Riu Palace Tropical Bay in Negril

[bghbasket]

My daughter has booked the Riu Palace Tropical Bay resort in Negril for June 12, 2014.  We booked the resort at the recommendation of a local travel agent.  In reading through this site, I am not seeing a lot of information on this resort.  We would be very interested in hearing from brides who have had their weddings there or who have them booked for an upcoming wedding.  It is so scary when you are booking something, sight unseen!  Any inside information, photos, etc. would be greatly appreciated.  She has booked her wedding for 4:00 on the beach.  Since she is expecting a large number of people, she booked the caprice package (the highest wedding package)  but it looks like you still pay extra for many things!  Anyone who has had experience with this resort, we would love to hear from you!  I have also read where this resort has a new wedding planner and since then, prices have gone up.    We are also interested to know if anyone has used the resort photographer and what people have done for their reception and/or dance.  When I search this site and don't see much about this resort in particular, it scares me!  Help!  Worried mom! 

[Isanmike]

We're planning our wedding in Jamaica for Dec. 2014 and when we looked at options, Riu Palace Tropical Bay in Negril was definitely an option - it still is.  We're actually going to be there Dec. of this year to venue shop but we wanted to narrow down our options to a few places so we can stay there while we're there in Dec.  We want to experience what our guests will be experiencing if we have our wedding there.  We so wanted Negril because of the beaches and the sunsets...but when we looked into it, we just weren't convinced that this is the place for us.  We went on youtube and looked up wedding videos of others who got married there and we just didn't like anything we saw.  We saw chairs that they used for their restaurants as the chairs that were covered up with the white covers and the bows but you can see bright green through it.  The decor that they offered just looked really bad...anyhow, we figured we could customize and order our own chairs, flowers, etc.  but then it would be additional costs for us.  Vs. other venues, whatever came with the package still looked good.  So yeah...if you have a different experience, we'd love to hear it but maybe the youtube videos may help...

[bghbasket]

Well, this certainly isn't easing for my mind!  In other words, my hesitations are for real.  If there is anyone who has had their wedding here, please post!  My daughter and her fiance and his family have booked...they are the only ones so far.  I am not sure how costly it would be to change at this point.  Did your post mean that you WILL be going to the Riu in December as one of the resorts to view, or not?  I believe our travel agent had been at the resort before, but don't know that she has had a wedding here before.  You are right, my daughter and fiance mainly picked Negrl because of the beach.  I can't seem to find the Riu Palace Tropical Bay on the review pages either and anything I find seems to be from quite some time ago.  Again, I would love to hear from anyone who has had their wedding at the Riu Palace or if they are further in to planning than we are.  Thanks in advance! 

[adp87]

I am getting married at RPTB in March, 2014! My fiance and I took a "scouting" trip to Negril this past March and felt that RPTB was the best location for our group. We have about 40 people travelling down with us, so far. I have been preparing my wedding for the past 1 1/2 years so up until recently I hadn't needed to plan too much. The beginning stages were a little rocky as my previous wedding coordinator had left the resort. To ensure Sophia, our new coordinator understood how we visioned our wedding, she called us for a conference call to explain everything. She actually gave us great advice that our previous planner had deterred from. I have to say I am a huge control freak and was really nervous about a destination wedding in general, however I have had nothing to seriously stress over. As soon as I had our call with Sophie, she became a "yes" person. Anything that we've asked for we've received, and her email responses have been very prompt and thorough. I've certainly felt the same regret that you are feeling throughout this process, but I remind myself that most resorts are the same and we will get what we put into our wedding. I am making most of our decorations myself and bringing them with me. I have been told from previous destination brides that the decoration is the views you get from being in a tropical destination and that there isn't much decor needed. If I ever felt uneasy working with any vendor I ask for a conference call and as soon as we can speak to one another all of my worries go away. I hope this eases your mind; if you or your daughter have any questions, please feel free to contact me! [email protected] I don't post on here at all, so messaging through the site might take me too long to reply.

[djac]

Really looking forward to our wedding in April at the RPTB. Didn't expect everything to be so pricey! We are having 60 guests... here's a little breakdown of costs so far...

