I apologize for the length of this but there were many details I wanted to get in as I was very impressed with this resort. I am also pretty new at the Trip report thing so bear with me.

I was looking for a quite four or five day getaway for my wife and I before the end of summer. A number of places were recommend but I settled on a five night package to Beaches Royal Plantation in Ocho Rios. It is a quick flight from YYZ to MBJ and many people had very glowing reports of the Royal Plantation so we decided to go there.

August 2, 2003.

YYZ-MBJ
AC 982 Dep 1315 Arr 1615
Seats: 3HK
B-763(1-2-2 layout—No PTV’s)

Arrived at Pearson’s visually pleasing terminal 1. Hopefully the construction will end soon but I am not holding my breath. Due to the lateness of planning this trip all doc’s had to be picked up at the ACV counter at T1. Documents were in order but the hotel voucher was missing. Agent attempted to print it to no avail. We agree that the confirmation number should be good enough and I left with a piece of paper with the Beaches confirmation number. Check-in was extremely fast and efficient at J counters. Not too many international flights leaving T1 at midday on Sat. Made our way to the MLL lounge and through security. I still love the feeling of private security for MLL guests. Lounge was empty which was great. Last vacation I happened in the lounge during March Break and my wife was not impressed with the number of kids running around the place.

Boarding was to commence at 12:40pm. Made our way to gate JJ at 1:00pm to find almost all had boarded. We were on a 763 and I was amazed to find four gate agents all taking boarding passes and checking ID. This is the most I had ever seen at a gate. I wish this was the case more often with some of the larger aircraft.

We were seated in J class 3HK. Configuration was 1-2-2 so there were not PTV’s on this flight. Seats are still spacious with a fair amount of pitch. (Better than domestic J on AC) We departed the gate about 10 minutes at sched departure and taxied to the runway along the 401(not sure of number) Quick taxi and take off. Scheduled flying time was going to be just under four hours which was still going to put us in MBJ on time. Flight was uneventful with IFE being a movie for all which was Anger Management.

Meals Service was quick and efficient. We had a salad with cold peppers, olives and lettuce with a vinaigrette dressing. We then had our choice of either salmon or pork. I have the pork which was accompanied by fresh vegetables on a bed of noodles. My wife was not feeling well and was just looking for some pasta. FA was very helpful in getting a meal from Y that was a vegetarian pasta dish. We greatly appreciated her efforts. I was disappointed with no ice cream and cookies as I have been treated to in J on my last several trips to YVR.

Upon our descent into MBJ we skirted a strong storm landing at 4:15pm on the dot. After de-planing and breezing through immigration and customs we were met by the ACV rep who gave us our envelope and directed us to the Sandals/Beaches counter. They quickly greeted us and put us into a van to take us to the resort. We received our own private transfer. We did not have to go in a bus with a number of people.

The ride from the airport to the resort took a lot longer than expected. Due to the strong storms that had just passed it took us about an hour to get our of the airport area. The main road out of the airport had a lot of debris on it that resulted in a huge traffic jam. One outside the on the highway to Ocho Rios our driver attempted to make up time by passing around corners and over hills. I had to ask him to slow down as my wifes nails were starting to brake the skin on my hand. We were also in a hurry to get to the resort but also wanted to arrive safely.

We finally arrived at the Royal Plantation at 8:15pm after a very long journey. We were met at the front entrance by the Host Alester. He made sure our luggage was tagged and taken to our room and completed our very quick check in. We had room 314 which was a very spacious suite in the East Wing of the hotel. Our host walked us to our room and showed us the many amenites it had to offer. We were both very hungry and looking to eat after our arrival. As Alester was leaving us in our room I asked where the restaurant was. He replied that I should walk back to the lobby and he would take us directly. This was a nice touch and it continued for our entire stay. We were always escorted to the different areas of the resort if we were not familiar with them. (Apparently there are two hotel personnel for every guest at this resort)

Alester escorted us to the main Bayside restaurant which was under the stars (also inside seating) with a band playing which was incredible. The food selection was amazing. Several different kinds of seafood, beef, lamb, chicken, pasta. You name it they had it on the menu. There was a nice selection of appetizers including soups and salads. Wine selection was alright with one type of red and white. I had the red which was Chilean.

After taking the opportunity to sleep in the next morning we ordered room service for breakfast. There was a room service menu for 24 hours a day. The breakfast was very good with many options ranging from eggs any style to omelet’s and french toast and pancakes. A very good selection I thought. Upon inspecting our suite in daylight it was very clean and well decorated. Our four poster king size bed was wonderful with great bedding an mattress. My wife would still prefer a duvet which wasn’t there but hell (I told her she was in the islands and it wasn’t needed) There was a sitting area in front of a french balcony that opened up the beach and the ocean. A mini bar and fridge consisted of 750ml bottles of Gordons Gin, Absolut Vodka, Johnny Walker Red and of course Appletons. The fridge had all kinds of mix as well as fruit juice,bottled water and a healthy stock of red stripe beer. The bathroom was all marble and included the spa bathing products of Lemongrass which my wife though was fantastic. She even purchased some to take home.

The two beaches at the resort were both fantastic. The East beach is were the water sports centre is located and is generally a little busier with the sports going on and boats taking people diving and snorkelling. The sand is very soft and it is a very tropical setting. There are tree hanging over portions of the beach so you don’t have to be out in the sun the entire time. A vast array of watersports was available to use free of charge.

