lol. Yes, Jaherring - definitely outnumbered. At least one person here understands what I'm saying...Originally Posted by Jaherring
I took a Carnival cruise 2 years ago that stopped at Ocho Rios. The cruise director warned people not to go past the gate at the port unless part of an organized tour. He said not to look the Jamaicans in the eye, because they will follow you and hassle/scare you into buying something. Didn't take his advice and went on our own to Dunn River Falls and found out why they tell people that on the ship. Think I'd rather walk around late at night in the scary part of Atlanta than do that again. Got into a shouting match and almost a fight with an idiot vendor who wouldn't leave my wife alone. Bought a video cd which was of some other day. Many people on the ship complaining about the same scam. The ship also stopped at Cozumel and Progreso, Mexico. No vendors bothered us there at all. We went to Grand Cayman. Nobody bothered us there.
Jamaica has a bad reputation because of the obnoxious vendors and deservedly so.
I come to Jamaica to relax on the beautiful beach, not to buy worthless trinkets and illegal drugs from obnoxious hustlers who won't leave you alone and have difficulty taking a polite NO for an answer. Think I'll stick to the all-inclusive resorts from now on and never go outside the gate.... Then the locals won't get any of the grand or so spending money that I normally drop while on a week's vacation...
But, alas... no one has really answered my question yet. Why to Jamaicans think that tourists (Americans, Canadians, Germans, or wherever) always need something when we're on their beach?
