*Conquest/Jamaica question*

[tiffany7167]

I actually have 2 questions...

 

I am thinking about doing the 7 day cruise on Conquest to:

 

Montego Bay, Jamaica

Grand Caymen, Caymen Islands

Cozumel, Mexico

 

I loved Cozumel last time on Ecstasy, so I really want to go again.

 

#1- What is the weather like in November on these islands? I looked it up on the net and sources say it is like 80 to 85 degrees daily...Is this correct?

 

#2- I have heard horror stories about Jamaica. Crooked police, overly pushy, sometimes physical vendors, basically dangerous, unpleasent conditions. Is there any validity to this?

 

I appreciate responses from everyone.

 

Thanks!!!!

[suseg]

The weather and the water was pretty much the same in each of the three ports, last week.

We went on the Rose Hall Resort excursion which would be fine if one had children and you wanted to spend the day at a nice beach club. One word of advice if the guide tells you to be at the bus at a certain time....be there ten minutes early. We were on time and watched as the bus drove away. The doorman laughed when we asked him to try and stop them. The same bellman had earlier told us that if we decided to stay late that he "guaranteed" that he could get us a ride back to the ship for $8.00 each...there were three of us....so, $36.00 later we realized that we were scammed. The blurb speaks of the various restaurant choices....that would mean burgers from the grille, or burgers from the shack, or burgers from the sit down place....get my drift? That being said, it is a beautiful resort....just not, IMO, worth the money.

Our friends went to Sandals and some did the zipline...all had a wonderful time.

We were never approached by anyone wanting to sell drugs but then we are of the mid life persuasion so probably not what one would consider customers. I will tell you that Jamaica is, obviously, a very poor country...the roads, homes, schools etc...are pretty much all in various states of disrepair.

I had an interesting conversation with our taxi driver, the socialists have been in power for twelve (I think he said 12) years.....so much for socialism. There is a general election scheduled for October and they are hoping for a change in power....something needs to be done.

If you like to snorkel, I will tell you that I saw NOTHING in the ocean, not even a shell! I have heard that the Jamaicans have destroyed their coastline habitats, how sad....but the water is crystal clear.

[Grits53]

Our last Conquest cruise was at the end of Nov./first of Dec. The temperature of the weather and water were great! Our only complaint was the wind and rough seas that were ever present throughout the week. I don't know whether it's always that windy at that time of the year, or we just got unlucky. But I saw other reports here about the rough seas during that time frame, too.

 

In Jamaica, I personally would not go out on my own. I would book a shore excursion through Carnival. That way, you are taken by bus from the cruise terminal to your excursion and then returned, assured that you will be there before the ship leaves. On our two Conquest cruises, we have done the glass bottom semi-sub, the helmet dive (can't remember what they called that...Seaquest or something like that?), and the horseback ride where we swam the horses in the ocean. We strongly recommend both the helmet dive and the Chukka horseback ride, but NOT the semi-sub. However, my DH did do a little snorkeling off the semi-sub, and he saw quite a few colorful fish but not much coral. At the Doctor's Cove beach where we did the helmet dive, we were approached by the street "vendors" wanting to sell us their music CD's, but the guide was good about making them leave. These "vendors" were on the street, not on the beach.

 

Jamaica is not a place where I'd want to roam around on my own, but I do enjoy going there. I would like to take an excursion next time that takes us into the city shopping area. We haven't done that yet. I heard that Dunn's River Falls is great, but we haven't done that either. When you go to Grand Cayman, the stingray tour is a MUST DO!!!

[caribbean dreams]

Actually Jamaica is a very beautiful place although what people say is true, you will have a nice time if you either know exactly where you are going and go directly there or you take an excursion.

I have been to Jamaica many times, i enjoys it but know where i can and can't walk on my own.

[tiffany7167]

Ok, well that is what I was looking for. I will stick to the excursions booked through Carnival. Thanks!:D

[mrdood]

You will be absolutely fine on the Carnival excursions! I love Jamaica, we are trying to plan a trip back to Sandals!

