Dunns Falls Feedback

[surfer_ed]

Heard from a coworker, recently back from a cruise (not DCL), that the pressure form locals at the actual falls site is significant. The Market was even worse.

She said they were solicited for everything from other tours, condos to drugs.

Taking my kids on the excursion there do I need to be concerned?

 

[jdb in AZ]

Heard from a coworker, recently back from a cruise (not DCL), that the pressure form locals at the actual falls site is significant. The Market was even worse.

She said they were solicited for everything from other tours, condos to drugs.

Taking my kids on the excursion there do I need to be concerned?

Just say no and move on. My DFIL was so offended by the Jamaican peddlers he said if he ever went on a cruise that included Jamaica again, he would just stay on the ship. It really depends on how much you want to see the falls. My kids (teens at the time) really had fun climbing the falls with their cousins.

Cruises visit a lot of impoverished countries, and the locals depend on the tourist dollars to make a living. It's up to you to be prepared to firmly say no -- they'll get the message -- or cave in to their sales pressure.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

We went on this tour. We didn't have any problem except on the way back to the bus. And even then, the tour guide on our bus warned us ahead of time what to expect and how to handle it.

They told us not to make eye contact, just keep looking at the ground ahead of you. Keep walking. Don't talk to them. Hold the hands of youngsters in your party, and whatever you do, don't take anything from them, shake their hands or go into their booths.

It is a shame that it had to be this way, and it did feel like running a gauntlet at the end, but the rest of the tour was great and didn't have any pressure.

Loved the falls. The guides at the falls offered to sell us video that they shot, but they took pictures with our cameras also and let us take our own pictures as well. They were very careful with the oldest and the youngest and helped them get up the falls. Very friendly.

The only person who was disappointed was my teen-aged mountain goat who wanted to bound up the falls like the guides did instead of staying on the path with us, but that was good practice in obedience for him too.

 

[scrapbookingpro]

I did the falls with my ten year old son. I hadn't read anything like what you heard before hand, or I admit I probably wouldn't have gone, but we did not experience any pressure from locals at all. We had a blast climbing the falls. The guides were great. My son absolutely loved it.

 

[grantclaire]

We are going on this excursion in 3 weeks and I am planning to bring very little cash with me as I will have a swimsuit or shorts and a small backpack. I would think most people are not going there to shop?

 

[bkfamilyof5]

We took our 4 (almost 5) and 7 yo daughters last year - we were staying at a resort in Jamaica not on a cruise. It was an amazing and fantastic day and I never once felt pressured. There were vendors, sure, but they aren’t obtrusive and we just shook our heads and kept walking, looking forward. It was fine. The climb was tough - dh stupidly insisted on carrying his cell
Phone which meant he had to hold it above his head in deep water and I had to carry both girls, but it was memorable and fun!

 

[DCSWO]

Do an internet search for it. You’ll see plenty of reviews of the attraction, many of which are negative. Search for tourist traps and it will come up as well. It’s a shame the government doesn’t keep the hawkers away.

 

[Main Street Matilda]

We were recently in Jamaica for a family vacation (not a cruise) and took our family to the falls. I'd been there before, during spring break in college, loved it and really wanted my family to experience the falls too. It was a great time. Were there people hawking you to buy junk? Sure. If they approached, we didn't make eye contact and said "we're not interested" before they came close. It was such a non-issue that I didn't even remember it until I saw this board.

The falls are a unique experience. The guides are usually very fun. It would be a shame to miss it just because you have some concerns about the locals. Just be smart, as you would in a large city.

 

[ADowling]

We did Dunn river falls in June. Not part of DCL but through our Sandals resort. The only sketchy area is the market. Our driver told us to NOT go into any tent. Just keep walking and you’ll be fine. Tell your kids ahead of time to not touch anything while walking.

 

[lorimay]

Be careful they try to hand you something and tell you its "free" then they follow you out and want cash.

Our tour guide warned us not to take anything from anyone don't make eye contact, just keep walking.

We loved Dunn's River Falls.

 

[cyclenut]

A few things to note.
1) Dunns River Falls is really fun. You literally hike up a rushing river.
2) While the falls may be natural, they have sprayed some sort of concrete along the bed of the river, likely to allow all the tourist traffic without the additional erosion it would cause.
3) It seems the guides are required, but there is nothing so complicated that you really need one. They will demand (yes demand) a tip when you are done.
4) There is a village of booths that you must walk through to get back to the bus. As was stated previously, do not take anything from them, let them touch you in any way or make eye contact. They are not belligerent, but they are persistent. The hair braids are the worst. If you stand for too long someone will start braiding and then they will not let go of the hair and will expect money. Not a place to stop and do your window shopping. Just keep going.
5) We also liked the green grotto caves (http://greengrottocavesja.com/). We did it with Royal Caribbean as a combo to Dunns River. It doesn't seem Disney offers that combo.
6) Since Disney docks at Falmouth, which is the same dock that Royal uses, know that there is about a one hour drive to get to the falls (than an hour back of course).

 

[kiford]

3) It seems the guides are required, but there is nothing so complicated that you really need one. They will demand (yes demand) a tip when you are done.

