Nov 21 –
Other
Sandals/Beaches Stays
Royal
Royal
Royal
Grand
Sport Oct ‘03
Why Royal
After the fun we had last year on our second trip (did not write a trip report last year) we knew we wanted to return again. We booked with Debbie in January while the prices were lower than they currently are (I think under the 25% off special). We booked a premium in hopes of a nicer upgrade than booking deluxe.
Getting There (Fri Nov 21)– We live approximately 1.25 hrs away from O’Hare with no traffic. We generally like to stay near the airport the night before. The Holiday Inn Select has a Park and Fly deal. We normally pay an internet rate for the room of $55/night (it’s a nice business hotel) and pay them an additional $35 to park in the garage for a week on Friday nights. Being we were staying there on a Thursday we paid $145 which included the room and parking. The best part is Harry Caray’s restaurant (Chicago Steak/Italian chain) is in the hotel. Our pre-trip tradition is to dine there, have some drinks, and get into the vacation, fine dining mode.
The next morning we took the
The Air Jamaica flight was fine – and we were on a newer
plane. Air
It took us about 2 minutes to clear immigration (we were welcomed back by immigration – nice touch), another 15 to get our bags and clear customs. For some reason the customs lines were unreasonably long. We checked in with the Sandals desk (were welcomed back as Signature Guests) and got our bags tagged (beige Royal P tag with an orange sticker on it. Holly saw one with an orange AND a blue sticker- see our BGS trip report for this obsession). The bags were taken to a jitney – we tipped the redcap $5. We were to be the only passengers. The driver left within 5 minutes of our boarding. He talked a little at the beginning but mostly kept quiet.
The ride to Ocho Rios was under 2
hours with a pit stop. We made a pit
stop after driving through
We reached RP at
While in transit Dave joked
with Allister that even though we’re returnees we
shouldn’t be gypped out of a tour.
Playing along Allister went into full-guide
mode all through our room and journey to it.
We followed him to the main staircase (meaning east wing), then again to
the third floor. At the top of the
landing he said go to room 301.
Score! This room is a 2 category
upgrade from Premium and it’s a Honeymoon Grande Luxe. It is the same class as the x55 rooms except
the outdoor balcony attached to the room isn’t the same size as the room (we
still have x55 envy). Differences over
the premium are: The room is a little
bigger (or feels so), there is a 2 sink vanity by the
closet and a one-sink vanity by the shower.
The room has a separate shower, Jacuzzi tub, and toilet/bidet (French
toilet thing). This room has a French
balcony on one side, and an outdoor balcony on the other end – about 5’x 12’ –
overlooking the pool.
After Allister left we threw our stuff in the safe and went down to have lunch at the Bayside while it was still open. While waiting for a table Cyndi and Randy (Cyndibear) from the TTO board showed up. We met them at RP last year. We decided to have lunch together. Holly and Dave split Bruschetta (excellent here – best we’ve had). Cyndi and Randy also split the bruschetta. For main-course Holly and Cyndi had the coconut scallops that were great and Dave had mahi mahi (ok). Randy had something else I can’t remember. During lunch we ran into Dick and Marci and Joe and Fran – other guests from last year. Fran and Joe ( a.k.a. Joe A) brought their friends Joe and Val with them. It’s nice to see even more familiar faces.
After lunch we went to the room, put our suits on, and
headed for the beach. We ran into Mark,
the bartender we met last month on our night visit from BGS. We stayed on the beach until about 4 and went
to the hot tub. Beforehand we walked
into the
By the time we made it to the hot tub our friends from last
year were in it. They had acquired
several bottles of champagne (the champagne bowl that was brought out everyday
around
Changed for dinner. While changing we got a knock on the door and
received our Returning Guests Gifts. 2 Signature t-shirts and a small basket with 3 sauces, fresh
nutmeg, and a small grater for the nutmeg. We had some drinks in the
After dinner we had some drinks at
Mornings – Mornings were generally the same – no need to detail them all. We’d fill out the room service card to hang on the door for our breakfast request. Most mornings it came within the half-hour window proceeded by a “We’re on our way phone call” or as we put it the “Wake-up Call”. One morning it came early with no phone call. I think breakfast was only late twice (by 15 minutes). One time we didn’t get forks and Dave went to get them (no problem). Several minutes after returning to the room the room service guy called to apologize.
Tip: We’d write-in items that weren’t on the card like potatoes and Johnny cakes and always got them.
After eating we’d get ready for the beach (with exception of
our two trips). We sat on the edge of
the pier with the chess board (on the new section extended past the chess
board) and had sun for the full day.
