Elaine 09, after you do the stingray thing, you could also grab a taxi for cheap and head down Seven Mile Beach to a spot and take in the views and swim. There are lots of beach spots further down by the hotel/resorts and many rent lounge chairs, snorkel equipment and some have restaurant/bars to enjoy while you relax for a couple of hours. We have Dunn's River Falls several times and its a fun thing to do. Also the river rafting is relaxing if you have the time to do it. Either way, enjoy..
One of our favorite stops was Ocho Rios! We booked a private tour and Trevor took us wherever we wanted to go: Dunns Falls, Fern Gully, a horseback ride in the ocean and local jerk food. We told him ahead of time we didn't want to shop so we didn't and no one bothered us! We also used a private tour in Grand Cayman.
I wrote a couple of articles on these two stops if you want to read them: Stingray City, Grand Cayman Stingray City Ocho Rios Ocho Rios
Hi gtlovell, welcome to Cruise-Chat. Thank you for sharing your articles with us. I'm glad to hear your tour turned out well in Ocho Rios. While I personally love Jamaica, it is one place that I recommend doing a ship's tour. There have been too many that haven't turned out well in Jamaica. It's a beautiful island, one day I hope their leaders will realize how many tourists are "turned off" to Jamaica by an unfortunate few. The majority of locals are wonderful people, it is the ones that harass tourists that give them a bad rap. The falls are beautiful, fern valley is gorgeous, Mo Bay is a fun place, Negril is great, Kingston is rich in history. We do want to keep our members safe, so are glad to know there are some good tour companies to recommend. Best wishes and we hope to see you again on our board, and on a cruise, soon!
Elaine09- Lots of people on this site have used Captain Marvins in Grand Cayman. I don't have a good recommendation for Jamaica guides as they are not mentioned here much.
Be careful with other posters on this site (especially new comers) claiming to know a great tour guide for Jamaica as many to most times the posters turn out to be tours guides trying to drum up business.
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Elaine09, as Jim said, Captain Marvin's and Shoretrips have been recommended. We usually stick with the ship excursions, or go on our own. However, in Jamaica, please do not venture out on your own. In Grand Cayman, do as you please. Seven Mile beach, Stingray City, snorkeling/diving, and shopping are all great there.
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