Jamaica travel advisory

I have read recently that there is a travel advisory for Jamaica due to gang warfare. We are stopping in Falmouth, Jamaica with the Oasis of the Seas and I was hoping to take my family on an excursion. Any advice? I read many reviews that say that the ship excursions are very crowded. I was hoping to arrange our own but now I am reluctant.

I would post this on the Jamaica Ports Of Call Board at:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=83

Personally I would only do ships excursions at Jamaica or stay on the ship.

Keith

Don’t. Jamaica is dangerous. Stay on the ship so you don’t die.

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There are travel advisories and gang violence in many places, including the US. The violence currently in Jamaica isn't in the Falmouth area, but of course exercise caution. I was just in Falmouth a couple of weeks ago and felt completely safe by myself. There is a lovely little trolley tour, not that there's a ton to see in town.

Again, exercise caution, but enjoy!

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We were in Ochos Rios at the end of January and booked a private tour. I never felt in danger but I read the same things. I would suggest looking for recommendations on trip advisor and make sure they were recent reviews, if you choose not to go with the ship.

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I actually don't feel very safe in Jamaica as compared to about 90%+ of the places we visit.

We do travel often and have sailed most of the world.

JMHO.

Keith

We were recently there, took a ship sponsored excursion which was not crowded. I was expecting a big bus but this was a much smaller one, maybe 16 people.

There entire experience was great, we went to Dunn's Rivers Falls and Jamaican Bob Sled. Both fun and beautiful. Our guide and bus driver were entertaining and friendly.

I never felt unsafe, just uncomfortable leaving the Fall's as all of the vender's were set up right there as soon as you exit the falls before going back to the bus and they were very aggressive and persistent about wanting us to look at their stuff.

But 20 years ago we experienced the same type of behavior from the shop keepers so we knew to just avoid eye contact and push our way thru

We were in Ochie a couple weeks ago. Like many others, walked about a mile from the ship to several shopping areas. No one hassled anyone. The locals were all very polite. We didn't find out about the Montego Bay happenings until after we got back or the DW would never have walked off the ship there and we would have missed a very nice Jamaican experience.

We were in Falmouth 1 year ago. We went to Margaritaville and really enjoyed it. You exit the port and go right into Margaritaville. It was a good compromise between not getting off the ship or trying to do an excursion.

Look at the US Department of State Travel Warning for travelers and their own embassy personnel. There is same issued by the UK & Australia. Google Jamaica Travel Warning and you will see clips of the Jamaican Prime Minister announcing a State of Emergency and the use of Military troops. This is a result of major drug and gun trafficking activity. This is involving gun violence with killing, robbery, gang rapes (even inside resort property grounds), home invasions resulting in murder of all residents.

Our last trip not long ago, the cruise line cancelled all excursions due to 'unrest' in the area. We were advised if we chose to leave the ship for an independent excursion they were not responsible nor would they wait if we were late due to roads being blocked.

Until these official warnings are removed, if you must take an excursion, I would only do so only with the cruise line sponsored trip. While you may be able to do on your own without incident, I would consider the warnings from Government sources a big heads up.

Why won’t ships stop going to Jamaica? There are so many nicer islands. I’d rather cruise to Staten Island than Jamaica.

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The port of Falmouth is pretty well protected it is mostly fenced in. When we did a tour outside the port gates it was a little scary. This was last year.

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Gee, poor Jamaica LOL. Almost every Island at any given time will have problems. If your staying for a week on a all- inclusive vacation it's recommended not to leave the resort. We have stopped there at least 5 times by ship...only took ship tours..except the time we went with a Traveling Leo Lions Club group. We were all picked up and given a tour of the surrounding area. It was very informative and enjoyable...at our next port in Grand Cayman we were picked up and given a tour along with hats, pins and jackets !!! There was money on the Island....poor Jamaica Lion club members couldn't even afford pins for themselves...and especially not give any away ! We gave them some from us.

Once on a stop in Brazil there was a small group of us who wanted to walk to the beach that we could see from the ship. The guards that were at the gate told us not to because it was too dangerous. We all were wearing no jewerly or carrying no cameras and there were 6 of us 3 men and 3 women so we thought we could "handle it" About 100 yards from the Port dock was a Bario and it looked empty..as we got closer people started to come out of their houses onto the dirt road and one old woman ran out to the middle of the road and went on her knees praying for us not to come any closer. As a unit we turned around and walked back to the gate. Questioned the police there that if they knew what would happen why wouldn't they stop it. The police replied that they told us not to go ! ON the ships tour 2 couples were robbed when they left the group. When we went back through the gate we found a nice man with a van and hired him to take us around. We saw much more than the ships tour..were very safe and had a great time.....bottom line....no matter where you go your experience will proberly be different from anothers ! :)

Just visited the Falmouth port late March. Took a wonderful cruise shore excursion Ochos Rios Highlights. It was wonderful and never felt unsafe.

If a place was truly so unsafe that there had ever been a group of cruise ship excursions held up, or something of the sort, or that much of a crime spike otherwise, cruise ships would simply stop going there (see, Acapulco). Rationally speaking, if you go with a ship excursion, or even if the independent excursion you book appears to be somewhat reputable (read the reviews, determine the professionalism displayed by the website, etc.), you should be fine. People often worry about crime when the reality is there are much more significant things to worry about.

That said-obviously take reasonable precautions while there, and don't make yourself a target, wander aimlessly, etc.

It does appear to me that Jamaica in general is poorer than many Caribbean countries, both in terms of GDP Per Capita and HDI. For example, Jamaica is at 5K compared to say, Panama and Chile which are at around 15K. And more poverty isn't necessarily directly correlated, but can have a negative impact on the state of safety, and general feeling of a place. Falmouth around the harbour looks to have some heritage (or rebuilt, I don't know) architecture that looks nice enough to appeal to tourists looking to wander from port. However, it's clear that isn't the state of reality for the country as a whole.

https://www.google.com/search?biw=1066&bih=530&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=BqjlWooryP6PBIGtrvgJ&q=kingston+jamaica+streets&oq=kingston+jamaica+streets&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0.1792.3060.0.3179.8.8.0.0.0.0.184.780.6j2.8.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.8.779...0i67k1j0i8i30k1j0i24k1.0.XMOgF1R-dBg

Kingston, the capital for instance does not look remotely appealing... even compared to the lower end of the LatAm spectrum... it also happens to rank as the 16th most dangerous city by homicide rate in the world... then again Saint Louis is 13th and I feel okay there in main areas, but still, it generally does not look like an inviting place.

Bottomline, stick with a tour group whether a reputable independent company or cruise line, or if wandering, stick within a quarter mile of the port, and you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

Sorry for hopping on so late. I lived for a while in Jamaica. Contrary to what a PP said, you won't die if you get off the ship. You will likely be nowhere near gang violence, much of which is contained to particular neighborhoods in Kingston. I spent much time in those, and managed to not die. Jamaica is a glorious country, populated by amazing people with a wonderful culture. Get off the ship and meet some of them. Exercise some common sense, and you should be fine.