We just returned from a 1 week visit to the beautiful island of Jamaica and were shocked to find some of the nicest people in the caribbean after everything we have read. We stayed at the renaissance and i would be happy to answer any ?'s. We shopped downtown, swam with the dolphins at DOLPHIN COVE, clibed Dunn's River Falls and river rafted and tubed on the White River. We were very sorry to have to come home!!!!

Would you consider getting married at the Jamaica Grande? I am hearing horror stories about Jamaica from many people. A friend of mine told me he went to a wedding at the Jamaica Grande and loved it. What is your opinion?

Can you give some details about swimming with the dolphins? Is it a tourist attraction or a natural setting?

hi there, yes there were alot of weddings while we were there. some with guests and some just the couple. They take pictures by the waterfall pool and throughout the resort. There is a beautiful like orchid house where they get married and where your meal is served. It seemed really wonderful. At night you can walk downtown and dance at some of the local bars. <BR> <BR>As far as the dolphins go the swim with program is the best. The touch was alot of money and i did not think really worth it. They are trying to make it so you will spend the day there it was not fully operational yet they had just opened. The dolphins are in the ocean surrounded only by a breakwater so it is pretty natural. Actually they were hoping eventually they can leave and come back and i think if you really had a curious smart one he could jump right out. My husband enjoyer t the most and he was the least excited. The dolphins themselves are from Mexico. The people that own it are very nice. I would be happy to answer any other questions!

Would you recommend the Renaissance Grande to a twenty Four year old couple?

debbie, is dunn's fall worth it? i heard a lot of good thing about the falls and also travel guide says it's very touristy. i'll take take a day tour with chef &amp; libby at ocho rios. have you heard of them?

In my opinion it's worth visiting Dunn's River Falls once, but try to do it when there are the fewest possible cruise ships in port.

I am very glad to hear the positive comments. We have stayed at the JG 3 times and loved it. And your experience with the people mirrors ours. I hope the Jamaica bashers stay away at let us folks who like it enjoy ourselves. Think that is too much to ask? Irie mon! Larry.

Dunn's is really beautiful but when it's crowded (when cruise ships are in or a large tour from one of the resorts is there) it's a little less fun.

If you go with Chef he ought to be able to hook you up so you don't have to hold hands with a daisy chain of strangers....he'd also know when the ships are in.

If you're going to Jamaica you have to do the falls. However, I felt unsafe because I was in a &quot;daisy chain&quot; of people that went from the bottom of the falls all the way to the top and as the people stumbled their way up I was tossed around quite a bit and even lost a contact lens. I took a bus trip that left from my hotel which, I know you hate to hear it, was scary to say the least. They took us to a market where I was literally dragged from booth to booth by the &quot;merchants&quot; and on the way to the falls we made a pit stop where we were convinced to buy water shoes because the falls would damage our sneakers. When we got to the falls, we were the only ones wearing water shoes. I smell a kick back. The whole thing seemed shady to me. Even during my stay at the hotel which was surrounded by barbed wire (nice tropical touch), some odd balls got in and one popped up in the water right in front of me while I was snorkeling and proceeded to show me his private parts. Say what you want, I will never go back. And I haven't even touched on all the weird things that happened!

ZEEWEE - where did you stay? Find it hard to beleive that you were the only ones wearing water shoes at Dunn's River. I thought that was more the norm.

Doesn't Dunn's rent water shoes??

Yes.. You can either buy or rent water shoes at Dunns River Falls. YOu can also climb by yourself, or pay $$ to a tour guide to take you up.

To me ZW seems hard to believe. That is this exposure episode was NOT one of the weird things that happened. Does that mean there were other events even more strange? Sounds contrived to me. How many weird things like that happen to someone in a lifetime, let alone a week in Jamaica. Ya mon.

I've heard water SOCKS are better for Dunn Falls than water shoes. Would you agree? I've heard they fall off less.

Also...we are coming from a cruise ship to Dunn River Falls. We would like to avoid the drug and prostitution offers. Are those around Dunn River Falls? What is the safest way to get from port to Dunn River Falls? Are taxis safe?

I've been to JA several times and never been given a prostitution offer Drugs yes (thought not when my kids are with me and frankly, my husband has long hair so I understand why they might think we'd be interested).

FOr your cruise stop I recommend contacting a local driver/guide such as Chef Thompson at www.sealawncoralbeach.com (tour page) or Carolyn Barrett at barrettadventures.com - both regularly take out cruise ship passengers and are reliable, safe and friendly and can design a day for you that lets you see what you are interested in seeing, both can offer additional suggestions by email beforehand.