Elerja

10 minutes ago, lehmann6 said:

I am wondering if we could go to Dunn first to avoid all the people and then over to Blue Hole?

 

And what would a good tip for Dave be? He quoted us $350 for the 12 of us.

Dave  recommended the schedule for us based on timing. Depends if there are other ships in port, etc. 

We gave him a 25% tip. 

On 3/29/2018 at 2:03 PM, andreachs said:

Thanks for the recommendation! We contacted Cool Dave and are using him to take us to the Falls next week! I have a question, though, did you pay him with cash? Do you recall paying for the entrance for the falls with cash? And finally, did Scotchies take credit cards? Just trying to determine how much cash I should be taking with us or if credit cards are sufficient for all these places. Thanks so much!

We paid him cash. We also had cash for Dunn River. A good thing because as soon as we entered the parking lot someone met us at his van and went and purchased all of our tickets. We didn't have to wait in any lines. We didn't go to Scotchies, so I can't comment.

We just toured with Cool Dave last week. It was a great day. Our time in port was cut short do ship issues, so we had to make some tough choices about what to do. Dave went over the itineary with us and the timing. We wanted to do the Blue Hole and Dunn River Falls. Our time was going to be limited at both so we thought only Dunn River Falls. Dave highly encouraged us to do Blue Hole too. In hindsight, we wished we had only done Blue Hole. It was fantastic! We had a great guide. We didn't have a chance to finish because we had to run to Dunn River Falls. I wish we would have taken more time at Blue Hole and gone to Scotchies for lunch.

Dunn River was cool and fun to climb but just felt like a big tourist trap. And we felt like we were running the gauntlet to get out of the vendor market. Uggghhhh

We had 10 people in our group and we all agreed we wished we had more time at Blue Hole. 

The one thing I was worried about was finding Dave at the port. We did struggle a bit. Be sure you go completely outside the fenced area. We had some very nice local people help us. On your return Dave can go inside the fenced area and drop you right off.

If we are in Jamaica again I wouldn't hesitate booking with him again. One more word of caution the drivers in Jamaica (as they are in many places) are crazy, so if you have anyone prone to car sickness prepare ahead of time especially if you go to the Blue Hole. 

We loved Jamaica and would definitely go back!

We just booked today. I am excited. Can you tell me how you identified him in the port? He did tell us what gate to go out, but I suspect there are other tour companies trying to get your business. Does he have a sign or something on his van? I will follow-up with Dave when it is closer to our date, but always good to hear first hand experience too. Thanks!

I did ask in advance. Special needs responded and said the extension card and distilled water would be in the room. It wasn't. We talked to our room steward and by the time we came back to the room the extension cord and water were there.

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We did the same excursion as you. Late afternoon flight back to MN, so this one made sense. We must have been on a different bus, because we did the boat tour first and then walked around the animals.

The raccoon was getting lots of attention when we went through. One of the staff had taken him out of his cage and was playing with him the entire time we were in the area.

My son also held the baby alligator.

We had a huge snapping turtle in our garage one morning a few years ago. My husband somehow corralled it into a box and brought it to a nearby pond. They are not nice. Just glad we noticed him before he "snapped" at anyone.

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We went to Maya Chan in Costa Maya. It was a nice beach day. The sea grass was terrible..... On our way out we didn't really look at the port. We just were trying to find our way out the quickest way. On our way back, as soon we walked into the port, I looked at my son and said guess what this reminds me of. He immediately said Disney...bingo! The port is nice but so fake.

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We live in the northwest suburbs of Mpls. It seems every Sunday there is a new storm. So tired of it.

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Yep. I got my balcony reduced by $100 and interior room by $25.

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I can see all your pictures.

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Following. We were on the same cruise and also from MN. I was stressing about that storm too. Wish we were back there it has been nothing but snow and cold since we returned.

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Funny someone at our table had the seafood pasta and was expecting a white sauce too.

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Yes, the area outside the restaurant is 16+, but children under 16 can use the Solarium restaurant.

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I remember 3 days on FOS last week. Cod, tilapia, and swordfish. The cod was good. The tilapia average. The swordfish I didn't care for.

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We just cruised with my parents. I was a bit stressed about it prior to the cruise, but it was great. The best way to visit with them. They did their thing we did ours and met for dinner. We had such a good time we are leaving another cruise next year.

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Did you book the Sting Ray City excursion? I talked with some others who had theirs cancelled due to choppy waters. That must be so disappointing. Still... Other than that we had great weather all week. Sunny and 84 degrees is as good as it gets!

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We were on the same cruise. I agree with you about the ship. It was in good shape. We played a lot of shuffleboard and they were constantly painting on decks 4 and 5. I am sure that is a never ending job.

The food was good and the service great. If you do MTD and have Turkessa for your server, she is great! I agree about the pizza. It is massed produced pizza. It is decent for what it is. There were always people in line.

We didn't have as good as luck with our excursions, but you can't control the weather. We ended up going back to the ship early on Grand Cayman and practically had the ship to ourselves it was great. (We caught the 7.30 tender and didn't wait at all).

It was a great cruise.

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On our recent cruise on Freedom (3/17), the Freestyle machines ran out of Diet Coke. There was a sign up on the machines on Day 2. We were told to go to any bar to get a Diet Coke; however, they were FLAT and tasted so bad it was impossible to drink. There was definitely some issue with the Diet Coke....couldn't even get one in Johnny Rockets that tasted right. We were given conflicting answers from Guest Services, staff, Diamond Concierge, and even Suite Concierge. So....Diet Coke lovers beware!

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It looks like the Freestyle machines are on the Freedom. Do you recall if it had sparkling water? I am considering a drink package mostly because of it.

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I agree - not enough time to spend there to make it worth the trip.

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Thank you! I have a picky 13 year old who usually doesn't like kid menus but he might eat something on here.

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We will be on this cruise with you IF our flight leaves MN. Another winter storm warning....

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Right there with you[emoji3]. We leave on Saturday with our 13 year old for spring break. Have a great trip.

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Just to ask....can kids , young men 12 years of age where nice shorts and a polo to dinner ?

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We are doing the Fury Catamaran excursion with our 13 year old son. It does get good reviews on Trip Advisor. Ironically, it is the only ship excursion we are doing. I purchased it when it was on sale and then a month later it went cheaper and I rebooked.

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