Restaurants & Bars along d'beach mon!

[slimjim]

Disrespectful? Are you kidding? Have you even been to Negril? Whatever an individual finds most convenient is the way to go. Your hotel is priced in U.S. dollars. Transportation from the airport is mostly quoted in U.S. Almost everything is priced in Jamaican and in U.S. Almost all the higher end restaurant menus are in U.S. And most smaller restaurant bills are presented in one currency and will have the conversion rate on the bill.
What is disrespectful however, is your comment about using Jamaican money in Tennessee.

[nicollet]

Wrong...it's disrespectful. Obvioulsy your not a very well travelled individual.

[Accompong]

Wrong...it's disrespectful. Obvioulsy your not a very well travelled individual.

Well, I know one thing that is pretty sure. All this works in Negril, MoBay, Ochi and other touristy areas but not so much in "country".

If you hand a shop owner in my area of St. Elizabeth a $20 US bill to purchase something, you will get some amount of Jamaican back (maybe) as most would have to make a rough guess or call someone who might know.

In 30+ years I have almost always used Jamaican Currency mostly out of necessity as I live in remote areas. Frankly, if places in Negril didn't make it easy for the non-initiated to spend their foreign currency, they probably wouldn't get as much business.

I live and work in a touristy area of So. Florida when not home in Jamaica and I almost never see anything other than US currency..... even from Jamaicans!

Just my opinion.

[Rob]

Wrong...it's disrespectful. Obvioulsy your not a very well travelled individual.

Nicollet,

No one in Negril, MoBay, Ochi, Port Antonio, Kingston, or nearly anywhere on the island will take disrespect if you use US$ currency. In fact, with the fluctuations in the JA$, many businesses are more than happy to receive US$. If they think you may be North American, you are very often asked by your cashier, "is this in US$ or JA$?'

Many of the bills on the POS systems at restaurants have multiple currencies listed so you can pay in the currency of your choice. I know this because I helped set many of them up. Obviously they are generally not giving the same rate as a cambio, but they do this not only for convenience but they also have to pay some of their bills in US$.

MegaMart actually has the best exchange rate of nearly any store, or cambio for that matter. That encourages payment in US$.

Although it may seem counter intuitive as most visitors home countries only expect payment in their home currency, Jamaica being a small island nation, much of what is needed to keep the island running is imported - steel, oil, foods, autos, etc. all need to be paid for in US$.

To all,

You are in no way disrespecting any business by paying in US$ or Canadian $ for that matter. Most if not all the businesses have a going rate for these currencies. Euros and British Pounds are a bit harder to exchange on the fly as most businesses have to find out what the going rate for these currencies.