I (Brad) would like to say how proud I am of my wife, Joan. The only part of this trip report I wrote is this introductory paragraph. Joan spent the time documenting on the trip and then typing it up on the computer … thank you Joan, you did such an incredible job, we will be able to re-live this vacation every time we read it! You are AWESOME!!!

This vacation was much needed. I have been working (7) days a week, anywhere from 12-18 hours a day and have not had a day off since Christmas break. So, not only did I need it for a rest and separation from work, Joan and I needed some quality time together.

Mission accomplished !!!

As much as we missed our friends at SMB during Reunion Week, I think you will see how the decision to stay at RP was the best thing for us, at this time.

As soon as I check with parties involved in the photos, I will download the pictures to our computer and send them to Debbie for posting.

I will now sign off so you can enjoy Joan&Brad’s experiences at RP:

April 5, 2004

Jon arrived 6:15am to drive us to the Miami Airport…arrived 7:00am and a non-eventful ride. Brad promptly finds 2 large coffees and a cinnamon bun for the check in line. Air Jamaica opened at 7:20am…check in went very smoothly. We boarded the plane at 9:40am and the flight departed right on time at 10:10am. Flight was 1hr and 15mins arriving in Jamaica 30mins early, which is always a bonus. We had a 30min wait for one piece of luggage, which always seems to be the way. Sandal’s representative looked after getting us a porter for our luggage and he escorted us to our transportation to Royal Plantation. We went by car with Pete as our driver and personal tour guide. Pete was a very polite gentleman and very conscious of my sore back during the 2hr ride. We stopped a few times to take pictures and allow Pete to tell us about his country which he was very proud. We arrived at 1:30pm and Debbie greeted us with a glass of wine. Dale checked us in and then took us to our beautiful suite…Room 301 J The suite has dual balcony, king canopy bed, eating area, bar, make up area, Jacuzzi tub, shower and walk in closet equipped with safe. The view is spectacular looking out over the water sports beach on one side and the pool area and East and West Side beach is the other view. We enjoyed a cheese plate and bottle of champagne before going for a walk around the resort. We stopped by the Royal Café and ordered two top shelf Margaritas and enjoyed them out on the pier. On our way back to the room we stopped by the Appleton Bar and met a couple from NJ (Julie & John) bartenders from NY, they were enjoying their last night. We took two best Bloody Mary’s I have ever had back to room and dressed for the Manager’s Cocktail Party where we had the pleasure of meeting Peter Fraser the GM of Royal Plantation and Andre Reid in charge of Sales and also the Resident Manager Suzanne Millwood. The Beach Party with the most wonderful buffet one could imagine that followed this. Enjoyed dinner with Debbie and Todd…grilled lobster J. We met a couple that was on their honeymoon and they had been bumped from Royal Caribbean. Retired to room around 10:00pm. Brad ordered Royal Plantation Cheeseburger with chocolate cheesecake and I had white chocolate cheesecake…end of the first day in PARADISE!

April 6, 2004

I was up at 6:00am to a beautiful bright sunny morning…read till Brad awoke at 7:00am. Room Service for delicious breakfast of coffee, mimosas, french toast and yes the famous chocolate filled croissants certainly everything fit for the King and Queen! We are certainly enjoying all the pampering and the hospitality the staff is showing us newbies. Brad goes for his morning swim and I get ready for our another day in Paradise. We went for a walk around the well groomed grounds and went to the Spa and booked couples massage for 5:00pm. Brad photographed the male peacock with his feathers spread wide for all the ladies…earlier in the morning Brad experienced his first peacock mating session. Off to the beach to READ…at the beach they provide a wonderful flag service for drinks. They also have beach boys to set up your chairs and staff that serve fresh fruit and also mist you with rose water and provide cold face clothes so you don’t get too hot (we couldn’t believe it). We enjoyed lunch on the terrace of Royal Café with the Happy Smiler’s Calypso Band as the entertainment. I ordered my first lobster BLT with fries…Brad had grilled salmon, rice and stir-fried vegetables oh and before our lunch we had cheese nachos. After lunch Brad had his first instruction on how to sail the hobbie cat and I read in the hammock listening to the relaxing sounds of the ocean waves lap a shore. We went back to the other beach and sat in the shade and enjoyed just being together again. At about 4:30 we went to the Spa and had a relaxing steam before Christine and Rhona gave us a fantastic couples massage and you could feel the stresses of everyday life just floating away. We walked back to the main patio area and sipped on a glass of wine taking in the breath taking view. We retired to our room and ordered a cheese tray and bottle of wine which we ate out on the patio over looking the pool area and listened to the Pianist and Flautist Duo playing on the Bayside Terrace. We were so relaxed after the massage we decided to have room service for dinner and play Rummy “O” on the patio and be entertained by the Mithch’s Dance Band from Bayside Terrace.

