Caribbean Cruise Part 2

We visited three ports of call; each with its own personality and features.

Costa Maya, Mexico.
The first noticeable feature of this area as our ship came into dock was the stretching flat coastline with sandy beaches. Behind the coastline was lush green vegetation. The second noticeable feature was a manmade cement encampment that housed commercial establishments. Beer was $9USD per bottle!!! There were conflicting reports as to whether this was constructed by the cruise lines or by the local government. We received both conflicting reports. It did house the shops recommended by the cruise line. It also was fenced off with security guards at the gates. We were advised by people we me in the community outside this area that the local people were not allowed in unless they were going to work.

We did not book a tour on the ship, as was recommended. The tours were heavily pushed on the basis of safety and not being left behind if a tour got back late. The ship would leave without you if you were late and not on a ship booked tour.

We went outside the walls and rented a golf cart for $55USD for the day. Golf carts are allowed to drive on the “streets” and roadways. Four people were allowed per golf cart – otherwise, there was a hefty fine if stopped by the police.

We then spent a wonderful day driving the area. We stopped at different beach areas where Americans and Europeans had purchased the land and build a home and bar. By far, the best was The Women’s Center with Susie. Susie made the best margaritas of anyplace in the world and the company was relaxed and fun. As we were leaving her place, our golf cart broke down. Susie quickly telephoned the owners who came out and replaced the cart.

On the way back to the ship, we saw a young alligator on the road. He was small – maybe two feet long. We stopped and then a local came by and picked him up. We then got to hold him before he was taken to water. That was an exciting experience.

There was a commercial flea market in the town. Prices are very negotiable and most of the items seem genuine. This area has an assortment of setups from one table stands to kiosks to bars and food outlets to massage setups. The merchants were openly inviting but not aggressive.I would buy from here before I would buy from the commercial encampment promoted by the cruise line.

I believe we had much more fun doing our own tour than did the people who paid much more money on the ship. Those who went on prearranged go-carts did not go any place we didn’t go. There were a few people who traveled some of the way we did but most stayed in the commercial encampment or on ship.

Georgetown, Grand Cayman
The second port of call on the cruise was Grand Cayman Islands. So as not to damage the coral reefs, the ships do not dock. They anchor off shore and smaller boats (holding 200 to 300 passengers) transfer the passengers to the island. We arrived on the island shortly after 7 AM so there was little to do except walk around and window shop. Again, we did not book a ship excursion but took our chances on finding excursions once we arrived. Again, we were very happy we did it that way. We hooked up with a private tour. Richard owned the taxi that took us to the boat which he also owned. His wife was doing the marketing onshore and Otis was his employee who took the passengers to Stingray City. There were 10 people on the little speed boat which passed all the large tour boats on the way. Otis was a real “water rat” and in the water with us feeding the stingrays, showing us how to hold then, putting them on our backs and setting up picture taking scenarios. He was an absolute delight. As I glanced at the large tour boats, I saw a lot of bored people. A few of them actually came to join our group and partake in the fun. There was no boredom in our group. After Stingray City, we stopped at the reef for snorkeling. All the necessary equipment was on board the boat. Again Otis had food to draw in the colorful fish. On the way back, Otis detoured to show us homes of famous people (Bill Gates, Sylvester Stalone) – the ship tours did not do this. He also stopped to look at the lizards and even tried to catch one. This trip was well worth one half the price we would have paid for a ship-sponsored excursion.

One benefit of Georgetown was a store that provided free telephone service (5 minutes per person) and free internet service (15 minutes per person). We were able to call our children back in Canada and make sure everything was all right.

Things are expensive in Georgetown. We did very little shopping but did check out the stores. We had two less than happy experiences in Georgetown. The first was that I left my hat at the dock after arriving back from Stingray City. It was a special hat my daughter had given me and I had become quite attached to it. Both Richard and Otis looked for it after being called but it was not to be found. I grieved its loss for the rest of the trip. The second slightly unpleasant experience was in a restaurant where my wife didn’t receive her food order and the server became rather snotty about it.

Grand Cayman is a wonderful place and we both look forward to returning. Our memories are so wonderful (except for my hat!!!)

Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Our third port of call was Ocho Rios. Again we arrived at 7 AM before any stores opened. And again, we did not book a ship-sponsored excursion.

The merchants, taxi drivers, street vendors – anybody trying to do any business at all – are very pushy. They are aggressive and push to the very edge to try to sell to you. At times the situations can be uncomfortable as the aggressive selling borders on intimidation.

Poverty is everywhere and it is understandable that the people wish to get money when the possibility exists.

After walking around for a while we were approached by a taxi driver that we felt comfortable with. Cedric drove us around for two hours and showed us sights that other passengers did not get to see. He talked about the people, the country, politics, schooling, vegetation and so on. He was a taxi driver who became a very knowledgeable tour guide. At the end of our tour, Cedric took us to a store where we could buy the gifts we wanted to take home and introduced us to the clerk. I was suspicious that this was just another way of him getting more money but at the end of the day after we had checked all the other stores, this one gave us the best prices.

We saw two different markets – one was a commercial flea marker selling trinkets, crafts, t-shirts and the like. This appeared oriented towards the tourists and I saw no locals in there. The second one sold fruits, vegetables and some trinkets. This was for the locals and there were no tourists in there – except us. This was the one time that we let our guard down and approached a potentially dangerous situation. We could have kidnapped or worse and no one would have known.

The one suggestion I have, if you go to Ocho Rios, is to be willing to say “no thanks” a lot and to say it firmly