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Travel Vacations Travel Blog The following are reviews from our valuable customers. We invite you to join in with your reviews and comments too!
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Beaches Sandy Bay Negril, Jamaica 6/16/2008 10:39:01 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment Yes, we had a great time! The Beaches resorts were great... our kids really loved it!I'll be honest, when we first got to Beaches Sandy Bay we weren't real impressed. It's obviously the older of the two, and even having the nicer room it was pretty rough. But, what it lacked in quality it made up for in character. Sandy Bay is very laid back compared to it's counterpart at Beaches Negril, but has a much smaller crowd (with fewer people staying there) and a more personalized staff. During our stay we made friends with many of the staff, and it really gave us that extra experience that we came to love at Sandy Bay. Plus, having the ability to take a 5-minute shuttle up to Beaches Negril as we wanted was the ultimate - we could go to the other resort during the day, enjoy the day at the Waterpark and nicer amenities, but return to our Sandy Bay at the end of the day and enjoy dinner and service there. It was the best of both worlds.
| MARRIOTT BEACH RESORT CURACO 6/16/2008 10:34:46 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment This island compares most closely to Aruba and is an excellent dive destination. Dry and arid. Not very touristy or developed.I would give the resort a 6 of 10. It is 17 years old but kept up real well. It is probably the nicest on the island right now. The beach is sort of poor - rocky and shallow. Their dive resort is rated a 5 star PADI resort, Second only to the Caymans as a dive resort. It is non smoking but that wasn't a problem, If I get charged $250 for that, I consider having paid about $30 per night extra for the privilege. That's ok. I would give the staff a 9.5 out of a 10 for friendliness. We got to be on a first name basis with 8-10 of them. In terms of value, it was slightly pricey but not that bad. Food quality was excellent. 24 Hour room service with a smile.There is a Hilton next door that was my second choice. Do not put anyone in it there. It is at least 30 years old and very poorly maintained. I am very surprised they have not had their franchise chain name jerked. I would give it a 2 of 10. Maybe a 1. There are no other American style chain resorts currently on the island.They are in the process of building two new resorts. A Hyatt and a Rennaisance. Both will nearly put the Marriott and the definitely the Hilton virtually out of business. It will be a whole new game there in a year or so. DO NOT let anyone (as I did) talk to you about going over to Venezuela. I didn't put two and two together until almost when I left, but Hugo Chavez their President has been on a warpath with the US threatening an oil embargo, threatening to "blow Israel of the map". There are multiple state department travel warnings out for Venezuela. They are on the verge of revoking all visas. The locals told us not to go there it would not be safe for Americans. We did not. There are no day trips available to the nearby islands of Bonaire and Aruba. It is great for summer travelers nervous about hurricanes since it is south of the known hurricane belt.
The flight connections were horrible as usual. It took 15 hours door to door, which of the 10-12 Carib trips I have had is par for the course. Only direct flights to Caymans, Jamaica, and Mexico are better. Only thing worse was St Lucia which was 24 hours door to door. Since it is a Dutch colony, many of the vacationers were there from the Netherlands. Multiple couples we met got there in 11 hours or so and were amazed it took us 15 from Memphis.
| Kapalua Villas, Maui-Trip 6/13/2008 8:46:01 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment Kapalua Villas, Maui-Trip was awesome! You picked the perfect spot for us to stay. The Kappalua Villas was all of that and a bag of chips. The condo was spacious and the area it's in is very nice and very protected, so we were more than happy with your recommendations. Everything went smoothly..... We didn't want to come back. We did a lot of things, snorkling, got on the Atlantis Submarine and explored the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, went to a luau, Maui's Aquarium and more! We will definately go back and we will stay exactly where we stayed this time. Thanks so much for your help and excellent service from beginning to finish- you are a great travel agent and I whole heartedly recommend your services to anyone!
