If you are wanting to come down...

[EdmontonGuy]

I love haggling. I don't do it to be cheap, I do it as sort of a game. Ill haggle someone down with aggression, and they typically give them what they were originally asking for. I feel I won the game by getting them from i.e. $18 down to $10-$11, but give them the $18 so everyone is a winner. Providing of course I don't overpay.
I don't have much respect for $ unfortunately, and this works well for those who treat me well.

How sad for you.

[TuffGong]

How sad for you.

I do the same as John, don't see anything wrong with it.

One time I was on the beach, first trip overseas. Did not bring a beach towel as I planned on buying one there. Guy said $15, I said $10, he said deal. I was so proud of myself, look at me, haggling with the best of them. Five minutes later same vendor, same towel, was sold to a girl five feet from me for $5. Vendor looked at me and smiled...

[Accompong]

I do the same as John, don't see anything wrong with it.

One time I was on the beach, first trip overseas. Did not bring a beach towel as I planned on buying one there. Guy said $15, I said $10, he said deal. I was so proud of myself, look at me, haggling with the best of them. Five minutes later same vendor, same towel, was sold to a girl five feet from me for $5. Vendor looked at me and smiled...

How sad for the girl 5 feet from you.

[stephintexas]

We all know that the borders are open because Jamaica needs to keep the economy going. The government would have never done that if it was not in every Jamaicans best interest. They are keeping the protocols flexible in order to keep everyone safe from Covid which is posing problems and issues for our visitors. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Because of the complete closure of the tourism industry in March, which accounts for approximately 20% of the foreign exchange and the declining remittances (16%), the foreign exchange being held by the Bank of Jamaica has dropped to the point that the Jamaican dollar is at its lowest value in history. With the current bank rate at J$150 to US$1, this is creating a desperate situation for the entire country.

Since Jamaica relies on imports, especially for oil and food stuffs, the price of everything is going up substantially. Things will only get worse unless we can increase our foreign exchange. Which is where you come in.

If you are wanting to come down, please do. Stay at the smaller resorts that are offering some great incentives right now. Feel free to tip in cash, while bringing down gifts are nice, everyone needs foreign currency at the moment much more than perfumes or shoes. That will be the only way to stop the slide of Jamaican dollar.

Unfortunately we're getting tourists here that are being quite demanding. A recent example was demanding discounts on everything, not tipping, even refusing to pay the service charges and taxes on the bills. With the local economy being what it is, please don't nickle and dime everything. If you can afford to come here now, we need your support, not to be taken advantage of at every opportunity.

So please, if you are wanting to come down, we are welcoming you! We need your support now more than ever.

Hi Rob, I'm a newcomer to the forum, but long-time visitor to Jamaica. We're heading to Negril tomorrow and curious if the beaches are still closed and I read your post about the corridor being reopened. What area does that include. We're staying at Catcha Falling Star, next to Rick's and wanted to find out if we'll be able to leave the property to go out to dinner, or are we mandated to stay at the resort. So happy I found your forum and look forward to your response. Stephanie Inge - Dallas, TX

[Rob]

Hi Rob, I'm a newcomer to the forum, but long-time visitor to Jamaica. We're heading to Negril tomorrow and curious if the beaches are still closed and I read your post about the corridor being reopened. What area does that include. We're staying at Catcha Falling Star, next to Rick's and wanted to find out if we'll be able to leave the property to go out to dinner, or are we mandated to stay at the resort. So happy I found your forum and look forward to your response. Stephanie Inge - Dallas, TX

Great to have you join us! The Long Bay Beach is open, just the Norman Manley Beach Park is closed. It is the beach area by the community centre and craft market.

You are allowed to leave the resort and visit Covid Resilient certified properties. Within the last hour the JTB website has added their attractions listing, more places are added all the time so keep checking the listing.

Scroll down near the bottom for listing.

https://www.visitjamaica.com/travelauthorization/

[stephintexas]

Rob, thanks so much for the warm welcome!! I appreciate the information and update on current state of COVID-19 in Negril

Hope we don't get rain all day every day while we're there. Crossing my fingers!

Kindest regards,

Stepanie Inge

[Bnewb]

Stephintexas....
It's not an easy decision to travel right now...but it wasn't an easy decision for Jamaica to open her borders either.
Jamaica is doing the best they can & so far have done an incredible job keeping their tourism areas very low in the number of Covid cases.

You're going to have a beautiful vacation (albeit a bit quiet)...and you'll be spoiled rotten with the excitement everyone offers you....thankful someone is there helping out the economy a wee bit...❣️

[ukran1ans]

So Rob,

There are some hotels on the 'Hotel List' that I like to visit for their restaurant or Bar (Like Coco La Palm, LTU... etc) but they're not on the 'Attraction list'. Can I technically still visit them for a meal or happy hour? (Unfortunately, some favs like Alfreds or Roots are on neither list).

[Rob]

Good question. Since the JTB website states "Only businesses within the Corridor that have been trained and assessed for adherence to COVID-19 protocols are allowed to open to tourists.", this would seem to imply yes.

The current listing for Attractions are the Covid trained and certified ones. I think this might be the original list because I don't see some properties that were on the previous updated list before it was removed. They may be using the list that was "backed up ".

Look for more places to be added.

[Irine]

I love haggling. I don't do it to be cheap, I do it as sort of a game. Ill haggle someone down with aggression, and they typically give them what they were originally asking for. I feel I won the game by getting them from i.e. $18 down to $10-$11, but give them the $18 so everyone is a winner. Providing of course I don't overpay.
I don't have much respect for $ unfortunately, and this works well for those who treat me well.

That's funny. We do this all the time for fun too. Get them down in price and then give them what they originally asked for. They usually get a laugh out of that.