moBay questions

[MethodKS]

I am on the RCCL NoS next week for me and the girlfriends first cruise. We were recently changed from Falmouth to moBay and I am trying to decide what to do there. RCCL website has not posted any of the excursions at this point but I have done some looking around and I am thinking about just doing the $15 shuttle pass and doing Margaritaville and maybe some shopping. Should this be okay? We are both in late 20's early 30's and think this sounds like the best plan to have some inexpensive fun. Or at least save the excursion money to spend on a few extra drinks :)

[the_lumin8or]

We're in (and will be on) the same boat as you! :p

 

Anyway, this will be my fourth time cruising and my girlfriends first. Although I've never been to MoBay before. We're also trying to figure out what to do. I think we're looking at doing some sort of beach day and drinks, of course.

 

From what I've read, Doctor's Cave beach is a nice place and only a cab ride away (not far from Margaritaville). I've seen it's about $5 to get in and there's food and drinks there.

 

The other option we are looking into is going to the All-Inclusive Sunset Beach Resort which is minutes from the port. I emailed them and received a response stating $60/adult for the day which includes all food and beverages, taxes, gratuities, and all non-motorized sporting activities. That doesn't sound like too bad of a deal!

 

I also emailed Secrets Wild Orchid AI and have not received a response yet. I think that's more towards the $100 range, though.

 

Hopefully someone can provide their input on any of these. Can't wait for next week!

[caddyrag]

We got a van for the day $25, went to the Pork Pit, Marg'ville, shopping on the main street, then to a different shopping place with small shops on the side of a mountain. Really enjoyed the different experience of the shops just locals, no Diamonds Intern'l/

[Sbladybug]

We'll be in Mobay the week after you. We too just changed from Falmouth so I'm at a bit of a loss having to start from scratch. I think we are going to look into Secrets or Sandals and do the all inclusive thing. From what I've been reading they run about $80-$100 a person though and I am a little hesitant to spend that much.

 

I'm definitely open to suggestions/recommendations!

[the_lumin8or]

Okay, I have confirmed that the Sunset Beach All Inclusive is $60 for the day and the Secrets Wild Orchid All-Inclusive is $80 for the day.

 

http://www.sunsetbeachresort.com/

 

http://www.secretsresorts.com/wildorchid/index.asp

 

They are both very close to the port and neither require reservations, you just take a cab there the day you arrive. That's nice in the event that the weather turns out bad.

 

Secrets definitely looks nicer, but I'm not sure that the extra $20 is worth it for the short amount of time we will be there (10am-5pm).

 

Either way, it beats paying $100+ for the hour drive over to the All-Inclusive in Negril through RCCL.

 

Hope that helps a little bit!

[MethodKS]

Thanks a lot that looks like it may be worth the $60. I am going to play this one smart and let the Girlfriend decide what we are going to do :)

[MichelleChell]

Dr Cave is really nice and cheap and has food and drinks. The chonch is GREAT.

[VRRoom]

We were fortunate enough to book Marva Shaw for our day in MoBay on the 19th, so we'll decide what to do when we get there (though it won't be just a day at the beach). We are traveling with our adult daughter and her boyfriend and expect to drop them off at Doctor's Cave for a couple of hours on their own, if the weather is nice, while we do something they aren't interested in (though I don't know what that will be yet). I've been researching MoBay a lot, and Doctor's Cave always gets good reviews and doesn't look like it'll be to expensive to spend a couple of hours there, and it's right at Margaritaville and the hip strip, if they want something more adventures.

 

I'm really glad we booked Marva before all you Falmouth folks got diverted! :D

[hancogran]

Okay, I have confirmed that the Sunset Beach All Inclusive is $60 for the day and the Secrets Wild Orchid All-Inclusive is $80 for the day.

 

http://www.sunsetbeachresort.com/

 

http://www.secretsresorts.com/wildorchid/index.asp

 

They are both very close to the port and neither require reservations, you just take a cab there the day you arrive. That's nice in the event that the weather turns out bad.

 

Secrets definitely looks nicer, but I'm not sure that the extra $20 is worth it for the short amount of time we will be there (10am-5pm).

Either way, it beats paying $100+ for the hour drive over to the All-Inclusive in Negril through RCCL.

 

Hope that helps a little bit!

 

We were looking to go to Secrets but I just received an email from them, as follows:

 

Unfortunately, due to extremely high occupancy levels being experienced at for the months of January and February, we will not be issuing any day/and or night passes at this time.

 

We do apologise for this inconvenience and look forward to hosting you at our Resort in the future. :(

 

Back to the drawing board for me! :confused:

[the_lumin8or]

We were looking to go to Secrets but I just received an email from them, as follows:

 

Unfortunately, due to extremely high occupancy levels being experienced at for the months of January and February, we will not be issuing any day/and or night passes at this time.

 

We do apologise for this inconvenience and look forward to hosting you at our Resort in the future. :(

 

Back to the drawing board for me! :confused:

 

I just received an email along the same lines. Looks like we're probably going to check out Sunset Beach...

[hancogran]

I just received an email along the same lines. Looks like we're probably going to check out Sunset Beach...

:) We just booked Sunset for our MoBay Day! Hope we all enjoy it..sounds like not a bad deal. Happy cruising!

[the_lumin8or]

:) We just booked Sunset for our MoBay Day! Hope we all enjoy it..sounds like not a bad deal. Happy cruising!

 

Awesome! $60 is not bad at all for all you can eat and drink on the beach! I think we're going to try and wing it the day of, in case the weather turns out rainy.