| Sandals Regency La Toc, St Lucia 6/13/2008 8:45:36 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment Butler check-in in our room was wonderful. Don and Sydney were our butlers and they were so nice and willing to help. I would suggest them to anyone. They would even walk us to the restaraunt each night so we didn't even have to know where anything was. Each night they would decorate our bed with flower petals, etc.The beach at the Regency wasn't the best. The sand was kinda rocky and there was a drop off a few feet into the water that caused crazy waves and a lot of people fell down. The beach at the Grand was much better and I would suggest that if someone wants to spend more time on the beach versus the pool then they should go to the Grand for the day. The buses that went between the resorts were very convenient and always on time We did snorkeling and kayaking at the resort and also rented jet-skis from an off-property vendor that was "authorized" by sandals. We also went on the Soufrierre Adventure Cruise which was amazing. The cruise went down the west coast of the island from Castries to Soufrierre and then on buses to the Diamond Waterfall and Botanical Garden and the sulfer volcano. The buses also took us to a local restaraunt but the food was kind of weird.The SnapShots photographers were everywhere which was a lot of fun and they took good pictures. They are very expensive but we did buy a few b/c we didn't always have our camera. Our room was nice but we did not really use the private plunge pool. The water was cold most of the time or we weren't in the room. That's really the only thing from the trip that we spent money on that I feel was wasted. We got our moneys worth out of every other service - We did a private dinner in our room served by the butler which was really nice. I would suggest it to anyone as well. They also offered them on the beach but were more expensive and it wasn't as private.Overall every was absolutley wonderful. | Sandals Grande St Lucia 6/13/2008 8:44:26 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment Sandals Grande St Lucia-Thanks for your message and interest in our Sandals experience. In spite of the major drama with my passport falling off my car (such a retard!!) the entire trip was wonderful. I have never been treated so well or so graciously anywhere in the world as the folks there in St Lucia treated us. They had upgraded us to one of those Rondevals (I owe you forever if you were in any way responsible) and we lived like royalty!!! Since it was her birthday, the first night there the butler came in with baloons, champagne, and did a bubble bath with rose petals....incredible.....the honeymooners couldn't have been treated any better than we were. Again, if the Sandals staff upgraded because one came available because of Tori's birthday, kudos to them!! And if you had anything to do with it, thank you from the bottom of my heart.I definitely want to spend a week there, in one of those Rondevals in the future...perhaps Tori's graduation next year. I will get with you and book really early. The food was superb wherever we ate.....breakfast in the room each am.....mid afternoon snack....We never had quite enough time to tour or do much anywhere but the Grande, but with staying in the unit we had(7009), we never had to. The dip pool, hot tub, outdoor shower, misting spray ....and our view of the beach and Ft Rodney were incredible right from out place.From when we checked in at the Concierge, baggage, transfer from airport to the Grande....and back on mon....all was first class or better. I made sure to meet the manager as we left and commended the entire staff.Yes....it is an expensive trip, but the island, the people, and the resort are well worth it.....best trip ever!!!.
| Cancun Palace, Mexico Everything was great ! We did have a group that came in for their senior trip and got very out of control. The first night we just let it slide, but next night had to call front desk. Immediately, they had their security on the floor and took care of the problem. They continued to monitor the floor for remainder of the trip. Jim told them what a great job they had done ( this was going on during the time we were trying to get things worked out for Joe and he also had already mentioned this to the guys in the room, but had no luck in calming them down). The service, food and everything was great, as usual from a Palace Resort. We all agreed, that late fall ( I know this is hurricane season ) or in the early spring is best time for us to go. Alittle quieter - seemed to be so many families there this time , along with a lot of high school kids. I really hope the resort does not get a bad name for the loud , partying kids because I really think this resort is geared more for people in our age group. Anyway, the spa was great and Joe/Joan got there massages switched and were able to get on Wed., and they enjoyed them soooooooo much. With this being said, if you want or need to call me , feel free to. ps- we got the last 2 seats together when we checked in for leaving - I honestly think we may have gotten the seats reserved for Joe and Joan. Also talked to Joe last night and they were almost home for Jacksonville, Fl. A tiring trip, but Joe also got to see his kids ( that he does not get to see very often, they live all scattered over) and grandkids too, so he was pretty upbeat with almost having 2 vacations in one, in spite of what happened.
| Best Travel Agent Ever! Just passing on a name who I highly recommend......
