71 Truck, sorry if that came off too strong. If you have fully vetted him and he is a licensed dealer that you are sure you can trust, then ok. But for any beginner, I would advise them be very wary in general.

That said, I have traveled extensively and tend not to trust local dealers for much of anything. Authorized duty free shops at international airports (Seoul Incheon or similar), or high end shopping malls with international affiliation (Lufthansa Center in Beijing) are ok. But in much of the world except the U.S. duty free is a hell of a lot cheaper...

Got married at the Sans Souci a 5 star all inclusive resort near Ocho Rios. Was fantastic, food unbelievable and all name brand alcohol. Service and entertainment was very good. Never needed to leave the place unless you want to do Dunns River etc. Golf course near by. Thinking of going back just for a vacation. https://couplessanssouci.com-jamaica.com/en/

Stayed at Excellence Oyster Bay in 2019. It was nice, would consider going back.

We have been many times to the Couples resorts, Tower Isle and Sans Souci, which are close together, and you can 'trade places" for a day at the other resort.

Both have nice accommodations, food and au natural areas, as well as clothed pools and beaches. Tower Isle has the boat accessible island with a very tiny pool, with a single restroom.

Sans Souci has a much larger area with a way better nude pool and relatively new modern restrooms at the nude area.

We don't bother to leave the resorts once there as we have already done some of the close tourist trap attractions.

quote:

Originally posted by Lefty Sig:
71 Truck, sorry if that came off too strong. If you have fully vetted him and he is a licensed dealer that you are sure you can trust, then ok. But for any beginner, I would advise them be very wary in general.

That said, I have traveled extensively and tend not to trust local dealers for much of anything. Authorized duty free shops at international airports (Seoul Incheon or similar), or high end shopping malls with international affiliation (Lufthansa Center in Beijing) are ok. But in much of the world except the U.S. duty free is a hell of a lot cheaper...

No apology needed I completely understand.
My wife and I have been cruising for over 20 years and we have seen what some vendors in the islands try to pass off as real.

Unfortunately there are a lot of new cruisers who may not know better. When we go on cruises most have some sort of sales seminar about port shopping, some will do a separate mini watch and or diamond seminar.
My wife and I attend them just for the fun of it. After the seminar we hang out and talk the the presenter and somehow I always end up answering a lot of questions about watches.
I usually stay away from diamond questions because my knowledge is limited. I am amazed at how much people are willing to spend on diamonds having no knowledge of what they are even looking at. I have heard the stories of people getting home to find out their diamond is worth a lot less than they were told it wold appraise for or paid for it.

I am sometimes amazed at the number of people who are looking for their first good watch and having no idea where to start or how much they want to spend.
I give them the standard warning about the vendors and to only buy from the listed AD for the watch they are looking for.
I also tell them how to negotiate the price lower than the tax/duty free shopping prices.

Hedonism II Negril, Jamaica- all inclusive. Like summer camp for adults. Best two vacations of my life.

My wife and I honeymooned at Sandals Ocho Rios, and we had a great time. I dunno how relevant our experience in 2009 is, but we had no complaints and have always wanted to go back at some point.

Thanks for the recommendation. I have been looking at them and found them very helpful.
My wife and I are Disney vacation club owners and found one of the trades at a resort called Moon Palace.
It looks like they have some good reviews and I will be looking into them.
Once again thank you for your help.

I love swimming in mountainous streams.

Jamaica had the absolute most beautiful swimming streams and waterfalls I have ever seen. I felt like I spent days checking out the swimming holes.

The country sucks. But the scenery can be very impressive.

Stayed at Iberostar Grand Rose Hall - Montego Bay, it was phenomenal. Did a few excursions, the luminescent lagoon night cruise was very cool.

Where are the mysterious deaths and lack of resolving the reasons. Resort seems a bit lacking of details with quite a bit of time past for findings from the report I saw a few days ago.

Went to the same IberoStar Hotel than Johndaddy82 in Mobay in 2019. We enjoyed it very much (we were really desperate for a break after a couple of years of family related hell).

It was extremely friendly and relaxed. The place had three Star Hotels/resorts built one next to the other. The middle one was adults only. We went to one that allowed kids, brought none, heard nor noticed none.

You were welcomed to walk/take a golf cart to the other hotels to check them out. Turns out ours pleased us more. The adults only reeked of humidity and seemed more empty than privete.

Had a ton of fun but wisely turned down the offers to become a member.
If the Caribbean wasn’t that big i would certainly consider returning. We’ve been to Cuba an i don’t particularly want to return on this life or the next.
Would consider a commonwealth island or a french, dutch speaking one next.
Being a Spanish speaking dude i do not care at all for spanish speaking countries. My fellow countrymen and their awful manners tend to flock to those locations. Not my idea of a break or a good time.

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quote:

Got married at the Sans Souci a 5 star all inclusive resort near Ocho Rios.

Spent our Honeymoon here. It was fantastic! If we went back we would visit here again. On the smaller side so not super busy or overcrowded.

quote:

Where are the mysterious deaths and lack of resolving the reasons. Resort seems a bit lacking of details with quite a bit of time past for findings from the report I saw a few days ago.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
These things take time. The families are requesting a second autopsy even though the first autopsy has not been released. I am betting on insecticide poisoning.

quote:

Originally posted by reloader-1:
I think quite a few of the individuals responding would be well served to think about the last time they went to Jamaica/other resorts. If it’s not in the last few years, please don’t give a recommendation.

At best, your information is dated, and very likely it could be downright dangerous. For reference, in 1999 the world was a much different place…

I understand your thought process and there is a reason I led with, “It has been *years*…”.

That said, from Nuclear’s post, it doesn’t seem like things have changed much.

For those concerned that the island is a dangerous shithole, that may be true. However, the OP asked specifically about that island and has his own reasons for wanting to go there. Over thirty years ago the Sandals resorts took significant efforts to insulate customers from “real life” on the island. They have excursions, but even those are curated. You can just take a cab and go to town, but it isn’t encouraged.

The Sandals resorts are an escape from reality in a beautiful place. That doesn’t mean that the surrounding life is beautiful and serene. Club Med in Ixtapa wasn’t any different, nor was Torres Mazatlan in Mazatlan. I suspect that some version of that approach is what most resorts aim for.

ORC, if you are talking about the recent deaths, that was at the Sandals(?) at Emerald Bay in the Exumas, Bahamas, NOT Jamaica.