In the words of Bill Withers this has been “a lovely day”.
Our pre-cruise investigation suggested that Jamaica was not the safest of tourist spots especially Montego Bay. This was confirmed by the ship’s shore excursion team. Obviously there are levels of crime in many countries and this area is probably safe if you stay sensible and know the right areas but we felt a prepaid tour would be the best way to go for us. There were a lot of ship shore excursions to choose from but we didn’t want one with too much hiking and Mark’s lack of swimming skills put him off rafting etc… Ideally we wanted some culture/history and to see a beach and try the sea. There was nothing that offered this though one of the former plantation houses looked interesting so before we booked the ship shore excursion we investigated it more. We then found that if we booked it independently, and direct, that we not only got the tour the ship does but for slightly extra we had lunch thrown in and access to a private beach area plus a shopping excursion if we fancied it. We were also given the number of their recommended taxi tour operator so we went for that option.
We were picked up by Mr Clifton Morris in a mini bus who gave us a very informative tour on the way to Rose Hall Great House (also known as the Witches Retreat). We thought that when we got there we would join the main ship’s tour but that was not the case. From the moment we arrived we were treated like royalty and we were given a very special tour, on our own, with our own tour guide Erica.
In fact, as we were about 3/4s round, we heard the sound of a mass tour being conducted and guessed it was the ship.
Erica started our tour by explaining the history of Rose Hall. The house was a plantation house that produced sugar in its 650 acres. Originally named after the wife of the first owner of the great house John Palmer who was the fourth husband of Rosa Kelly the original owner of the land the house stood on. John had 2 sons before the marriage but they both died in England and never inherited. It was then taken over my his grand nephew whose wife was Annee May Patterson a orphaned girl from Haiti who was raised by Voodoo witches and who went on to kill all three of her husbands (in different ways), her lovers, love rivals and servants. You should never get in her bad books as she loved watching executions. Her ghost is said to wander the grounds.
Then Erica talked more about each of the rooms, from the dining room laid out for big parties and the breakfast room for family. Upstairs was the 5 bedrooms. 1 guest room and the other rooms were laid out for each of Annie Palmers husbands and her own bedroom too.
The kitchen and servants quarters no longer exist as they were demolished due to disrepair by the current owner who purchased and renovated it in 1965. It cost him millions to complete.
At the end of the tour we were taken down into the dungeon area which had been converted into a bar. As part of package we were given a drink each called witches brew (fruit punch with rum) in a custom container we could keep. The rum was very strong and we were told told to sip it not drink it. Pam sipped hers over a few hours. Mark sipped his a few times and later discreetly slipped it away😉.
When we finished, there was a gift shop where we were given a special gift of a large history book of the hall and Angele, our lovely organiser, offered us the trip to the shops or we could skip that for more time at the beach. As it was almost lunch, and we were due to be picked up at 4pm, we opted to avoid pushy stall holders and go to the beach resort.
WOW. We had this area pool area all to ourselves for almost all of the 4hrs we were here. The place had a bar where we were given free soft drinks - had to pay for alcoholic ones but Mark does not partake and Pam went to fruit juice as that very strong rum drink was enough for her - we are far from the typical English couple on the drinking front! The bar tender was basically ours for the whole of the stay.
By this area is a private beach and we swam (well Mark splashed) in the warm Caribbean waters - didn’t see any fish though there were warning signs to beware of sea urchins.
Next to this is a big resort and we were also allowed to use that area and could pay for water activities if we wanted. Jamaica has lots of these gated communities - most of them on the beach front. It seems loads of tourists come here for sun, food and drink but spend 95% in the security haven of their resort. It is a shame really and the gap between rich and poor is very obvious to see as you are transported around the island.
We had a nice simple, and not too spicy lunch (we asked for mild and I could see we were viewed as lightweights). The sun beat down (28c) as we swam and rested and we also later lazed in the shade. All too soon it was pick up time and back to the ship with Clifton giving us more information on the island. Do you know that there are quite a few KFC restaurants on the island and they are extremely popular because they have they own version of the secret recipe plus use better quality chickens. Basically, Jamaicans view UK/US versions with contempt probably in the same way some in the UK view US chocolate!
Back on board we discovered Pamela is a true Brit abroad. Yes, she is a sunburnt lobster! She had applied sun cream but obviously not enough and the aftersun cream got its first outing. Mark’s shoulder blades are a bit red but he escaped lightly.
The ship had a sail away party on the open deck of the Aquarius Bar with all the Entertainment team members performing set dance routines - many of the Line Dancers joined them it seems. It was a lovely way to say goodbye to Jamaica as we glided slowly out of the bay.
We had a buffet dinner and saw the early show - 3 lady singers performing Motown hits. Then we finished the day with another silent disco - it was not very popular though Pamela doing the Macarena with Joanna (one of entertainment hosts) was a hoot.
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