Would you do Negril for a day?

It will be 35 years of wedded bliss for us in March. We decided to switch it up and take a cruise. By coincidence we will be docked 9am-6pm in Montego Bay on our anniversary. We are not finding anyting in Mobay that sounds even a likkle like our beloved Negril. We keep thinking Negril is soooo close. Then we think it's just to far ... for a day trip. The cruise line offers Negril Margaritaville and Rick's bus trip (the two places I hate the most) for $70pp.

Have any of you ever done Negril for a day? If so, did you hire a private driver? Or would you just make the most of Mobay and experince another part of JA?

Timm and Glenda

Do it...might be all it takes to make it your first stop...

do not waste your money ... get a cab 20.00 each get to negril ... go to WHITE SANDS 2 4 1 drinks and enjoy the beach ... just make sure the driver pics u up in time to board ...walk the beach and enjoy

I'd haven't done it but I'd do it. Contact a driver who advertises here, have them pick you up, make it a day doing what YOU want to do, not the usual tacky tourist stuff. If you know Negril, you know what to do, where to go. If you're so close & you love Negril... go!!! Everyone on the ship will be envious of you :cool:

My two cents......I think I would go for it even though you could make a nice day of it in Mobay if you research a bit. Regardless of where-- I would line up early to get off the ship as soon as allowed to start the day and give you the most time. I would do as suggested and hire a reliable driver to pick you up early - figure in 1 1/2 hours to Negril and same for return minimum. Get to a location you love and hang out and soak it all in - likely only about 4 hours (10-2) but hey its paradise right? Enjoy the ride both ways as all of Jamaica is sweet. Happy Anniversary and enjoy your trip.
:cool:

I would hop in a cab and head straight to negril. Pick one of your favorite areas of the beach to hang out at, swim etc. Order drinks and food and maybe even pick up some Biggas jerk chicken on the way back to the ship. Way better than Mobay in my opinion (and I have stayed in Mobay). Just get a good driver who will make sure to get you back to the ship on time. Ditch the cruise bus and people for the day.

I like Negril a lot, but I wouldn't spend that much of my one day in a car doing the round trip, leaving you about 5 hours in Negril. Taking the cruise tour bus means the ship won't leave without you; taking a private car means you need to leave yourself plenty of time to get back to the ship. Do something in MoBay. Check the MoBay message boards asking how to spend a day.

You could always take the bus to Margaritaville with the others then go where you want and go back to take the bus back to the ship

Like so many others I'd arrange for a taxi (for a whole lot less than$70 each!) and head to Negril!

Me personally I would use on island flight scheduled ahead of time and hang at Xtabi , jump a bit, swim, sit in the caves and soak up the vibes, go eat chicken lola at LTU stop by ricks and jump once or twice and peaceful as all getout board the plane to take me back to MoBay in total bliss.

Sweetness I've been looking and looking at the Mobay boards. Other than Doctor's Cave there was really nothing that interested us. OK maybe Scotchies but there is tons of great food on 7 mile.

I think we may go for it. Even if it's only 4-5 hours it's still Negril. Love Shelly's idea but I hate those little planes. I know Woody uses them all the time and he was telling me all the pros ... we like the drive anyway.

If I could find a private driver that I can trust to be at the pier when we arrive and a prompt pick up to return, I will go with him and be sure to try to get to Bigga's. Our "regular" Negril driver was just a little too unreliable our last reach so he is out. Otherwise we will bite the bullet and pay the $140 for ship transportation. It's easy to escape from Margaritaville and Ricks. So we will only be using it as guaranteed ship transportation.

By the way ... my wife informed me that was not the date of our Wedding Anniversary. !@#$%^&

Thanks for all the replies.

Timm

Timm, your last line cracked me up. LOL

Timm,

Go for it! My best friend in college and I once took a trip to MoBay because we were so obsessed with Jamaica and we got an EXTREMELY good deal on a package deal with airfare and room in MoBay and we took it. But we could not stand MoBay, we spent the entire time trying to get to Negril and the day that we finally went to Negril that was the best day of our whole trip. I have never stayed in MoBay again since even when I see all those killer package deals, I say no thanks!

There are tons of great drivers that will take you to Negril and get you back in time. Our good friend Chicken is very reliable www.chickensmagicbus.com
But of course there are many others, I don't think this will be a problem for you at all.
Go, and have fun!

We did "Negril for a day" for years before we ever stayed in Negril. It's not even an hour and a half each way, so why not? I'd also do my own thing transport-wise. However, if you go with the cruise people they guarantee getting you back to the boat on time, if that's important.

I'm think you can take their ride to M-ville then meet up with them at Rick's when it's time to go. $70 pp isn't all that bad for round trip. You'll save money and do what you want with your own taxi, of course.

There are a lot of cool things to do near MoBay - Duncans, for instance, has a lovely near-deserted white sand beach to enjoy, with a little rum bar/restaurant by the fishermen. No cruise people there, I'm sure.

But I also know that if you have the jones to go to Negril, you might as well because you'll wish you did all day :)

PS: If you are worried about reliability, just get a taxi on the street one way and then get a different one on the street to go back. Most any driver would be glad for the fare.

Our driver for at least the last 15 years handles many many people from the cruise ships besides the usual charter rides to Negril............... a ride to Negril would be no problem .............. one of the nicest family men around ............. need info email me ................ if he is trustworthy enough to drive our kids when they are in Jamaica etc.. etc....

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Originally Posted by Ti2m

It will be 35 years of wedded bliss for us in March. We decided to switch it up and take a cruise. By coincidence we will be docked 9am-6pm in Montego Bay on our anniversary. We are not finding anyting in Mobay that sounds even a likkle like our beloved Negril. We keep thinking Negril is soooo close. Then we think it's just to far ... for a day trip. The cruise line offers Negril Margaritaville and Rick's bus trip (the two places I hate the most) for $70pp.

Have any of you ever done Negril for a day? If so, did you hire a private driver? Or would you just make the most of Mobay and experince another part of JA?

Timm and Glenda

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We did this in October, I highly recommend it! I contacted our driver Rocky, we did Margeritaville, for swimming and enjoying the beach, did a little shopping than off to Ricks. The best thing was as a family of 5 our excursion was 200 bucks or so, if we had booked anything through the cruise it have been double that.
The funny thing was wherever we went there was an excursion bus from the cruise line. We did everything they did for half the cost but we had a private driver and a nice empty bus. So much more relaxing than if we had booked it through Carnival. I felt pretty smug LOL. We use Rocky, contact him and he can fill you in.

We ended up booking the Negril day trip Margaritaville and Rick's through the cruise line. That way the ship is responsible for any delays getting us back to Mobay and since I’m the kinda guy that would worry about what would happen if we missed the boat. Not that being stranded in JA would be that awful! We just felt that was well worth the $140 even thought it doesn’t offer us the flexibility of a personal driver.

I really do appreciate the driver suggestions and will keep them in mind for our next reach. Last time we were not too pleased with our driver. The first time we used him it was great. Second time … not so much.

Thanks again for all your responses. Can’t wait to spend Leap Day in beautiful Negril.

Timm

I understand but there were 5 of us and 70 adds up fast! I had no worries that Rocky wouldn't get us there on time, he is good people. And honestly if a cruise ship had to leave us somewhere it better be JA, lol.