rosebud1g

Would you say that there's enough safe things to entertain a five-year-old and an adult (me) who is afraid of jumping in the water? My older daughter is a diver and strong swimmer and would love this, but it's hard to accommodate a wide range of interests and abilities. Were there any lifejackets available, or areas for a smaller child to play out of the water or in shallow water?

There is shallow water and a flat area we also toured thru. I am sorry but I don't know about the life jackets. You can email Ricardo at Libertytours Jamaica to ask him about that question. He knows the falls well.

Libertytoursja@yahoo.com

He can also suggest what tours to do according to your family members ages.

We really enjoyed our tour with him. The falls were beautiful.

Your kids would absolutely LOVE it!!

There is a rope swing, a log to jump off, nature trails, and a waterfall.

It also has a flat area to walk thru. There are plenty of guides to help you along the way as well. Our Driver Ricardo Riley helped us too, and stayed with us the whole time.

We used Liberty Tours Jamaica last month, and this was the highlight of our cruise. The 72 yr old would appreciate the sights, he can participate too.

There are low areas to jump from also. (That's where I jumped from)

It was beautiful there! Email me at my screen name above @msn.com and I can send you pictures!

Here is Liberty's website. They have pics as well.

http://www.libertytoursjamaica.com

It's understandable you feel what you pay for something is a private matter. Talking about money can be considered crass but I feel you brought up the subject of cost without providing specifics. In your future reviews / discussion of Liberty Tours maybe you should not address price/cost at all.

I was just stating that out of the other 4 tour companies we contacted, LTJ was the lowest price. So with our group of 8 we were able to get a van for our group only and it fit our needs. We did not want to be with a bus load of people waiting around to load and unload. Discussing the price we paid would not impact your tour unless you planned to do the EXACT same itinerary we did and if you have 8 people to go with. You said before you had 2 people. Prices can fluctuate at any time especially with the price of fuel.

Sorry about the double post above. I was on my phone and thought the 1st post was cancelled. Anyway I know I sound the a broken record but I find it strange that that instead of saying we only paid $, people use words like reasonable or much lower. I did get a quote - my query was I just wanted to go on a tour that went to the secret falls. It's only the 2 of us but we'd be glad to go with a group. The response was quick: $250 for the 2 of us and if more people wanted to go it would be $75 per person. I hope someone can use this information.

Since I am the "people" you are referring to, I feel that it's a private matter what fee we paid and wish not to discuss it on here. It's like asking people you work with what their salary is. Since you only have 2 people and we had 8, naturally the price would be different considering the cost of fuel and time. My suggestion would be for you to go on your roll call and ask if otherswould be interested in joining your tour.

lower? How about sharing how much you paid with the your tour details

thanks

Well I can tell you that Taylors quoted $90 pp to go to secret falls. Thats why we DID NOT go with them.

LTJ was no where even close to that price. It is best to email LTJ for a price depending on what you want to do. They can package things differently. We went to Scotchies, but paid ourselves. I know on the website it can be a package tour.

We went with a group of 8 people and divided our transportation costs that way and added a tip. It is best to deal directly with LTJ than go with what price I recieved.

Us too...email him and his response time is excellent. We are booked with Liberty Tours also!!

WONDERFUL! You will have a great time!

Ricardo is awesome!

We just booked our tour with liberty this morning, for our sailing next weekend on the Freedom.

 

Replied within an hour with a full itinerary, and we're really looking forward to the secret falls!

AWESOME!! Ricardo will take good care of you!! Have fun!!

We just booked our tour with liberty this morning, for our sailing next weekend on the Freedom.

 

Replied within an hour with a full itinerary, and we're really looking forward to the secret falls!

GREAT!! I am happy for you! You will have a fabulous time!

I wish I was going back again soon!

I booked Ricardo twice (been to Jamaica twice so far) and he always delivers.

 

Regardless of who you go with, if you get the chance, go and see this fella.

 

 

And no, this isn't Ricardo's part time job. :p

OMG! next time I am going there!!

Maybe Ricardo will have learned how to do this next time I visit!!

is there a rule against posting how much you pay or paid for a tour? I've seen quotes posted from other vendors on this thread and repeatedly the cost of red stripe but when referring to the tour prices for liberty it"s 'very reasonable". I understand the tours are different but I'd like to see we did this that and the other for $ or we were quoted $ for going to ....

I'd rather not give out my contact information unless I'm pretty sure I'm interested.

