The Old Bait & Switch in Montego Bay, Jamaica

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I had heard mixed reviews about Jamaica. I had heard that it’s beautiful. That it’s dangerous. That people are everywhere trying to get you to buy drugs. And, I’d heard that the beaches are amazing! But, what really happened during our port stop in Montego Bay? Today, I will share with you our experience and The Bait & Switch in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

For the record, no one in our group was approached and offered drugs, but that doesn’t mean that everything went according to my plan. For this adventure, we were traveling with our son, who had recently graduated high school, his friend, our 15 year old daughter and my husband’s parents. A great and diverse travel group.

The Path of a Worrier

I don’t hide the fact that I am an anxious person. Despite my worrying ways, I absolutely LOVE to travel.  I deal with this by planning.  Planning usually helps calm me and makes me feel prepared instead of feeling anxious. And, it works, most of the time!

So, based on everything I had read, Jamaica was a place where a plan was needed! Apparently the taxi drivers were known for talking people into a “tour” that maybe they didn’t necessarily want to go on. I tried to heed that warning. Generally speaking, we are not a group that loves touring islands in a van.

“The Plan” for Montego Bay, Jamaica.

This was the first time any of us had been to Jamaica and many of the cruise line sponsored excursions included a two hour trip in order to get to that excursion.  So, we opted to plan something where we could spend more time enjoying the area of Montego Bay and less time… in a van. This goal of mine will become humorous later.

We were going to take a quick taxi to Dr. Caves Beach and  spend some time walking around that area. The plan was to end up at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville for a cocktail and to let the boys check out the water slide. Simple enough…and we could see Margaritaville from the ship. Bonus for safety, right?!

I had it all planned out.

Then it happened –

When we left the ship, we ended up in a line of people waiting for transportation. We told the person who was funneling people into taxi vans “Dr. Caves Beach, please”. She ushered us into the van, along with 6-7 other people and told the driver “beach”. Once we left the port area, the very charismatic driver pulled over and asked everyone if they wanted to go to the beach. Everyone responded “yes”.

The driver, enthusiastically explained that he loved “his Jamaica” and for just a few dollars more (actually $9 more) he would take us all to a better beach but after showing us “his Jamaica”. He would also take us for special price shopping, give us a tour, wait with us at the beach and return us safely to our ship. It was at that point I knew that we would not be going to Dr. Cave’s Beach. 

And this is what those of us with a marketing degree call, “The Old Bait & Switch” in Jamaica.

We had been baited by the promise of the van taking us to the beach we chose.  We were switched into a much higher priced tour, with very few exit options.  I began to panic. This was not the plan. Did we even bring enough cash? I was planning on a $7 beach entrance not a $15-20 tour (plus tip, times 7 of us, plus the beach admission fee, oh…carry the one…ahh).

But, as evident by me writing this post, we survived.

Here’s how this “tour” played out –

We first toured an area that he said was his neighborhood. He explained how people built their homes and how they got loans for each small part. People would work on a portion, add on, etc.  It was interesting and hopefully gave our children an appreciation for their own cushy existence.

Next stop was at a school that was hosting a summer day camp. The children were adorable and more than willing to have their picture taken.  Although, I don’t feel right about posting a picture of other people’s children here. I will post a picture of our crazy crew.

After the school we went to a large souvenir shop where our driver gave us a sticker to receive a special discount. You believe that right? There were a large quantity of Rated R ash trays at this shop.  The kids settled on a t-shirt each and we moved on.  Tip:  If you have young children you may want to be careful when souvenir shopping in Jamaica.  It may have been specific to this one but there were a lot of items for mature audiences.

Finally, after a little more touring and a few verses of Bob Marley’s “One Love” we ended up at the beach. Not Dr. Caves Beach…but a beach. (Price not included in the “tour” fee). We sampled the local Red Stripe Beer and spent a couple of hours at the beach.

Our driver picked us up at the beach and took us to the main area of town to go to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. The boys hopped on the waterslide and the rest of us enjoyed a few minutes of fun music and a Margarita. We were there for about a half hour and then we loaded back into the van and back to the ship.

As we were walking out of Margaritaville our son said, “Why didn’t we just spend the day here?” Well, that would’ve been more economical!

Surviving the Old Bait & Switch in Montego Bay, Jamaica

At the end of the day, it all worked out. True, things certainly didn’t go according to my plan. And, we certainly had a little less cash in our pocket at the end of the day. But, we were all together and enjoyed our time.

I was out of my comfort zone but I guess I need that sometimes. Isn’t that how we grow? I think the worrier in me just doesn’t like to be surprised by costs and things like that. If someone had said, hey there is this great tour you should sign up for, it’s $25 a person, I might have said that it sounds like a great plan! I know sometimes I need to be a little bit more flexible but other times I need to be more comfortable standing up and saying, no thank you, this is not what we asked for.

TIP: If you are in a similar situation and you really want out. Tell the driver as soon as possible that the rest of your group was funneled into another taxi and that you are meeting them at a specific location. You are unable to call them and tell them that you are changing the plan. Tell the taxi driver that if he can’t take you to that specific location he/she needs to get you to another another taxi. Better yet, instead of climbing into the van, speak directly with the driver BEFORE you enter. This is easier said that done because there is usually someone trying to quickly get vans filled and on to the next. I actually  knew of the “speak directly with the driver before entering” suggestion before our trip and I just climbed right into the van.  Duh!

You can read more about this cruise vacation here and what I carried on board with me here.

Do you worry when you travel or get overwhelmed? Does planning help you? Have you been in a situation where you immediately knew you should have handled the situation differently? Please comment below.

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Happy Travels!

Jillian