The bar service started at
The weather was not the best we’ve seen but workable. Many days it was a red flag day and the watersports guys had nothing to do. They were very friendly and talkative.
We took two trips on different mornings that will be described later – River Tubing and Nine Mile/Fern Gully.
Sat Nov 22nd
The day was nice up until about
At about
I think we had tea on this day. Tea is served at
We overall relaxed in the tub and talked to everyone. No champagne bowl again today. We went to the room within the
Before dinner we had a couple of drinks at the
The service was excellent and our wine glasses were never
empty. We had the Chilean Merlot. For dinner we ordered the same items except
for dessert: Mussels for appetizers,
French Onion Soup
After dinner we had a relatively calm evening in the
Appleton Lounge. There was a jazz band
outside playing slow dance music. They
played reggae the last set. We were able
to say goodbye to Audrey before leaving for her vacation. We went to bed around
Sun Nov 23rd
The afternoon was pretty much like yesterday. We sat on the pier and had the sun fade-in and out. While we preferred the pier our friends preferred the beach (something about actually being on the sand vs. concrete). We’d have visitors from time-to-time to warm up in our sun while their chairs were in the shade.
For lunch we went to the Beach Café again. We split a patty as an appetizer and had chips and salsa. For entrees we both had shrimp run-down, a curried shrimp. Mark was working the beach bar in the morning and we had fun talking and concocting blender drinks.
At
We went down to the
For dinner Holly had the mussels appetizer, onion soup, and beef tenderloin. Dave had the mussels, onion soup, and scallop special. All was excellent. Don’t remember having any dessert.
After dinner we went down to the bar, joined our friends,
and it was party time! We were all up
dancing and they were playing the reggae a little louder than normal. Sibony and Hensley
came out and joined us when they had a chance.
Shots of the evening were Bob Marleys –
grenadine on the bottom, with crème de menthe layered on it, then orange juice
(or pineapple juice) layered on that – the colors of the Rastafarian flag. It kinda tasted
like a toothpaste.
Overall a really fun evening. We went to bed at
Mon Nov 24th
Sun was out for a bit in the morning until early afternoon. There was a brief 5-10 minute shower that cleared everyone off the beach. From then on it was cloudy.
Lunch was at the Café again. The mento band was playing down here again today. It’s a group of 3 older men that play their folk instruments during lunch. They rotate between the Bayside and Café. For lunch Dave had Linguini Bolognaise and Holly had Coconut Shrimp with rice. We split a chicken curry patty as an appetizer.
Earlier in the day we checked with the front desk regarding spa credits. We booked in early January and it was not included with our booking. When they switched to the new pricing/packages it made it seem like any room would get credits regardless. Since we received no communication we decided to check. Dave was informed he’d get a phone call later in the day to tell him the situation. No call came.
Manager’s Cocktail Party – Each Monday a small cocktail
party is thrown on the small deck by the hot tub. They set up a bar with champagne, some
liquor, beer, wine, etc and have the mento band
play. The management staff comes around
to talk to the guests while little appetizers are served out. This is usually a precursor to the Beach
Party and gets people mingling before they sit at the party at wedding-style
tables. This cocktail party was a
little on the quiet-side. We actually
didn’t get any real good conversation going with staff until the end. We also met another couple from the
We did not go to the Beach Party. We had done it the past 2 years and really
weren’t jazzed for it. Instead, we went
with Cyndi, Randy, and another couple (Stan and Barbie) to Orchids at Grande
Sport. We had stayed at Grande Sport
recently and thought the food was very good.
We took the
Raining this morning. This was the day we put the card out for
room service and indicated
Tip: Bring a blank video tape. They have VCRs in the room and get about 40 channels. If you can’t miss Survivor or must see Friends you can tape the show and watch it while changing for dinner, eating room service, etc. We like TV before going to sleep and would watch shows then.
Most people went shopping today. Cloudy all day with spotty rain showers. We spent the entire day at the hot tub which was now down to about 102 degrees. They left the Royal Grill open but I don’t think anyone ate there.
We had not heard about our spa credits so we went back to
the front desk. Someone else was there
and informed us management was in a meeting but they’d call back with an answer
(this was about
We had lunch inside at the Bayside – split bruchetta and smoked Marlin bagel salad (very good actually – too much dressing for Dave) and we both had the pasta special – fettuccini alfredo with grilled shrimp – excellent – wanted another.
