Independence of the Seas March 9-15th, Western...mostly picture review.

[missholly24]

We had an 8:30 am meeting time for our excursion. The desk gave us tickets when we purchased it. We followed the very visible easy signs to the excursion area. Waited in line for the buses and got right in. Don't be confused with EASY Montego Bay at your leisure. You will quickly figure out that this one is for wheelchairs and people with physical disabilities that do not allow them to walk. The lines were right next to each other with similar names. The bus was air conditioned and in excellent shape. The driver and narrator were funny.

Our bus.

Excursion area with a random cute kitty. The drive to the two main areas Montego Bay and Ocho Rios are both one hour from what I was told. The bus ride there was informative and comfortable. Our "tour guide" talked the entire time, but it was cool to learn everything about Jamaica.

 

A billboard with their pride and joy Usain Bolt.

Apparhently per Janet our guide, they love to build fancy houses. However, they don't pay taxes on the property until it is completed. So they kind of stall at the end...

[missholly24]

More fancy Jamaican houses....

And some not so fancy spots....

 

[missholly24]

Kids walking to school. Lots of people walking everywhere. Traffic was a nightmare the closer we got to Montego Bay.

 

Before you get to the actual beach, they take you to a place called Pier 1 for some banana bread and Blue Mountain Coffee. The place was a special place. It was great.

 

[missholly24]

This is an easy choice :p

 

 

And finally Dr's Cave Beach. Now apparently this place used to have an excursion by itself that was quite popular, but it no longer exists. When I saw in the excursion description that this was the beach it stopped near, I was sold. The beach was indeed beautiful. Not crowded at all. Maybe 10 or 20 people. Most of our excursion went shopping or walking around. They parked the bus in a central spot and told us what time to be back. Them emphasized to not be one minute late :eek:

 

 

 

 

[missholly24]

[missholly24]

So as you can see Dr's Cave Beach is a must and worth the hour drive and traffic. There were other beaches right next door, so make sure you ask or look for the right place. We had to walk a block from where the bus parked. We were asked twice to buy illegal things and twice if we needed a ride to a "nice beach" LOL...eeks. Ok so here are a few more....

[missholly24]

We made our way back to the bus and had 45 min to spare, so we went to Margaritaville. It happened to be right next to our ride. :) We each ordered a drink and shared some chips and salsa. They were not on the menu, but were yummy. I think both homemade.

 

Cool slide attached to Margaritaville. Dumped you right in the ocean. :eek:

[missholly24]

For some reason the forum is counting my allotted 6 photos as 8 and its driving me a little nutty. Pretty sure I can distinguish between 6 and 8. Anyways, Here are the slide photos.

Edited March 23, 2014 by missholly24

[missholly24]

Here are a few photos from the ride back to Falmouth before I go to bed!!

 

An elderly Jamaican gentleman hard at work.

 

Our driver taking a break.

My absolute favorite photo from my trip!! No editing here!! LOL...I love palm trees and got lucky with the sun behind it. I plan to blow this up on canvas and hang it on my wall. Goodnight all!! Thanks for enjoying my photos with me.:D Next up tomorrow....my new favorite port, and some cute men in tight pants :eek:

[riclop]

Enjoying your review and pictures, thanks.

[missholly24]

Here are a few left over from Falmouth Jamaica port area. I took before and after photos of the port with and without Allure of the Seas. IMHO these ships are obnoxious and too big. Reminds me of the American stereotype of bigger is better. Now I say that with the disclaimer that I have never been on them and people become obsessed once they have been on them. It completely over shadowed the port. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

And lastly from Jamaica, this looked like the Royal Caribbean insignia....weird because they build this port.

 

[missholly24]

Seems as though they have gotten rid of the midnight buffet. I suppose we need to start saying "those were the good ole days." I used to enjoy going and taking photos. I couln't really eat a full meal at midnight and I understand that they probably cut this out to save money overall. They did have "snacks by the pool" at 1130 one night and they had the cool fruit carvings and display's. Reminiscent of the midnight buffets of old.

 

[missholly24]

Here is our towel animal from that night. Now I think without his much needed eyeballs, he ended up completely x-rated....:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

[missholly24]

OK, today is Labadee! This place is set up amazing. Also, it hits all my major interests within walking distance! Shopping, beach, and lunch :D People describe it like an all inclusive resort. There is a tram that drives around and stops at a few points. There are a few different beaches you can go to. I researched before we left and decided on Columbus Cove. Here is pulling up to port.

