Anyone going to Bamboo Beach Club?

[lindy236]

We are going on another cruise this month for the week of Christmas with the whole family and we'll be in Ocho Rios on December 22. We thought it would be fun to go to Bamboo Beach Club. The last time we were in Jamaica we took the shuttle to the Falls, so this time just wanted to hang out on a nice beach. When I saw Princess wasn't offering this tour, I contacted Bamboo Beach directly and booked it through them. They told me it wasn't very full that day, which we thought was a good thing, but they also said there wouldn't be as much entertainment as usual since it wasn't full. I heard that one of the best things there was the entertainment so I thought someone else cruising that same week they might want to go as well. If so, the website is www.bamboobeachclub.com . They emailed me back right away and the gentlemen I spoke to was very nice and accomodating. Hope to see some fellow cruisers there!

[spongerob]

Find the Roll Call for your cruise in the Princess Roll Calls section and ask there. You might get a better response.

[Adventures ahead]

We did a Bamboo Beach Club + Dunn's River Falls tour through Princess last March (2008) and were really disappointed with the Beach Club. The beach was shallow and had mega seaweed. The place is really run down with beat up loungers. We were assigned in small groups to a staff person who told us where to sit and brought us food and drinks. The food was ok but the beach missed the mark. Not one of us in the group got in the water. A few girls on staff did a couple of dances. After that, there was nothing left 'to do' because the water wasn't swimable. I felt badly for the staff, who tried to show us a good time. The whole thing felt 'uncomfortable'. I had read on this board that the club was great but I'm sorry to say that the place seems to have gone downhill. There was 'evidence' of happier times, but it's really run down.

 

If you walked up the beach (to washrooms), the beach was a bit better but crowded with locals - point being, we were no longer at the "Bamboo Beach Club". By the time we walked back (10 minutes), everyone had already walked back to the ship. I'm not surprised that Princess isn't offering this as a tour any more.

 

We heard about a Princess tour that went to gardens and a beach that was great for swimming. However, we wanted to climb the falls and go swimming at a beach. The climb part of the excursion was great.

[Iamcruzin]

Well the link looks very nice but it did not look like that in 2006 when we took the Princess excursion. Did they just build that white building and when did they hire that muscle man waiter. This was the worst beach I have ever been on. As a matter of fact Ocho Rios was the worst port that I have ever been to. Do not tour this Island without a tour guide. We walked back to the ship from Bamboo Beach becaues we got tied of waiting for the bus which we paid for to pick us up. It was very scarry.

[shipmade]

Hi adventures ahead - Just thought I'd tell you about our recent experience at Bamboo Beach. We had been there before with Princess and although I agree with some of the things you wrote, we had a pretty nice time. This is why we decided to go to Bamboo Beach again - especially since we knew it had moved to a better location. It was about a 20 minute drive to get there but well worth it. The beach is now a real Caribbean beach - something you'd see on a postcard. Seriously! It was huge, clean and the water was crystal clear - no seaweed and definitely deep enough to swim in and go out as far as you wanted. In fact, my husband spent most of his time in the water snorkeling! There is also a restaurant and they told us we could eat at a table there or we could stay on our lounge chairs and the hostesses would serve us. The shows were as great as we remembered - it seemed like there were more performances than the last time. The drinks were really great and strong. The food was good, I wouldn't call it gourmet, but it was quite tasty and better than we expected. All and all, I think that the entertainment makes the beach club a great place to go for a cultural experience, and now that the location is so improved, it's also a great place to just go and hang out on a beach.

[Colo Cruiser]

Try sharing a van/cab, transportation is really expensive to go anywhere in Ocho Rios from the pier. :(

[shipmade]

Thanks for the advice!