Any Gran Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Brides out there?

[acw271011]

If I remember correctly, from past brides last fall, they went through the Gran Bahia directly, not through Jamaica to book other dinners. it was a different email address in the US somewhere. try backtracking to about page 270 something. there were brides last september that had large enough groups for welcome and rehearsal dinners.

 

there is definitely an iron in the room. the hotel can steam stuff for you but I understand it's $90 to steam a dress. believe it or not they don't get that badly wrinkled if they're properly in a bag. if you have parents that you can put the dress in their room or a maid of honour or something, hang it high up and take the bottom out of the bag so that it can drape.

 

Originally Posted by tamandrob 

Thanks for all the info. I never asked for a certain restaurant so I'm not to sure why either, I am going to email her back and see what can be done!

 

 

 

[BusyBee123]

I bought a cheap steamer that we used for my dresses and the groomsmen's outfits.  I think I only paid about $12 for it and it was perfect!  There was an iron and ironing board in the rooms, however if the guys prefer.

 

In terms of the welcome dinners, we were told 2 weeks as well, however when I emailed a month in advance they said they would just take care of it.  When we arrived, we found out that our reservation that we had been told was at 7pm, was actually at 8:45pm, but they were quick to correct it without any fuss!  We also prebooked a rehearsal dinner and a dinner for the two of us on our last night without a problem.  I think the problem with your booking is because it is such a large group.  We only booked for 18, so they were able to seat us all at the grill without a problem.  I'm guessing that with 33, it would take up too much of any of the restaurants to accommodate all at once.  If you push for it, they might be able to close off part of the Dolce Vita for you, but the other restaurants are smaller and it might be more difficult.  

 

Originally Posted by tamandrob 

Thanks for all the info. I never asked for a certain restaurant so I'm not to sure why either, I am going to email her back and see what can be done!

 

[Kristo]

So I need to vent a little bit here.... I've been dealing with Donnalee for a little under a year now and have had no problems with her.. up until this past week.  We booked our photographer and knew there would be a charge to bring our "vendor" onto the resort for the afternoon.  My understanding was this fee was around $40.00.   I emailed Donnalee to confirm the charge just so we could factor that into our budget.   This is the email I got back from her:

 

"The vendors fee is USD 800.00. You can also email our photo shop for photo packages and their email address is: [email protected]"

 

Say what?!

 

On top of what I'm already paying my photographer, I now have to pay an additional $800.00 for her to come to the resort for a few hours??  She won't even be there for our reception or overnight.  We've literally hired her for 3 hours! 

 

I emailed Donnalee back, thinking it was just a typo.  I asked for a little bit of an explanation, or a breakdown of exactly what that $800 is for.  Her well thought out and detailed response to me was:

 

"This information was sent to us by Manager of the resort."

 

Ya, thanks for clarifying that!

 

Can anyone shed some light for me here?  What have past brides had to pay?  What are current brides being quoted?

 

Ok, end rant. 

 

[Kristo]

So I need to vent a little bit here.... I've been dealing with Donnalee for a little under a year now and have had no problems with her.. up until this past week.  We booked our photographer and knew there would be a charge to bring our "vendor" onto the resort for the afternoon.  My understanding was this fee was around $40.00.   I emailed Donnalee to confirm the charge just so we could factor that into our budget.   This is the email I got back from her:

 

"The vendors fee is USD 800.00. You can also email our photo shop for photo packages and their email address is: [email protected]"

 

Say what?!

 

On top of what I'm already paying my photographer, I now have to pay an additional $800.00 for her to come to the resort for a few hours??  She won't even be there for our reception or overnight.  We've literally hired her for 3 hours! 

 

I emailed Donnalee back, thinking it was just a typo.  I asked for a little bit of an explanation, or a breakdown of exactly what that $800 is for.  Her well thought out and detailed response to me was:

 

"This information was sent to us by Manager of the resort."

 

Ya, thanks for clarifying that!

 

Can anyone shed some light for me here?  What have past brides had to pay?  What are current brides being quoted?

 

Ok, end rant. 

 

[Kim Deslippe]

OMG, that is absolutely outrageous.

I went through my emails from Donnalee/Chandlyn and I don't have any mention about pricing for photographers specifically because we are probably bringing ours as a guest (FI cousin) and not even telling them.  I was quoted by Donnalee for having Rashel Edwards come in for hair/makeup, if she was staying through the wedding it would only be the cost of an additional guest per the wedding package chosen, so like $20 if we had the free package and if she was not staying for the day then there was no charge for her to come.  So I don't see how the situation would be any different.  Maybe try to get an email for the manager to clarify this and provide an explanation.

Hope she doesn't try to pull anything like that with me, because I've kept all my emails from her and will gladly provide proof of what she quoted.

 

Originally Posted by Kristo 

So I need to vent a little bit here.... I've been dealing with Donnalee for a little under a year now and have had no problems with her.. up until this past week.  We booked our photographer and knew there would be a charge to bring our "vendor" onto the resort for the afternoon.  My understanding was this fee was around $40.00.   I emailed Donnalee to confirm the charge just so we could factor that into our budget.   This is the email I got back from her:

 

"The vendors fee is USD 800.00. You can also email our photo shop for photo packages and their email address is: [email protected]"

 

Say what?!

 

On top of what I'm already paying my photographer, I now have to pay an additional $800.00 for her to come to the resort for a few hours??  She won't even be there for our reception or overnight.  We've literally hired her for 3 hours! 