[ConquestCruiser]

Or you can catch a cab to sunset beach, which is an all inclusive resort that you can spend the day at, eat, drink and be merry!! 40$ pp, 20 for kids. That is what we are doing in May!!

[tiffany7167]

That sounds like a good option. How far is Sunset beach from the pier? Is liquor included? How long do you stay there? Tell more please...

[markandstacie00]

An all-inclusive is a great way to escape any negative side of Jamaica. I really love Jamaica. The last time in Montego Bay we hired a driver and he took us to Mayfield Falls. Within 10 minutes you are away from the Jamacia cost and you will feel much by yourself for the next several hours. The falls are not that big but great fun to swim in and the views on the drive about 40 miles inland were incredible.

 

Check the Jamaica page if it sounds fun to you. At the end of the day you could even hang out at Margaritaville for an hour of so.

[mmartin1]

We returned from the same cruise about 3 weeks ago (Feburary) and the weather was wonderfull in all 3 ports. Was pretty rough on the first 2 sea days tho. When in Jamaica we went to the Sunset Beach Resort, $40.00 each for all inclusive, and it was wonderfull (this is not offered as a excursion through Carnival). We just got a cab at the dock and took a five minute drive to the resort when we left the resort we asked the driver to take us to the craft market (Jamaician marketplace), this I would not reccomend to anyone. The vendors there were way pushy and demanding, something as americans we are not used to, alot worse than any of the mexican ports we have been to,about 6 at this time.

While at the Sunset Beach Resort I snorled for the very first time and it was great. I am not a swimmer by any means, with a lifevest on I went out a ways and by the reef there were all kinds of fish and such, am now excited about snorkeling again.

I hope that this helps and have a great time.

[GinaJ]

We did one of the boat excursions through Carnival and had a blast! We had our 3 kids and it was a "party boat" but not inappropriate. The crew danced with our little daughter and treated her like a princess. We had some free time before and I will say that someone tried to sell our teenager pot, and he was with us! So do be careful! That was where we got our daughter's hair braided for a good price though. The shopping guy from the ship hooked us up because he was there. Just stick close to the place where you dock and don't let the locals take you somewhere for "good deals"

[Smiling Cruiser]

We also went to Sunset Beach in Montego Bay. The weather was 80-84 last November. We had a great time. 5 minute drive from the ship. Good food, swim-up-bar with access from 2 pools and a walkway. Another pool with a volleyball net, a separate lazy river with slides and a beach with some water toys. Music at the pool area included trivia games for prizes. At $40.00 pp. we thought it was a great deal. (This was our second trip to Montego Bay. The first time we went to Doc's Beach. Had a good time there as well.) I'll try to attach a picture or two of Sunset Beach. Click on the thumbnails to view a larger version of the pictures.

[sea_u_onboard]

Or you can catch a cab to sunset beach, which is an all inclusive resort that you can spend the day at, eat, drink and be merry!! 40$ pp, 20 for kids. That is what we are doing in May!!

 

I have to agree - Sunset Beach is the way to go.

[Cruzfan34]

We went to Sunset Beach in Jamaica in February. It was very warm, almost hot. I loved every minute of it.

Grand Cayman was very warm also. We actually broke a sweat walking around.

But when we got to Cozumel, it was quite cool. We went to Paradise Beach and couldn't go into the water. There was a brisk north wind and the water was way too cold. So we sat on the beach and drank margaritas and ate Quesedillas. Those margaritas kicked my butt.:D

[tiffany7167]

Awesome!!! Ok, so Sunset Beach is not an excursion that can be booked through Carnival, correct? Do you know if I can book it in advance? I can ask a cab driver to take us there and he will know what I am talking about? Do you know if there is any online resources for Sunset Beach? How much is the cab ride over?

[waitin4acruise]

From what i have found out you can book thur carnival but they have a small place on that beach for you the best thing to do is take the 4 dollar cab ride from port yes the cabbie will know where it is when u get there they will take your s&s card and hold it tell u leave i guess u pay at the end:confused: they do have a website with a # if u want to call. This is are second time to go on conquest so im sure we will do sunset this time;) ooooo just to let u know there is a topless beach and a nude beach there but from what i have read on here its no big deal if u dont like u just stay to right on beach.

