greensombrero
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2019
Day 5 Jamaica
After the late night and fireworks we slept in a bit this morning. We were already docked when we awoke, we had a fairly early 7:30 AM arrival. I didn't know much about Jamaica to be honest aside from watching Cool Runnings and the fact our first ever awesome server on Disney Cruise line, Steve, was from Jamaica. I loved how green the island was as we got this cool view from our verandah.
We had a fun adventure planned for the day. The adventure zipline, river tubing and adventure falls excursion at Good Hope Estate. We discovered we love zip lining on a trip to Costa Rica and everyone was excited. I remember when we registered they had multiple departure times and we went for the later one figuring we'd all be pretty tired by this point in cruise and everyone definitely appreciated the extra time after pirate night.
We all got ready for a day of water activities, had a quick breakfast in cabanas and headed down for the D Lounge. We got checked in and had just sat down when they made an announcement that our excursion was cancelled, say what??? Not only that but there were only one or two other excursions leaving and they were already full there was nothing for us to do from Disney's perspective. They didn't give us any reason except the tour operator was cancelling and it was outside of Disney's control. We later learned there was an issue with the road and it sounds like the earlier departure was delayed and they were worried we wouldn't have enough time and make it back to the ship on time. I heard the road issue may have been related to protests of some sort.
Well to say we were disappointed would be an understatement but I wanted to keep a good attitude and figure out how to make the best of it. It looked like they had a pretty cool shopping area at the port so we got off to explore. Falmouth's port complex is like a large outdoor mall with a number of shops, some food options, a craft market and more. We began by just checking out some of the shops. I saw a sign about city trolley tours and went to investigate at an info booth. Unfortunately they weren't running anymore but she told me we could get a city tour from a vendor at the port entrance. The family wasn't really interested in that though.
We did a bit more shopping and then my youngest wanted to go back to the kids club. So I took him back while the rest continued to explore. As we got back to the ship the crew was doing a big drill, they played the general alarm and I saw crew members in their evacuation gear. I'm guessing it was an abandon ship drill. It explained why there wasn't much on the schedule for that morning. The Oceaneer's Lab though was open so droped my DS off and I headed back off the ship to catch up with the rest of the family.
I found them just outside a really fun looking Margaritaville. It had a cool pirate ship thing the kids were checking out. Jamaica was the hottest port we had visited this far. It was only maybe 10:30 AM but it was hot and humid and everyone was thirsty. So I suggested we go in and check it out. They had a pretty nice looking pool area and plenty of shaded tables, music playing and I imagined we could get frozen drinks. We grabbed a table and ordered a variety of frozen smoothies and their volcano nachos to share which we had heard were really good.
It took a little bit for our order to arrive but we got to sit and enjoy the ambience and when it did everything was good. This wasn't the day we expected but it was a unique experience, we'd never been to a Margaritaville before. After enjoying our drinks and the nachos I wanted to get a T Shirt and my wife mentioned they had been offered a deal at a place they checked out while I was back on the ship.
My older DS suggested that since I wasn't pay for the excursion they should get the money added to their souvenir budget. I wasn't sure it worked that way but figured his negotiation skills deserved some recognition so we were a bit more liberal with souvenirs at this stop. One thing we found was that the store owners were happy to negotiate discounts and give us deals. I found the T Shirt I wanted wasn't technically included in their 4 for 20 deal but the girls found some little purses that were and the owner offered me a discount off my shirt anyways. I ended up finding some hot sauce in the same store and jerk seasoning. They ended up getting a pretty big purchase from us but were friendly and knocked the price down on pretty much everything we bought which I appreciated. My son picked up a cool chess set that was on sale too.
When we entered Cabanas that morning one of the cast members had mentioned to my wife we should try and find a place to get patties while on shore, that they were a good local food. We noticed there was a little stand that sold them in this port complex. We weren't hungry but figured we could go back on the ship for a bit and come back and try them before all aboard.
As I mentioned it was our hottest day of the trip so we headed up to the pool deck. We rode the Aquaduck and then the girls headed to the pool. Somewhere in there I checked in on DS in the kid's club and he was still happy. Reviewing my notes I mistakenly said our first sea day was the first time I got in the family pool. It was actually today, it was just so hot so I braved Donald's pool despite it being a bit more crowded than I like. They were playing the live action Cinderella on Funnel Vision so we watched it for a bit. Of course there was some ice cream in all of this too I'm sure. We knew our awesome cabin steward was cleaning our rooms after being busy in the morning with the drill so we didn't want to head back too early.
