Jbiezek,
Now your situation is starting to make sense. Since you ask "so what are our choices?" I think it would be best to help and try to clear the confusion for you.
Rocky, as mentioned here on Negril.com is a tour operator. His primary service is to provide airport transportation and private tours of the island, not making short runs in Negril. He does offer this service as a convenience for his clients, and it is provided at his rates. His classification of tour operator had not been addressed so far in this discussion as I read. We have been discussing primarily the differences in route taxis and charter taxis, not tour operators.
For everyday getting around Negril, I suggest using the charter taxi services available pretty much all over. Charter taxis are nearly any red plated vehicles not designated as a Route Taxi. These charter taxis can found be sitting in front of the hotels, at bars and restaurants and even found driving the roads of Negril.
Most offer very competitive rates as there are many of these drivers looking for your business. Their rates are negotiable, and they will provide spot to spot and even door to door service without calling a tour company. For an example, from Travellers to HiLo, the route taxi rate is js$400 (or us$5) per couple. A charter taxi would be able to do that same run for between us$5 and $10 and would wait for you if you would want them to while you purchase supplies. A taxi running a route would not do this without you chartering them, but then they are acting as a charter taxi, not a route taxi.