The west beach was home to the Royal Café and Bar which was just off the sand. The Royal Café served lunch a la carte as all resataurants were and the bar acted as the beach bar. The west beach also had servers looking after people on the beach. The server brought us a pail full of three Heineken and ice to sit on the table between our lounge chairs. All drinks or beer was served in the bottle if that was your preference or glass. I was happy they did not make us drink out of plastic cups. We were all adults here and there should be no reason for plastic. They trusted us not to throw the glass in the sand or in the water.

They even had service at the pool and whirlpool which was just above the beach. Also all glass. I never saw anyone drinking out of plastic cups (Sorry to go on about this but I was so impressed and I really really hate drinking out of smelly plastic cups) I was also impressed with the fact that everything was so clean. The bar areas did not smell with the ripe fruit smell that many bars have difficulty getting rid of.

As part of the all inclusive gold is including at the Sandals Golf and Country Club with complimentary shuttle service in the VIP shuttle which is a Mercedes Benz bus. The Golf Club was in nice shape for a Carribbean course. It was a championship calibre with a nice clubhouse and pro-shop. Carts were not required but I rented on at a cost of $40USD and an additional $15USD for a mandatory caddie. The caddies are helpful in reading greens and their course knowledge is excellent. My caddie was Suger who even had the time to help me out with my swing a bit without sounding like a know-it-all. (I played twice during my five day stay—83 and 79)

The second restaurant at the resort was a French restaurant called the Papillon. This restaurant required reservations which were no problem and a jacket for the men. This was very quite and romantic with a wide selection of dishes. The escargots were fantastic as was the cucumber and pepper salad. We both had the lamb, which you could cut with a fork. The service was white glove with a nice sorbet in between courses. They also had a great red, which was a Shiraz from Chile I believe. They took care of every want very quickly.

There is also a British style pub on the resort which is indoors and features a piano player nightly. They have all top shelf liquor and a couple of imported beers. It is also very clean and the service is exceptional.

Another aspect of the Plantation is that you have the ability to go to any number of Sandals or Beaches resorts with full exchange privileges but they cannot come to the plantation.

On Tuesday night we went to Sandals Dunn’s River for a Japanese style dinner at Kimonoes. Upon our arrival at Dunn’s River we realized why we were at the plantation. Dunn’s River had a very party atmosphere (almost spring break) except with couples honeymooning. The bar outside the lobby smelt very ripe that my wife couldn’t sit there. We found a bar to have a drink by one of the pools. The dinner itself was find and the chef entertaining but I though my wife was going to lost it when the Host snapped his fingers at us to follow him to our table. I know for a fact if we were anywhere else we would not have stayed.

We were very pleased to get back to the Plantation that night and back to the service levels we had become accustomed to.

Our last night, Wednesday night we were invited to the returning guests dinner for Sandals Signature Guests. It started with a small cocktail party in the drawing room followed by a special dinner menu at the bayside restaurant. The dinner was attended by a couple of managers of the resort as well. Once again if the menu was not what you had in mind the chef would prepare anything for you. He prepared a penne in rose sauce for my wife as she wasn’t in a steak and lobster mood (No, I don’t know why she wasn’t but I have been married long enough to know you don’t ask questions)

The only problem that arose with the resort was that my golf shoes went missing the day we were leaving. I received several assurances from the management that they would be found or replaced so I am not too worried about it and didn’t want to let a small thing damper a great five night vacation to a fabulous resort that I would recommend to the pickiest of people. You should also be aware that it is a Beaches resort so it is not couples only and there are no kids allowed under 18. If you are looking for a resort to part you may want to go somewhere else. If you are looking to be pampered and some piece and quiet this is the place to go.

Thursday August 1, 2003

MBJ-YYZ
AC 983 Dep 1450 Arr 1950
Actual Dep 1615 Arr 2130
762 (2-2-2) Domestic J
Seats 3AC

Our private shuttle picked us up at 10:00am for our two hour ride back to MBJ. The ride was uneventful as our driver was very good. We arrived at MBJ and J class Check-in was very fast and efficient. I was disappointed with the fact that Air Canada has ceased it’s lounge sharing agreement with Air Jamaica. I was dreading having to spend the three hours in the un airconditioned lounge. We ended up spending some time at Margarittaville for a hamburger and a couple of beers to pass the time.

When they announced the boarding from gate 10 there was just a call that said all passengers for flight AC983 can start boarding. No status boarding, no pre-boarding just people charging towards the gate. After passing through another carry on security check we boarded the aircraft. It was a 762 was the crappy domestic J seats. We were left on the ground for about 1.5 hours as they continued to board the flight was empty in J (6 people) when I checked seatmap and galileo online two hours prior. The aircraft was sold out as J and Y were completely full. This resulted in a 1.5 hour delay leaving MBJ. After takeoff I was worried that we would not get anything to eat as they don’t also put enough meals on the plane when individuals our OP upgraded. I was happy to see the FA’s start serving by status. When I asked why we were served our meal first she said that I was the only Elite in J and that some of the OP upgrades would not be getting meals or drink service. We both had the same meal as our outbound flight with the fresh vegetables, pork and noodles.

A fairly uneventful flight home until landing and being told we would be arriving at the infield terminal due to construction at terminal 1. As we were pulling into the gate Pearson was put under a red alert due to a severe thunderstorm. Apparently under these conditions no ground crew are allowed outside. Therefore we had the privilege of waiting an additional 45 minutes just outside the gate. When we finally disembarked we had a long walk to the shuttle bus to terminal one.

The trip from the resort home was very lengthy and very frustrating but the fantastic resorts definitely stay made it worthwhile.

I would recommend this resort to anyone looking to go to Jamaica and stay somewhere you will treasure.