JenniferSS

There are so many places with an understated elegance in Riviera Maya! Tell us a little bit more about what you ae looking for-an all inclusive, a resort that caters to children or adult only, close to nightlife, large or boutique? How many guests or just the two of you? Excellence, Secrets Capri or El Dorado are great for all inclusive adult only! Parasio De La Bonita is amazing for boutique and no children under 16. The Azul properties excellent Ai that includes kids and Ceiba Del Mar for a midsize boutique that allows children of all ages. There are about a dozen more that I could recommend- just depends on what your looking for in understated elegance!

Thought this may be helpful! Keep in mind that this can change-Quickly! I tried to do this as an attachment also as the chart looks screwy in the body of the message. Airline Baggage Fees The grid below summarizes the first and second baggage fees charged by the major North American air carriers as of June 13, 2008. Fee exemptions may apply for elite status frequent flyers and premium class travelers. Additional fees may apply if you plan to carry sports equipment or an odd-shaped item, or your bag exceeds airline weight limits. To determine what fees may apply to your unique situation, check the airline’s baggage policy Airline1st Bag Fee (Each Way)2nd Bag Fee (Each Way)Effective DateExemptions (Check Website for a Complete List)Applicable Area Air Canada N/A$25May 15, 2008Elite Frequent Flyers, Latitude and Executive Class ticketsDomestic Canada, U.S. Air Tran N/A$10 online check-in or $20 airport check-inMay 15, 2008n/aSystemwide Alaska N/A$25For tickets purchased on or after 05/01/08 for travel on or after 07/01/08Elite Frequent Flyers, First Class Tickets, travel within Alaska, travel to/from Guadelajara or Mexico CityDomestic U.S. American $15$252nd bag fee eff. 5/12/08 1st bag fee eff. 6/15/08Elite Frequent Flyers, Full Fare Economy, Business and First Class TicketsU.S., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada Continental N/A$25May 5, 2008Elite Frequent Flyers, Presidential and First/Business First TicketsU.S., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada Delta N/A$25May 1, 2008Elite Frequent Flyers and First/Business Class TicketsDomestic, Including U.S. Territories JetBlue N/A$20June 1, 2008n/aSystemwide Northwest N/A$25May 5, 2008Elite Frequent Flyers Full Fare, First Class TicketsWithin North America Spirit $10 online check-in or $20 airport check-in$20 online or airport check-inJune 10, 2008n/aSystemwide United $15$252nd bag fee effective 5/5/08 1st bag fee effective 6/13/08Elite Frequent Flyers, International Tickets (except Canada)U.S. and Canada, Puerto Rico and St. Thomas US Airways $15$252nd bag fee effective 5/5/08 1st bag fee effective 7/9/08Elite Frequent Flyers, First and Business Class TicketsU.S. to or from Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe Airline Baggage Fees.doc

oh Yeah- Turks is quite a bit more expensive than Jamaica because they need to import everything!

Beaches is definately set up to giv the parents some down time while keeping the kids busy! Beaches Negril is great for the little set- the toddler area is great, in the shade with a little wading pool and there are water slides, a small water park where they can use a lazy river and the water shoot up thingys. The beach there is amazing and will keep the older kids occupied for days!Plus the Xbox Room will keep them busy when they need to get out of the sun. Beaches Boscabel is great for the older kids - 5 and up. Huge waterpark (something like 11 slides and 27000 square feet! )and a water area for little ones. Lots of arts and crafts going on. When I was there the kids just got back from baking cookies and were having a blast! Beaches Boscabel also includes the greens fees and transfers to the Golf course in Ocho rios- great outing for the Dads! It is pricier than the Riu properties but you get alot more overall! My second option if you'd like to be at a more moderate price level is Riu Ocho Rios. It's a great moderate resort - amazing beach with really nice pools. You won't have as much for the kids to do there so it's a trade off. If you need any help with the Riu send TA Maureen a Pm- she's a ROR bride and travel agent so can help you with any questions! If you need help with Beaches I'd love to help out and answer any questions!