We all showered and got cleaned up and by this time it was around 2pm and we wanted to go try patties. The stand clearly brought them in from elsewhere in the island and just warmed them there. We got a few of the beef and cheese to split and see what we thought. They were kind of like a savory pop tart but even the dough was seasoned and they had some kick to them. We really liked them and had to get a second batch as several of us wanted whole ones. I also noticed they had Dr. Pepper. I'm a big Diet Dr Pepper fan and after 5 days on the ship was missing it. Diet Coke or Coke Zero just aren't as good. It was the full sugar stuff but it was the Dr Pepper Cream Soda variety so I had to get a can. We really enjoyed this little culinary adventure and I'm glad the cast member that morning mentioned them to my wife. I asked our head server Andre who was from Jamaica about them at dinner that night. He said they were indeed authentic and a popular quick lunch option for workers.
Today hadn't gone as planned but we actually had a good time exploring the port area in Falmouth. My oldest daughter would later say it ended up being her favorite port day aside from Castaway despite her starting the day very disappointed our excursion was cancelled. They really invested in making the port complex a nice area. I've heard you don't want to venture out on your own in Jamaica but you really don't have to with how big the port area was. I don't think we even saw everything. They even had a whole artisan craft market area we explored. I found a cool local style nativity carving and a necklace for my mom for Christmas there.
Back onboard I sat on a lounger on deck 4 to catch up on my trip notes knowing I'd probably write a TR when I got back. I loved having a verandah but I found deck 4 loungers are more comfortable and on this day in the shade while our verandah had full sun. One thing we decided we should do since we were back onboard earlier than we planned was avail ourselves of the Sanderson Sister photo op. They offered it the day before and this day and then like 3-4 times on Halloween. We figured it would be popular and we were right. My wife headed down early to try and figure out where the line would be. We ended up asking a cast member where they would be and then decided to make a line. We ended up right at the beginning. Considering how big the line got behind us I'm really glad it worked out that we got the photo this day and weren't stressed on the halloween day which would be our last sea day.
They did a cool little thing with Daisy, Minnie and Clarabella came out or should I saw the Sanderson Sisters. They took a minute to greet and interact with us all since we were at the head of the line and then we got our photo.
After the photo I saw there was an option for some Disney themed trivia, don't recall which one. I headed over with the older kids. It was in La Piazza and it was packed. We just found the last couple seats. It was fun, I always enjoy doing trivia though despite being a 7 night cruise we did far less of it than I expected. After I just hung out, watched the sail away from our verandah and other locations on deck. The RCL ship that was in port with us left ahead of us leaving us with a nice view.
I'm usually a go go go person wanting to enjoy every minute of the cruise but I actually laid down for a bit and had a little nap. When I got back up I went and read for a bit on deck 4. Caught a view of the setting sun.
Apparently we missed that it was semi formal night. I was thinking with our Halloween night they wouldn't do semi formal night but I actually caught Donald (my favorite) in his evening wear with no real line. My DD and I snagged a photo.
The main entertainment in the Walt Disney Theater this night didn't really appeal to us so we had more free time this evening before dinner than usual. At some point I headed back out on deck 4 and my phone went into evening mode and took some really cool photos. I love the blue along the ship with the sunset.
I ended up heading to an adult's only show in the Tube by Antwan Towner. He is a mentalist/magician and really good, I really enjoyed the show. I don't recall what the rest of the family was up to but we met up right before dinner to do family photos. This was a new fun background for us.
Dinner tonight was back in Enchanted Garden and we were now on to new menus for us we'd never had before as this was our first 7 night cruise. I generally try to listen to the server's recommendation on a menu I don't know. However I was tired of red meat, don't eat much at home and that was his recommendation tonight. They had a Thanksgiving Dinner type option on the menu and I decided to give the turkey a try. I quite liked it! It wasn't as good as what I'll be having in less than two weeks but I definitely enjoyed it.
I felt like our serving team was more relaxed at this point. We got to talk to them more and they offered us puzzles and I don't recall if it was this night or the following that our server gave us a pretty cool magic show. We learned that our server had been with Holland America but they were slower to restart with the pandemic and someone told him about interviews with Disney so he gave it a shot. This was his second contract with Disney both on the Fantasy. Our assistant server was even newer, if my notes are right it was her second week. She didn't have an earning her ears tag so I don't know if that was second week post training or if it really was her second week onboard and they were just short staffed and had her jump right in. Either way we were really enjoying them as our servers especially now that we felt we had the chance to get to know them more.
After a great dinner I walked on deck briefly but didn't want to go to bed too late because we were losing an hour as we headed back east. Up next was our second sea day, Palo brunch, and Halloween festivities.