Is anyone willing to tell the cost(unless it's against the CC rules)

 

thanks

Trust me, LTJ price WILL BE LOWER. I did the same thing... spend hours contacting the other vendors searching for the lowest price. NONE could even come close to what LTJ offered. Save yourself the headache...seriously LTJ is the best one out there! I will def be using them again when I return back to Jamaica. Ricardo made our day special and very memorable.

So far I've contacted Courtney Taylor Tours, Peat Taylor Tours, and then Liberty Tours. Trying to see who has the best price. Courtney Taylor quoted $150 transportation fee and $15 for the Blue Hole, Peat Taylor responded back with a very short sentence saying it was $50 for the Blue Hole inclusive of the entry fee. (Obviously I'd choose Peat over Courtney at this point). Gonna wait to hear what Liberty Tours says.

HOLY COW...that is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Liberty is no where near that $$$$$$$$$

BTW Peat and Courtney are related.......

I emailed them this morning. :) I also have already posted in my cruise's roll call, and searched the thread for the term "blue hole" but it appears no one else has mentioned it. ;)

That's a good start posting in your roll call!!! It would be great if you could get a group of CC people to go with you. This place is FAR better than Dunn's! I have done both and the Irie Blue Hole is 1000X better.

NO CROWDS!!! No ship excursions!!

Believe it or not I had never heard of the Irie Blue Hole either! TG for our roll calls!

Try typing in "IRIE BLUE HOLE", maybe it will come up that way.

Those pictures above don't show the water like it really is.... BLUE!

I have great pics. I need to figure out how to post them here.

I can email them to you though!

SugarAddict. Doing an excursion with Peat Tours is no different to doing a ships tour. Yes they are cheap, but not value for money. You go at their pace, not yours. Also, you won't get a personal service.

 

Please chose carefully.

I agree- I saw a HUGE bus load of people on Peat Taylor's tour.

I was SO HAPPY we went with Liberty Tours Jamaica and had Ricardo.

We were on OUR time- NOT theirs. I noticed them waiting a long time too for people to arrive to fill up Taylors bus.

Ricardo scooped us up and away we went....got to the falls LONG before they did!!!! hahahah

Sugar addict,

I there's anything I can help you with planning your cruise just ask! I've been cruising a long time and live on these boards! I have learned so much over the years thru this site. You can email me at my screen name above- just add msn.com ! I have pics of the blue hole. That place was incredible!

I'm new to the board and new to cruising. I was looking at the Liberty Tours website and see they are requiring at least 4 people to do a tour out of Falmouth now. We are cruising to Jamaica on the 10th of December with RCCL, if anyone else is and wants to see the blue hole let me know. It's just my husband and I right now and we really want to go but it seems we might not be able to make it until we find more people.

They do not require 4 or more people- I see on the website that it has been updated. email them and they will customize a trip for you even if it is just you and your husband. Here is a suggestion- go to your Roll Call forum and post there if anyone there is interested in going with you to the Irie Blue Hole. That's exactly how I went there! A friend I met on our roll call arranged the entire trip with LTJ and Ricardo. I met her and her family at the Meet & Mingle onboard.

I have done other private tours this way too! Give it a try!!

We just got off ALLURE 3 wks ago and went to Secret Falls. The ship docked in Falmouth and our group of 8 had pre-arranged a tour

with Liberty Tours Jamaica. Ricardo Riley was our driver.

He can customize what ever you want to do for the day, and his price

was very reasonable. google their website and email Rob. They treated us very well and customized our tour to what we wanted to do. Rob even called us a few times to confirm our day tour. Ricardo is a native of Jamaica and knows all the history about the Island.

He picked us up inside the gate at the port and had a spotless clean Toyota minivan. He was very informative on the trip to Ocho Rios, where we went to the top of the Irie Blue Hole (also know as Secret Falls), We spent about 2 hrs there exploring with our guides. There is a rope swing also they help you do.

Two from our group did the river tubing, so Ricardo dropped them off and in the meantime took us to Shaw Park, which is a great view up high over looking Ocho Rios. I took some great photos there!

Then we picked up our friends at the bottom of the river tubing adventure and headed to Scotchies for lunch. It was the BEST jerk chicken!!!

Also we all had Red Stripes for $2.

This was the HIGHLIGHT of our cruise this year! I love doing new things.

