Need honest reviews of RMB

[KGraham27]

I am planning my wedding in Jamaica and really want to stay at the Riu Montego Bay. I have read many reviews here and on other sites and have a few questions. Is the ocean full of seaweed and swamp like? Some reviews say that it is really bad and others say that it is nice. How bad are the planes flying into the airport? How many per day? I appreciate any help anyone can give me!

[bellissima]

The beaches in Montego Bay are very nice but it depends on the season for the seaweed. Additionally some of the resorts I think manage it better than others. i think the beaches in Negril are more of the pink sand type you see on the travel sites. You can get flight statistics and airport statistics on google I forget what the search is for it. I bet that varies seasonally as well. good luck!

[IrishgirlinNY]

Hi

 

I actually stayed at the Riu Montego Bay back in September 2008. The beach wasn't as nice as Negril. I had stayed in Negril back in 2006. It wasn't bad, it was just the sand was a little bumpier. The water was fine. We did mainly stay at the pool. I think we went to the ocean once, but it wasn't crazy with seaweed. It was beautiful! We went about 3 weeks after it opened. We had such a great time. It is actually why we booked our wedding for the Riu Ocho Rios for our wedding. I don't think you can go wrong.

[blumenthale]

You should know that there is now a $200 fee if use a non resort vendor. per vendor. RMB only has one vendor for flowers, photographer, hair and make-up, DJs, music, and cakes. The fee is to discourage any competition for the resort vendors and create monopoly of services, so they can get all your money. When I first booked there were no vendor fees. Which is one of the reasons I booked the resort. But, now there are, so take that into consideration. I had already signed a contract with my non resort photographer, but I had not signed a contract with the baker and florist. If I had I could of been slapped with $600 in vendor fees as a penalty for not using the resort's vendors. Luckily, after much emailing, I am only paying the day pass for my photographer but only because I really argued with the RMB people.

[SeptemberBride]

So what will you do about the cake and the florist and why did you want an outside baker and florist? do they have poor quality

[blumenthale]

I wanted to be able to find a good price for the florist. There are other florists who do very nice work but do not charge as much, the quote I got from Grandegardens was $2000 less then Tai Flora, for the same items. The RIU photographers get mixed reviews and are expensive and you don't get a lot of photos. And, the cake that comes with the package is ugly and cheap looking, plus past brides have said they did not get the cake they ordered.

[boscobel]

I am closing this thread since we should work on the assumption that ALL reviews posted on this site are honest, so please just search and read thru the reviews that pertain to the resort/hotel you are interested in and post any comments/questions in that thread.