April 7, 2004

Room service arrived at 7:45am with fresh hot coffee, english muffins, mimosas, and some yogurt! Brad went for usual morning wake up swim and I read the New York Times on the balcony. We dressed for larger breakfast about 10:00am. We video taped the grounds and met Hensley, of course he had to fix us a drink so we had two Hensley Specials. We went back to the room to get dress into our swim suits for the beach but all shade today as Brad got too much sun on those sexy legs yesterday. After a little while Elisha came around and misted me with rose water and gave me a cold cloth, everything a lady could want and more. We had snacks delivered to our beach lounges around 3:00pm (garlic cheese bread and coconut shrimp) of course we had to have something to wash the snacks down with so we had two famous Bloody Mary’s. Later we went to pool for a swim and Jacuzzi with Debbie and Hensley delivered a few glasses of Chardonnay. We retired to the room around 5:00pm and had room service deliver garlic cheese bread and a cheese tray to hold us over till dinner in the Le Papillon at 8:30pm. During the dinner in Le Papillon, the Crab Races entertained us on the Bayside Terrace. Excellent dinner and then we danced the night away on the Bayside Terrace.

April 8,2004

We were up early again and had room service delivered at 7:20am. Brad goes for his morning swim before we caught the 9:00am shuttle over to BGS to see the property for the first time. We returned home on the 9:50am shuttle and concluded BGS was not for us and the grounds were very tired and could use the face-lift that Sandals is going to begin first of May. After our outing and so much exercise we thought we should eat again so off to the Bayside Terrace to regain our strength for a walk. After our walk Captain Brad decides after one lesson he is able to take his lady for a sail on the hobby cat, after a little trouble getting out of port Wesley comes to the rescue and sailing becomes a whole lot easier and we have an enjoyable sail with Wesley aboard! Randy and Cyndi are arriving today (friends from Texas) around 2:30pm so we went to the beach to await their arrival. We went to the lobby around 2:30pm and welcomed our friends with big hugs. They get checked in and escorted to their room, which yes is Room 255, they are thrilled. We all enjoyed a late lunch at the Royal Café where Debbie joined us and met Randy and Cyndi for the first time. Signature Guests Cocktail & Dinner is this evening so we met outside the Drawing Room where we had cocktails and the ladies were given their orchids. Tracy the Royal Plantation photographer takes the group shot and he also takes a picture of the four of us. We then are escorted to the Bayside Terrace for dinner and have the pleasure of Andre being seated at our table. Chef Hugo has a nice surprise for us after a delicious dinner and that is chocolate covered strawberry. After dinner we get into a game of Domino’s which gets interrupted so we can play some farewell games with British couple who is leaving tomorrow. Randy being Randy starts a game of Fuzzy Duck and if you don’t know it ask Audrey (night time waitress staff) when you go to BRP and she will explain the rules better than I could. We also played a game involving naming famous people which we had a lot of laughs and a lot of drinking went on. After everyone retired which they do early BRP we continued our Domino’s game down to the double 6’s and retired at 2:30. See we told you it was the Kubich’s that keep the Smiths up late not the reverse as stated in previous trip reports. Brad has big hunger on when he gets back to room and orders a Royal Plantation Cheeseburger and Chicken Caesar and of course has to get the hockey update but not pleased with results. Ottawa over Toronto 4-2 L