We did it with a guide and although they did indicate that they would appreciate a tip (who wouldn't!) we didn't feel that they demanded it. I did see several people doing it without a guide so it's possible. But we were with a DCL tour and it included a guide and personally I think it enhanced the experience. They knew where to walk, stopped a couple of times in the pools and showed people where they could slide down one little area and drop backwards into the water in another area so you got the most out of your time. I liked having them but it isn't critical if you don't really want one.

4) There is a village of booths that you must walk through to get back to the bus. As was stated previously, do not take anything from them, let them touch you in any way or make eye contact. They are not belligerent, but they are persistent. The hair braids are the worst. If you stand for too long someone will start braiding and then they will not let go of the hair and will expect money. Not a place to stop and do your window shopping. Just keep going.

It's a bit easier with a larger group because you sort of keep together and just walk past them. We weren't really approached or harrassed; we just walked past them without stopping (we were also heading onto the second part of our tour to the bobsleds so no one really had time to stop). I've been hassled by people when we were on our Med cruise in Turkey and in Tunis who were significantly much more aggressive and even there we just either ignored them, shook our heads, said no, held up a hand, kept walking, didn't make eye contact, didn't respond, etc. It's not like they're not used to it. Most will simply move onto the next person.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

We were recently in Jamaica for a family vacation (not a cruise) and took our family to the falls. I'd been there before, during spring break in college, loved it and really wanted my family to experience the falls too. It was a great time. Were there people hawking you to buy junk? Sure. If they approached, we didn't make eye contact and said "we're not interested" before they came close. It was such a non-issue that I didn't even remember it until I saw this board.

The falls are a unique experience. The guides are usually very fun. It would be a shame to miss it just because you have some concerns about the locals. Just be smart, as you would in a large city.

That's a great way to think of it. A whole wonderful day, and a couple of minutes of unpleasantness at the end. I look at the pictures we took and listen to the stories my sons and my nieces tell of that day, and they are always great stories of the climb and the view and the pools, never of getting back to the bus at the end. I really wouldn't miss the trip if it is the kind of thing that sounds good to you just for that bit at the end. I do wish they'd do more to clean it up, though.

 

[shellymo]

We just went on Friday. It was a blast and the guides are extremely helpful! I had no problem tipping them and think with any tour a tip is customary. They made sure we made it to the top safely and created fun along the way. Our guide from the bus met us at the end and told us to just walk through without speaking to the market vendors and it went smoothly. I wouldn't miss the trip just for the end walk through. Our table mates went into Falmouth without being on a tour. They said it was much more aggressive with the locals trying to sell them items, etc. I felt more comfortable at this port to do the Disney excursion. Last year at Grand Cayman we did an independent tour and felt comfortable.

 

[Ravenne]

We did the shark swim ending at Dunn River Falls through DCL, and didn't have any sort of sales pressure at all. We met up with a guide who stayed with us all day through both legs of the excursion, and while she did drop not so subtle hints regarding tipping throughout the day, it wasn't bad enough that it ruined anyone's fun. More along the lines of "woe...I'm a broke college student trying to get off this island" kind of thing, and by then we knew tipping was gold on excursions. We had kids with us too, and never felt unsafe. After the shark encounters, we stopped for complimentary coffee and rum samplings, but there wasn't pressure to buy anything. They were proud of their wares, for sure, and of course they wanted people to buy, but not pushy. Dunn River Falls was a BLAST. We had so much fun. Our guide up the falls (different from the guide that followed us around) was a smaller statured woman, and total bada$$, climbing up it barefoot, and even hauled some heavy set, out of shape adults up the steepest parts. She was pretty amazing. We tipped her well at the end, and she was grinning ear to ear with the most infectious smile. I felt we were well taken care of all along the way.

The market at the port, while bigger than Nassau, I felt we had less pressure than the Straw Market in Nassau. We didn't even go into the Straw Market, walking straight through and got stopped at least 3 times. A simple, "no, thank you" does the trick. The market in Jamaica was busy, but mostly a non issue. We even stopped to pop into Tortuga's for rum cake, and stood around for a bit, and no one approached us.

 

[grantclaire]

What would be an acceptable tip for a Dunn's River guide? Thanks

 

[adamsclan]

The falls guides are fine--awesome really. One guide helped my youngest up the rough parts, even carrying her a few times. It is the booth area that you have to walk thru. We were given instructions by our tour bus guide, "Do not tell them your name or they will carve it onto something quickly and bring it out to the tour bus, claiming that you ordered the item and did not pay for it. Do not let them "give" something to your child or they will claim they stole it." People were pretty much trying to shove jewelry onto us. I finally told one man "BACK OFF!" and they left us alone. My family really liked the falls climb though.

 

[tlprice]

At the time we went to Dunn's river falls, my daughter was a little bothered by the market at the end. That was a little over a year ago. At this point I don't even think she remembers that part. Dunn's river falls is the excursion she talks about most and would most love to do again of all of the excursions we've done. The funny thing is that we weren't even supposed to do it. Our other excursion was cancelled so we ended up changing to this. Our guide up was really great. He made it a lot of fun.