JenniferSS

You really need to work with a TA- a destination wedding specialist travel agent to be specific. They can guide you and assist with all the options available and counsel you on which would be best for you and your group . TA Maureen is fantastic and was a ROR bride herself!

I am sure that your travel agent is willing to book the flights but just wanted to give you a heads up that it'll be a little more to do so through them. I am pretty sure that the reason is she/he would need to charge a booking fee is because TA's are not paid commission by the airlines, so we have to be paid for our time. Believe me fo the small amount that most agencies charge for booking airline tickets we usually still lose money overall as the airlines with their ten thousand schedule changes, cancelled flights and other shenanigans can have us spending hours & hours behind the scenes! Just as you need to be paid for working your TA does so also! Therefor to book the flights with the TA -the booking fee.

Actually I don't think I heard from you- Please resend if you didn't hear from me as I haven't had any Karisma requests come through in awhile that I can remember!

You ladies should schedule a consultation with your travel agent to go over both options and discuss which is the best for you. This is something that I go over in depth with my clients, this aspect of the consultation with my clients typically takes at least 45 minutes ( again depending on bride & situation) to review - It would take me forever to type each option out in it's entirety!

They changed the program on June 1st! There are lots of differences between the two group contracts- mostly in the way that they lock in the prices and terms of payment.

there are several things that you can do to protect yourself-however nothing is fool proof! A couple of things to look out for- this is for any business not just travel- Is the deal to good to be true? If the pricing much lower than everyone elses- it could be a last straw cash grab. I am seeing more and more of the internet companies offering prices that are rock bottom and it makes me wonder....are they operating at a loss? How long can they continue at the to stay in business at the prices they are offering? They have huge overhead-something has to give somewhere a company has to be able to turn a profit to stay in business. Are they offering discounts if you pay in cash ? Again this could be a big grabfor $$ before they go under! Has there been a significant change in the way they operate their business? A couple of ways to protect yourself- Check with your debit card and credit card-what is the policy if your travel suppliers goes bankrupt. Purchase travel insurance but again what is the policy on bankruptcy?

Amanda you look gorgeous! Congratulations!

Hi Ladies! I just wanted to point out that you two are discussing two seperate group options that Sandals offers - one is the group code which used to lock in the rates for 60 days -only in the initial room category that was booked-this has since been completely discontinued) and the standard group contract. The offer pretty much the same exact group amenities- just slightly different structures and advantages/disadvantages. Just wanted to clarify for anyone else looking at this post!

Amazing Review! You looked beautiful ! I love the picture of you against the blue wall-just stunning! I am soooo sorry that El Dorado didn't do the upgrade- I wish that you had contacted me from the resort and let me know as I would have raised holy heck to make sure that you & Bill received it! I am glad that everything else went beautifully

Typically the slowest times of the year for Sandals weddings is in the fall and first two weeks of December! Of course the fall is prime hurricane season but typically hurricane season is declared over December first! The first two weeks of December are also usually less expensive to travel! Let me know if you need any other assistance!

Your TA should have gone over group options with you prior to booking(however if you told her only 5 or 6 rooms there may not have been a reason too). Sandals does not discount off of the published rates- at all-ever. They do have other programs in place for Dw's that provide additional amenities for the bride & groom based on numbers of rooms booked. These can include an upgrade plus a welcome dinner and a per person credit towards your reception which can add up nicely! They also do a mani-pedi for the bride, massage for the groom and a few other nice touches. If you qualify for those upgrades and aminities will depend on how your TA booked the wedding ( and if you originally did not expect that many rooms she may have booked through a supplier). As far as a standard group contract- they have to be put in place prior to the rooms being booked and can not be retroactive. A note on the price- Sandals has had so many promotions over the last 8 months that pricing would be all over the board-no two couples will pay the same amount-even if they were traveling on the same exact dates.

Hey Ladies & Gents! Just wanted to let you know that we will be opening this webinar up to other broides & grooms Wednesday. Once we hit 10 coupoles I then close registration so i just wanted the BDW couples to get first chance!

Definately a difference between the outgoing friendliness of the Jamaicans and the reserved quietness of the Bahamian people ! It's one of the "quirks" that I let people know about-especially if they've travelled to Jamaica before as it is such a huge difference ! As far as the butler-that is unacceptable- you should have called your TA back home and let them know so they could have rectified the problem while you were still at the resort and that way you could have fully enjoyed your honeymoon! I love the island and the fire pits- they are both amazing! I went in September & December and no bites but it can depend on the weather so great advice to bring bugspray! Welcome back!