April 9, 2004

Our regular routine of room service with just coffee and juice now as two breakfasts were getting hard on the waist line. Brad does the swim to wake up routine and then to Bayside Terrace for sit down breakfast. After breakfast we go for walk over SOR to look around property and see what has changed since our stay in 2001 and get the activities sheet for the week. Later on we meet up with Randy & Cyndi and off to the beach for some sunning and major catch up. Randy & Cyndi convince us to have lunch at the Bayside Terrace to try the famous bruschetta bread and veal schnitzel. We then start a routine of jacuzzi after lunch to work off those pounds but find out later on in the vacation it’s not working. Since the four of us like to play games we bring out the Rummy “O” and get involved into showing Randy & Cyndi new game but we had to let Randy win so he would play again. During our game they had rum tasting just what everyone needed but Joan abstained has hard liquor straight up yuck. They also had a lady showing the art of cigar rolling which she had been doing for 25yrs and both Randy and Brad bought one for $5.00 to smoke later in the vacation. We had dinner at the Bayside Terrace around 9:00pm and were entertained by a guitarist as the regular band was off because of Good Friday. The guitarist came around to each table for a romantic request our Randy requested Red Red Wine and received the look from Cyndi, that songs not romantic and it became one of the many jokes of the vacation. We all retired early, around 11:30 after being out till 2:30am the night before. I think we could be getting old!

April 10, 2004

Our alarm was set by mistake by the turn down service staff so we were awaken at 6:30am. Still sleepy we go back to bed until room service delivered coffee and juice at 7:50am. We enjoyed our coffee on the patio and read the New York Times. Brad goes you know for the morning swim and I decide it’s time to do some exercising, all this food starts to take a toll on the figure. Today’s agenda park our butts at poolside. The weather today is very still and humid so Joan gets in to water for first time this holiday. We filled in NY couple who was bumped from Royal Caribbean (Lorraine & Mike) about the Dunns River Falls as they were taking in this tour today. Mike & Linda a couple from Buffalo who also was bumped to Royal Plantation from Montego Bay joined in the conversation. Randy & Cyndi arrive at poolside with Mimosas for everyone (what I tell you about those Kubich’s) bad influence. It’s glass bottom boat time for the four amigos, Wesley is the captain and Smurf the skipper. They take us for a tour of the coastline and over to show us San Sousi Resort where Cyndi and myself could not believe the sight we saw sitting at the bar and then actually deliver drinks dressed like that or should I say not dressed in. Lunch with Andre and Ricardo the Assistant Food and Beverage Manager out does himself by bringing a plate of curly fries to our table. This item was not on the menu but we requested last night if it would be possible to get some curly fries that they serve at SOR and Ricardo delivered. J Off to the hot tub to decide if this is our last night at BRP or should we stay, lots of discussion with Andre and Scott and it is finally decided to stay for another week all for a price of course. Non-Denominational Easter Service in the conference room at 5:30pm to remember what our Lord did for us. The service was lovely and had about 20 people in attendance. The four of us caught the 7:00pm shuttle to SDR for dinner at 8:00pm at Kimono’s which was a bit of a disappointment as the appetizers were cold but the stir fry was good but not as good as the food we had grown accustomed to at Royal Plantation. After dinner we went to find the playmakers so we could say hi to everyone and then we caught the 9:35 shuttle back home. Appleton Lounge was the choice to finish the Domino’s game from the night before and Randy is the champ. We all went to our rooms at 12:15am and had a late night snack before lights out.

April 11, 2004

Today we must say good bye to Todd and Debbie but not before the Easter Egg Hunt. Simone was such a good sport and hid all the eggs for us crazy adults. Todd and Debbie found the most and Cyndi gave them a cute cuddly bunny for being the winners. Cyndi and I made up a gift bag for Simone for helping us out with the activity. Today is the big Easter Brunch Featuring Jazz Ingenue Maggie Mangravitti so non-of us had breakfast so we could really indulge. The brunch food was outstanding and the presentation was equally done spectacular. Todd and Debbie left at 1:00pm and we all gathered at the front entranceway to say good bye to our new friends. We did our regular routine of hot tubbin after lunch before Randy and Cyndi go indulge in their couple’s massage. Brad & I go to pier to indulge a few margarita’s before getting ready for dinner at 7:00pm in Le Papillon. Again the wine, food and company was outstanding. The guys go to the room to dress down from their jackets and we all meet in Appleton Lounge for another game of Domino’s. Hensley is the bartender tonight and boy does he mix a strong drink. We all had the munchies so we order up some snacks if you can believe that. Brad is the champ tonight and again we close the resort at 2:30am.

