Any Gran Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Brides out there?

[CristalyneAnkit]

Hey MelB2012,

 

Congratulations!!!!! I haven't gotten married there yet. My big day is May 24th, 2014 BUTTTT I do know what you mean about the whole hot sticky and chaffing issue since I grew up in Trinidad and the weather is just as hot! If you go to any sports store, I went to The Running Room, they have anti-chaffing roll on gels that seem to work fairly well when doing marathons. In Trinidad we used to use baby powder and put it between your thighs under your arms and anywhere else you're prone to sweat. The baby powder absorbs your sweat throughout the day and has a nice fresh scent A good idea would be to test both options out by applying them before doing some intense workout where you sweat a lot. You can then see which option works best for you since we're all different. Hope this helps!

[soontobeawalsh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CristalyneAnkit 
 

Hey MelB2012,

 

Congratulations!!!!! I haven't gotten married there yet. My big day is May 24th, 2014 BUTTTT I do know what you mean about the whole hot sticky and chaffing issue since I grew up in Trinidad and the weather is just as hot! If you go to any sports store, I went to The Running Room, they have anti-chaffing roll on gels that seem to work fairly well when doing marathons. In Trinidad we used to use baby powder and put it between your thighs under your arms and anywhere else you're prone to sweat. The baby powder absorbs your sweat throughout the day and has a nice fresh scent A good idea would be to test both options out by applying them before doing some intense workout where you sweat a lot. You can then see which option works best for you since we're all different. Hope this helps!

Hey MelB2012

I was also going to say try baby powder!  That is was I am planing on using if needed!!

[CdnBrideJoanne]

leannesmith - your countdown is sooo close!  Only 3 more weeks to go!!

[leannesmith]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CdnBrideJoanne 
 

leannesmith - your countdown is sooo close!  Only 3 more weeks to go!!

I know!  down to the final details and getting kind of nervous.  I have my last dress fitting this weekend and it better fit this time!  a few last minute bookings happening...trying to get the seating plan done....sigh....deep breath...lol.

[staceydale]

Anyone getting married November 20th 2013? I just clued up my plans for the reception and I'm getting really excited!!

[MrsViolo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MelB2012 
 

Hey Ladies. Only a a couple months left to go until I leave for my wedding. Holy Cow!

 

I have a *personal* questions to ask, maybe more for the brides who've already married in Jamaica.

 

So, I feel like it's going to be hot there, right? And I'm going to be wearing a full wedding dress.... And probably sweat, under my gown, right? What have you ladies done to prevent or reduce sweating/chaffing? (What!? So, I don't have a gap between my thighs... I know I'm not alone here!)

 

I'm worried about my wedding night Ladies!?!? Anyone relate?

I love that you asked this question!

 

I had the same suggestions as the others, the racing stuff and baby powder.

 

A friend of mine got married this weekend (in Ontario, but it was hot enough). She said she rubbed deodorant all over her legs and it worked amazing and lasted all day and night!

[STemple]

Hi ladies, I'm sure this has been brought up before but for those who went the dj route how was your experience? My package includes the dj and I was wondering how to go about what we want for first dance etc..... And do they play a good mix for young and old, you know the odd song for the grandparents to really enjoy Thanks!

[CristalyneAnkit]

Hey FutureKeese22, 

 

Your review is super helpful! I'm getting married May 24th, 2014 and am beginning to plan my big Indian wedding which seems to be at a standstill since I'm not hearing back from anyone unless I call them directly. Even then I just keep getting the run around and not real answer, just "We're discussing with management" I'm not to worried since most Brides on here said everything went smoothly but I'm still a little concerned since Indian Ceremonies are quite different than Christian Ceremonies and I'm hoping they understand that and can get everything done the way I need. Anyways, I'm wondering how you bagged the free upgrades for your guests! My agent told me for Don Pablo it's an extra $75/person. I'm also wondering if the $800 Vendor Fee got waived for you because you were in the Don Pablo Section? When I spoke to the planners over the phone and asked the difference between Don Pablo they basically said it was a resort within a resort. Any ideas? Thanks so much!

[CdnBrideJoanne]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CristalyneAnkit 
 

Hey FutureKeese22,

 

Your review is super helpful! I'm getting married May 24th, 2014 and am beginning to plan my big Indian wedding which seems to be at a standstill since I'm not hearing back from anyone unless I call them directly. Even then I just keep getting the run around and not real answer, just "We're discussing with management" I'm not to worried since most Brides on here said everything went smoothly but I'm still a little concerned since Indian Ceremonies are quite different than Christian Ceremonies and I'm hoping they understand that and can get everything done the way I need. Anyways, I'm wondering how you bagged the free upgrades for your guests! My agent told me for Don Pablo it's an extra $75/person. I'm also wondering if the $800 Vendor Fee got waived for you because you were in the Don Pablo Section? When I spoke to the planners over the phone and asked the difference between Don Pablo they basically said it was a resort within a resort. Any ideas? Thanks so much!

