT MASSIVE < THEN GO FOR THE SHIP EXCURSION. Remember that with the ship excursion you will not have to worry about the things I mentioned above.

SS Oceanic (Big Red Boat)West Med 2002
Olympia Explorer East Med 2003

[dgund]

jujappers, Margaritaville in Ocho Rios is right across from the pier. It is located next to Island Village, which consists of quite a few stores. I also recommend Peat Taylor in Ocho Rios. We used him last week and his tour was great. We arrived at Dunn's River Falls before the cruise ship crowds then toured the island in his air conditioned bus. He has been conducting these tours for many years and is well respected by his fellow countrymen. If you are with him you will be safe. After the tour we had him drop us off at Margaritaville for a while and walked back across to the ship. As another poster said, you do not pay Peat until after the tour is over. I personally booked with him about 9 months in advance. Whether you choose a private tour or one with the ship, I would suggest to book as early as you can.

[CSW]

Ebielik has excellent advice. I did a freighter
cruise last fall and the Captain told how newbie
crew members have been known to return to the
ship mugged of everything, down to their underwear. That's right, they returned to the
ship totally nude. I stayed onboard that cruise.

jujappers,

Love your parents style. I'm taking notes for when my kiddos are grown [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif[/img]

CSW

[jujappers]

thanks dgund for the info on margaritaville. Is this the one that has the water slide on the outside of the building? I've seen pictures of one with a slide on the travel channel or somewhere and it looked pretty cool. We'll deffinitely have to spend a little time here.

CSW, that story doesn't sound too fun. Thanks for the compliment on my parents. They are really cool I'm just happy that they are planning this cruise for our family so my older brother and myself can experience cruising for the first time. They will be happy as long as we all get back safe and sound and have a blast for the whole 10 days!!

Still looking for any more advice on ship excursions to take at any of the ports we are scheduled to stop at. We are very close to booking a stingray city tour through the ship for Grand Cayman and also a river tubing or dunn's river falls tour for Ocho Rios. If anyone has any other recommendations let us know before we book our excursions in the next couple days. I forgot to mention that my dad really loves snorkeling and we were trying to pick a good snorkeling excursion somewhere so if anyone knows of one please tell. THANKS!!

[sharybeari]

Jujappers, they do give you snorkelling masks on the Cockatoo, but you need to remember that the water at stingray city is only waist deep so the masks are great for ducking down and seeing the stingrays but you do not need flippers at all. Swimming with the stingrays is an unforgettable experience! There are some cruise passengers who want a kid free excursions just to let you know there is an age limit of 12 on the boat so there are no little ones on the catamaran.

My cruise history,
Serenade of the Seas, 08/2004
Voyager of the Seas, 07/2003
Nordic Empress, 11/1998

[jujappers]

Thanks sharybeari for the additional advice. We all have our own snorkeling gear since my mom bought my dad a family set for his birthday a litle bit ago. This excursion sounds even better now that you mention there will be no little kids along. Can you tell me whether or not this excursion stops at other snorkeling areas or is it just the stingrays and then you go back to the ship?

Thanks for the help!!

[sharybeari]

There are no addional stops just the stingrays, the sale out and back is amazing. If you are interested in a video they do tape the trip and you can purchase a copy of it and they will deliver it to your ship or mail you a copy of it depending what time your ship leaves.

My cruise history,
Serenade of the Seas, 08/2004
Voyager of the Seas, 07/2003
Nordic Empress, 11/1998