I have THE best travel agent ever. She is an absolute doll and goes above and beyond the call of duty. Julie has made everything so easy it's insane. Bless this woman's heart, I can not even begin to describe how much help she has been to us. She is so patient!! We met her last year in October and she has been dealing with us ever since. You all know me and how anal retentive I can be and she has been amazing and took care of rescheduling, booking, re-booking and just....everything. If you ever need help booking anything...please call her. You will not regret going through Julie, I promise. She is wonderful. Her info is below. - Kelly
Julie Chaump
Travel Vacations
Dallas, TX 214-342-9045
Memphis, TN 901-377-5111
Toll Free 800-861-5111
Hours: Mon-Fri 9a-5p CST
www.travelvacations.net
| Beaches Turks & Caicos Vacation was great! I can’t think of any real hiccups that we had. The day we got there, it took a few hours for my grandparents and my sister and brother-in-law to get their bags b/c they got delivered to the wrong rooms, and the wind was up for several days which limited a few of the already included activities, but other than that things went pretty smoothly. I think we all had a good time. I do have some things that I/we noticed about the resort/trip that might help you and your other clients in the future. I have to say that we noticed a TON more families there with little kids (newborns-6) than we did at Negril. I’m not sure if there actually were more or if we just noticed them a lot more. The sesame street program there seems to be much bigger and more organized, so it seems to be all around you (literally b/c they have these character cutouts ALL over the place). The rooms we were in were nice, and it was great to be right near several of the restaurants and one of the bigger pools (with the swim-up bar). The down side to the rooms is that they have the main entertainment stage right near them and the microphones and music are so loud that you can hear them really clearly in the room. They have early morning programs for the kids (I think it started at 8 one morning…), and late night ones too that go until around 9 and then move into the music bar, which is also right next to the rooms. Honestly, I am hoping that they can find a new location for that stage or something when they open the new section, b/c the entertainment starts around breakfast time and when around when the restaurants open in the evening, so you get serenaded by sesame street characters while you are eating, too.
There seem to be a lot more excursions available at this resort that are less “touristy”, which we really enjoyed. They have a brand new catamaran, named the “Kitty Katt”, and they do snorkeling (where you can catch a conch to take home) and sunset tours on it (for an additional fee) that we really enjoyed. Alexander and I also went on a kayak tour that was really interesting and peaceful, where we got to see quite a bit of wildlife and learn a lot about the islands. If you go at the right time of the month (I can’t remember if it was full or new moon), there is an tour where they take you out to see the glow worms. I think it might have been neat to do that, but we were there at the wrong time.
They have a huge diving program available (the GM told us that there are 50 employees just for the program), which my aunt and cousins seemed to really enjoy. We really missed having the bigger water slides and lazy river available, especially when the wind was up and we couldn’t go snorkeling or sailing or anything b/c of the undertow. The two slides they have there are really only good for the smaller kids. I think the new water park will be a great addition to the resort.
The room keys are electronic cards there, which aren’t supposed to get wet. They also give you a separate “charge card” to use to charge things to your room, which also isn’t supposed to get wet. (In contrast, at Negril, they give you little bungee cords with your key, so you can wear it around your wrist or ankle even if you are only in a bathing suit and it can go in the pools/ocean with you.) Next time I go, I’ll have to find something I can take with me that will be convenient to carry around that is waterproof b/c the normal little screw top floating cylinder cases won’t work b/c the key card won’t fit.
To anyone who has been before, they have changed the pricing structure on the pictures taken by the employees for you, and it is much more expensive to get them now. Last time we went, it was something like $200 for a cd with an unlimited number of pics, which we just planned on doing again. When we got to the shop at the end of the trip, we discovered they didn’t have that option anymore. Mom and I ended up getting a package with only 25 pictures on a cd (and a standard beaches picture frame) for $290. The photographers are also a bit more pushy and there are a lot more of them. Probably b/c they are making a killing selling them…
The direct flight and the short 10 minute drive to the hotel was a BIG plus. Leaving from the international terminal @ DFW is nice, and going through customs/immigration at DFW is a cake walk compared to Miami. I might pay more to take a direct flight to/from Dallas just to avoid that hassle. We didn’t get charged an “exit tax”. Beaches tells you to be ready for it, but no one asked for it at the airport, and we never did see where we were supposed to pay it. Not sure what the deal was with that. Looking at the list above, it sounds like there were a lot of things we didn’t like, but that really isn’t the case b/c none of them were really deal breakers or spoilers. Overall, it is a beautiful place, and it was a nice, relaxing vacation. Before we left, we were all talking about possibly going back after they open the new section, if that tells you anything! Thanks again for all of your help! We probably wouldn’t be able to do these family vacations like this if you didn’t make it so easy for us. I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know!
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