 

My agent (Marlin Travel) told me we can't upgrade to Don Pablo because Transat considers it a different resort.  I thought that was very strange.

 

I also can't get an answer from the wedding coordinators at the moment.  Very frustrating.  I wish Stephanie was still there.

[CristalyneAnkit]

CdnBrideJoanne,

 

I completely understand your frustration! I swear it's not even the resort it's Marlin Travel that screwed me up completely! I booked through their wedding division Absolute Wedsite and when I originally booked with Air Canada they said Air Canada doesn't have Don Pablo Rooms it's owned by some other flight company and I'm like 99% sure they said it was TRANSAT!!!!! So to hear they're telling you otherwise just boggles my mind! I couldn't book Don Pablo and instead just booked regular. NOW when I go on Air Canada Vacations I see they do have Don Pablo rooms, when I called to ask the agents they said they just opened those up and they're going to be $70 extra which isn't bad but how do I go back and tell my 22 people who've already booked "Hey guys, guess what Don Pablos open now wanna book for an extra $70?" That's not even the worse yet! Before booking my package through MarlinTravel and Absolute Wedsite we specifically asked if the resort had a 9am slot open for our ceremony since it's an Indian ceremony and takes 2 hrs, plus we're getting the package with the 1 hr appetizers and cocktails. There was a bride already booked in at 1pm that's why. They said yes it is open and we booked. I got ahold of the wedding planners at the resort and wanted to give them a run down of my 4-day celebrations. I got an email back from Vinnette who was very surprised and told me we had to contact her ASAP since my ceremony conflicts with other weddings! I freaked out instantly and we called up our Agent to find out what the heck was going on. They kept telling us "Don't worry it's booked, if anything goes wrong the owner would personally go strangle them blah blah blah." They said don't contact the resort just deal through them and they'll figure everything out. Now for the packages they said we had 3 months for our families and friends to lock in the price they got for us. The only problem was MarlinTravel and Absolute Wedding take forever to respond to people inquiring! My 3 months ended today and they haven't emailed back many of the people who emailed at the beginning! I feel like I'm doing all their work finding out information and sending it to them. I even had to fwd them information on the Henna Artist I found along with other Indian suppliers in Jamaica. You'd think for doing "SOOOOOOOO" many Indian Weddings in Jamaica they'd have all this stuff readily available for Brides but no, instead they're asking me for suppliers and their contact information under the pretense of "Taking care of your wedding" I finally lost my mind last week and decided to call up Gran Bahia and speak to Vinnette. I couldn't get a hold of her and instead spoke to Kalsani who answered the phone and actually also read my long email I sent the night before explaining to no longer deal with anyone from MarlinTravel or AbsoluteWedsite as they are just useless and make things more difficult than needs be. He was super friendly so helpful and really put me at ease. I called again another day and spoke to Vinnette who went over the majority of things with me and I must say I'm so much happier dealing with them direct. I'm using MarlinTravel strictly for the packages and only because they've already booked 22 people and I don't want to confuse my guests. Honestly I found emailing the wedding planners great to have a written copy of what you need, but they honestly take forever to get back to you so I call on top of that. I know it's long distance etc but honestly I'm only getting married once and even though it's a Destination Wedding there's some basic needs I'd like to have happen with no problems. Even if you call and can't get a hold of your planner you can then discuss your needs with whoever answers the phone from the Wedding Dept. because the email goes to every single one of them! It's so helpful because they open your wedding folder and note down everything on it! Don't be afraid to be the annoying bride constantly calling them. I was at first but honestly they are so friendly and helpful and in the end it's much better to be an annoying bride upfront to them than a disgruntled Bride afterwards. Final words from me:

 

ALL BRIDES SHOULD DEAL WITH THE RESORT'S WEDDINGS PLANNERS DIRECT DO NOT BY ANY MEANS TAKE THE WORD OF YOUR AGENTS AS THEY ARE NOT THE ONES WHO WILL BE CO-ORDINATING YOUR WEDDING THE DAY OF! EMAIL AND CALL THEM SO IF YOUR PLANNER IS BUSY DEALING WITH AN ON-SITE WEDDING YOU CAN DISCUSS YOUR NEEDS WITH THE OTHER PLANNERS THAT ARE FREE TO TALK TO YOU.