Carnival's Royal Beach Experience--Any comments??

[aggiegirl01]

I have read nearly all of the posts here re: the Falls but still have a few questions.

 

My family is currently trying to sort out which excursion to do in Jamaica. We're crusing w/ Carnival and saw the "new" Royal Beach Experience tour thru the ship. Has anyone done this?? It looks to be very similar to the rest of the Falls trips w/ Dolphin Cove visits. Is this true? Do you spend some time on a nature hike thru the jungle??

 

Also, I'm very interested in the Peat Taylor and Mark's Tours excursions...would this be a better option?? Is there still plenty to do with these guys being that it lasts about 4 hrs vs 7 hrs w/ the ship tour?

 

Thanks in advance for suggestions!!

[sharonj1017]

Just wondering if you've been on your cruise yet and if you chose this excursion. My husband & I are cruising in 10 days and this was our choice for Jamaica, since it is our 10th anniversary that day. We're hoping we made the right choice!!! Anyone else try the Royal Beach Experience yet?

 

Thanks!

Sharon

[Karmalady]

Hi Ya'll. Hope you get some answers because I'm wondering what to do in Jamaica too! I haven't heard on the Royal Beach but I did hear that Bamboo Beach was a disappointment. I'm thinking the Royal Beach with the dolphins would be nice.:)

 

Happy Anniversary to you Sharon; hope you find something really nice to do and celebrate and enjoy! ;) I see you are from Ft. Worth; I'm in Longview; and I figure Aggie Girl is around somewhere in Texas close too!

 

Post when ya'll figure it out!

 

Thanks!

Pam

[sharonj1017]

We did do the Dunns River with Royal Beach experience through Carnival.....it was okay, but a little disappointing.

 

First of all, with the current condition of the roads and traffic in and around MoBay, it was definitely a 1:45-2:00 ride there and back (that's over half of the excursion time!) and not really a pleasant ride.

 

The falls were great, but yes, crowded. Still, we did enjoy that, and would probably do it again if docked in Ocho Rios, but not again from MoBay. But, if you haven't done them before, I would consider it - maybe with a different excursion. But, expect to tip everyone and be pressured to buy the dvd (again, we did enjoy it, and did buy the dvd - very interactive!, but expect high pressured sales!)

 

The Dolphin Cove resort that provides the beach experience is very close, 5 mins away. It is a nice resort, however, the overall experience is not what we expected.

 

The 'private cabana's are lined up side by side, with about 2 feet between them, so not very private. There were 8 couples on our excursion, and it was nice, just more of a buddy-buddy type thing. The beach is beautiful, but it is a fairly small cove, and there are many beach chairs lined up in front of the cabanas. A not-so-attractive couple with a woman wearing a swimsuit she had no business wearing came to use a couple while we were there, so the cove is not private for your excursion. Also, you do not get to interact/participate with the other activities at the resort (dolphin experience, water sports, etc...though I'm sure you could pay for them if you'd like).

 

The foot massage was nice. Lunch was fairly plain....you can choose hamburger, hotdog or jerk chicken (we both had the chicken, very goo & spicy, but be careful...they leave the bones in!) a roll, small salad, and a 'cup' of soda or water (they had 2-liters of Pepsi products on the table we passed by). You can also order beer and such from the beverage waitress that comes around (the Red Stripe is good).

 

It was 'nice' as I said, just not worth the travel time and definitely not the 'romantic' beach experience we were expecting.

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise!

Sharon

[cruisejack]

I have read nearly all of the posts here re: the Falls but still have a few questions.

 

My family is currently trying to sort out which excursion to do in Jamaica. We're crusing w/ Carnival and saw the "new" Royal Beach Experience tour thru the ship. Has anyone done this?? It looks to be very similar to the rest of the Falls trips w/ Dolphin Cove visits. Is this true? Do you spend some time on a nature hike thru the jungle??

 

Also, I'm very interested in the Peat Taylor and Mark's Tours excursions...would this be a better option?? Is there still plenty to do with these guys being that it lasts about 4 hrs vs 7 hrs w/ the ship tour?

 

Thanks in advance for suggestions!!

we recommend the bamboo beach dunns river falls combo it is the best time and value in jamaica ....it is sold onboard carnival http://www.bamboobeachclub.com/tours/tour_01_bamboo_beach_club.html:)