After the late night and fireworks we slept in a bit this morning. We were already docked when we awoke, we had a fairly early 7:30 AM arrival. I didn't know much about Jamaica to be honest aside from watching Cool Runnings and the fact our first ever awesome server on Disney Cruise line, Steve, was from Jamaica. I loved how green the island was as we got this cool view from our verandah.
We had a fun adventure planned for the day. The adventure zipline, river tubing and adventure falls excursion at Good Hope Estate. We discovered we love zip lining on a trip to Costa Rica and everyone was excited. I remember when we registered they had multiple departure times and we went for the later one figuring we'd all be pretty tired by this point in cruise and everyone definitely appreciated the extra time after pirate night.
We all got ready for a day of water activities, had a quick breakfast in cabanas and headed down for the D Lounge. We got checked in and had just sat down when they made an announcement that our excursion was cancelled, say what??? Not only that but there were only one or two other excursions leaving and they were already full there was nothing for us to do from Disney's perspective. They didn't give us any reason except the tour operator was cancelling and it was outside of Disney's control. We later learned there was an issue with the road and it sounds like the earlier departure was delayed and they were worried we wouldn't have enough time and make it back to the ship on time. I heard the road issue may have been related to protests of some sort.
Well to say we were disappointed would be an understatement but I wanted to keep a good attitude and figure out how to make the best of it. It looked like they had a pretty cool shopping area at the port so we got off to explore. Falmouth's port complex is like a large outdoor mall with a number of shops, some food options, a craft market and more. We began by just checking out some of the shops. I saw a sign about city trolley tours and went to investigate at an info booth. Unfortunately they weren't running anymore but she told me we could get a city tour from a vendor at the port entrance. The family wasn't really interested in that though.
We did a bit more shopping and then my youngest wanted to go back to the kids club. So I took him back while the rest continued to explore. As we got back to the ship the crew was doing a big drill, they played the general alarm and I saw crew members in their evacuation gear. I'm guessing it was an abandon ship drill. It explained why there wasn't much on the schedule for that morning. The Oceaneer's Lab though was open so droped my DS off and I headed back off the ship to catch up with the rest of the family.
I found them just outside a really fun looking Margaritaville. It had a cool pirate ship thing the kids were checking out. Jamaica was the hottest port we had visited this far. It was only maybe 10:30 AM but it was hot and humid and everyone was thirsty. So I suggested we go in and check it out. They had a pretty nice looking pool area and plenty of shaded tables, music playing and I imagined we could get frozen drinks. We grabbed a table and ordered a variety of frozen smoothies and their volcano nachos to share which we had heard were really good.
It took a little bit for our order to arrive but we got to sit and enjoy the ambience and when it did everything was good. This wasn't the day we expected but it was a unique experience, we'd never been to a Margaritaville before. After enjoying our drinks and the nachos I wanted to get a T Shirt and my wife mentioned they had been offered a deal at a place they checked out while I was back on the ship.
My older DS suggested that since I wasn't pay for the excursion they should get the money added to their souvenir budget. I wasn't sure it worked that way but figured his negotiation skills deserved some recognition so we were a bit more liberal with souvenirs at this stop. One thing we found was that the store owners were happy to negotiate discounts and give us deals. I found the T Shirt I wanted wasn't technically included in their 4 for 20 deal but the girls found some little purses that were and the owner offered me a discount off my shirt anyways. I ended up finding some hot sauce in the same store and jerk seasoning. They ended up getting a pretty big purchase from us but were friendly and knocked the price down on pretty much everything we bought which I appreciated. My son picked up a cool chess set that was on sale too.
When we entered Cabanas that morning one of the cast members had mentioned to my wife we should try and find a place to get patties while on shore, that they were a good local food. We noticed there was a little stand that sold them in this port complex. We weren't hungry but figured we could go back on the ship for a bit and come back and try them before all aboard.
As I mentioned it was our hottest day of the trip so we headed up to the pool deck. We rode the Aquaduck and then the girls headed to the pool. Somewhere in there I checked in on DS in the kid's club and he was still happy. Reviewing my notes I mistakenly said our first sea day was the first time I got in the family pool. It was actually today, it was just so hot so I braved Donald's pool despite it being a bit more crowded than I like. They were playing the live action Cinderella on Funnel Vision so we watched it for a bit. Of course there was some ice cream in all of this too I'm sure. We knew our awesome cabin steward was cleaning our rooms after being busy in the morning with the drill so we didn't want to head back too early.
