Year 5, Day 83, “Living the Dream”. Tuesday, 7/22/2025 DAY 6 of 29 day Florida, Caribbean, SeaWorld and Disney World trip. – Day 4 of 6 night Adventure of the Seas Western Caribbean and Perfect Day. A Falmouth, Jamaica day. We are up early at breakfast by 6:30am with a lot of other passengers. I sat by the window as we pulled into Port.
The last time we were here was in January, 2023 on Wonder of the Seas. Here’s a link to that day. Living the Dream Year 2 Day 273 – Day 5 of 14 (Falmouth, Jamaica) on Wonder of the Seas – Deestimes – Make every step of the journey count https://share.google/SI4gYDZOVlEs3hZZF Today we are doing The Ultimate Bamboo Rafting Experience excursion. We booked this in advance through Royal. The cost was $155.98 for both of us. That included tax. Today you would pay $104.00 each before tax. Always book your excursions prior to your cruise and watch the specials. I had heard good things from others about this excursion. We will be taking a thirty foot raft down the Martha Brae River. We ate breakfast and headed off the ship to meet for our excursion. Before getting off the ship we grabbed two towels. You use your room key card to secure the towels for the day. There is no charge as long as you return them before the end of the cruise.
We walked through the port past a fountain, many stores and craft vendors to our excursion meeting point. In this port there are lots of beautiful handcrafted wood items for sale.
We were loaded on a small bus and headed off at 8:30am. The seat belts were tied up so you could not use them.
They drive on the left side and the roads we took were narrow and winding. There is lots of garbage on the sides of the roads. The fastest man in the world was born in Falmouth. The fastest man in the world is generally considered to be Usain Bolt, a retired Jamaican sprinter. As we drive Mangrove trees line the roads. The largest English-speaking country in the Caribbean by population is Jamaica.
The tour guide on the bus sold us Mosquito repellent band for $5.00 a package. The bugs can be bad in a rain forest.
It was about a 15 minute drive to Rafters Village in the parish of Trelawny. The village is home to souvenir shops, vendors, a bar, and a herb garden.
After they had allotted sufficient time for shopping we provided life vests and boarded our 30 foot raft. There were two people to a raft and a guide. The process took a while because they spaced the rafts leaving in order to give more trip privacy. The seat was a low seat, but was not that uncomfortable.
Our raft guide worked barefoot and used a long bamboo pole to push us off the river bank. The guide used this pole to propel us as we meandered down the river for three miles. It was just us and the quiet of the river. Our raft captain Eric was informative and friendly. The guides stop before finishing the trip and try to sell their handmade crafts to you. We told him $20.00 tip or we buy your craft. I told him, if I was you I would take the tip. lol. He agreed.
He did stop the raft and had us take our life jackets off for some nice pictures.
The ride was very tranquil, romantic, and relaxing. You are surrounded by rainforest and lush greenery as you float along. Martha Brae River has a length of 20 miles and maintains an average depth of 4 feet. There are no snakes or alligators/crocodiles on the river. The mongooses eat the snakes.
The excursion was supposed to be over three hours, but it was only about two hours. At the end of the trip, they took the bamboo rafts. They loaded them on a trailer to bring back up river to the starting point for more customers.
This experience is a must-do while you are in Jamaica. This was absolutely the best excursion I have ever been on. In the afternoon we had drinks by the pool. Lots of kids and very crowded.
Dinner Menu – A taste of the Caribbean
Cruise Compass for Day 4:
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/4f2f0Zc Miracles-Grows Water Soluble All Purpose Plant Food: I use this monthly on all my inside plants. It is amazing how green and luscious they look after a nice feeding. They are glowing happy full plants. Steve does the outside ones also, but not as often.
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