• Riu Caprice Package $2205 [includes hair, mani/pedi, massage, flower petals, cake/chairs for 40, officiant etc)
• $12 fee for each guest over 40 ($12x20) $240 [to cover cake, extra chairs, and sparkling wine]
• Cocktail hour $450 [at an all inclusive??]
• Private Buffet ($55x60)  $3300 [ouch]
• Lined Tent for tables and dance floor $1000
• Smaller tent for buffett and bar $200
• Open bar for 4 hours ($25x60) $1500 [at an all inclusive, yes]
• Chairs for reception ($6.25x60) $375 [apparently they need to rent chairs for us]

In addition to those resort costs, I ordered real touch flowers from etsy for $400  and hired a local photographer for $1700 plus the $350 vendor fee. If we include our vacation packages, the dress, suit, etc this is easily a $15k affair. Much cheaper than domestic weddings, but I was expecting to stay under 10k. Sadly, resort fees are in USD, and the Canadian dollar isn't doing so hot right now, we'll also have to eat up the 10-15% exchange difference. I've decided the ocean and my beautiful bridesmaids will be pretty enough, I am not decorating the tables or chairs.  I'm so suprised that in spite of bringing the resort 60 guests who are all staying 7 nights, that there are no $$$ incentives or breaks.

 

All that aside, working with Sophia has been great she's on top of everything and replies within 48 hours. I've been searching high and low for a picture of the cake to know if its approrpriate to bring a topper and some fake flowers to put on it. Sophia told me it will be 3 tiers and white, although no pictures are available. If anyone has been to the RPTB or Riu Negril and has a picture of the cake can you please share?

Has anyone been to Negril in April? Are there a lot of insects outdoors? If so we may have to cnsider renting out the steakhouse instead of the beach tents?

 

Cheers to all the past and future brides. Wishing you all long happy marriages

[cirred]

Congratulations @ Mention and happy planning.

 

I am getting married at the RPTB on March 8, 2014.

 

I totally agree with you that Sophia is great. Sophia told me that our cake will be 3 tiers as well. She suggested that we bring a cake topper for the cake.  

[bghbasket]

Thanks for he replies!  Since my daughter's wedding is in June, she should be contacted Sophia soon.  She has not had contact with her yet.  I think right now she is thinking about going with the reception provided in her package at the steakhouse, but she would like to have some sort of reception later with dancing and possibly a DJ. but thought the price was pretty steep since it was per hour.  Do you know of anyone who has done dancing with their own taped music through speakers, etc.  She had thought about renting a tent and dance floor on the beach...not sure if that is an option.  I am surprised that the chair covers, bows, etc. are extra as my son got married in Cancun and those were all included in their package.  Seems like everything is an additional charge.  I am interested to know what the chairs would look like without covers?  Can you get white?  Also wondering if the bouquets included in the packages are pretty or if they need to be upgraded also.  So wish they had pictures of flowers, cakes, arch, chairs, etc.  It would make it so much easier.  If anyone has access to any pics of weddings here, we would so appreciate seeing!  I look forward to hearing about your weddings!  :-)

[danielleandryan2015]

@@bghbasket, I am getting married here in May of 2015 but have already started planning and have been in contact with Sophie several times. She did send me pictures of the chairs, as well as the bouqets included and other options. I would be happy to forward them to you if you would like. Feel free to email me at [email protected].

I am planning to just have the Royal package that is for 20 people. Its only $13 per person additional charge so an extra 20 people only adds $260 which is far less than the $1000 upgrade to the caprice package. Also I checked salon prices and to have my hair, makeup, mani and pedi done is $240. so still under the Caprice package amount and that's what we will do.

We are planning to just have the dinner at the steakhouse that is included in the package and make our own party on the beach after! I figure we will just pull some chairs where we want them, bring some decorations of our own, and have people run and get drinks every so often. We are an easy to please crowd though, so I think this will work well for us. I also considered having our group go down to the other resort Club Negril and go into their nightclub and just have our dance party there! Its free to get in as a guest of tropical bay so that is always an option too.

[cirred]

Just wrote a review of my wedding and vacation at the RPTB.

Feel free to email me if you would like more information. [email protected]

Happy planning!

[danielleandryan2015]

So glad someone finally posted a review on this resort! I am excited to read it and will do so right now! Thanks!