We all showered and got cleaned up and by this time it was around 2pm and we wanted to go try patties. The stand clearly brought them in from elsewhere in the island and just warmed them there. We got a few of the beef and cheese to split and see what we thought. They were kind of like a savory pop tart but even the dough was seasoned and they had some kick to them. We really liked them and had to get a second batch as several of us wanted whole ones. I also noticed they had Dr. Pepper. I'm a big Diet Dr Pepper fan and after 5 days on the ship was missing it. Diet Coke or Coke Zero just aren't as good. It was the full sugar stuff but it was the Dr Pepper Cream Soda variety so I had to get a can. We really enjoyed this little culinary adventure and I'm glad the cast member that morning mentioned them to my wife. I asked our head server Andre who was from Jamaica about them at dinner that night. He said they were indeed authentic and a popular quick lunch option for workers.
Today hadn't gone as planned but we actually had a good time exploring the port area in Falmouth. My oldest daughter would later say it ended up being her favorite port day aside from Castaway despite her starting the day very disappointed our excursion was cancelled. They really invested in making the port complex a nice area. I've heard you don't want to venture out on your own in Jamaica but you really don't have to with how big the port area was. I don't think we even saw everything. They even had a whole artisan craft market area we explored. I found a cool local style nativity carving and a necklace for my mom for Christmas there.
Back onboard I sat on a lounger on deck 4 to catch up on my trip notes knowing I'd probably write a TR when I got back. I loved having a verandah but I found deck 4 loungers are more comfortable and on this day in the shade while our verandah had full sun. One thing we decided we should do since we were back onboard earlier than we planned was avail ourselves of the Sanderson Sister photo op. They offered it the day before and this day and then like 3-4 times on Halloween. We figured it would be popular and we were right. My wife headed down early to try and figure out where the line would be. We ended up asking a cast member where they would be and then decided to make a line. We ended up right at the beginning. Considering how big the line got behind us I'm really glad it worked out that we got the photo this day and weren't stressed on the halloween day which would be our last sea day.
They did a cool little thing with Daisy, Minnie and Clarabella came out or should I saw the Sanderson Sisters. They took a minute to greet and interact with us all since we were at the head of the line and then we got our photo.
After the photo I saw there was an option for some Disney themed trivia, don't recall which one. I headed over with the older kids. It was in La Piazza and it was packed. We just found the last couple seats. It was fun, I always enjoy doing trivia though despite being a 7 night cruise we did far less of it than I expected. After I just hung out, watched the sail away from our verandah and other locations on deck. The RCL ship that was in port with us left ahead of us leaving us with a nice view.
I'm usually a go go go person wanting to enjoy every minute of the cruise but I actually laid down for a bit and had a little nap. When I got back up I went and read for a bit on deck 4. Caught a view of the setting sun.
Apparently we missed that it was semi formal night. I was thinking with our Halloween night they wouldn't do semi formal night but I actually caught Donald (my favorite) in his evening wear with no real line. My DD and I snagged a photo.
The main entertainment in the Walt Disney Theater this night didn't really appeal to us so we had more free time this evening before dinner than usual. At some point I headed back out on deck 4 and my phone went into evening mode and took some really cool photos. I love the blue along the ship with the sunset.
I ended up heading to an adult's only show in the Tube by Antwan Towner. He is a mentalist/magician and really good, I really enjoyed the show. I don't recall what the rest of the family was up to but we met up right before dinner to do family photos. This was a new fun background for us.
Dinner tonight was back in Enchanted Garden and we were now on to new menus for us we'd never had before as this was our first 7 night cruise. I generally try to listen to the server's recommendation on a menu I don't know. However I was tired of red meat, don't eat much at home and that was his recommendation tonight. They had a Thanksgiving Dinner type option on the menu and I decided to give the turkey a try. I quite liked it! It wasn't as good as what I'll be having in less than two weeks but I definitely enjoyed it.
I felt like our serving team was more relaxed at this point. We got to talk to them more and they offered us puzzles and I don't recall if it was this night or the following that our server gave us a pretty cool magic show. We learned that our server had been with Holland America but they were slower to restart with the pandemic and someone told him about interviews with Disney so he gave it a shot. This was his second contract with Disney both on the Fantasy. Our assistant server was even newer, if my notes are right it was her second week. She didn't have an earning her ears tag so I don't know if that was second week post training or if it really was her second week onboard and they were just short staffed and had her jump right in. Either way we were really enjoying them as our servers especially now that we felt we had the chance to get to know them more.
After a great dinner I walked on deck briefly but didn't want to go to bed too late because we were losing an hour as we headed back east. Up next was our second sea day, Palo brunch, and Halloween festivities.