April 12, 2004

Brad and Randy decide today is the day they are going to start getting some exercise so they go for a walk up large hill and do circle and decide to pass through SOR as no sidewalks on that part of the road. The guard at the gate requests to see their cards but only Brad had off property card. Guard is kind enough to let them walk through entrance but informs them to go straight through, as this is a couple’s only resort. The joke then becomes that Brad and Randy are a couple now. Randy has business call at 10:00am so Brad and Cyndi go to computer room to do a couple of posts on TTO and some personal e-mailing. Cyndi and I decide to get some sun rays while the men thinks it’s time to venture out on the hobby cat by themselves after one lesson. Captain Brad and Skipper Randy venture out to sea on their own but needless to say they end up ship wretched on the rocks at BGS and need to be rescue by the water sport team. When the men finally get their feet back on land they kissed the ground happy they are back and the sports team have a real laugh over their excursion. Brad and Randy decide at the last minute to go to SOR for beach volleyball and have to jog over instead of waiting for the shuttle or they would be late. When they arrived at the gate the guard would not let them in because they are not a couple, Randy explains that our wives are over at the Royal Plantation and he comes over all the time on previous vacations and plays. Guard still doesn’t let them in so they ask to talk to the GM who is Mr. Michael Darby and he also said this is a couples resort and you are not allowed in. Brad and Randy return to BRP just fuming and ask to speak with Suzanne Millwood who met with them in the drawing room to hear their story. Suzanne explains that she will need to speak with Mr. Fraser and will get back to them. Randy goes to his room to cool down but a little while later Brad and Cyndi look up and Randy is all dressed up and says he going over to SOR to meet with Mr. Darby personally. Brad goes to room and quickly changes his clothes and off they go together to meet with Mr. Darby. While the guys are off getting issues resolved Cyndi and I go to steam room and have the most relaxing time. After the Spa we meet up with the fellows but nothing is still resolved and we have some unhappy guests. Tonight is the Managers Cocktail Party and Beach Party but this week they have it on the Bayside Terrace which is okay by all of us. The buffet is great and we all indulged in the grilled lobster and pumpkin soup. After such an eventful day we have one after dinner drink and to bed early to see what trouble the boys can get into tomorrow.

April 13, 2004

The men decide today they are walking downtown or uptown to Ocho Rios how ever you want to look at it. Their walk took in the cruise ships port and when they were asked if they wanted to join them for breakfast, they declined. They toured the grocery store and shops and they also tried to get into the Grand Raddisson Hotel with their Sandal’s off property card but the good news is… just like they couldn’t get into SOR, they couldn’t get in the Raddisson either. When they returned, the four of us had breakfast on the Bayside Terrace. Mr. Fraser joins us and made an apology for the events of yesterday at SOR. He informed us that Mr. Darby’s boss (Mr. Butch Stewart) had been informed but he didn’t know how and was dealing with the situation. He would report back after the situation had been resolved. Hot tub, sun and some reading was the order for the day and of course the men could not sit still so off to the seas they go again to try their luck at the hobby cat only this time Randy Captain and Brad is the skipper. They returned this time all on their own and pretty proud also I might add. Cyndi and I go to Spa for a pedicure and manicure and we leave the men to see what trouble they can get into this afternoon. They find Andre and get him to call Mr. Darby and inform him that two guest from RP will be coming over on the shuttle to play volleyball. They get in with no problem and have a great volleyball game J Dinner tonight was at Le Papillon at 8:30 but the music was very loud and you could not hear the conversations. After dinner we inform the nighttime manager and she said she had already made a note to speak to them after their performance. Annestette, who is a waitress at night in Appleton Lounge had a birthday today so the band played happy birthday to her. Tonight is the night to go over to SOR piano bar so we caught the 11:00pm shuttle and enjoyed some laughs and a few margarita’s before walking home as shuttle had finished for the evening when it came time to come home. When we arrived back to RP, we of course had to have a ‘before bedtime drink’…. so to the Appleton Lounge for our night cap and retired at 2:15am again.

