Montego Bay, Jamaica (May 2010)
Thanks, Annie. We had a great time!
Overall, it was extremely trouble free. We were rather well prepared, especially for me, since I generally don’t prepare for anything. The plane was a breeze to confirm and we were able to get our passes before we left home.
I had always meant to try to get two aisle seats, but never did before. That was very nice since the window is not important to PJ anymore and we’d both rather have room. The flights were great; both were on time and very uneventful. The JetBlue TV’s are a nice convenience.
On our arrival, right after we got through Jamaican Customs, there was someone directing people to the tour operators and we got right to ours. There was no line and it took about 5 minutes before we were off to the bus.
The hotel (Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort) was the second stop and about 15 minutes from the airport. It was very hard to adjust to their driving on the wrong side of the road though. I don’t think that I ever did.
At the hotel the check in was a little longer, though, but still pretty quick and painless. We were able to store our bags until the room was ready and explored somewhat. The hotel and location were really beautiful. Everything was right on the water, including the pool. The gym was fantastic. Lots of equipment – all clean and available.
The hotel had the kayaking, snorkeling and sailboats, but we did not see any of the motorized activities while we were there. On the last day (Sunday) they had a lot more. There was wakeboarding, parasailing and fishing, but we were leaving. It might have been the ocean conditions, but it generally seemed rather calm to me. All the people we dealt with were nice and helpful. I didn’t realize that there were a number of tour operators there until the end and the lady in the lobby directed us back to Jamaica Tours for a trip she couldn’t book.
The room was very nice; right on the ocean and very clean. It was a little far from the pool, though, since PJ was not allowed in the adult pool which was right next to the room.
The food was great, and too plentiful. We ate like crazy. We only went to the Caribbean restaurant and it was very nice and the food was good. We weren’t too interested in the shows, so the nights were a little slow.
We took 2 excursions. The first was for zip lining (through Chukka Tours) and it was a real adventure. It was quite a way, but very nice. Lots of fun. They advertise the longest zip line in the Caribbean, but omitted any mention of the height, which on one of the runs they claimed was a few hundred feet over the river. In the very brief time I looked down all I could tell was it was high! That was probably for the best since, had I known, I would have chickened out. They had very nice clean new equipment which was comforting. They also were willing to teach what they could about what we were supposed to do. That was a really good time.
The other excursion also involved ziplining (thankfully more tame and they did everything for you). We also went to Dunn’s River falls and Mystic Mountain. The climb up was really scenic and nice and had lots of photo ops. The bobsled ride was good too.
As far as what we learned, I now remember that it’s a really good idea to have lots of small bills, since not doing it makes you much too popular! I would also inquire into how often each of the hotel activities were offered. Other than that, relax and enjoy.
Pat