We returned to the room at
Will describe all Spa treatments in another section
There was a wedding on the
After our bath we returned to our room, prepared cocktails,
and ordered a cheese plate. TV was still
flickering off-and-on. We changed for
dinner and went to
We were feeling a little tired at dinner and decided we’d
have one drink at the
Before heading upstairs at
The rain was coming down
and the cable was still out. Good day
to sit in bed for a while – especially if you drank a bit the night
before. We sat on the porch for a bit in
the morning and complained about the rain with our friends. We then decided to head back to the room and
sit on our balcony for a bit. Ten
minutes later the rain stopped and the skies showed some promise – Off to the
Beach! The day turned out to be a mix
of clouds to periods of full sun. After
yesterday, they decided not to open the Café and had a buffet setup on the
porch instead. I figured good place to
get a snack before the Bayside lunch. Turned out to be a nice little buffet – they
had mussels, lots of seafood salads, regular salads, cold cuts, bread, beef and
chicken patties, nachos, curried conch, and pan-cooked shrimp
while-u-wait. These were
excellent. Decided to just get the
buffet and eat on the beach. Some guests
were not pleased to see a buffet setup – especially not on the beach. Some people ordered from the Bayside and
brought food down with them.
We had predicted a day of rain and had booked a
The Returning Guest Dinner is an invitation event for guests that had previously stayed at any Sandals and Beaches resorts. Sometimes they forget to invite you so it’s good to check with the front-desk when you arrive on the day of the dinner.
We started out at
We had dinner at the Bayside in the smaller blue room off to
the side. Scott sat by us and
Our desserts came out and Dave just kinda
eyed it and then kept up with his conversation.
Dinner broke up around
Breakfast arrived late today. When the guy brought the tray in he snagged a champagne glass (for mimosas) on the curtain and sent them both off the tray and they shattered on the floor. Within 5 minutes housekeeping was there and we received replacement mimosas. Our breakfast was also smaller today than normal.
We saw the Governor’s General Suite today. Scott had offered a tour at dinner the night before. It’s the corner room on the west wing – 3rd floor. Very nice. There’s a small foyer with little couch and bar. The living room was large and had the ability to adjoin the neighboring room. Nice touches were coffee table books on Jamaican topics, cds for the cd player, etc. Both the bedroom and main room had walk-out (LARGE) balconies with really nice loungers. There was a powder room as well as a huge bathroom with shower, large roman tub, etc. Nice way to vacation……..
Had some sun for the day and we were able to avoid
rain. We had lunch at the grill and
both ordered scotch broth (salty), coconut shrimps for
an appetizer, and both had burgers (overcooked). Randy and Cyndi left today around
At about
Dinner tonight was the French restaurant at
After dinner we spent time on the porch with our friends. Fran, Joe x 2, and Val were leaving the next day. Surprisingly it was a quiet evening. Dave spent some time talking to Mark in the bar about Jamaican culture, Thanksgiving (it’s meaning), citizenship, etc. Mark is really interested in other cultures and enjoys when people ask him about his culture and country.
Went upstairs around
Last full day. Clear all morning and very short intervals
of puffy clouds in the afternoon. We
ate lunch out on the pier today since it was so nice. We had patties, jerk chicken and a delicious
honey ham and cheese sandwich. We
ordered it up at the Café and then Tasha brought it
out to us. Spent some
time talking to Mark. At 5 we
went to
Our envelope was on the floor when we walked in. Our departure time for the airport was
Before dinner we visited
We changed for dinner, went to
After dinner we sat in the
Got up at
We were done at
We ate lunch at the Royal Café. I believe we had patties, jerk ribs, and
coconut shrimp. We headed up at
We left the room at
We said our final good-byes to Allister and anyone else we ran into. We even got a hug from someone on management that I have no idea who she was or what she did. That’s the magic of Royal Plantation!
The limo ride was uneventful. We arrived at the
We had spoken to some
guests last year that had taken the river-tubing tour and loved it. We booked our trip at the gift shop. Almost all land-based tours go through
Chukka Cove. We paid $ 65 dollars
each. We were told to bring towels,
wear swimsuits, water camera, and water shoes.
We were picked up at
We headed east of the resort and turned at Prospect Plantation (just past Sans Souci). We had about a ½ hour trip up the mountains on roads that ranged from decent to awful. We stopped the jeep at a little bar to pick up Tings for our trip down the river.
One thing that Chukka Cove does well is give its customers
an education about
We arrived at the
The trip took about 45 minutes and we ended at a small rasta village. Bishop was there to meet us. At the village you could use the rope swing (opted not to because we were pretty much dry), sample jerk chicken, buy beer, and souvenirs. The man working the stand was true rasta and enjoying herb.