April 14, 2004

Brad and Randy walked to White River today. When they returned the four of us have breakfast and finished at 11:55am. You might be starting to see we have this thing about closing restaurants and being the last ones to bed. Brad has some work that needed to be done on vacation and Randy had a date with a hammock in the shade. Cyndi and myself had a date with our novels, which seem to be always on the back burner as so much talking going on. Randy returns from his nap on the beach to find the rest of us sawing logs so he goes and orders up some champagne to wake us up. Our tummies tell us that we missed lunch at Bayside so of course we take in lunch at the Royal Café J we then have a quick hot tub because tonight is Signature Guest Dinner. We have the pleasure of dinning with a Mr. Fraser and Andre and also a couple from Ottawa. Brad was able to talk about some hockey with a fellow Canadian who knows about hockey and ironically enough, Toronto & Ottawa were playing against each other tonight but the Leafs lost 4-1 tying the series at 2 a piece. Mr. Fraser talked to us and answered questions we had about the future RP and the implementing EP/RP that is to start July 1, 2004. The evening was very enjoyable and to top off a perfect evening we had Banana Brule for dessert and it was delicious!!! Appleton Lounge hosted another Domino’s game and the winner again was King Kub! During our Domino’s game some tropical rains came in and we all went outside to watch but over before we retired at 1:00am.

April 15, 2004

We woke to the roar of the waves and wind, it was so refreshing to feel the warm breeze against our faces as we enjoyed coffee on the balcony while we read the New York Times. My tummy was sick this morning so I just had some tea and toast but it still didn’t feel any better. Randy convinced me that Alka Seltzer was the remedy that I needed so I took his advice and it worked. The hot tub felt good today as it was a little cooler than the other days and we all had ‘chicken skin’ as Cyndi called it. I must admit this was my first time in. All the other times I just sat at the edge while the others enjoyed. Lunchtime came around and I was hungry as the toast and tea didn’t go a long way. I know that it seems like all we are doing is eating, well you are right but the food is so fantastic. Strawberries came in today J Ricardo, the great guy that he is had the kitchen dip some in chocolate and deliver them to us while we are playing a game of Rummy “O”. Randy wins again but you see it is all a ploy so he will keep playing with us. The guys are off to Ochie for volleyball game and their ladies saw them off in the shuttle so we could take a picture of the cute couple. Cyndi goes to Spa for her facial and I go to room for a nap, something we didn’t do a lot of this holiday. The volleyball game time at Ochie was changed today so the guys didn’t get to play which made them sad because this was the last time they could play this vacation. Dinner was at 8:30 inside the Bayside Restaurant because of the wind. Ricardo and Michael took excellent care of us and even had chocolate strawberries and champagne delivered to both our rooms for a romantic setting later. Domino’s game only goes to double 6’s tonight but to be continued tomorrow. Joan is winning after 6 and we return to room at 12:30am. Brad orders his usual BRP cheeseburger before bed, I think he is trying to keep up a dear friends tradition at SMB. (missed you this year Jim M.). I think it is too late in the vacation to tell him this is ruining his figure.

