Falmouth Protests Planned

[bajathree]

Nice welcome:rolleyes:

 

http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/news/jamaica_news/278399.html

[will773]

Interesting, I hope they don't pursue their protests.

[griffy116]

I wonder what the alternate plan is??? We are scheduled to dock there in July and I'm getting more and more apprehensive. Some are saying that the building still won't be completed until September. Looks like they may have started docking there before the dust has settled (no pun intended). YIKES!

[will773]

I wonder what the alternate plan is??? We are scheduled to dock there in July and I'm getting more and more apprehensive. Some are saying that the building still won't be completed until September. Looks like they may have started docking there before the dust has settled (no pun intended). YIKES!

 

I am starting to feel this way as well. I am supposed to go in June. I would be mad, however, if we were diverted to Costa Maya instead. I would really like to go to Jamaica.

[Cupcrazy]

Hopefully if this does happen it's only a 1 time thing and all other sailings won't have a problem. It could be bad for business

[TEXASMUNK]

It is moving along very quickly. It will be beautiful. We enjoyed out day totally! We just stayed in the port, met a ton of nice people.

 

RELAX!!! By summer it will be complete and rocking!!!

[penwah2002]

I think the money that the cruise ships bring in would be something the community collectively would not want to compromise. Puzzling.

[bajathree]

It is moving along very quickly. It will be beautiful. We enjoyed out day totally! We just stayed in the port, met a ton of nice people.

 

RELAX!!! By summer it will be complete and rocking!!!

 

 

Not sure where you are getting that info from....this is a project that is happening in phases....maybe phase 1 will be complete sometime this summer.....it will be some time before the entire project is finished.....and this project has in no way shape or form moved quickly.....HHHHmmmmmm....how many times was the date moved back now:rolleyes:

[tiyana4]

As there usually is, I'm sure there is another side to the story. The minister mentioned the protests are expected to bring awareness to bad road conditions and national development. Perhaps residents feel that a portion of the $221 million spent to build a cruise port could have gone to other uses.

How many times have our tax dollars gone to a cause we didn't support?

 

The new port may be a double-edged sword for residents. While some are rejoicing the influx of tourist dollars, others may feel justified in protesting.

[CruisinManiac]

My niece was suppose to port there this week on the Navigator, but that ship wasn't mentioned. They may have been there either Tuesday or Wednesday.

[daveky]

I wished RCI would have stayed with Ocho Rios and/or Montego Bay instead of Falmouth. I know it's about the money but I really could care less about an inbetween dock that RCL will put money into when there is already other locations in Jamaica to dock at. Don't mean to vent but getting tired of some of the changes IMHO for RCI and not for the passengers. They have gotten ahead of themselves with this one and Falmouth is not ready yet.

 

Dave

[Texas Teen]

I don't think Royal Caribbean should have gone to Falmouth yet with the port still under construction! :eek: I'm not sure about everyone at RCCL's headquarters, but my dream vacation doesn't include going to a construction zone.

 

Hopefully cruisers won't be affected too much by the protests, and the Jamaicans will get their roads fixed. It's a pretty sad situation over there. :(

[foxgoodrich]

We visited Falmouth one week ago on the Voyager (same cruise with Texasmunk) and work is indeed progressing quickly. In fact, we saw some very noticeable changes completed on two of the buildings facing our balcony between 8:30am or so when we left our balcony to leave the ship and 4:30 when we returned to it. The design of the pier area is good, you can see the esthetic impact of the design even now, and this will be a truly unique port when it's all done and the buildings are fully occupied. It's like a really great cake that just doesn't have all the frosting on it yet.

 

The welcome was amazing - people were cheering and a drum and bugle corps was playing on the pier as the we docked. Passengers were given blue Falmouth back packs as we got off the ship. The port plaza area featured Jamaican bands, dancers, stilt-walkers, lots of food/drinks in a food court area, arts & crafts vendors, clothing vendors, a temporary Margueritaville, and more. None of the construction areas around the perimeter of the plaza interfered with any of this.

 

We wandered the plaza, then wandered the town, enjoyed the Georgian architecture, did some local shopping (bought Blue Mountain coffee for $11/pound...but I have a funny feeling that price won't be around long in Falmouth). There's a free shuttle right now to the Shops at Rose Hall, so we hopped on that and checked out some fairly upscale shops in that area. There was a tour desk - we did a tour of the Rose Hall Great House (that's the haunted one) for $25 each, which included transportation, the tour, the gardens, rum punch, and a mini-tour of the surrounding area on the way back to the Rose Hall Shops.

 

Falmouth may not be everyone's ideal port, but we enjoyed it very much and plan to go back in Feb 2012.

[Cruise Cat]

I believe this is just growing pains. They got burned severaly years ago spending money on infrastucture for some large soccer (futbol) competion that never panned out. They have also been experimenting with closing roads in portions of the old city to all but pedestrian travel in order to make it more touristy. The culture down there is not to do anything in a hurry, including adapting to change.

I, for one, look forward to a quaint cruise port that is not fully developed into one of those cookie-cutter villages we see all the time (Del Sol, Diamonds International, etc.)

I think that "Everythin' Be Alright Maaan'! :)