Since there were only the two of us and not much really to do or wait for we left within 15 minutes. On the way Bishop stopped and showed us (spelling/writing of may be wrong) “Shamey-grass”. As soon as you touch it or step on it, the grass shrivels instantly. We were told it would come back in 20 minutes and was used in times of slavery to track runaways. Fascinating!
We took a different road back that had us pass the Sandal’s Golf Course. We passed a large water pipe built in slavery time of oak. It is still used today by the electric company.
We made it back to RP
by
Note – We did not do a sanctioned tour. We went with 2 resort employees. They can get in trouble for taking guests off-property. Their names will not be mentioned in this report, but to delineate between the two I will use the names “Yellow” and “Blue”.
Dave was in the
When leaving to go to the market, security came out from their gate and said hello and asked what we were up to. We relayed we were going to see the market and spend some time at SOR. The guard helped us cross the street by watching for cars. We met up with Yellow right away and he told us the driver he had planned on could not make it. So he arranged for another employee we knew well, Blue, to drive. How much better could this get? We spent a couple of minutes browsing the market until Blue arrived. The market vendors were very nice. Not pushy at all. They had little stands that basically had the same wood carvings, beads, shirts, etc. When you didn’t want anything they seemed to have taken no offense.
Blue arrived within a few minutes and we were off. We were in a compact car. The gas gauge was on empty so we pulled into a station. They bought $6 worth of gas. We would have gladly paid for the gas but did not want to offend. What was real fun was seeing another employee on their way to work seeing us in the car with Blue and Yellow.
We took the scenic (longer) route on the way up. We went past Wassi Art and then through Fern Gully. This is about a 3 mile stretch of road that used to be a river basin. Now it is home to giant ferns – some 200 varieties. Our facts may not be too accurate here, so please research before taking our word on it. Fern Gully is LOADED with souvenirs stands. You can also get your picture taken with a guy in a plant outfit for a price. It was nice of them to take us this way – don’t think we’d see Fern Gully any other way.
We can’t tell you our exact route, but it seemed like we went up a lot of mountains the whole way. At several points we were at tops of hills overlooking miles and miles of valleys. Absolutely beautiful – nicer than the drive up to White River Tubing. Blue and Yellow pointed out communities and sights of local drag races and such.
About an hour into the trip the car started to sound funny. We pulled into a town and stopped at a stop sign. The car stalled. We thought we may have to push it out of the intersection, but it did start again enough to fizzle to the side of the road out of harm’s-way. We overheated. As soon as we stopped about 6-8 people had come over to ask if we needed help. Blue was able to get water from a nearby business. This was about a 20 minute lay-over. We eventually cooled the car down and were off. I think we traveled up the mountains another 45 minutes.
When we arrived at the sight we were surprised to see it gated. Yellow had to call out to someone and have them open it up. There were about 10 cars in the small compound and 2 tour buses. We got the last conceivable space. We exited the car and walked to the gift shop. Holly and I paid our admission $12 US each. I offered to pay for Yellow and Blue – however Yellow got to go in for free since they brought us. Blue decided for whatever reason he did not want to go in.
We then walked to a second floor of a building built by Bob’s grandfather that was a store at one point. The area had a bar, big screen tv with documentary playing, and bathrooms. Dave and Yellow had Red Stripes and toasted the journey together. We sat outside on a veranda overlooking the valley. Right below was the house Bob was born in (and lived in until 5 mos. old). Bob’s mother was in-residence and the house is off-limits. We waited for a few minutes to meet our guide Donovan. He’s rasta so lots of “Jah Bless”, “Respect”, etc. Very nice culture from that aspect. Yellow suggested Donovan take a photo of the three of us. On the way to Bob’s House/Grave we passed some younger fellows hanging over the fence offering us HUGE joints. Yellow said “No Mon. They different people” and that-was-that. The house/grave are gated within the courtyard – to build suspense we’d imagine.
Donovan took us up to the house and mausoleum. We took our photos and Yellow kept asking for his picture to be taken everywhere. We couldn’t understand why – he’s been there many times before. Then it kinda hit us that he may not have had a camera.
The tour takes at most 40 minutes. You get to go inside the house where Bob
lived until he was 14, go into the mausoleum, walk around it, etc. One real cute thing was the guide pointed out
a tree that came over from
We took off and were no more than 2 miles away when we were stopped by the police (carrying big M-16-like guns). Blue and Yellow were asked for documentation and to step out of the car. The police searched for a bit and asked who we were (they replied “tourists”). A minute later we were asked out of the car. We had expected a pat-down but received none. They checked around the car a bit more and let us go. Excitement around every corner!