I have to agree with Ta Maureen- a safe figure is about $7000. It certainly doesn't hurt to try and budget for $10,000. The trip is in 4 years - just look at what how much the costs have risen in the last few years! From MI the flights tend to be more expensive than from either coast and the interislands flights have jumped up tremedously since there are fewer airlines flying those routes. Even going the condo route- when I was there two years ago in Maui a dozen eggs ( at the local supermarket- not the touristy one! ) was app. $5.00 ba dozen, milk about $4.00 a gallon- I can't imagine what it is now! She'll need a rental car for the 12 days - prices will definately be higher on those! Cruise pricing has jumped up because of the cost of gas- plus NCL pulled out most of their ships from the Hawaii interisland routes and redeployed them to Europe. At any rate I would certainly budget high - there is nothing wrong with coming home with some extra cash in your pocket than not being able to go because you didn't save enough!

As a mom to 3 girls I have to say that all of the suggestions have been excellent! The only other I could add (if you wanted to go all out) is a tricycle, a kitchen set complete with plastic foods and pots and pans or a Treasure chest with dress up clothes (princess costumes or even a trip to Goodwill/Salvation Army or a local second hand store will produce shiny sparkly big girl outfits at a reasonably cost!) , wigs, hats, boa's, child safe jewelry and a must have- a mirror!

As a mom to 3 girls I have to say that all of the suggestions have been excellent! The only other I could add (if you wanted to go all out) is a tricycle, a kitchen set complete with plastic foods and pots and pans or a Treasure chest with dress up clothes (princess costumes or even a trip to Goodwill/Salvation Army or a local second hand store will produce shiny sparkly big girl outfits at a reasonably cost!) , wigs, child safe jewelry and a must have- a mirror!

Quote: Originally Posted by jamaicabride09 Thanks for the advice Jennifer! We have been going back and forth about the butler service... My pleasure! I had heard that to have a room with Butler service added an average of 24-48 hours to your vacations time! Just all the little things that they can do for you from the seperate check in - unpacking- making reservations for activities- dinners-getting around the propery (especially at Sandals Grende Ocho Rios!) making sure eveything you wanted was in the room (beverges and so forth!), having an in room bar, and having room service! I bet at SGOR it saves a bit more time!

Fantastic review Iriebride! Jamaicabride09- She had conceriege service as that is when you get the in room bar! If your hubby to be is really picky about what Vodka I'd say to go with the butler service as you can request what brands you prefer. Sky Vodka was in the conceirge villas and Absolute was available- if you asked for it at the bars.

Oopsie- saw you were going to Negril! The ride is only about an hour. Typivcally they only use the smaller shuttles to Negril and they can get packed it pretty tight!

Sandals also has a new honeymoon package that includes private transfers with champagne, fruit and chocolate, the private ocean side dinner for two, breakfast in bed one day, rose petal bath for two, a couples champagne massage and a bunch of other stuff. That may work! As far as the transfers to Ocho Rios- I've had both the large greyhound type bus and also small shuttles that are packed tight so if you are worried about your dress and taking a private transfer it would really depend on the dress and material. If the dress won't hold up well it woould be worth the expense to take a private transfer! Typically the private transfer will take much less time ( I had a private transfer from SGOR to Sandals Whitehouse through MoBay ) and he only took about an hour 15 minutes to get to Mobay. The shuttle going from Mobay to SGOR took two hours 15 minutes! Honestly the drive should really only take an hour and a half- an hour 45 minutes!

Kelly - Did you get the email I forwarded from Gaby this week? Just curious if you were getting my emails!

Most of the resorts have a Margarittaville night. Margarittaville provides the driver to get people there- the $20 tip was definately overkill- it's not that far of a drive! Definately don't let it scare you out of having a good time there! Depending on how many guests you have you may want to make it a group excursion and have your own driver take all of you over & back. It's a lot of fun to go during that day when a cruise ship is in ( crowded and busy too!) but it can get hopping!

Sorry I've been gone so long- taking care of my brides also spent a day in Sandals training get all of the updates! Mrs.RTBe- Are you working with a TA ? There are some recent changes in policy at Sandals Negril about guests coming over and needing permission. More than likely you won't have any issues but have your TA keep tabs and et the permission prior to. You also may be able to have the guests switch over from Beaches Sandy Bay to Beaches Negril. Are they families or just adults who were looking for a lower price? Petals~Grand Pineapple Negril was a neat little moderate all inclusive! Very brightly colored, boutique and comfortable. Right on the beach, one restaurant and one bar (that I can remember). Rooms were comfortable, nothing fancy but clean. The nice part about the bar was that there was a variety of mid shelf liquor that you usually don't find at that level (Jack Daniels ect). Feel free to refer your guests to me to book and I can provide them with photos!