Just wanted to let the potential Beaches brides about our exclusive BDW Sandals & Beaches webinar! We have limited space so we first offer this to BDW brides- then about 2 weeks prior I'll open it up to the general public- BDW brides get first shot though! This is alos good if you are interested in a Sandals honeymoon! Sand & Sun Vacations with BDW presents Sandals & Beaches Destination Weddings- Jamaica & Turks & Caicos! Join us for a Webinar on July 30 Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/849719411 We're thrlled to have Kate from Sandals & Beaches Resorts join us to discuss the wonderful luxury all inclusive Sandals & Beaches resorts on the islands of Jamaica and Turks & Caicos! Title: Sand & Sun Vacations with BDW presents Sandals & Beaches Destination Weddings- Jamaica & Turks & Caicos! Date:Thursday, July 30, 2009 Time:7:00 PM - 8:00 PM EDT After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar. System Requirements PC-based attendees Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista Macintosh®-based attendees Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

Yes, Beaches is also allowing guests to take the photos with a minumum night stay! Your travel agent should be able to assist you with the requirement!

Quote: Originally Posted by honey740 Maureen, sorry you didn't like my view, but I want to situation to work for me not for the TA, it's business you know? Yup- I do know, and I also know that you may have done your guests quite a disservice by insisting that your TA book direct. As I stated in my reasons above- we don't book direct for a myriad of reasons and amazingly they are all about the client. Keep in mind that there is reason why resorts try to offer incentive pacakges that cut out the TA and middlemen- very little to no accountability. You are one group- unless you have over 100 rooms-considered very small and the liklihood of you or your guests coming back....extremely small-where is the incentive to keep you thrilled? Yup you can go online and gripe but another 50 posts and your gripe is gone...... It's not about commissions ect.-it's about how we can assure that you will get the best experience.

Group rates are probably the thing that confuses brides the most and with good reason. A couple of things that you need to know- Each resort has completely different policies when it comes to destination wedding groups. Some will provide longer periods for deposits, some incredibly short terms-shortest I was offered was 5 business days! Some require that you specify exactly how many rooms, the type of room and the exact travel dates that you are requesting for the group (this is fairly common)-others will let you add a few days on either end and others will have the contract extremely open ended (this is a bit more rare). Your TA has no control over what the policy will be- they can however try to negotiate a bit of wiggle room. Some other factors are time of year- how long you anticipate that your guests will stay 3 nights/7 nights)- how many rooms you are holding ect Add to that which supplier a TA uses, their relationship with the resort and the policies will vary. Canadian & US suppliers tend to have different contracts with the resorts and airlines = more confusion as brides are comparing notes and may not realize that! Keep in mind that not all resorts are like Palace resorts- they have a gazillion rooms at Moon place and so it is much easier fo rthem to have a very open ended contract! Smaller properties tend to have tighter policies in place as they have more to lose if a wedding cancels or the rooms do not get booked. Also a TA has a alot more negotiating power if they book through a supplier than direct with the resort- the resort screws up with a supplier booking you bet they don't want to lose potentially thousands of bookings a year-they fix it much quicker and also with a better outcome! We also use our suppliers to be able to privode packages with transfers ( generally less expensive ) and have access to bulk or contracted airfare-generally less expensive for our clients.

Hi Ladies! I've received a lot of emails from this post today and I just want to clarify- This is a huge concession for Sandals and they are not announcing it -just doing a slight change of policy. Originally is was no outside photography -at all, didn't matter if it was a guest or not. Now they are loosening the policy to say that if you have a guest staying at the resort that they can take photo's of teh wedding without any hassle. They are not allowing photographers onsite for the day, for a fee -at least not at this time. If you want to bring an outside photographer you would have to have them stay at the resort, as a full paying guests ( hence not as a day pass guest) for the minimum nights required (varies by property and season). I would contact your TA and have them flag the photographers booking with the WC. Yes, this does apply to Beaches!

Great news that I just received this morning! Sandals will allow you to bring an outside photographer ! Please note that they have to be a guest at the same resort as the couple and for most properties the minimum stay is 2 or 3 nights! Good Morning Jennifer, If the wedding couple has a guest staying on our property we will allow them to take wedding photos. They must be a full paying client at the resort in which the couple is staying in order to be granted permission to take photos. Warm Regards, Susan

Just bumping up - we have to have at least 5 couples to have the webinar!

This was great! Could of happened on any airline unfortunately! YouTube - United Breaks Guitars

double post!

Feel free to use it, I'm glad it'll be helpful - however if you do provide it to your guests you must provide credit to me as it is a published article. I can't get back into the post to update the copyright but it has been extended to 2009

Bumping for newbies!

Bumping for all the newbies!