Ricardo made a great memory for our entire group we will never forget!

take a look at LIBERTY TOURS JAMAICA! I give it 5 STARS!!

__________________

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1888602

There is a link from another thread on here. You have to read thru the other postings. I was on this tour with Dee, the girl who posted this and the pictures. Take a look at the pictures..the Secret Falls were amazing!

I was on the Allure, and the ship docked around 10am. We were able to get off at 10:30am, and Ricardo was our driver for Liberty Tours Jamaica waiting right near the shops inside the gate. This was the HIGHLIGHT of our trip!

How high are you before jumping in falls, or can you get in another way?

There are different heights throughout the falls. I am a chicken, so I went in at the lowest point you can jump from and I mean really low!- a couple feet!

Dee,

Your pictures are GREAT!!

That was the BEST tour!! Thank you again for organizing it!!

The moderators took down your review??? :(

Thats a shame. People on here mention all kinds of tour companies by name.

Nice to meet you Holydad and seeing you a few times around on the ship!

Our room D8 balcony cabin was the opposite of yours--FREEZING! The bed was next to the vent/closet that allowed the air to blow directly on us.

Sorry your daughters had a bad experience- there is no excuse for that. No doubt there are rude people out there...

I was standing in line at the park cafe and a guy got in line after me with 3 kids. The RC worker came over and said can I help you and he started shouting out HIS order. I looked at him and said uh I was next, am I invisible??? He wouldn't even look at me or say anything to me. I called him a few choice words and still he said nothing! I was MAD.

No worries about getting back to the ship on time since you are docking in Ocho Rios. We just got off Allure last Sunday that was docked in Falmouth (45 min away from Ocho Rios) and we booked a private tour with Liberty Tours Jamaica and went to Secret Falls (Irie Blue Hole), sightseeing, lunch at Scotchies. 2 other passengers went with us that did the river tubing.

Email Liberty Tours and they will customize a tour for you what you want to do. The price is way better than the ship and some of the other operators there. I have been to Dunn's River before on a Carnival ship, and I much preferred Secret Falls. There was not a HERD of ship passengers next to you.

Ricardo was our driver, and he locked our money and valuables in his mini van. When it was time to tip the guides, when we left the falls, I told them I had some $$ in the van to please follow me, which they did.

They did not ask for money at all even though one of the guides had our cameras the entire time taking pictures. NO worries keeping your valubles in Ricardos van. He a native to Jamaica and

knows the culture well and also gives you the best info about the island. You can let him know what time you want to return the ship in advance and he will customize it for you.

There was also a changing area at Secret Falls and a place to leave your towels and clothes. This was a very memorable day spent in Jamaica, and the Secret Falls was gorgeous. I would do this again!!

What was the water temp? Was there stuff to do at the falls for the not so active type? any pics or info would be great w.scott.emack at gmail dot com

The deep part where the huge waterfall is was cold, because it is shaded by trees and woods. But I thought it felt great! We swam in it for a little bit, then went exploring with our guides. There are lots of places that are not very deep. I sent you a group picture of our group at that place. They have 2 guides per group and help you walk thru it all. I Loved it!!

We were just there last week while on Allure. The ship does not offer this excursion so we did our own. We used Liberty Tours Jamaica and went to Secret Falls, Shaw Park and Scotchies for lunch. 2 others in our van went river tubing. Liberty tours will customize to what you want to do. Their price is VERY reasonable. Our group of 6 was very happy with their service. I highly recommend them. Look them up on the web and they also have a Facebook page with pictures. The Allure is amazing!!

I was thinking of doing this the tubing and waterfall excursion through Marks Tours. The description is almost identical to the one Royal Caribbean offers, but is half the price. I was wondering if anyone has done tours through Marks Tours before and if so, what they thought. Thank you!

An alternative from Dunn's River Falls is Secret Falls also known as Irie Blue Hole. I have done both and I much rather prefer Secret Falls.

Dunn's is over crowded with cruise ship passengers. There is no ship excursion to Secret Falls, so you have to take your own private tour. So, that means NO crowds! You are not put on a bus either to sit and wait for everyone else to get on and get off. Instead you ride in a mini van.

I just went to Secret Falls last Thursday and used Liberty Tours Jamaica.

We had a fabulous day with Ricardo, our driver. He is a native of Jamaica and was very informative throughout the tour. I have vivid memories of Secret Falls.

Thank you for sharing that video, Marc!

It was fantastic.