We took a quicker way back and stopped in Yellow’s village. He showed us his community soccer field and made us get out of the car to photograph the view it has of the sea and Sandals Dunn’s River.
At about
Overall we enjoyed Nine Mile and enjoyed it more with one of our friends. We may not recommend it for people who are not big Bob Marley fans. It’s a long drive both ways for a short visit at the sight. Being Bob fans we enjoyed it.
We took this trip last year but did not write a trip report. We figured we’d add a line or two on it (not much more though given the detail already covered).
Note: These were our first treatments and we did not know what we were in for. Since we had the credits ($550) we figured let’s do it all.
When you get to the spa the employee escorts you into your gender-specific locker room. So yes it was weird when Dave followed the lady into the men’s locker room. She pointed out the changing area, steam room, sauna (broken), and offered him some tea. Instructions were to undress, put on the robe with a towel underneath, go to the steam room, come out and put robe on, eliminate towel, sit down. As treatments are described you will see why these steps are important to the story.
We signed up for a couple’s mud bath. This is not on the spa activity list (a single mud bath is). Description was time in the tub and a face/shoulder massage. Fair enough.
Dave was first escorted from the locker room to the bathing room. It was a dimly lit room with candles and soft asian music playing. There were 2 massage tables in the room as well. The spa-worker (don’t have a better title for them – sorry) asked if he had a towel under his robe. Of course the answer was no given the steps outlined earlier. She handed him a towel and held up a sheet to advert her eyes from seeing anything (another irrelevant process).
Once Dave was toweled he was escorted over to the tub. The tub contained clear water. Where’s the mud? The instructions were to sit on the ledge of the tub, then turn and slide into the tub and out of the towel in one slick motion. Dave executed, which the results were he ended up in a tub naked with a strange woman 2 feet away adjusting knobs on the tub.
The lady left and returned with Holly. Her instructions didn’t even include disrobing. Just put on this robe. Holly disrobed and executed her towel/tub-insertion. Now we’re both in a tub of clear water, naked, with a stranger in the room. The spa-worker came over and poured in the mud-making stuff (once again real close to us). The water darkened and she left. We were brought champagne and overall enjoyed the bath and all the jet cycles. It was more of a mineral salt feel than actual mud feel. When the tub cycle was done she handed us our robes and asked us to execute an elaborate tub exit/robing maneuver. We were then instructed that she’d leave and we were each to get onto the massage tables and under the sheets (disrobed).
After doing so she came back with another worker. We were given quick front-and-back massages with a milk moisturizer. The lady cracked every knuckle and pulled on your legs, arms, etc to stretch them out a bit. When they were done we were instructed to put our robes on and head to the locker rooms (they would leave the room first). We did so and that was that.
Overall enjoyed the bath/massage once we got over the initial shock of how the process worked. The cost for both of us (tip is now included in the spa prices) was $68.
This is also not on the spa menu. We booked facials at the same time. They had yet another room set up with 2 tables. We went through the same process as before (this time Dave wore a towel under the robe – but why are we naked for a facial to begin with?). We were instructed to disrobe when they leave and get under the sheets on the table. Within a couple of minutes 2 spa-workers came in and started the treatment. Can’t really describe what they did other than lots of scrubs, soaps, creams, etc being applied to the face by hand and by brush. Then they moisturized the hands and arms and placed them in heat gloves. For a while our eyes were covered with cucumbers and cold towels. Holly was suggested the oxygenating treatment which was extra. They also steam your face and pop black heads.
Overall the treatment lasted 45 minutes. They recommended products (that they sell) for Holly’s skin type/needs. Overall cost was approx $208 (without product) for both of us. Don’t know if either of us would repeat given other treatment options. It was nice, just not nice enough.
Our appointment was for
The massage was nice and we’d probably enjoy doing it again now that all the tension and anxiety of our first massages are over (we generally don’t like people touching us). Next time we’ll be more relaxed and know the whole process. The price ended up being about $210-220 or so.
We had $67 of credits left so Holly bought some products and ran over by about $15.
We overall enjoyed the spa and would do something else on another trip. I don’t know though if we’d do anything without a discount or spa credit though.
Royal
One thing that will discourage a repeat trip is the continued price increases/lack-of-discounts. It is getting more expensive each trip with no increase in service (I would have taken the cash over the spa credits). We’ve also read on TTO that RP will change to a format other than all-inclusive. This is not appealing to us and we have started to research other destinations for our Thanksgiving trip.
Sorry for the length of this report, but it was a really fun trip. Feel free to email us with any questions.