Destination: Ocho Rios (Trelawny) Jamaica
When: February 18-22, 2006
Itinerary: Flew into Montego Bay, motorcoach to Trelawny
We departed on a Ryan International flight from the HHH terminal at the MSP Airport bright and early on February 18. It was 15 below zero outside, so we were pretty excited to be leaving Minnesota for awhile! The flight was amazingly quick since we had such a strong tail wind. We landed in MoBay and made our way through the lines to the Superclubs lounge. We were greeted and given a bottle of water, then taken to our motorcoach. Even though it was only a 30 minute drive to our resort, the driver stopped for a break half way there. After about 10 minutes, we were on our way again, though. We arrived at the resort. Check in was a breeze. Everyone in our group was upgraded to either oceanview or cottage rooms. Thanks, Everton!
The rooms were pretty basic. We were in room 533. We had a king bed along with a twin bed. We had a nice balcony with chairs and a table that looks out over the pool areas and ocean. The room had a safe, liquor dispensers, refrigerator, tub/shower, TV, hair dryer, phone and air conditioning that worked very well. The outside hallway that led to our room was a good place to watch the sunset at night. We watched the sunrise from the balcony. Our housekeeper was Karen. What a wonderful women! I brought along a backpack filled with school supplies in hopes of finding someone who could use it. It is somewhat out of my comfort zone to do something like this, and I had been praying for the right opportunity to come along. After breakfast on our second morning in Jamaica, we were heading back to our room when we passed Karen's cleaning cart, so I knew she was in the room next to ours. I was going to approach her, but chickened out. We went into our room and shut the door. I flipped on the light and the light bulb blew out. Pretty amazing how the Lord provides those opportunities for us, isn't it? So, I took the HINT and went back to talk to Karen, using the light bulb as my excuse. Karen told me she had two daughters, ages 4 and 14. I gave her the pens, pencils, erasers, notebooks, crayons, silly putty, coloring books and Bibles I had along. She was very appreciative!
The hotel itself is large! There were several swimming pools, a swim up bar, many restaurants and lounges. We ate at Guiseppe's one night and had a delicious meal. We ate at the buffet the other nights. We tried to get into Casablanca's but it was closed the night we wanted. The food was good, no complaints there. The drinks were good, too. I tried a few new ones this time. The Dirty Banana was delicious! We mostly stuck to our favorites: Rum and Coke and Pina Coladas. There were so many activities at this resort. Bingo, trapeze, dancing, shopping, trivia games, spa, jet skis, bon fires, etc. There are waterslides, a kids club and even a kids' pool. It would be a perfect resort for families of all ages. You can keep as busy or as lazy as you want.
We hired a driver one day, Rodney was his name. He took us to the Dolphin Cove in Ocho Rios where a few people from our group did the dolphin swim. I'd highly recommend this if you have never done a dolphin swim before. I did it in Cancun, but was wishing I would have signed up when I saw the others in the water. After Dolphin Cove, Rodney took us to Island Village. We found Margaritaville and had dinner and a few drinks. Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas was docked at the pier. What a sight! The ship was just like the ship we sailed on for our Alaska cruise. We did a little shopping in the Village before heading back. Rodney stopped at a little historic park along the way. It marked the point where Christopher Columbus landed when he discovered Jamaica in 1494. Very cool!
We had a fabulous time in Jamaica again. We just love this country and the Jamaican people. They are simply amazing, so friendly and welcoming, and just so happy that we are there visiting them. We just don't get that kind of welcome anywhere else. Yeah, mon, we're in Jamaica, mon!
Ok, so for the comparison, Negril wins, hands down, but that probably has a lot to do with the resort that we chose. There are plenty of places in Ochi that cater to the adults only clientele. For the price, the Starfish was perfect for us! I did do a site inspection of the Royal Decameron Club Caribbean and have to admit that their beach front cottages are to die for! RIGHT on the sand and water, perfect atmosphere and wonderful surroundings, you can't go wrong. Jamaica is just a place you HAVE to visit. Happy travels!