These guys come out blowing whistles and yelling Welcome to Labadee. If you have a balcony make sure you open it to hear when they come by. It was fun and made you excited for the day. We almost missed it because with the door closed we couldnt hear anything outside. On that note. We loved to keep the door open to hear the waves and feel the real breeze. The down size was the air conditioning automatically shut off when you had the door opened. We just rotated shutting the door and cranking the air with opening the door. I know not the best for energy saving. What's the opposite of "green"?? That is everyone on a cruise ship.

Before we got off the ship we walked around a bit. If you are looking for quite time anywhere on the ship, a port day is good for that. This little guy needed a nap already.

[missholly24]

Walking off the ship we saw this awesome wheelchair. I think it is equipped to roll on sand!!

Now that is a private beach.:p

First impression of this place was WOW. Very clean. Everything was well labelled. It was hot and sunny. Island music was blasting.

[missholly24]

We headed towards the tram stop at the front. We planned to go to Columbus Cove. We ended up getting off at the first stop near all the shopping. Couldn't resist. LOL. There are two ways to shop here. One is in the building type place. Here, they have fixed prices and do not negotiate (apparently) They also have little cubicles set up for locals to sell their things. They are quite pushy and do the typical "hey I have to show you something really quick" I can't stand that so we just smiled and kept telling them no thanks.

 

Above are the shops with fixed pricing and no haggling.

 

Here are the hagglers. After shopping for a few minutes, we jumped on the next tram and headed to Columbus cove.

 

 

[Canadian Tyler]

Enjoying your pictures!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[lady_cruiser]

Great review. We are thinking of taking the her in 2015 . I noticed two swings facing each other, were they in the Solarium?

Edited March 23, 2014 by lady_cruiser

[missholly24]

Great review. We are thinking of taking the her in 2015 . I noticed two swings facing each other, were they in the Solarium?

 

Yes, they were there. There were 4 total. The Solarium is a really nice area. My favorite hot tubs were there also.

[missholly24]

Columbus Cove was really nice, but extremely crowded and busy towards afternoon. We sat behind the little walkway away from the water, because we didn't want to squeeze in between other people. They had a 4 or 5 person band playing/singing Caribbean music (my favorite!) It was 86 and sunny. My grandma used to say "hot as Haiti's" Well here we were. :)

Baby palm tree vs. weed. Not sure:

The little live band:

 

One of the three locations for the lunch buffet were right behind this beach. Had to walk past the hagglers again :mad: Didn't get a good photo of the lunch buffet, but it is on the right.

[missholly24]

Here are a couple of more photos from around Columbus Cove.

 

[missholly24]

Some random photos of the entire property. It really is awesome here. Clean, safe, sunny, hot, beaches, food, shopping, drinks. What else could someone possibly need?

Below is a child splash area. Employees were there with Adventure Ocean shirts on so I wonder if you could drop off your child?? Not sure because mine were at home!!

Here is the sitting area by the zipline. Also, Adrenaline Beach is here. My research said that the beach is very rocky. I did see people limping in the the water, but at the same time saw some people stroll right in. We sat for a while and watched the zipliners.

 

 

 

 

 

[missholly24]

I wanted to visit all three beaches that were public (Barefoot is reserved for suite guests) in case we come back. Haha who am I kidding, for when we come back. That way I would know what place would be the best for 5 and 7 year old boys. Here is Nellies Beach. I had originally booked a cabana, so for a long time this one was our plan. I cancelled before sailing because it was just too expensive. I think they cancelled the upgraded buffet for Cabana purchasers, and they don't provide any snacks or drinks as they do for Carnival's cabanas (which happen to also be cheaper) I figured we would have a little more freedom and a great time anyway and saved 250 bucks.

 

This structure was outside Nellies beach and seemed authentic. I have no idea what it actually was and it could have possibly been built two years ago for all we knew, but it was cool.

 

[lady_cruiser]

Yes, they were there. There were 4 total. The Solarium is a really nice area. My favorite hot tubs were there also.

 

Thanks. We love the Solarium and find that if we want a chaise lounger near the windows we have to get there early. I can only imagine how early we have to get there to get a swing.

[LesPaul]

Here is the sitting area by the zipline. Also, Adrenaline Beach is here. My research said that the beach is very rocky. I did see people limping in the the water, but at the same time saw some people stroll right in. We sat for a while and watched the zipliners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My family was on the same cruise as you. Since there was a large group of us, I thought I may see us in one of your photos. And here we are, the fourth cabana from the left on Adrenaline Beach! Those cabanas were a little cheaper, $225, instead of $250, and were like big covered beds with a cooler of water, 2 floats and a cabana assistant. And we booked it on the shipl We really enjoyed vegging out there all day. Like you said, it was a warm day and by the time we walked there, we didn't want to leave. The zipliners went right over our heads, they made a buzzing sound, so we called them the angry wasps.

 

Leslie