Probably the most popular activity at the port of Ocho Rios is climbing Dunns River Falls. This was something we had done on our very first cruise way back in 2002. Now we are 17 years older and smart enough to know that climbing a waterfall may not end well for us at this stage of life.
For this visit, we decided to repeat the tour that we did on our last visit in 2005 when we cruised with our young adult kids...river tubing. Jamaica is one port where I feel more comfortable with a planned excursion and booking a tour through HAL seemed a good way to use up some of our onboard credits.
The morning was a little more relaxed since our tour wasn't to begin until 10:30 am. We had breakfast with Jon and Michelle and then walked down the very long dock to where all of the ship excursions were to meet.
There were about 20 of us altogether on the tour run by Chukka and the group filled a small bus. The drive to the river took us on steep and sometime one lane roads with hairpin turns...a little bit of a thrill ride in itself.
We were dropped off at a small gift shop where we were fitted with helmets and life jackets and encouraged to use the restroom so we wouldn't change the "flavor" of the water. Bob rented a small locker which the four of us shared for stuff like our wallets and phones.
From there we were bused a short distance to where we would begin tubing...at an old stone bridge built in the 1700's. There was a stairway leading down the steep hill to the river and it was pretty easy to just flop down into the tube as the guide held onto it.
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| 1700's bridge. |
The tubes had handles and had been fitted with plywood bottoms (so no worries about scraping rocks in shallow water). Most of the time we were allowed to float freely, but before each set of rapids there would was a cable strung across the river and we were instructed to grab hold and wait until the guides got there. They would then make sure that we were headed through the deeper parts of the fast, flowing water. A couple of times we got hung up on rocks or fallen trees, but the guides were quick to come and pull us free.
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| A Tubing Selfie |
I enjoyed every minute of the time we were on the river and it was so much better than what I remembered from our tour 14 years ago with our kids. I think perhaps the last time I was in "nervous mom mode" and couldn't fully enjoy the experience.
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| A photo from 2005. Watching my boys cliff jumping did not make for a relaxing day. |
But this time was different...the water was crystal clear and the current was swift enough that it carried us along without paddling. I just laid back in my tube and enjoyed the giant stands of bamboo and other flowers along the banks...all under a bright blue sky. The guides serenaded us with their songs as we floated along.
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| A section of rapids. |
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| Banner across river. |
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| Giant bamboo. |
Our tubing ended when we made it back to a path that lead to the gift shop where we started. After turning in our helmets and life jackets, there was enough time to shop in the store or purchase some food. There were photographers along the river while we were tubing and you could purchase a CD of the photographs if you wished.
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| Bobby in the bamboo on the path back back to the gift shop! |
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| Suspension bridge leading over the river to the gift shop. |
While others in the group were shopping, I wandered around the grounds taking photos of some of the colorful flowers. I made an effort to also take a mental picture that I could remember once we returned home to a long and cold winter.
It was 2:15 when we returned and walked back down the long dock to the ship. The Dive In was open so we could have gotten burgers there, but instead Jon suggested we do afternoon tea instead. We stopped by our cabin first to drop off stuff and do a very quick clean-up and then met at the dining room when it opened at 3 pm.
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| Interesting. This sign was posted right next to the gangplank! |
Right away I noticed some changes from when we have done "tea time" in the past. Instead of being offered a selection of tea bags, we were given small pots with black tea already brewed. Then a 3-tiered stand was placed in the middle of the table with an assortment of small sandwiches and pastries for us all to share. I am not embarrassed to say that we finished off the first one and were brought a second stand which we also finished. I didn't feel too guilty because very few people had shown up for tea so I'm sure they had leftovers.
It wasn't much more than a snack, but we left the dining room with our immediate hunger satisfied but not so full that we couldn't enjoy our dinner in just a few hours.
I stopped by the Future Cruise Desk to see if they had any copies of the HAL Cruise Atlas, but they didn't. The consultant (who really didn't seem all that interested in selling cruises) said they were supposed to have received 20 cases of the booklets, but they hadn't arrived. I did pick up a form to order a couple more Future Cruise Deposits (FCD'S) for longer cruises. Maybe wishful thinking, but I enjoyed our last two longer cruises so much that I am hoping there will be more in our future.
While I had stopped at the future cruise desk, Bob had managed to disappear. I went back to the room by myself and realized that in the rush to get to tea, I had left my key card in the room. Ugghhh. I walked back to the front of the ship and up a flight of stairs to guest services to get another key made.
While I was waiting in line, a well-dressed couple was there complaining that SOMEONE had come into their cabin and turned down their thermostat and claimed it was so cold they couldn't stand to be in the room. The man was sure their room steward wouldn't have done it and was DEMANDING to know who else had been in the cabin while they were gone. The gal at guest services kept her cool and informed him that various people (such as the minibar guy, etc.) could have entered but they had no record of who it might be.
I was able to get my key made and the guy was still there having a fit when I left. This was only one of several instances where we overheard passengers complaining and making a big deal over something that was not really that important. I wanted to shout at them..."You are on a cruise!! Be happy and quit complaining!!" But of course I didn't. Instead I went out of my way to be nice and thank the crew as much as possible.
I got back to my room and just like the first day...the new key card didn't work. Back to guest services and got another card made. I'm sure the guy that made the card thought I was inept so he offered to come back to my room to "help" me. Unfortunately the second card didn't work either but I did feel a little better knowing that at least it wasn't just me! He was able to use his pass card to open the door, but when I tested my old card (the one I had forgotten in the room) it still worked even though he said it had been deactivated. I waited in the room while he went back and made a 3rd card which he tested and found it worked. Are you keeping track? This is now SIX cards that I have had made in five days. But stay tuned...this wasn't the end of the key card saga.
I stayed in the room and worked at backing up my photos onto my external hard drive using my Rav Power Filehub. Bob eventually returned. He had stopped to work on one of the jigsaw puzzles in the library.
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| An almost full moon over Ocho Rios as the ship pulled away from the dock. |
Now that we had an assigned dining time and table, we just met up with Jon and Michelle in the dining room. Oka, our waiter, greeted us by name each night and after a couple of nights always knew that Jon wanted a cup of tea with dessert, Michelle wanted regular coffee and I wanted decaf. Bob kept him guessing...some nights he would also get tea and other times nothing.
With only four at our table, we were able to finish dinner in time to get to the theater at least 30 minutes before the evening entertainment at 7:30...some nights even earlier. I hated the seating in the theater. The bench seating was some of the most uncomfortable ever. The individual chairs in the front couple of rows were a little more comfortable and by getting there early we could usually get one of those seats. We (meaning me, Bob and Michelle) all had the game "Wordscapes" on our phones and we occupied ourselves with the app. When we would get stuck, we would just trade phones and hopefully someone could figure out the missing word.
Robbie Howard, a vocal impressionist, was on stage in the theater. He was a pretty good entertainer and was able to do a decent job impersonating some of the great singers. By the end, he had everyone in the theater up on their feet singing along to "Sweet Caroline!"
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| Sweet Caroline sing-a-long with Robbie Howard. |
After the show we played a round of the Wizards card game which takes about an hour. The next day would be a sea day so it was nice to go to bed without setting an alarm.
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