Falmouth on Navigator of the Seas

[jonibalony]

We recently sailed on the Navigator of the Seas with a stop in Falmouth. Before we sailed, I'd read many of the forums on this site about what to do in the ports. From what I read about Falmouth, we decided it would be best to book an excursion through the cruise ship. We booked the Chukka Beach excursion. I thought it would be good to let everyone know what WE thought of Falmouth. I was appreciative of the reviews I read and wanted to give something back. The kids and I went to Chukka beach and my husband decided to go it alone in Falmouth. We thought the beach was ok. The staff on the bus there was great. We had a great driver who told us about the history of the area and taught us some Jamaican words. The bus ride was about 15 minutes. The staff at the beach was also great. If you stayed in the immediate area, the beach was ok. If you walked down about 30 yards, it was littered with garbage and there were many old shacks. The water was also murky and not very good for snorkeling. There were some people selling things but they weren't aggressive. We just told them "no thanks". My husband decided to rent a moped and see Falmouth. He ended up coming back to the ship early because he got tired of smelling burning garbage and raw sewage. He was also approached several times to buy drugs. He spent the rest of the night in our room sick. The cruise terminal is gated so we saw very little of the aggressive drug pushers, etc. If we had to do it over again, we would have stayed on the ship. It wasn't worth the cost we spent to go to a dirty beach and for my husband, the smell of garbage and raw sewage wasn't worth it either. Cozumel and Grand Cayman were awesome. We can't wait to go back to those places.

[The Sunset Glow]

We recently sailed on the Navigator of the Seas with a stop in Falmouth. Before we sailed, I'd read many of the forums on this site about what to do in the ports. From what I read about Falmouth, we decided it would be best to book an excursion through the cruise ship. We booked the Chukka Beach excursion. I thought it would be good to let everyone know what WE thought of Falmouth. I was appreciative of the reviews I read and wanted to give something back. The kids and I went to Chukka beach and my husband decided to go it alone in Falmouth. We thought the beach was ok. The staff on the bus there was great. We had a great driver who told us about the history of the area and taught us some Jamaican words. The bus ride was about 15 minutes. The staff at the beach was also great. If you stayed in the immediate area, the beach was ok. If you walked down about 30 yards, it was littered with garbage and there were many old shacks. The water was also murky and not very good for snorkeling. There were some people selling things but they weren't aggressive. We just told them "no thanks". My husband decided to rent a moped and see Falmouth. He ended up coming back to the ship early because he got tired of smelling burning garbage and raw sewage. He was also approached several times to buy drugs. He spent the rest of the night in our room sick. The cruise terminal is gated so we saw very little of the aggressive drug pushers, etc. If we had to do it over again, we would have stayed on the ship. It wasn't worth the cost we spent to go to a dirty beach and for my husband, the smell of garbage and raw sewage wasn't worth it either. Cozumel and Grand Cayman were awesome. We can't wait to go back to those places.

 

Thanks for that! We've been debating whether to do anything in Jamaica. If we did do something it was going to be the Chukka beach break with RCI. But I was leaning towards just shopping in the gated port area, if anything, and I think that's what we'll do.

 

I was also reading about the men getting searched (including their private areas:eek:) - did your husband have this happen to him?

[travellovers2]

Well now we know what we'll be doing when the ship stops in Falmouth, staying on the ship!! :) We went to Montego Bay a few years ago and swore never to get off the ship there again. After that we went to Ocho Rios and really enjoyed the tour and the falls.

 

I dont understand why these ships go to places that are definitely not worth seeing or experiencing.

 

Thank you for your review!!! We will plan our day onboard for the stop in Falmouth. :cool:

[jonibalony]

Thanks for that! We've been debating whether to do anything in Jamaica. If we did do something it was going to be the Chukka beach break with RCI. But I was leaning towards just shopping in the gated port area, if anything, and I think that's what we'll do.

 

I was also reading about the men getting searched (including their private areas:eek:) - did your husband have this happen to him?

 

No my husband wasn't searched. I didn't hear of any others either.

[The Sunset Glow]

No my husband wasn't searched. I didn't hear of any others either.

 

Thanks for responding!

[leslieart]

We hired a private guide and did Dunn's River Falls. We had a great time and are looking forward to seeing more of Jamaica. It's not Disney World. If you don't want some grit, stay on the boat.

[happymom88]

Joni, May I ask, what did you did in Cozumel and Grand Caymen that you loved. We are trying to decide what to do while there. BTW, I think your review of Falmouth has confirmed to me that we should do as we had planned, shopping a little at the port shops and then enjoying the ship with less people on it for the day ;)

[jpm19]

We hired a private guide and did Dunn's River Falls. We had a great time and are looking forward to seeing more of Jamaica. It's not Disney World. If you don't want some grit, stay on the boat.