Welcome Amanda! You'll love this site- lots of great brides and Mrs.! (And some pretty great guys too!

When my husband and I were at Sandals Grande Ocho Rios in April we stayed in two different villas and we liked both but we discussed whether we'd prefer the Riviera side better alot. What we decided was that if we were pool people as opposed to ocean lovers the manor side would be awesome. The villas were quiet, private and I loved the extra space. The Riviera side rooms in the main building were a bit more luxurious, we spent all day at the beach and there were more restaurants to sample from that side so overall that would be our preference and why! We never took the shuttle but walked up and down the hill and that took about 10-15 minutes down (from the lobby of the Manor sideto the beach) and 15-20 minutes up.

The casinos in Jamaica do not have "tables" with card games but the slot type of machines. Jamaica is talking of legalizing "true" casinos but there is strong religious opposition.

Glad to help out! It always work best to keep the lines of communication open- I'm sure she appreciates it! TA Jennifer

I'd say that is probably the best bet- sometimes the TA will do a lot of work behind the scenes that our clients are not aware of- remember we're suppose to make it look easy for you! Plus it'd defeat the purpose of using a TA if we reported back every little thing- our clients would be ready to put us on their Do not Call list and some of the issues we take care of and get accomplished/fixed before our clients even knew there was a problem! No need getting the clients stressed out for no reason!! Anyways I digress.....did she tell you why the price jumped up that much? Did you lock in a contract price or did she just provide a quote ? There was a time period about a month or so ago where airfares went through the roof (about 200-300 per person!) fo a week or two- it was insane! She should be very willing to work things out- and may even tell you that she hadn't done much else so don't worry about it! Just be open and honest and let her know that you value the work she did and still plan on using her services but would like to renegotiate the contract to reflect your new venue, ask for input on what she thinks is fair and go from there! Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Legally the contract would stand because you changed your mind unless there was a provision for change of mind. Personally, I would try to work with your TA and come up with a meeting of the minds but remember- if she's already put in the work and arranged the components then you changed your mind and location- she should be paid for her time according to the contract. I guess if you looked at it like this- You work retail- the owner of the shop plans on doing a big sale/promotion for their best clients complete with a welcome reception in the evning and brunch for the early shoppers...has you re-arrange the entire store, check on pricing with multiple caterers for the reception and brunch, some of the calls were long distance as he was specific in what he wanted to be served but then he decides he just doesn't want to do it anymore and you need to cancel everything. He also decided that because he changed his mind he's also not going to pay you for your time doing that work....... Of course we don't know the full details of how much work that the TA has put in. Remember that if your TA does a lot of DW's and honeymoons she may be slow getting back to you with your questions as this is prime season for both!

Welcome tRoy ! Carly has it summed up pretty well- there are only a few things I would like to add ! If you do hire your own photographer it will have to be for pictures outside of the resort. Sandals/Beaches will not allow other photographers on property. Also, you can do a private reception on the beach and hire musicians or a DJ for dancing! That way you don't need to go into the disco. The great thing about the private bar (specially if you are on the becah at Boscabel) is that it is for your guests only - that way they don't need to be hiking to the pool nor do they have to wait in line with the other guests from the resort! The extra charge is for set up, break down and a bartender. TA Jennifer

Erin -Just let me know when your ready to go!

Welcome Lynn! I love St. Lucia! Your plans sound amazing ( and great choice of venue!)

Amanda! You both look so happy-glad to hear that your day went fantastic! BTW- I Love your dress- you look stunning! Ta Jennifer

Wow - that's just wild! It was a series of events not just while they were at the wedding then! Still not quite getting why someone would bring an Ipod to a wedding and the rest would not have their cameras with them (other than the ones that were gone already) during wedding festivities. Of course I am a camera junkie and take pictures all of the time at weddings and while I travel! Sounds like they were probably at Sandals Halcyon-with the older key safes although I know that these are getting upgraded to electronic safes. Just an FYI for anyone else- if your safe is being worked on or your valuables can't fit in the in room safe- most properties have a safe behind the front desk. Request a receipt of items that you place in the safe.