[Metallia]

Just heard bad things about this port. Hopefully they are wrong as I am really looking forward to a awesome beach to swim and crank some tunes.

[acidbasement]

The interwebs say there are good beaches a few miles out of town, and several decent tour packages if that's your thing. Ocho Rios itself appears to be a small town, pretty low key, full of pushy merchants and a few good restaurants and bars.

[gundiesalvo]

Not 100% sure about the beach, it looks like a small bay with many boats so the water may not be as pristine as in other beaches around the island. I'm trying to find out about public transportation and neighboring beaches, maybe within half an hour to an hour away. Also looking for info on Kingston, for what I've read, bus takes a couple of hours to get there, which is a bit long, but then again, Bob Marley's house may be worth a visit. Or I may just end up dropping by the local market (plenty of warning about hustlers and would-be tour guides everywhere I've been reading) and then grabbing a cold one by the beach or some local cuisine.

Anywho, plenty of possibilities for what I've seen.

[klons]

I have a feeling I'll end up doing the same as this year and using the stop as a sleep/lazy day.

...hopefully Calvin decides to get OFF the boat this time

[DJ Old Man Stares]

I have a feeling I'll end up doing the same as this year and using the stop as a sleep/lazy day.

...hopefully Calvin decides to get OFF the boat this time

Not even Calvin knows what Calvin is going to do.

[Phoenix]

My heterosexual life partner and I decided to use that day to visit the onbroad spa and get neck massages. By then we'll probably both have whiplash from headbanging so hard, seems like a good time to recoup for the next day.

[mooyagi]

Mystic Mountain sounds fun but it's too expensive. Dunn's River Falls would be nice if it wasn't packed with people (from the pictures I've seen. Then this:

Ocho Rios itself appears to be a small town, pretty low key, full of pushy merchants and a few good restaurants and bars.

Can't stand pushy merchants. It's why I hated Nassau and that may keep me from getting off the boat this time.

[bodomdragon]

My heterosexual life partner

This must be one of the weirdest ways of saying "boyfriend" I've ever heard

[Phoenix]

My heterosexual life partner

This must be one of the weirdest ways of saying "boyfriend" I've ever heard

INCORRECT! SHE is my best friend. It just became a joke that we're so close we're basically dating. So we made it official. We have no romantic feelings for each other whatsoever... hence, heterosexual life partner in a poly-amorous relationship.

[Azazel101]

Mystic Mountain sounds fun but it's too expensive. Dunn's River Falls would be nice if it wasn't packed with people (from the pictures I've seen. Then this:

Ocho Rios itself appears to be a small town, pretty low key, full of pushy merchants and a few good restaurants and bars.

Can't stand pushy merchants. It's why I hated Nassau and that may keep me from getting off the boat this time.

In our 5 cruises I think we only got off the boat twice.
might have too get off again this time around

[DragonLordJones]

In our 5 cruises I think we only got off the boat twice.
might have too get off again this time around

3 times Cozysmell, Nausea, and Grand Turk .......

[bodomdragon]

My heterosexual life partner

This must be one of the weirdest ways of saying "boyfriend" I've ever heard

INCORRECT! SHE is my best friend. It just became a joke that we're so close we're basically dating. So we made it official. We have no romantic feelings for each other whatsoever... hence, heterosexual life partner in a poly-amorous relationship.

Damn, my apologies!!

[Speedy]

Dunn's River Falls would be nice if it wasn't packed with people (from the pictures I've seen.

I looks like we'll be the only ship in port on the 24th, so that should help with the crowd. Don't know how many non-cruise tourists they attract though.

[bodomdragon]

Dunn's River Falls would be nice if it wasn't packed with people (from the pictures I've seen.

I looks like we'll be the only ship in port on the 24th, so that should help with the crowd. Don't know how many non-cruise tourists they attract though.

I have the feeling that this port is very similar to Costa Maya in these terms, that is, a 100% cruise-oriented, touristic port. So if we're the only cruise getting there that day, I'm quite sure we'll be pretty alone.

[gundiesalvo]

Dunn's River Falls would be nice if it wasn't packed with people (from the pictures I've seen.

I looks like we'll be the only ship in port on the 24th, so that should help with the crowd. Don't know how many non-cruise tourists they attract though.