April 16, 2004

The seas are rough again today but the sun was out. Randy and Cyndi called to see if we wanted to walk into town but we declined, as I didn’t have any walking shoes. We both fell back to sleep until 9:00am and then enjoyed coffee on the balcony, we just can’t get enough of the sound of the waves and view as we know our vacation is soon coming to an end. The four us took in breakfast at 10:30am and discussed our strategy for the kite flying. You see, we had both brought kites for SMB Reunion Week kite flying contest but because we never made it to SMB we asked Mr. Fraser if it would be okay for us to fly them here. He thought it was a great idea and they took many pictures and they are going to make it an annual event. Down to the beach just about lunchtime where Brad gave Randy a ‘Barbie’ kite because before our trip Randy had shared with Brad that he wanted to buy a Barbie kite and Cyndi said, “I'm not flying a Barbie kite.” We all laughed and proceeded to assemble our kites. Randy had a dragonfly, Brad had Batman and Superman, Cyndi had Barbie and I had a surfing boy. We toasted the occasion with top shelf margaritas and started the contest. Surfing boy was having some trouble so the ladies paired up to fly Barbie. Brad’s, Batman/Superman kite went way up so Randy wheeled in the dragonfly and the guys teamed up. After about 2hrs and lots of laughs and Barbie interrupting peoples lunch with a few crash landings. We decided we had enough fun and we were hungry again. Lunch took longer than usual so I had to have my facial postponed from 3:00 till 3:15. Randy and Cyndi had another couples massage at 5:00 so while I was in the Spa the three of them went to hot tub and met a few other people their and drank 3 bottles of champagne. We had our last dinner together in our favorite restaurant Le Papillon and reminisced over a fabulous vacation. Maggie Moments was the entertainment for the evening and we had a dance on the Bayside Terrace before finishing the last game of Domino’s. Randy rocked on to another win. Before retiring at 12:30am we said our good byes to dear Audrey.

April 17, 2004

Well, the end always has to come and it is always sad when we have to say good bye to dear friends but we have many memories tucked away forever in our hearts. Today Randy and Cyndi leave for home but not before one last breakfast, and one last “hot tub baby tonight” in a tropical rain storm. I might add that there was a bottle of champagne, for old times sake. We met for lunch at the Bayside so we could have our traditional Veal Schnitzel but it ended very quickly as the Airport Express which Randy and Cyndi were booked on back to Montego Bay was going to be delayed because of a weather system which came in. Plans were changed quickly which made the good bye tears quick but not painless. Randy and Cyndi left at 2:20pm by car with doggie bag lunch because we hadn’t had enough to eat yet and Ricardo was concerned. They made their 4:45 flight which we found out later but not without a huge line at the airport which they had to be moved to the front of the line in order not miss their flight. We had our last couples massage at 3:00pm, which was a great way to end a perfect vacation. On our way back to room we stopped by the gift shop and Brad purchased the Red Royal Plantation Golf Shirt so now the trip was complete oh, not quite yet … we thought we would see if there would be a sunset tonight. We went to Appleton Lounge and got two bloody marys and went down to the pier, stretch out on to two lounges and watch the most beautiful ball of red fall into the ocean, yes, now it was complete. We went to the room to pack and decided on last dinner to be room service.

April 18, 2004

We had a wake up call for 6:00am so we could put finishing touches on packing and have bags outside for pick up for 7:00am. We did the Air Jamaica pre check out which went very smoothly and we found ourselves waiting for breakfast to start at 7:30am. After breakfast we went for a final walk around property and said many good byes. We went to room and Brad goes for last swim and I get ready for the trip home. We had a delicious last lunch. Our final hugs to Ricardo, Andre and Scott who I might add made our vacation a trip of a lifetime. We then went by limousine to Boscobol Airport to catch the Air Jamaica Express to Montego Bay. This was our first time to take this puddle jumper and we enjoyed the flight along the coastline flying about 4000ft. The Sangster Airport was really packed and very hot as the end of the Easter week. The flight was a little late but we made the time up in the air. Brad & I both passed on the complimentary dinner after two weeks with Chef Hugo’s cooking we didn’t want to end it that way. The flight landed on time but we had a complication going through immigrations as they wanted a certain piece of paper to show Brad’s L1A status which we didn’t have and so they hauled off to an interrogation room where we sat for over 2hrs before being seen. After a lot of questions and yes sirs they decided to let us enter the States because we had come and gone 8 times before but advised us of the form we needed to obtain. We arrived home at 10:00pm but were truly thankful for the best, most fantastic vacation of a lifetime.

We want to acknowledge and thank each and every manager and staff member at RP for the Royal treatment we received while being their guests at their wonderful resort!

A VERY special and heartfelt thanks goes out to Randy and Cyndi for being the true friends they are and for making this vacation … a vacation to remember! J