On a recent cruise, we stopped in Falmouth Jamaica. This was our family’s first ever trip to the island and we really didn’t know what to expect. We booked an excursion though Royal Caribbean to go to the Good Hope Estate. Anyone that books a Royal Caribbean excursion will know that there are a multitude of different options available to go to the same place, but we booked basically the bare bones excursion which gave us access to the pool and grounds. There are other items that could have been added, for example; they have Rum tasting (wish I did that one) and tubing on the grounds as well.
Once we arrived, we were given a brief introduction and were released to the grounds. The pool itself was very nice and interesting, there was what I can only describe as a man-made stream pool with waterfalls. Our 7-year-old loved climbing up and down that stream. There was also a spot of “cliff diving” where the pool was very deep in one spot and a long waterslide that was fun.
The chair situation was interesting, the chairs were scattered about haphazardly and to be honest some were just not usable. The fabric / material on them was so worn that it drooped over the plastic supports and they looked extremely uncomfortable. We ended up keeping our stuff and sitting on a wooden bench. They had a pool bar that was nice, we got a few drinks from there. They had a few signature drinks including a rum punch that was amazing.
At lunch time they had a few entrees available, it was a little awkward figuring out how to get them though. We needed to go and pay for the items that we wanted in the gift shop and then go back and ask a server to get them for us. This is a reminder to bring extra cash because, at least in Falmouth, they are not shy asking for tips, and this setup didn’t allow for tips to be added in the gift shop, and also it would be tipping before the service was done. With all that said, we got the jerk chicken, and it was perfect. I would say that might have been the most memorable meal of our whole cruise.
I would be amiss if I didn’t mention the transportation to and from the Estate. Outside the port we were led to buses and that was a smooth process. The ride, however, was something. It was about 45 minutes on some of the worst roads I have ever been on. They were very bumpy, at times the bus had to crawl just to get over some spots and were very narrow and mountainous. The bus driver was a spirited man, and he told us stories about the island’s history and some local stories which distracted a bit from the ride but let’s just say I was ready for some rum once we got off the bus.
The ride back was even more interesting. Though there was an area to wait for transportation back, there was little coordination and information about them. At one point I just went up to a random bus driver that arrived and asked if it was going back to port and that was how we got back. Same bumpy crazy ride back but I guess someone else on the bus asked if we could stop in town for something (I can only imagine what they wanted to get) but we made a ½ hour detour to a strip mall in town while some people got off and some didn’t. Once back at the port I jokingly asked the driver if he took a headcount and he said no but he felt everyone got back on…..Which prompted me to ask if he ever forget anyone doing this and he said yes!
As this was one of our first cruise excursions, we were not sure what to expect but I would say that we had a good (and memorable) time on the excursion. My wife and I joked that we would be willing to take that drive again for the jerk chicken alone! Though I do not see Falmouth as being a fairly common cruise port even on RC sailings, so Alas we may never get a chance to go back. Thanks for reading. Drop any comments / questions below.
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