 

Did you hire your private guide ahead of time?

We were planning on taking a taxi to Dunn's River Falls. Are there taxis available for hire inside the gated area?

[jalynn]

We were on this cruise in Nov. of 2011, and will be on it again next week. We hired a guide and driver for our group in 2011. There were 13 of us and they took us to a craft market (our request), sightseeing, and for the most amazing jerk chicken I have ever had. We had a blast and just had a laugh about the dude at the "restaurant" offering drugs. For this trip there will be only 2 of us. We have hired a guide/driver based on reviews here and on TripAdviser and will do more of the same...just different sights to see. However we do plan to go back to our jerk chicken place, unless our guide promises that she knows a better place.

 

We did not see Falmouth itself, but do plan to do a short drive through tour since I understand that there is some interesting architecture. I've been warned about doing the walking tour in Falmouth. So my suggestion is to hire a car/driver--perhaps in advance--and see some of the beautiful places Jamaica has to offer. Yes, it's not Disney World, but it's a pretty cool place to me. Have fun.

[jonibalony]

Joni, May I ask, what did you did in Cozumel and Grand Caymen that you loved. We are trying to decide what to do while there. BTW, I think your review of Falmouth has confirmed to me that we should do as we had planned, shopping a little at the port shops and then enjoying the ship with less people on it for the day ;)

 

We were on a limited budget, so we chose to do things that weren't going to cost us a lot. In Grand Cayman we went to Seven Mile beach. It was a public beach and free. We walked about 2 blocks straight out from the cruise port and caught a public taxi. There were many taxis waiting right out side the cruise port but I had read if you walk a ways you can find a cheaper taxi. It ended up costing us $3 pp to get to Seven Mile beach (one way). It was about a 10-15 minute ride. The beach was fabulous. We were some of the first people there and it did get crowded as the day went on. There weren't a lot of fish for snorkeling, but the water was great. The beach was clean and there were public restrooms and places to eat. It was $5 to rent a beach chair. We caught a taxi right from the beach when we needed to head back to the ship. We found Grand Cayman to be pretty expensive. A gallon of gas was $7 US so that gives you an indication of what prices were like. We paid $10 for a daiquari.

 

In Cozumel we grabbed a taxi right out side of the cruise terminal. It was pretty chaotic because there was our ship plus one other that arrived at the same time. There was a long line waiting for taxis. We were a little unsure about what to do there. We wanted to see some Mayan ruins and go to the beach. There are 2 different Mayan ruins you can get to. One is free and the other is $8 pp. Being on a limited budget we opted for the free ruins. Our taxi driver said he would take us to the Mayan ruins, a tequila making place, and the beach for $14 pp. The free ruins were a complete waste of time. It was basically a little hut with a guy sitting in front of it who who let you take your picture with him for tips. The tequila tasting place was not really worth it either. If we had to do it over again, we would have chosen to go the ruins that were $8pp. The driver took us to a beach (I can't remember the name of it) but it was along the Planacar Reef. It was great. There were a lot of fish if you like to snorkel and see the fish. We took dog bones to feed the fish and it was a lot of fun. You could use the beach chairs, kayaks, cabanas, snorkeling equipment for no extra charge. There were restrooms and a bar/restaurant. We found the food and drinks in Cozumel to be very inexpensive. A beer was around $4. A nice break from the prices on the cruise ship. A gallon of gas was $3 (much less than in Grand Cayman). Our driver stayed with us the entire time and took us back when we were ready. We learned after we got back to the ship, that $14 pp was too high a price to pay. Our server told us that an advantage of speaking spanish (which we don't) is you can negotiate a lower taxi fare. We were fine with the $14 pp because he took us where we wanted to go and stayed with us. We didn't have to try and find another taxi to get back. We also wanted to go downtown and do some shopping after we got back to the cruise port. We found it was too far to walk and didn't want to pay for another taxi, so we just looked around the cruise port.

 

As far as Jamaica, there are plenty of excursions you can take, If you aren't on a limited budget, you might think about an excusion. Our server on the ship was from Jamaica and he recommended Dunn River Falls. We just thought it was too expensive for 5 of us to go. I don't remember if there were taxis in Jamaica because we went straight to our bus for our excursion. It is unfortunate that the cruise port hasn't helped to improve the economy of Falmouth. I heard someone on our ship say that Jamaica has 50% unemployment and people are pretty desparate for any kind of income. We found the local people we dealt with through our excursion to be very nice.