geology_rocks

We were originally booked at the Grand Lido Negril but switched to the Riu Ocho Rios 4 months before the wedding. We chose the Riu for several reasons including: -Children and singles friendly (we had a 16 year old cousin and single brother in law travelling with us) -Price, great value compared to many other Jamaican resorts -Size, more stuff to do to keep 30 people occupied and more space to lose 30 people if required ;-) -Free wedding package offered, i couldn't fathom paying extra to feed guests at an all-inclusive resort -Looked modern and luxurious -Nice looking (huge) beach -No nudie beaches -Availability, they had an opening!! It'll be interesting to see other's responses!

I think you're allowed to be a little selfish, it is your wedidng after all! If it makes you feel any better, I can come and fill a seat! I'd jump all over the chance to go back to Jamaica. One couple we are very good friends with didn't come to our wedding, i was a bit choked. But, another couple did come then made me feel guilty cause they had to spend so much money. I've BTDT, it sucks. In the end though, our wedding turned out great and having a small group made it easier to give out good OOT bags, spend time with each guest, organize etc. Good luck!

The standard rooms and suites are in separate horseshoes on opposite sides of the resort. There are a couple of restaurants that have exclusive access for people staying in the suites. Mammee Bay is one of those restaurants (for dinner) but wedding receptions are exempt from the requirement. I don't think it would have been a big deal if my guests were spread out between suites and standard rooms. We only ate one meal at the a la carte restaurants.

We (and all of our guests) stayed in Jr. Suites. Our first room had 2 double beds and over looked the show stage. That lasted one night! We didn't get any sleep because we could hear the music from the show and the disco and I was not impressed (we flew in on the red eye so I had been awake for 2 stright days at this point!) I went down to the front desk and pointed out that we were there for our wedding and had brough 26 other people along to their resort and the least they could do was give us a decent room. After a bit of arguing, we ended up with a room in the middle of the horseshoe, it was awesome! If you have any say in the matter, ask for a room on the 3rd or 4th floor in the middle of the horseshoe, they have the best views. Book the room category that you will be happy with. don't expect an upgrade.

I don't think you'll find many people who have travelled without a passport because it is a huge risk. It's an undeniable form of identification. I hope you are able to get your passport application out monday, drop it in the nearest mailbox ASAP, like tonight!

I can't offer any help with the resort but I did want to mention that we got married May 5, 2008 in Ocho Rios and the weather is AMAZING in May. It only rained about 15 minutes the whole week we were there. Happy planning!

I think every destinatinon bride has doubts about her resort selection at some point! You are still 5 months away from the big day, heck, I hadn't even booked our wedding at that point! I know it's hard to do but you have to trust that everything will work out. The wedding coordinators at these resorts are very busy and to keep from getting overwhelmed, they focus on the couples with imminent weddings. Most of the "co-ordinating" will happen when you meet at the resort. Once you meet face to face, you will be more to the co-ordinator than "just another email". You can sit down and explain your vision and it will be fresh in the co-ordinators head for your big day! Tag along on some of the ROR threads. I believe the packages are similar and the florist they use is the same and no doubt, the restaurants will be similar as well. Hopefully that will put your mind at ease. On the plus side, if there are fewer Riu Negril brides here, maybe you'll have the entire day to yourselves and not have to share!

My passport was delivered within 7 business days when I went into the office in person. I hope you're not responding to this thread because you're standing in line right now!!!

Things that you think are a big deal sometimes turn out not to matter at all. Read through the trip advisor reviews and see if you see any recurring complaints. SOme people are impossible to please and will complain about everything. If you see the same issue popping up over and over, it might be something to consider. I can vouch for Riu food, it's wonderful. The ROR resort was clean and the staff was very friendly. The Riu resorts are a lot bigger than GLN though, and if you're looking for a personal touch, the RIU may not deliver. But as I mentioned before, when you are bringing a group of people down to a resort, larger size can be a huge benefit. Remember, you're doing a destination wedding, they're supposed to be simple. No matter which resort you choose, you'll have a beautiful beach as a backdrop and your wedding will be amazing!

Do you live anywhere near a passport office? If you go into the office, there is a 2 week (or less) turn-around time. i THINK you can use a birth certificate and driver's license for Canadians travelling as tourists to enter Jamaica. I'm not certain I'd take the risk though. Who knows if the custom's agent will consider a wedding "tourism" or "business"! And as a previous poster stated, if you have a layover in the USA, you definitely need a passport.

We were originally booked to get married at GLN but had nothing but problems dealing with Superclubs. They gave us a group rate quote, then when we went to pay, they charged us more for a lesser category room. I spent a lot of time on hold and when I finally did get ahold of someone, they were unable to answer any questions. I had some contact with the wedding coordinator, i think her name is Sophie. She seems pretty nice but when I would send her a list of 3 questions, she would only answer 1 or 2. 4 months before the wedding I decided it wasn't worth the new price for me or my guests so I started looking into other resorts. We settled on Riu Ocho Rios and LOVED it! We booked the resort through their website and were able to change our reservation in under 2 minutes, no hassles, when a sale rate came out. The Riu is a great hotel for weddings. Since it's a bit larger, your guests are able to have their space if they want it and there are enough activities to keep everyone happy! So, while I have no experience in staying at the exact resorts you've asked about, I would highly recommend the Riu chain over any SuperClubs resort.

