Best Dunn's River Falls Excursion in Jamaica?

[WeirdEyes]

We are cruising on the Navigator in May and we want to do the Dunn's River Falls excursion in Jamaica. I've heard a lot of good things about Peat Taylor from this board, but was wondering if it would be better to use RCCL's excursion. Please give me your experiences with both. Thanks!

[J_Sullivan]

Pete Taylor may be great but I recommend Ionee McBeam. She will customize it the way you want it and take you anywhere you want to go.

[Peggy13]

Peat Taylor is the way to go - don't go thru RCL excursion. We did this a few years ago - he meets you at the pier at 8:30 and off you go to the Falls - you are the first group up, then when you are done, the huge RCL crowd comes. Go with Peat!!;)

[hstrybuf]

We used Peat last week on the Navigator. He has two busses. Ours was the second one and he took us to Wassi Art Pottery, Fern Gully and then to Dunn's River Falls. At $30 per person, he tries to tailor it to your requests. He then dropped us off, either at the ship or at Margaritaville, for lunch and would continue the tour afterward. We decided to skip the afternoon and paid him when we got off for lunch plus a nice tip! Peat and his son O'Neil are nice folks which apparently went unappreciated by the group of 21 other people on our bus. I would definitely recommend his tour!

[WeirdEyes]

Thanks for the info. I figured everyone would say go with Peat Taylor. I'll also check into Ionee McBeam. I want to avoid the huge crowds with the cruiseline excursion. ;)

[ccjb]

We used Peat Taylor and were very pleased. He gets you to the falls long before the crowds so we had no lines and more time to splash around and take pictures. There were long lines as we were leaving when the cruise tours arrived. He gave us a narrated tour of his island and then offered to drop us off to shop, back to the ship,etc. He was wonderful and we highly reccommend him. Enjoy!

[Robinob]

Thanks for the info. I figured everyone would say go with Peat Taylor. I'll also check into Ionee McBeam. I want to avoid the huge crowds with the cruiseline excursion. ;)

 

 

We did the dolphin swim and the falls through RCCL and had no problem. We were picked up at the pier and brought back with enough time to go to Island Village, Margaritaville, for lunch.

[Chicagomom]

Contact Belinda at A-Z Jamaica Planners. They handled our recent trip to Ocho Rios and did an excellent job. Our guide was Oscar and he got us to every stop we had planned (despite some of our group who couldn't be pried away from the shops) in a timely manner. Our trip to Dunn's River Falls was first and it wasn't crowded at all. We also drove through Fern Gully, went to the Wassi Art Pottery Factory, Sun Island Factory Outlet, Shaw Park Gardens, and Prospect Plantation--a full day of touring for only $60 per person. They made our day in Ocho Rios a fantastic experience.

 

You can contact them at http://www.a-zjamaicaplanners.com

[joannetk]

We also used A-Z Jamaica Planners last week when we were on the Navigator. They were great! Georgeen was waiting at the pier when we got off the ship with an A-Z sign. Our tour guide, Mickey, gave us a very personalized tour. It was the three of us and Mickey. He was very informative and provided a great tour for us. We went to Dunns River Falls early (no lines and no wait). He followed us on the stairs along the side of the falls and he even held our beach bag for us. He took us to the pottery factory, Fern Gully, lunch, shopping, and river tubing. You can spend as much or as little or no time at each place as you want. Mickey is very flexible and will do whatever you want. As he drove through the villages, he told us all about the Jamaican people and culture. He took us river tubing last which was also wonderful. We were the only ones on the river at that time, along with our guide, Rambo. Mickey is very experienced and he made sure that no one pressured us to buy things or bothered us. He ended our tour at Margaritaville since we wanted to check it out and had some time left at the end of the tour. This was our first non ship sponsored tour and I was nervous about getting back to the ship on time. With Mickey, you don't have to worry. He takes care of everything and he will get you back early if you are nervous like me. I would highly recommend A-Z and Mickey. Joanne

[WeirdEyes]

Thanks everyone! It looks like I have a lot of researching to do. ;) Now I'm getting really excited about seeing Jamaica as we've never been there before. We also plan on spending some of the afternoon at Margaritaville. :D

[carbon]

We just hailed a local cab and did it our selves. It was fun and very crowded.

[GranysT]

We also used Ionie McBeam,and she was great.She let us tell her what we wanted to do and see. She was very reasonable,and her vans were clean and air conditioned. She also responds to your emails quickly and will answer any questions,whether you book with her or not. She gets my vote,hands down.

[cruiserw/kids]

We left the shipped, hired a cab with another family and off the 8 of us went to Dunns River Falls. Did it all on our own and at our own pace. Same cabbie was there to pick us up and we didn't pay a dime until he dropped us off at Margarettaville, at very short walk to the pier! One of our best days ever in the Cariib. Looking forward to doing it again this year, after 4 yrs of trying to recreate the experience at other cruise ports. The Falls and Jimmy Buffets, all in once day.....doesn't get any better than that!!!!

[pinkrosesdeb]

I vote for Ionie also. She was a delight to work with. Would recommend her to anyone. She worked with our schedule and was great.

[MEGADAN]

Do you have a email address for Ionie? Thanks

[WeirdEyes]

Yes, please post any information you have on Ionie McBeam. I'd like to get a comparison of her and Peat Taylor. Thanks!!!

[cruisegoers]

You can reach Ionie at this email address: ionie@ocho-rios.com.

 

She's got a nifty web site too, with tour descriptions, pricing, and online reservations -- Ocho Rios Tours of Jamaica .

[WeirdEyes]

Thanks Cruisegoers!

[fay54]

Used Pete Taylor a few years ago, when we sailed on the Voyager. He is nice and gives you your money's worth. I would highly recommend using him. We met lots of nice people who also took his bus and we loved it.

[PurrSusan]

Peat Taylor is GREAT. We were first to the Falls and it was really getting backed up by the time we were leaving. We were so glad that we booked with Peat!! Our time with him was definitely worth the money!

[WeirdEyes]

Great! Glad to hear so many people like Peat Taylor and Ionie McBeam. Now, I just need to decide which one to choose. Thanks!!!

[Hal from Ohio]

We've toured with Peat twice, and other members of our family have traveled with him three times. Book it! Make sure he sings for you. :)

[hersh]

We also used Peat Taylor's Dunn's River falls tour and were very pleased with the tour. Can't comment on RCL's tour since we chose to do Peat's tour based on the high marks he got here on the boards, and we were not disappointed. Great excursion!

[setsail]

Have also used Pete and we were very pleased. One note though, none of these guides go into the falls area,they just drop you off there and pick you up or they wait in a parking area.If you just want to go to the falls I would just get a cab.

[Bunti]

We just returned from our Mariner cruise 11/14. Used A-Z Jamaica planners and Georgeen and Belinda were awesome, as well as our driver Geoffries. Did falls, Coyoba, Wassi arts, and ate lunch at the Ruins by the falls. Oh, also Ferngully, snorkeling at private beach club and shopping. Including lunch, 55$.US. check their website.