Gran Bahia Principe Jamaica

[tim-juleswed]

Hello all! I am so close to booking my April 2010 wedding at the Gran Bahia Principe, we are just waiting on prices from the travel agent as soon as we hear if the price is right for our guests we are booking! Yay!!!

With all that said, I am just wondering if anyone out there has been married there or been to a wedding there or is currently dealing with the wedding planner. I have been in contact with a Beverly and so far she has been prompt in her replies and extremely helpful. So I am hoping someone out there can give me some feedback on what they think of the place or service.

 

Thanks all...Getting excited again, if this works out all the stress will be lifted.

 

J

[chrissik82]

Hi Jule,

 

I want to have my wedding at the same resort but December 2010. let me know about your group rates, maybe we can compare them. I will get mine soon too... oh and do you have the email address of your wedding planner? I had contact with a lady called Karelia, she was very nice on the phone but now I am waiting for her email response for a while already.

Would be great if we could share some experience about the planning,

thanks, chrissy

[KJT1985]

I haven't been there but I REALLY REALLY wanted to get married there! It's so beautiful and I love the beach gazebo!! We ultimately didn't choose it because of the charge for the safe and the fact that you couldn't eat in the specialty restaurants every night (limited to 3 per week). It sounds silly but these were amenities we didn't really want to compromise on when we're paying for an all inclusive resort. However, my maid of honor has booked it since its a bit cheaper than our resort. Our wedding is in february so I can let you know what she thinks of it! Unfortunately I think I deleted all the info I got from them. I know my friend is paying $1,000 a person including flight for Monday-Friday. Don't know if that helps at all or not....

[tim-juleswed]

Hi Chrissy,

 

so we are all booked and ready to go. I have been talking to Beverly Antoine at the resort she seems to be the WC there now. Her contact info is [email protected] Give her a try; she was being great last week with me and very quick with her responses. The group rate we ended up with was $1522 per person taxes in, leaving from Toronto. We are also traveling Friday March 26 to Friday April 2, so the price was a bit cheaper as well.

Any advice on your planning would be great, all I have done is book the resort and send out the details to the guests. We have 7 rooms booked already and it's only been 2 days! I am saving the dresses etc...until the new year. As for everything else, I'm not overly picky and I'm not bringing any center pieces or anything, I'll use what they have there. Now all I have to do is figure out the legal part, marriage certs ect...but it shouldn't be that hard, my friend got married in Jamaica 2 years ago so she is walking me through it.

As for paying for the room safe I didn't realize that, but it's not a HUGE deal for us, as well as the a la cartes 3 times during the week would be plenty. We are expecting about 40 people so the buffet might be a better idea for us as it is. LOL

 

I will keep you posted on anything new I come up with.

 

Congrats to you both on your weddings as well! So exciting!!!

 

J

[kerrij]

Me! Me!! We are getting married at GBP on March 9th, 2010. can't wait!!!

Beverly has been just awesome to deal with. she responds within a couple days which is awesome, some WPs can take weeks, which was my friends experience at Grand Palladium MR.

We opted to go for the "free package" but still is about $25/person after the first 16, and i think we'll have 50 people. but i just want a simple yet romantic and amazing wedding. i don't want any stress, so i'm basically just getting the jist of the day, learning what the costs are of things, i'm going to tell Beverly want we want and let her take care of the rest. i don't want to stress about a thing and just enjoy the day! and the week! heheheh

we are paying $2016 including taxes for a week, March 9-12 out of Calgary. I think our Toronto rates were about $1700 incl taxes. we have a direct flight too which is uber important! i had a heck of a time getting a travel agent to get me a price too. i went through 8! yes, 8!! and me, i'm simple, i knew the dates the resort everything, i just needed someone to get me a quote, and finally my 8th got me one. actually my 4th did but she quoted me $2400 which was more than website prices. i ended up using Glynis from Sell Off Vacations.com actually! she gave us the rate of $2016 out of calgary, which is always way more, and then later i reconnected with a friend who is a TA and she is like, i don't get how she found you such a good rate?!

i also know 4 different friends who have all been there, one of my closest friends went 2 years ago and loooved it! everyone has loved it. lots of options and 24 hr food/bev which was very important to me to be able to give our guests the best of the best!

 

anyway, good luck!!

[leahstafford]

I was there last October for a wedding and LOVE IT. The beach gazebo is absolutely amazing for a wedding and especially the walk way down to the gazeboo! Definitely a highly recommended resort on my behalf.

[kerrij]

OH YAY!! thanks for that post Leah! i thought the gazebo in the pics looked so amazing and i like that it shades your eyes from the sun so you aren't squinting just to see! heheh

thank you!!

[chrissik82]

Hi girls,

 

so one of the ladies at Gran Bahia (her name is Karelia) came back to me with a crazy low room rate for our guests. it will be $105 per person per night. I am still waiting for my travel agent though, she obviously takes her time which really starts to annoy me... I have the feeling I could move forward in a faster way if I would deal directly with the people from GBJ. I dont know but I still hope the prices for our guests will be lower than the ones you´ve mentioned (@Kerrij, tim-juleswed)... I know the flights are already included but it just sounds so much to tell: oh hey guys, you have to put down 2 grand for the wedding just to be there... :-/

[chrissik82]

oh... something else... did you figure out yet how the whole reception process works? I mean, isnt it kinda weird to share a room with tons of other all inclusive guests and not to have a private, separate location? and what about the entertainment stuff, do they provide something like a dance floor or whatever? I dont really understand their system... I am more than willing to pay for the dinner for each person, even if it is $90 per person, I dont care, I just dont want my guests to say: wow, she chose an all inclusive resort to save the costs for a dinner reception...

maybe you can share your plans to help me understand their system...

thanks :-)

[breeze616]

Hello Ladies! So glad to see there is finally an active thread on the Grand Bahia in Jamaica! Currently I'm booked at the Iberostar, but my resort was closed this summer due to low occupancy and its left a bad taste in my mouth. I think they have re-opened now that the season's picked up, but my second choice was def GBRB.

 

I'll be watching this thread closely and comparing with Iberostar. Please post any all information you have gathered - specifically about the cost for private receptions, etc.

 

Thank you!!