Avoid Bamboo Beach Club

[islandwannabee]

On May 2, 2018. we did this excursion while on the Oasis of the seas. It was the tour from Hell. The purchased tour was Bamboo Beach club VIP Package. Tour ticket said 11:00 am, we didn't leave until 12:00, they said the ship was wrong with the time, so after sitting on hot bus for over an hour, we finally get on the road. 10 Minutes later the bus pulls over on the side of the road, well inquiry minds wanted to know what the heck was going on. We had to wait another 20 minutes for 2 more people to arrive. So now we are talking almost 1 1/2 hour before even getting underway.

 

Ok so we get there. We are told to sit in a certain section. Ok but the water in front of this section is full of rocks and impossible to enter. We had to walk down to the other side a good 1/4 mile to enter the ocean. The chairs are made of wood and only have one position, so no sitting up or laying down.

 

All drinks are served to you, warm no ice including the beer and only what they want to bring to you. I don't drink, so asked for non alcoholic anything, I got water. The food, you get what they bring to you, and if you are in the ocean or anywhere not by your seat, you miss out. I ate nothing, chicken was raw and fish not edible. 2 Bathrooms for hundreds of people.

 

When it was time to leave, they didn't tell you when to be back by bus, gave you no warning, and just said the bus is leaving in 5 minutes. Felt sorry for families with small children playing in water and full of sand, just had to pick up and get on bus. They should have said, be back on the bus at a designated time.

 

Now keep in mind we were already starting out an hour and half late, now they proceed to stop at what looked like a grocery store. (This excursion did not mention anything about shopping). Most stayed on bus waiting.

 

Got back to ship 2 hours later, should have been back at 4:45, but it was 6:30.

 

Complained to the excursion manager and she had the audacity to state, they have nothing to do with it. I paid my money to royal Caribbean, so I think they should be responsible. In the end, I did get a refund, but feel my entire day was waisted.

 

I would not recommend Bamboo Beach club to anyone, there are many other great tours available.

[OCruisers]

Thanks for the warning! :eek:

[scorpluvsdolphins]

Thanks.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[momofmab]

They seem to have a lot of trouble with organization of the ship's tours in Jamaica. Boarding the buses is very chaotic. I do believe that Royal overbooks certain excursions and then leaves the Jamaican ground crew to deal with the chaos.

 

We did a different excursion but also left late (our bus was nicely air-conditioned). It was evident from the angry passengers who did not get a seat on the bus, as well as the frustrated ground crew trying to count seats, check lists, etc., that things were very disorganized. There was another family on our cruise who took the same excursion but their time got bumped to early afternoon - not leaving enough time to even enjoy the excursion before having to be back on the ship.

 

My advice to those booking a Jamaican excursion through the ship: book the earliest time and make sure you are at the meeting place EARLY. There's no guarantee that you'll get a seat on the bus!

[bug18]

I just took the Bamboo Beach with snacks and drinks excursion with MSC and was very happy with it. We sailed into Ochos Rios and it was a quick drive on the bus to Bamboo. We were seated in an area that we were told was not rocky which we were happy about. Drinks and food were very good. Sorry you had a totally different experience.