We did Horseback Riding in Jamaica, along with Dunn's River Falls. It was the horseback riding that including the "Swim" in the ocean with the horses.
Chukka Horseback Ride and Swim with Dunn's River Falls and Lunch (FA16), 6 hrs, $141. 7:45-1:45(or without waterfall portion FA15 for $99)
https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...de-and-swim-with-dunns-river-falls-and-lunch/ Alternate Horseback, $70
http://www.bracostables.com/#_=_ Alternate Dunn’s River Falls, $60
http://www.cruiseshoreexcursionsjam...-excursions-dunn's-river-falls-ocho-rios.html
The bus ride was like 45 minutes, the tour guide talked to us a lot during the ride, this time about Jamaica. Ya Mon! And taught us how to be HI-RY (happy). We were told we could leave things locked up on the bus and that we would have a chance to change before the Swim with horses part, so I left my water shoes on the bus and kept my sneakers on for comfort during the horseback ride. (Big mistake! See below.)
At the horse ranch, they gave us all helmets that fit, and then paired us up with horses (about 40 people in our group). Because they were picking people they felt were appropriate for each horse as it came out, we were all out of order, but they were ready for that. The ride started on a circular dirt track, so that they could keep the horses walking (in circles) but pull people out of line and match them up with their group of friends/family. This also gave you an opportunity to get comfortable on your horse. Soon our group of 9 was all together. Then the real ride began. It was a nice wooded course, but it didn’t have the ocean views I thought we were promised. It was about 45 minutes, as advertised. But unfortunately, right at the end, BEFORE going back to the bus, they took us all through the water. So all our sneakers got soaked, while our water shoes were dry on the bus. Don’t know why they did that. THEN we got to go change our shoes before the real beach part.
The beach ride was Fantastic. Groups of 15 this time, different horses. And instead of a full saddle and stirrups it was more of a pad. What a bid difference a saddle makes! Not only is the horses spine much more obvious, but holding on and steering become much harder. Being without a saddle was more of an adjustment than being hip deep in the water. But it was great! Like an advanced course to see what we learned on the first ride. The guides were great, and we went out into the water pretty far, and the water came up to our waists and the horses necks at some points. Luckily the waves were non-existent, but we were basically in the ocean. My mother, who is about 70 slipped off her horse in the water, but the guides were there immediately to help her, and get her back on the horse. (Kudos to her for literally being willing to "get back on the horse!")
The guides were great and several times took our cameras, rode out in front of our group and took pictures of each person in our family as they rode past. So we got much better close ups of each person riding than we ever could have on our own.
After the ride, there was a lunch of jerk chicken. It was pretty good, but this was the one time of the whole week that antibacterial gel or wipes were not provided and probably the time we would have liked them the most. They also had alcoholic drinks and souvenirs available for purchase.
With the Falls, it took the whole day, about an hour or more longer than advertised. We had about an hour to check out the area near the port before the all aboard time, which was fine for us, but if someone expected a lot of free time after the excursion, they might have been disappointed.
