We climbed the Dunn's River Falls and went to Bamboo Beach Club as a Princess tour and the latter was a bust. We picked this excursion because we wanted to climb the falls and swim in the ocean. I knew that the Club was near the ship so I thought we could maximize our time in the water BUT, FYI, you cannot swim in water two feet deep that is full of seaweed! SO, I cannot recommend this tour.
You get lunch at the beach club (food was OK) and the young girls serving it were nice. However, the only way a person could swim would be to go way down to the public beach which, when we were there, was overcrowded due to the Easter holiday week.
BTW, no one on our excursion stepped foot into the water. After lunch, we all walked back to the ship in disappointment.
However, as I often say, any 'bad' day on vacation is better than any 'good' day at home.
If you want to do the Falls (totally awesome, second time for us)and go swimming, and you want to do a ship excursion, try the one that goes to some gardens and then a beach. I heard that people actually swam there!
In Ocho Rios we went to Margaritaville located in the Island Plaza right by where the ships dock & they had a beach. Although we didn't swim it looked real nice. (They also had a small pool with a slide for the kids) We didn't go to Dunn's Falls that day but if we had there would have been plenty of time to do so. http://www.caribbeanportreviews.com/OchoRiosJamaica.htm
We just came back from a cruise on the Imagination and we went to Bamboo Beach Club in Jamaica. Out of all of the tours we did on our cruise, this was definitely the highlight. We thought the value was amazing - free food (a lot and very good), free drinks (my husband drank beer all day and I drank mojitos - strong, not watered down), excellent service, wonderful shows (very professional and gave a real taste of Jamaica). We sat on lounge chairs under these big almond trees and had a great time dancing and getting to know our hostess Shawna. We did go in the water to cool off and it went up to our shoulders. We're not such big swimmers, but it was plenty deep enough to swim in. Also, didn't notice any seaweed - maybe you were there after a storm or something. Anyway, this is the perfect place to hang out if you're just looking for someplace easy to relax and enjoy Jamaican hospitality.
Hi junglejim, welcome to Cruise-Chat. Thank you so much for your review. You might be right about the seaweed. There very well could have been a storm before the OP was there. Glad to hear your enoyed your cruise. Hope to see you select another, soon. Best wishes and once again, welcome aboard!