We love this island as it is great for chilling on the beach and swimming in the warm, salty water. finding lounge chairs was no problem at this time of year, tendering was easy too. NCL has improved it's tendering process and it is friendlier and easier. Not alot of shade to be found as the trees were battered by recent storms. We needed a life vest for our 8 year old son which I thought should have been free as it's a safety issue but we were charged $5.
We booked the Green Grotto caves and Dunns river falls tour through NCL. This was due to wanting to avoid hassle from locals. I remember from 20 yrs ago visiting Jamaica and the agressiveness of vendors is not enjoyable at all. So to avoid it as much as possible I splurged and booked a full day's excursion through the ship. It was easy getting to our excursion and the bus staff was great and shared info about the island. The caves were ok.
Dunn's River Falls Rating:
The falls were great and really thrilling for the kids and us. Definitely a highlight of this port. If we get back to this port again we will do the falls again for sure. The bus staff was great in that they took us to specific shopping spots and accommodated requests for a jerk chicken stop.
We just went off on our own to Seven Mile Beach. We walked to Royal Palms but should have taken a taxi at $4 per person. It took us close to an hour to walk, we thought it was closer. We definitely taxied back to the pier. We paid $2 to enter Royal Palms and then $8 each for a lounge chair. Drinks were expensive, same price as on the ship. I thought it would have been cheaper. The beach was beautiful. Clean, powdery sand and clear water. The level dropped off quickly so kids should be careful. Rocks were in the water but no seaweed or other debris. Before getting back on the ship we did some shopping as the main shops are right there at the pier. It was less busy and hectic than at Cozumel.
We just took a taxi ($7) to Jimmy Buffet's and had some Volcano Nachos and Margaritas. They were great. We watched people enjoying the free water park which consisted of inflatable obstacles like Saturn, iceberg, trampoline, slide and a couple of others. After eating we walked along and checked out the local shops and picked up souvenirs. Prices were cheap and vendors sold beers for a buck along the way. There were also lots of shops right at the pier.
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