LEGEND 9/2 review....Part 5

Need to catch up on parts 1-4? You can do so at the links below:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=624665

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=624701

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=625266

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=627096

So many things have been said about Jamaica. It’s poor, it’s unclean, it’s a horrible place to visit, etc. Our stop in Jamaica revealed none of that. We had an absolutely FABULOUS perfect cruise day while there.

Our first hint that the day would be great was the fact that when we docked, we were once again the only ship in town! We got the primo spot on at the pier. Like many ports, there are good piers and bad piers that are available. In Ocho Rios, there is a pier that accommodates several cruise ships. This pier is built so that the passengers can easily walk from the ship to land. The other pier is located nearby in a rock quarry. Honest! When you dock there you must navigate your way through the quarry structure underneath the old conveyors. Then, you must take a taxi to reach the “main” part of Ocho Rios.

Once again, our extended party of 8 all went different directions while in Ocho Rios. The in-laws were so conflicted by what to do that they ended up not doing anything other than getting off the ship and shopping in the stores and craft market nearby. They purchased an handmade wood carving that they were quite proud of. My parents booked the Walkerswood Spice Factory tour, which involved a tour of the local countryside and the spice factory. Taste-tesitng some of the local spicy foods was also included in the tour. According to my dad, it was GREAT!

We chose to take the Rafting on the Martha Brae tour. WOW-WOW-WOW! It was a little more pricey than what we would normally pay for a tour ($59 each, with no special rate for the kids), as we usually book independently rather than through the ship. Unfortunately the last-minute itinerary change due to Hurricane Felix didn’t allow for any pre-booking of excursions. None-the-less, we enjoyed it despite the hefty dent it caused to our wallets.

Since our tour was scheduled to last 5.5 hours, we had an early departure time. Actually, the excursion tickets noted that we should gather shore-side as soon as the ship docked. For some reason, the ship did not pre-gather any of the excursions anywhere on the ship. Rather, you were just on your own to make it to the departure point, even on tender ports! So, we were so worried about making it to the appointed shore-side location at the correct time that we actually ended up being the first people off of the ship! We didn’t even have to worry about avoiding the Ship Photogs because they were still in the process of setting their cameras up when we quickly walked past them!

On land, we were instructed to gather in the fancy new excursion tent. Which, I must add, was air-conditioned. Nice!

After about 20 of us gathered, we were led away to a mini-bus, loaded up, and driven away. There was an 75 minute drive through the countryside, during which time we were educated about Jamaica, it’s people, history, etc. The heartbreaking thing about Jamaica is that there are million dollar mansions situated on cliffs overlooking houses made of corrugated metal pieces.

Once at the Martha Brae (which by-the-way, is the name of the river), you are led down a series of steps and introduced to the river, the rafts, and the raft guides, who are a random assortment of Jamaican men, both young and old, some sporting dreadlocks. My kids were in awe!

The rafts are 20 feet long, and have obviously been handcrafted from bamboo and twine. Atop each raft is a rudimentary bench, crafted from regular wood planks. Your first thought, upon seeing the rafts is “Oh my gosh---does these things really float…?”

Each raft carries two passengers, and is manned by a Jamaican gondolier. Our family opted to split into the “Girls Team” and “Boys Team” with my DH and DS riding together, and myself and DH riding together. And, since we were opposing teams, the kids declared it a race.

Amazingly, the rafts floated very well. No one in our party got wet at all, despite being only inches from the river water. You travel on the river for over an hour, during which time you are schooled by the gondolier in regards to the differing types of trees and plants. And, it being Jamaica which is famous for roadside vendors, you are also accosted by a handful of river vendors that place themselves in strategic places along the route and yell their sales pitches to you. At one point towards the beginning of the river route, you are thrown a handmade raft replica toy. It is a very sneaky trick because naturally once my DD and DS saw the raft toy that HAD to have it. So we HAD to pay them for it. My DH is a bit of a klutz and accidentally caught and then dropped the raft toy. Not-to-worry! The vendor dove into the river, retrieved it, then swam behind the raft in the river to hand it to DH! Hilarious!