[hancogran]

Awesome! $60 is not bad at all for all you can eat and drink on the beach! I think we're going to try and wing it the day of, in case the weather turns out rainy.

 

Wash your mouth out!! lol ;) It WON'T rain !! :p

 

That's what we'd planned to do originally but I wasn't sure if they had a per day quota as to how many day passes they issue so thought I'd be safe booking in advance. Oh well.. if it rains, we'll just have to sit inside the hotel and enjoy the drinks and food! :D Enjoy yourselves!

[Sbladybug]

Thanks for the heads up on Secrets! I think we are going to just plan to head to Doctors Cave Beach now.

[EnTnSA]

Ive said it before, and ill say it again. I highly recommend these guys. They pick you up on the Catamaran right at the cruise dock. Sail out to a reef and snorkel, with great music, great crew that cater to everyone. They then take you to the beach, from the water. Drop you off to play at your leisure, then pick you up and take you back to the ship. Check out my review to see pictures. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

http://www.jamaicawatersports.com/

 

Email them at dptgonefishing@hotmail.com

 

 

[MicksMom]

We went to Sunset Beach last January. It isn't overly fancy but it was super clean & had great food & drinks. DD got her hair braided in their salon. They have a small gift shop, internet was $5.00 for 60 minutes if I remember right. It was cooler than usual when we were there so not many people were in the water but they had group games, a movie running, small casino, pool tables.

We even got to watch a couple from our ship get married on the beach there.

 

Happy Cruising!

[hancogran]

We went to Sunset Beach last January. It isn't overly fancy but it was super clean & had great food & drinks. DD got her hair braided in their salon. They have a small gift shop, internet was $5.00 for 60 minutes if I remember right. It was cooler than usual when we were there so not many people were in the water but they had group games, a movie running, small casino, pool tables.

We even got to watch a couple from our ship get married on the beach there.

 

Happy Cruising!

 

:)Thanks so much for letting us know what to expect at Sunset Beach! We've already booked our day pass and are looking forward to going. Just hope the weather cooperates but then again, we have no control over that. Glad you enjoyed it :D

[Grits53]

We're in (and will be on) the same boat as you! :p

 

Anyway, this will be my fourth time cruising and my girlfriends first. Although I've never been to MoBay before. We're also trying to figure out what to do. I think we're looking at doing some sort of beach day and drinks, of course.

 

From what I've read, Doctor's Cave beach is a nice place and only a cab ride away (not far from Margaritaville). I've seen it's about $5 to get in and there's food and drinks there.

 

The other option we are looking into is going to the All-Inclusive Sunset Beach Resort which is minutes from the port. I emailed them and received a response stating $60/adult for the day which includes all food and beverages, taxes, gratuities, and all non-motorized sporting activities. That doesn't sound like too bad of a deal!

 

I also emailed Secrets Wild Orchid AI and have not received a response yet. I think that's more towards the $100 range, though.

 

Hopefully someone can provide their input on any of these. Can't wait for next week!

 

We went to Sunset Beach a year ago, and we were well pleased with it. The resort is very clean and staff is friendly and professional. Food is served buffet style, and there was a wide variety of choices. We enjoyed the food and our day there and will return. You can actually see the stacks of the ship from the front door of the resort, it's so close.

[texaslonghorn]

We were fortunate enough to book Marva Shaw for our day in MoBay on the 19th, so we'll decide what to do when we get there (though it won't be just a day at the beach). We are traveling with our adult daughter and her boyfriend and expect to drop them off at Doctor's Cave for a couple of hours on their own, if the weather is nice, while we do something they aren't interested in (though I don't know what that will be yet). I've been researching MoBay a lot, and Doctor's Cave always gets good reviews and doesn't look like it'll be to expensive to spend a couple of hours there, and it's right at Margaritaville and the hip strip, if they want something more adventures.

 

I'm really glad we booked Marva before all you Falmouth folks got diverted! :D

 

We are going to book Marva in Feb, any info would be great hope your trip is going well.

[VRRoom]

Well, it looks like Marva might be subcontracting for drivers. When we arrived, we went up to the information desk and they called Marva's number, then said someone would be there in a few minutes. About 10 minutes later, someone came and asked if we were waiting for Marva Shaw and took us outside to where all the taxis were waiting. There, we met up with Richard. He had a JUTA sticker on his van (jutatours.info), as did MANY of the vans we saw around the area.

 

Nice guy. We went to Rose Hall to tour the home and hear the tales of the White Witch, then made several sightseeing stops (White Witch golf course clubhouse, Richmond Hill), a couple of shopping stops, including the craft market where Richard's wife has a stall (over 250 merchants, many with the same stuff as everyone else), lunch at the Pork Pit and drinks at Margaritaville. Not sure that advance reservations were such a big deal after all as it looked like a LOT of the JUTA drivers were just waiting for walk-ups. Richard actually disappeared while we were in Margaritaville, but his wife appeared, carrying an umbrella in the light rain that had started, and took us in her SUV to meet Richard closer to the port. Not what you might expect, but she was very sweet and we didn't have a problem with it.

 

Oh, and we got to participate in a Jamaican Jam. TRAFFIC Jam! Just down from the port at the Keep From Cookin' (KFC), there's a horrible intersection that backs up because of the light next closest to the port. Gridlock appears to be a normal situation ("No problem, just situation!"). A Rastafarian gentleman, complete with knitted Jamaican hat and dreads, jumped out of his car in the middle of it and just stood there shouting at the traffic! Police finally came in, put him back in his car and backed him out of the intersection, then cleared the jam long enough for us to get through.