My family and I are considering a cruise to the Caribbean next summer, and one of the ports of call is Montego Bay, Jamaica.
If any of you guys have ever been there, what did you do that was fun? What did you do that was a huge waste of time/money, that you want to warn me away from?
Let me know.
I have never personally been to Jamaica. I would highly suggest checking out the message boards at cruisecritic.com … they’ve been around for ages and can help you out for sure.
I went to Breezes Runaway Bay in April and had a fantastic time! Skip the flea market unless you love people chasing you down to sell you stuff. I enjoyed the catamaran ride and hike up Dunn’s River Falls.
Jamaica was annoying to me, just because it was impossible to walk around and see anything as you were constantly getting hassled by everybody to buy things. We did Dunns River Falls which was fun, but just so you know you don’t have to have a guide, but you can go with one if you want. They will want more money at the end too, but you get someone to take pictures of you when you’re in the water. From what I can remember there were various combos where you could do the falls plus some canopy ride thing (rainforest bobsled?), and everybody who did that seemed like they had fun. What type of excursions do you normally like? More nature, more active, scenic?
The bobsled is Misty Mountain. Yes, JA is pretty money-grubby. I did not bring extra money with me on the Dunn’s River Falls trip, mostly because after paying for the boat and the tour, we both felt that was expensive enough! We did end up buying the video after the fact, but only because it was my 35 birthday that day!
The truth? I’d be just as happy to stay on the damned boat. 
Something not too strenuous, I guess – there will be a sullen teenager and an eight-year-old who has limited stamina. On a previous cruise, we drove these little two-person speedboats over to a private beach – that was enjoyed by all. Natural wonders and sight-seeing would trump shopping.
My neighbor just got back from Montego Bay. They mostly lounged on the beach, but he had a really good time snorkeling and spear-fishing.
I didn’t ask how many spears he caught.