The gondoliers also get in on the sales action themselves, and towards the end of the river route they open their backpacks to reveal beautiful vases and bowls that they have handcrafted from gourds. Really neat, beautiful stuff. To prove that it was handmade, our gondolier Gregory also whipped out his knife and began to carve into the side of the vase. I couldn’t resist and had to buy it!

At the conclusion of the river portion of the trip (which the BOYS TEAM won--ugh) you are loaded back onto the buses for the return trip home. I highly recommend this tour to anyone of any age and any physical capability. My 4 year-old DD was completely OK on the raft. One of our fellow tour-goers was an older woman in a wheelchair. She fared OK was well.

The rest of our day was routine. (Isn’t it sad that we are at the point in our trip when eating gourmet food, relaxing by the pool and generally doing nothing seems routine?)

The only other thing of note from the day was the past guest party, which occurred in the Follies show lounge. An invitation-only party (invitations were delivered to the cabin the day prior), the party was very similar to the Captain’s Welcome Party with hor d’oevres and free drinks. Midway through the party a video is shown outlining the history of of the Carnival and a pictoral slide show of each ship. You are encouraged to cheer for each ship that you have traveled on. Lastly, a prize is given away. But, rather than do a random drawing from all of the invitations that have been collected at the party, the Legend Cruise Director opts to play a game so that the winner will actually EARN the prize. “Drawings are too easy” she says. So, she invites all interested to go up on stage. Being a “doer” I jumped up for the fun.

Once on stage, the entire crowd is given a question with a choice of two answers. For instance, “What is the current oldest Carnival ship? The Holiday or the Mardi Gras? “ Those who believe it is the Holiday are instructed to go to one side of the stage, while those who believe it is the Mardi Gras go to the other. All those on the “wrong” side of the stage are eliminated. The questions continue until everyone except one person is eliminated. The winner of the game was actually a 4 year old girl!!! Her Mom sent her to the opposite side of the stage at the last minute so she was standing alone, and unbelievably she was standing on the “right” side. The prize—two tickets to the Supper Club. (TIP for those of you who like to win—play this game with several members of your party so you can always split yourselves on stage—you’ll win for sure!)

There was a show that night, but we didn’t watch. It was supposed to be a comedian, but he missed his connecting flight and didn’t make it to Jamaica in time to board the ship. So, instead we had a Nashville singer. No thanks! Instead we all sat in the lobby and people watched, making judgments on people attire and their drunkenness. Not to worry, we also partook in a few drinks ourselves as well!

At exactly 10pm, we picked up the kids from Camp Carnival and called it a night. Another fun-filled day comes to a close…

Up next Grand Cayman. Or, were we really in Kansas? Tune in next time to find out…

Thanks for posting. I especially enjoy the parts about the excursions you can do with your DD as my kids are about the same age. We are not going to Jamaica this time though, but I thought I'd do the rafts if we ever went back.

So, I'm curious if you did the stingrays.....:D

once again, great review Celebrat ... thanks for sharing!

great review!

Question, i am confused about the conch shells, as another poster also talked about keeping shells. I thought we cannot keep anything like that going through customs.

I read another post when someone had something as harmless as shells, they declared it, and got it taken away.

For those of you that did come home with something, how did you do it? Did you declare it?

I would love to keep little things like that, my wife likes to make crafts out of things we found on the beaches, etc.

-thanks.

sorry, double post...

I find it odd that we had the same issue with the entertainment when we were in Jamaica on the Legend. We were suppose to have a juggler and they said he missed the ship due to flight problems from Miami we also had to settle for the Nashville replacement act. Coincidence?

Where are your entries for the last two days? I was on the same cruise and I'm getting a kick out of reading your review. It's like I'm on the boat again. Please finish! :D