One month ago, I changed course from Miami Carnival and decided on a bit of a whim to travel to Ocho Rios, Jamaica for the Heroes Weekend parties.

Did you read my planning guide yet? It was perfectly doable — last minute planning and all — and cost under $1000 for a (super quick) weekend getaway. Here’s my review.

Rock the Boat Cruise

Type: All Inclusive Cruise

Price: $80

Location: Ocho Rios Pier

Review: This boat ride was pretty well executed. Although it left about an hour late, the wait was made better by the plates of food I ate on shore before boarding and the quick service at the bar on the catamaran. The Red Bull that was available on the dock was so necessary because I was running on 3 hours of sleep, having arrived in Montego Bay that afternoon.

The catamaran was big, with three levels and plenty of space for the patrons. My favorite part about the cruise - about the entire weekend really - was the musical diversity at every party I attended. The DJs made sure the vibes were maintained at a high throughout the evening, switching genres effortlessly and encouraging crowd participation.

Wotlessness was the name of the game once the sun set and the boat lights were dimmed - wining in the corner, splits on the floor, everyone getting nasty up. It was so fun.

Will I Go back? In a heartbeat.

Rating: 4/5

Foreplay

Type: Premium All Inclusive

Price: $135

Location: Pearly Beach

Review: Where to start? This is the type of all inclusive I stand behind and will gladly pay good money for.

This was the best party of the weekend. I was at Foreplay for a full 7 hours and I DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE. We left because drunkenness but I think the party still had about an hour or two of life yet.

The short shuttle ride from the car park was convenient to get to the entrance of the party, instead of walking all the way there. As we walked in, we were offered a cup of vodka cranberry and shots. The decor at the entrance and within the party were pretty and well done. Great for photo ops.

Drinks: There were several bars spread throughout the venue - I counted four but I think there were more. They had everything I was in the mood to drink - Hennessy, Johnnie Walker, rum cream and more of course.

The Frenchmen hostesses weaved through the crowds giving out Patron shots and I had…several 🥴.

Food: There was lots of food and several cuisines. I ate my fill throughout the fete. I said I was there for 7 hours? The food did not run out! I had plates upon plates, and actually got full. But I wanted more because it was so good…and if I was there for that additional hour I would have had more LOL.

Music/Vibes: LIT! It took a bit of time to build up because everyone was stuffing themselves, taking photos before sundown and drinking before the bars filled up. However, as is expected, when the dancehall played it was on! That was when the party was most alive naturally! We’re in Jamaica duh. However, the DJs played a plethora of music across genres - soca, hip hop, pop, afrobeats, rock and country (if you count Lol Nas X hehe).

The excitement bubbled over when the fireworks exploded in the sky. It was so beautiful and in my happy-drunken stupor, I had to thank the stars that I was there in that moment and not in my bed.

Don’t miss this one!

Will I Go back? YESSSSS I did not want to leave.

Rating: 5/5

Ciao

Type: Brunch and Mimosas Inclusive

Price: $50

Location: Unknown, somewhere in St. Ann

Review: This party has so much potential and I was pretty disappointed not to see it realized. As the only (that I know of) fete in Ocho Rios on Heroes Day, the turnout of this party should have been a no brainer. However, the series of issues I experienced/observed made it a fete I will likely not return to.

Timing: Ciao was advertised as being from 10am - 6pm. Therefore, naturally when we arrived at 12:30pm when we thought the party would be getting into full swing. I was patron number 14. Good news: no waiting around for photos, food and drinks! Bad news: the party was pretty much dead until around 4pm when we planned to leave.

Here are some considerations for improvement:

Change the hours of the party. This party may find its legs if they change the timing to a later time in the day. I can imagine people slept in, especially if they attended Foreplay (and the other other events) the previous night) and relaxed before going to their last party of the weekend.
A hype man and better DJs. A hype man and an actual DJ may - and that’s a big maybe - have energized the few people in attendance at the beginning. Instead we were stuck staring at our drinks and listening to a pre-mixed CD for 3 hours. The couple of DJs that started to play did nothing to ramp up the dwindled energy and it was deaddddd.
Where were the mimosas? This was advertised as a “mimosa-inclusive brunch”. I had the brunch part, but where were the mimosas? I received a mimosa upon entry, a cute touch; I also had a second mimosa from the bar a few minutes later. However THAT WAS IT. There were no Ciao hostesses passing them out and they were no longer available at the bar. What sort of BS… therefore, people bought bottles and drinks from the bar to makeup for it. These devious strategies played by the promoters get a side-eye from me.

Overall, I felt it was quite a waste of my money and time. I could have slept in, headed to the beach and gone back to Kingston.

Will I Go Back?: Highly unlikely.

Rating: 2/5

We stayed in an Airbnb in the heart of Ocho Rios, and it was the perfect location in terms of getting to the various events. The furthest event we attended was about 15 minutes away. I also really enjoyed that I had time to relax and head to the beach for a couple of hours for some good food and sun. I had my favorites - jerk pork, fried fish, festival and breadfruit.

I would definitely do Jamaica Heroes Weekend again - it’s a nice, quick, moderately inexpensive pump to satisfy that party craving. Next time I would go for a longer period of time to attend more events.

Make sure you check out my Jamaica Heroes Weekend Planning Guide if you are considering going in 2020, and plan earl(ier) than I did.

Did you go in 2019? What did you think!

Until next time!

Sandra