Seagrape is on the beach, right at the bottom of some stairs. Mammee Bay is at the top of those stairs as is the show stage and a couple of bars. The Plantation is on the other end of the resort. Maybe 4-5 minute walk depending on your speed. If you have guests that are unsteady on their feet, remind them to bring shoes with good traction. The floors get very slippery when they are wet. Here's a picture from the beach. Alexandra Nagy's Photos | Facebook On the left is Seagrape, then the stairs, Mammee Bay is behind the railing on the right and the show area is above Seagrape. Hope that helps!

It was about $10 to purchase 30 minutes. We have a widescreen laptop that definitely would not fit in the safe but if you have one of the teeny tiny laptops, it might. If you're adamant about leaving your laptop in the safe I'm not sure I'd chance it. We were fine with leaving ours in a locked suitcase (or on the coffee table if we were feeling lazy) so it wasn't a big deal for us.

They sure do have wireless internet. It's in the sports bar only though! We brought our laptop and the internet worked fine. Beware if you have a pop-up blocker though, you won't be able to "log-off" of the internet and use the rest of your minutes another time.

I guess I could add one more piece of advice. Try and keep your group together when you arrive at the airport. Maybe ask everyone to meet up after picking up their luggage and before going through customs. Once you pass through customs, you end up in a busy lobby area with shuttle drivers and taxi drivers all trying to recruit passengers. We had to go outside to find our driver (holding "Lee's Taxi" and "Ocho Rios" signs) and while I knew what we were looking for, some of my guests were ready to jump on board with any shuttle there.

Quote: Originally Posted by divadivine25 Thanks for the info ladies! Does ROR schedule pickup from the airport for their guests? Like a shuttle? I just want to clarify for you. ROR does not offer any kind of shuttle service. Some travel packages may have it included but if not you are responsible for your own transportation to and from the airport. We used Lee's and it was cheap and convenient compared to the alternatives. We really liked not having to share our ride with people going to other resorts.

No way would I do this. 1) I'm not very crafty 2) I have a problem delegating... if I want something done right, i have to do it myself! 3) Wouldn't want to risk not getting the flowers on time/getting the wrong flowers/getting dead flowers etc. 4) I don't want to spend my vacation in a hotel room when I could be on the beach 5) Sounds like a good deal until you factor in this hidden fee & that hidden fee and you end up throwing out half the flowers anyway etc. 6) Not worth the hassle (IMO) The only way I'd pre-order flowers is if they were silk and the only reason I'd do that is if I were feeling particularly sentimental and wanted to keep the flowers.

I was in the exact same position as you a year ago! We were originally booked at the Grand Lido Negril (which is another superclubs resort) and they kept changing the prices for the rooms. We had a group rate quote and when we went to book it, they gave us a higher rate for a lesser category room. I was PO'ed! I needed a resort that would allow singles and children as my husband's 16 year old cousin was coming. That severely limits your choices in Jamaica. I was in total panic mode! Lucky for me, i found 2 resorts that had availability on our original date. We ended up choosing the Riu in Ocho Rios because they had a free wedding package. Our runner-up choice was the Gran Bahia Principe. You're fortunate that all resort towns are served by the Montego Bay airport so you can change towns without affecting the people who have already booked their flights. GOOD LUCK! You can do it!

There's a great big ocean to use them in if they kick you out of the pool! We didn't see anyone using floaties in the pool while we were there.

Mammee Bay is the standard dinner location. You don't have to book it in advance. They'll make room for everyone! We really liked our dinner there.

Be prepared to have key card problems. This is the one thing that I wasn't too fond of with the resort. Some rooms worked fine, others were quite finicky and you had to insert the card with your left hand, while standing on one foot and tilting your head at a 45 degree angle to the right, well, not really but you get my point. My MIL & FIL actually had the manager come out and "show them" how to use the lock and the manager couldn't get it to work either so they replaced the whole lock mechanism! We also had a few people whose keys just stopped working one day. We had to go back down to the lobby to get them reprogrammed. All in all, quite a minor thing but annoying in the moment.

You will definitely be able to put your camera and even a lens or 2 in the safe. I had my purse, jewellery, extra money, ipod, cell phones etc in there with room to spare!

I set up our meeting about a week before I left. I just wanted to have a definite time reserved so I could make other plans with my guests! We were supposed to meet in the lobby but after 15 minutes of waiting, we ended up going to the front desk, they called her and told us to go up to her office.

Jamaica has the same outlets as the USA and Canada. I don't believe we actually plugged anything in so I cannot comment as to whether there is the 3rd ground prong. There is definitely 2 flat prongs though. I used the resort's hair dryer with no problems and I had long, thick hair. I found it didn't matter though because it was so humid my hair would just get wavy and rather big anyway! Thank goodness for ponytails!

Freeze dried petals, good idea!!