I have the feeling that this port is very similar to Costa Maya in these terms, that is, a 100% cruise-oriented, touristic port. So if we're the only cruise getting there that day, I'm quite sure we'll be pretty alone.

Seems that way to me too. If ours is the only cruise then we should be the only crew there.

[mooyagi]

Dunn's River Falls would be nice if it wasn't packed with people (from the pictures I've seen.

I looks like we'll be the only ship in port on the 24th, so that should help with the crowd. Don't know how many non-cruise tourists they attract though.

That would be nice.

[Azazel101]

In our 5 cruises I think we only got off the boat twice.
might have too get off again this time around

3 times Cozysmell, Nausea, and Grand Turk .......

other than the Turk, they where easy to forget

[Pellaz]

3 times Cozysmell, Nausea, and Grand Turd .......

Fixed.


I actually really love Grand Turk (been there three times), but they had a septic/sewage issue near the cruise terminal about two years ago (smelled like, yep, turds) and cruise lines stopped going there until they got it fixed...which they did after a few months.
Still, for a while it was nicknamed "Grand Turd" on the major cruise forums.

[gundiesalvo]

Speaking of fixing things, can a mod change the thread name to Ocho Rios? My OCD is making my eye twitch every time I come into this thread.

[RootOfAllEvil]

I have the feeling that this port is very similar to Costa Maya in these terms, that is, a 100% cruise-oriented, touristic port. So if we're the only cruise getting there that day, I'm quite sure we'll be pretty alone.

Yeah, all alone exept for the aforementioned "pushy merchants" (which I hate with all my heart).
With only one cruise ship in port and half the crew staying abroad, probably we can each get our personal pushy merchant?


In my opinion, Costa Maya sucked big time.
My pals and I went back to the ship after a short 15 min lookaround.

[meshuggah]

We found a resort on Costa Maya for $55 per person for the whole time we were there...food, drink, swimming, kayaking all included. Maybe there is something similar in Ocho Rios. I'm gonna do some research since we had an amazing time.

[mooyagi]

I have the feeling that this port is very similar to Costa Maya in these terms, that is, a 100% cruise-oriented, touristic port. So if we're the only cruise getting there that day, I'm quite sure we'll be pretty alone.

Yeah, all alone exept for the aforementioned "pushy merchants" (which I hate with all my heart).
With only one cruise ship in port and half the crew staying abroad, probably we can each get our personal pushy merchant?


In my opinion, Costa Maya sucked big time.
My pals and I went back to the ship after a short 15 min lookaround.

The Costa Maya port sucked but I quite liked the beach area in Mahahual. It had no merchants and a nice quiet bar with beer and tacos overlooking the beach.

[RootOfAllEvil]

The Costa Maya port sucked but I quite liked the beach area in Mahahual. It had no merchants and a nice quiet bar with beer and tacos overlooking the beach.

Probably we gave up too soon (and didn't do enough research beforehand).
But when overlooking the scene of misery with flying merchants, el cheapo stuff in souvenir shops and bars that screamed "We'll rip you off", we decided that the pool on the ship was a nice alternative.
I guess, I'm a little allergic to "tourist traps" like that.

[DrinkMoxie]

The Costa Maya port sucked but I quite liked the beach area in Mahahual. It had no merchants and a nice quiet bar with beer and tacos overlooking the beach.

Probably we gave up too soon (and didn't do enough research beforehand).
But when overlooking the scene of misery with flying merchants, el cheapo stuff in souvenir shops and bars that screamed "We'll rip you off", we decided that the pool on the ship was a nice alternative.
I guess, I'm a little allergic to "tourist traps" like that.

you just gotta make your own fun... Ecliptica and I went out and raced golf carts with Nekrogoblikon out on the bumpy back roads, and great fun was had

[bodomdragon]

Ecliptica and I went out and raced golf carts with Nekrogoblikon out on the bumpy back roads, and great fun was had

Raced?? Those things were slow as hell, and the brakes wouldn't work at all

[DrinkMoxie]

Ecliptica and I went out and raced golf carts with Nekrogoblikon out on the bumpy back roads, and great fun was had

Raced?? Those things were slow as hell, and the brakes wouldn't work at all

There were obstacles, road conditions, and other traffic... It was a great time, I assure you