 

I emailed Donnalee back, thinking it was just a typo.  I asked for a little bit of an explanation, or a breakdown of exactly what that $800 is for.  Her well thought out and detailed response to me was:

 

"This information was sent to us by Manager of the resort."

 

Ya, thanks for clarifying that!

 

Can anyone shed some light for me here?  What have past brides had to pay?  What are current brides being quoted?

 

Ok, end rant. 

 

 

[JayKay]

Oh my gosh!! $800?? That is insane!  The most I have ever seen it at other resorts is like $200.  We didn't pay anything for a vendor fee for our photographer from Jamaica.  When we had our meeting with the wedding coordinators, there was  alady from the resort photo shop and she was trying to push us to use them rather then the one we already hired.  Maybe this is there way to deter brides from bringing in outside photographers, but I really hope they arent going to charge you that much!  If I was you I would be calling them to confirm, and then calling the manager of the resort.

 

Originally Posted by Kristo 

So I need to vent a little bit here.... I've been dealing with Donnalee for a little under a year now and have had no problems with her.. up until this past week.  We booked our photographer and knew there would be a charge to bring our "vendor" onto the resort for the afternoon.  My understanding was this fee was around $40.00.   I emailed Donnalee to confirm the charge just so we could factor that into our budget.   This is the email I got back from her:

 

"The vendors fee is USD 800.00. You can also email our photo shop for photo packages and their email address is: [email protected]"

 

Say what?!

 

On top of what I'm already paying my photographer, I now have to pay an additional $800.00 for her to come to the resort for a few hours??  She won't even be there for our reception or overnight.  We've literally hired her for 3 hours! 

 

I emailed Donnalee back, thinking it was just a typo.  I asked for a little bit of an explanation, or a breakdown of exactly what that $800 is for.  Her well thought out and detailed response to me was:

 

"This information was sent to us by Manager of the resort."

 

Ya, thanks for clarifying that!

 

Can anyone shed some light for me here?  What have past brides had to pay?  What are current brides being quoted?

 

Ok, end rant. 

 

 

[acw271011]

That makes absolutely no sense. We were quoted a vendor fee of $75 for anyone coming onto the resort to provide a service, but that fee did not allow them to use any of the bars or restaurants on the resort. When all of our plans fell apart and we ended up being just 2 instead of a wedding party and group, I added our photographer in to our "dinner guests" and they just let him in for free. When I asked Chandlyn about the fee at our meeting, she said not to worry about it, I think because she took pity on us that all of our plans had fallen apart. I thanked her and said that we were more than willing to pay the fee for him and she again said no that it wasn't necessary. That was the only "outsider" that we had since I used the spa for my hair and makeup. I asked if I had to pay the fee also for the florist to bring the flowers and they said no that they are contracted with the resort and you already get charged for the delivery so there is no additional fee.

 

I would pay to buy a phone card (I got a $10 one) and phone down to Jamaica and speak directly to Chandlyn. I've heard too many horror stories about Donnalee and I wouldn't put any faith in anything she tells you. I would just deal with Chandlyn directly and I would explain that the photographer is only going to be on the resort for a few hours and not even covering your reception, etc.  As to the lady from the resort photography company, we dealt with her too. She is pushy and loud, but she also gave us 9 shots instead of our 5 because I kept making comments about how bad they were and how were we even going to find our 5 free ones when they were all so terrible. In the end I claimed quite loudly that whoopee, I managed to find 9 out of all the shots taken and she stepped in and told the clerk to give us all 9 on a CD. They aren't half bad, but that was 9 good shots out of almost 100.

 

Good luck!!

 

Originally Posted by Kristo 

So I need to vent a little bit here.... I've been dealing with Donnalee for a little under a year now and have had no problems with her.. up until this past week.  We booked our photographer and knew there would be a charge to bring our "vendor" onto the resort for the afternoon.  My understanding was this fee was around $40.00.   I emailed Donnalee to confirm the charge just so we could factor that into our budget.   This is the email I got back from her:

 

"The vendors fee is USD 800.00. You can also email our photo shop for photo packages and their email address is: [email protected]"

 

Say what?!

 

On top of what I'm already paying my photographer, I now have to pay an additional $800.00 for her to come to the resort for a few hours??  She won't even be there for our reception or overnight.  We've literally hired her for 3 hours! 

 

I emailed Donnalee back, thinking it was just a typo.  I asked for a little bit of an explanation, or a breakdown of exactly what that $800 is for.  Her well thought out and detailed response to me was:

 

"This information was sent to us by Manager of the resort."

 

Ya, thanks for clarifying that!

 

Can anyone shed some light for me here?  What have past brides had to pay?  What are current brides being quoted?

 

Ok, end rant. 

 

 

[Natalie2012]

Holy Crap...that can't be right!! Here was my reply from Chandlyn in regards to bringing in an outside visitor... I would definately call if you can.

 

We have booked Merrick Cousley for our photographer..
is there a visitor/outside vendor fee we need to pay? He will need to purchase a pass at a cost of USD75.00
Is he able to get photos from a variety of locations within resort.... On wedding day and if we do ttd at resort?Yes he may
I was thinking of inviting him to our reception dinner so we can get more photos...is that ok?This would be ok,

[pask454]

I am bringing my photographer for the week. There is no fee for him to take pictures, as he will be a "guest" My hair and makeup artist is coming in before the wedding, not staying...I ask Chandlyn about a fee...and she said no fee for her to come in.

[erindegagne]

Hey Ladies!! I got the link for our pictures from Merrick Cousley today, he did such a great job. There are a ton of pictures (725), enjoy

http://www.merrickcousley.com/clients/2012_0106_eringillwedds/