[tiffany7167]

Great, all the info I needed!!! I appreciate it...This website is the best!

[turkeytoes75]

Were thinking about going to Sunset beach in Sept. Does anyone know if you can have as much to eat and drink as you want? And is food available at all times? Thanks for any info you have!!

[meanestmom]

I took my 2 young girls to sunset beach and we had a blast! My husband had even more fun walking around town and shopping. He loved it. My parents that are 82+77 were a little freaked out at times by the "herb retailers";) I wished I could have seen more culture with my husband but after the girls saw pictures of Sunset beach we HAD to go there. (I loved it too....Bahama mamas yummmm)

[meanestmom]

Were thinking about going to Sunset beach in Sept. Does anyone know if you can have as much to eat and drink as you want? And is food available at all times? Thanks for any info you have!!

Yep , everything you can stuff in your body LOL... Food, pop, beer, wine, hard drinks..ect.... its right on the ,too so you can swim in the ocean or any of the pools. We loved the water slides...

[dnj1]

How old were your kids when they went to Sunset Beach? I plan to take a 2and 8 yo (girls) next summer.

What do you think for that age? I agree with the other post. I love this site.

[big_schots]

We went in October 2006, and Montego Bay was around 85 degrees and a bit windy. After reading all the horror stories (drugs, pushy vendors, poverty) about this island, I decided that I needed to plan ahead for my shore excursion, just like you're doing. The island is gorgeous; from the sandy white beaches, the cool blue water, to the lush tropical mountains. After extensive research, from all the online boards, I heard great things about the tour company, A-Z Jamaica Planners. After a few e-mails, back and forth to the company, we settled on an upfront price and decided to go with them. We had chose a private tour, in an air-conditioned van, that would be solely at our disposal. This included a tour of the island, a trip to the Rose Hall Great House, lunch, shopping, and finally a stop at Doctor's Cave beach. It ended up costing me $60 pp, but they paid for $25 worth of entrance fees per person. After getting off the ship, we found our tour guide/driver Mark, waiting for us. To quickly sum it up; he made us feel very comfortable, was a wealth of information, had a great sense of humor, and steered us away from any problems. We were never hassled by vendors, never offered drugs, and always felt safe. We had a super time, and really loved this island. Doctor's Cave beach is absolutely AWESOME. White sand beach, calm, cool, clear blue water. We only stayed less than two hours, but you can make a day of it, since they have beachside waiter service from the restaurant. Please note that this is a pay beach ($5 entrance fee) and it does cost extra for chairs and umbrellas ($5 each). Use lots of sunscreen, else you will fry. Rose Hall Great House was interesting, as were privately escorted and told the tale of the White witch, Annie Palmer. We were also taken to a semi-private shopping area, where we were never hassled and got a great deal on an expensive watch, and some T-shirts. We even had lunch with the driver at a local air-conditioned restaurant (The Pelican), which had excellent jerk chicken. All in all, a wonderful day. Like eveyone else says, a little planning goes a long way in Jamaica.

[meanestmom]

How old were your kids when they went to Sunset Beach? I plan to take a 2and 8 yo (girls) next summer.

What do you think for that age? I agree with the other post. I love this site.

My girls are 6+8. It would be perfect for your kids. I saw people with alot of young babies. The beach is great and you dont have to worry about the big waves. (we cant swim in the ocean in Washington)

[KK41]

How safe is it for a mom and daughter to take a taxi from the ship to sunset beach???? We were in Jamaica last year and did a tour with Carnival to Rose Hall Beach. Was very disappointed and wanted to do something different. Sorry if this question has been asked before!

[caribbean dreams]

How safe is it for a mom and daughter to take a taxi from the ship to sunset beach???? We were in Jamaica last year and did a tour with Carnival to Rose Hall Beach. Was very disappointed and wanted to do something different. Sorry if this question has been asked before!

 

It is safe taking a taxi, just make sure it has Government plates, you will have no problem getting a taxi back either, they are plentyful.