Booking a non-cruise line tour in Ocho Rios

[OCMommy]

Hello!  My family is sailing to Ocho Rios in a few weeks.  We booked last minute, so the excursion we were really hoping to do (blue hole and tubing) is already full through NCL.  We have not been to Jamaica before, but I keep reading about how we are better off booking with the cruise line directly for safety reasons.  For those of you that have been to this port before, do you feel we are better off picking another excursion through the ship, or are we ok booking through someone with good reviews?  The Blue Hole is #1 on my list of things to see in Jamaica, not I'm not willing to risk our safety to see it!  We are a family of 5, with my 3 kids being 14, 14 and 18 and looking for an adventurous excursion.  Any other tips or suggestions are welcomed!  Thanks all!  

[TravelFiend]

I was just there last week! We booked with O'Neil Jamaica Excursions, and he was amazing. We did the Blue Hole and lunch, and he took fantastic care of us and had us back in plenty of time. I felt completely safe the whole time we were there. 

 

We almost never book excursions through the ship, we go on our own and have always had a great experience. In many cases, we end up on the same excursion that everyone from the ship is on, but with a private transportation and knowing we paid a lot less!