I’m three days into my latest cruise on the Carnival Horizon, and I’m back in a familiar place after being here just two weeks ago: Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Now, I’ll be honest and say this is definitely in my top three worst cruise ports. I haven’t yet decided whether it gets the number one slot or not, because there are a few factors at play here.
Ocho Rios is, in fact, a very popular destination, with many people visiting Dunn’s River Falls, a beautiful spot with waterfalls you can climb and clear water to swim in. There is a dedicated cruise port with a large shopping area and convenient access to the city center. However, this cruise port is currently not being used.
In February of this year, a rapidly approaching storm with high winds caused the Carnival Magic to slam into the dock while she was berthed. This caused extensive damage to the pier and significantly impacted the local economy.
While some cruise traffic, such as the Nieuw Amsterdam two weeks ago and the Carnival Horizon this week, is berthed at the nearby Reynolds Pier, many cruise lines have opted to divert to Falmouth or Montego Bay, as Reynolds cannot accommodate many of the larger ships.
The problem with the Reynolds Pier—or the James Bond Pier, as it’s also known thanks to its cameo in the Bond flick Dr. No—is that it’s a good 15-minute walk to the main cruise port and city center. It’s also an industrial pier, so there are no amenities here at all.
There are only a few merchants selling souvenirs because there simply isn’t any room for them. The ones that are here are extremely pushy and rude. Once you exit the terminal, you’re harassed beyond belief by taxi drivers, tour operators, street beggars, johns pushing prostitutes, and, of course… drug dealers.
While berthing at the Reynolds Pier is not optimal for passengers at all, it’s even worse for the local economy, which is suffering due to the lack of cruise ships calling on the main cruise port. Many visitors don’t even venture down there, as they’re immediately turned off by the high-pressure tactics of the locals.
What’s even worse is that the main pier is not scheduled to be back in service until June 2025 at the earliest. The challenge will be getting cruise lines that moved ships to Falmouth and Montego Bay to come back to Ocho Rios once the pier reopens.
Not wanting to experience the disaster that awaits outside the ship and go through what I went through with the locals two weeks ago, I decided to spend the day onboard. I didn’t even go out for my usual selfie!
Port Day Breakfast and Lunch Offerings
Since it’s a port day, an express breakfast was offered in the main dining room for those looking to grab something quick before heading out. For those wanting a little more variety, breakfast was also being served in the Lido buffet, as well as breakfast burritos at Blue Iguana.
At lunchtime, the usual spots were open: Guy’s Burgers, Seafood Shack, Blue Iguana for tacos and burritos, the pizzeria, deli, and the Lido buffet. Cucina del Capitano was offering a create-your-own pasta bowl, and Ji Ji Asian Kitchen was serving up a Mongolian Wok menu.
Evening Activities
Once everyone was back onboard and started prepping themselves for a night around the ship, the Captain made a ship-wide announcement saying that we would be entering an area with high winds and large sea swells, so be prepared for some rough seas throughout the night until we reached our next port of call, Grand Cayman.
It wasn’t long after that announcement that it became very apparent we were in for a rough night!
For the evening entertainment, there was no production show in the ship’s main theater. The “big event” was the Deal or No Deal game show, where a lucky contestant has the opportunity to win cash or go home empty-handed. Game cards are sold prior to the show so guests can play along and have the opportunity to win cash or a free cruise.
Along with Deal or No Deal, the regular Carnival lineup of entertainment was on tap, including musical acts in various bars and stand-up comedians.
Before heading to dinner, I decided to test my luck once again in the casino. This time, I picked a machine, dropped a hundred bucks in it, and had a bit of luck, turning that into a little over $500 in a short amount of time. However, after about an hour of playing, it all went back in, and I walked out empty-handed.
Robbery without a gun.
Dinner at Ji Ji Asian Kitchen
Speaking of dinner, here’s a look at what was being served in the ship’s main dining room.
While I waited for my travel companion to finish up in the casino—because he had way better luck than I did—I headed over to the steakhouse bar for a pre-dinner cocktail.
We debated where to go for dinner and settled on Ji Ji Asian Kitchen, a $24-per-person specialty restaurant located on Deck 12. The menu features various dishes from different parts of Asia, served family-style.
We didn’t have a reservation but were accommodated immediately as we were the only people in the restaurant at the time. The motion of the ocean was quite evident all the way up on the top decks of the ship, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying our meal.
We started with chicken spring rolls and Nanjing-style duck. The spring rolls were your typical ones you’d probably find in the freezer section of your local supermarket, while the duck was tender, flavorful, and served with equally good bean fritters topped with shredded veggies.
For entrées, we went with an old standard, Kung Pao Chicken, and the Master Stock Pig. Both were good choices, with the chicken being on par with, say, P.F. Chang’s. The more unique dish was the pig, which comes out covered in greens. When peeled away, they reveal tender chunks of pork in a rich brown sauce. While there were four generous pieces of pork, one piece was completely fat.
For dessert, we both went with the crepes, which were served frozen with a scoop of citrus ice cream.
While it’s not the best restaurant on the ship, it offers a pretty solid meal, and the service was excellent. Our server reminded us several times that they are open for lunch as well, which makes me think this out-of-the-way spot is underutilized but a nice spot to get away for a quiet, unrushed meal.
A Rough Night
After dinner, I wandered around a bit before heading back to my room, where, once I put my head on the pillow, the motion of the ship was very prevalent. Throughout the night, I got up a few times with things banging as the ship bobbed and weaved. A few times, closet doors opened on their own and slammed shut, but that only made the night more interesting.
We arrive in Grand Cayman—waves permitting—at 8 a.m., with tender service ashore starting shortly thereafter. More tomorrow, and as always, thanks for following along.
FunTimes for Day 3:
The Fun Times for December 3, 2024 can also be downloaded as a PDF by clicking here.