SexyLittleCaboBride2010

I posted my review in the the "new" reviews section, under the Grand Palladium.

Hi Everyone,

This is a quick review I'm completing on my lunch. I will try and find time to do a more detailed one, but with a 1 year old son, and just being back at work, my free time is limited.

First of all, Jamaica is absolutely beautiful, I fell in love with this country and will definitely be going back. I am so happy we got married in such an incredible place.

• Grand Palldium is a gorgeous resort with many amenities and I felt that we got a lot of value for our money.
• The pool is huge and the entertainmennt staff are so great! They loved our group ( we are big party people and always had out ipod docking station with us and danced all day and night).
• The food is very good, especially for an all inclusive. I am a bit of a "foodie", so it wasn't the BEST food I've had, but it was definitely good. A lot of my guests raved about the Jerk chicken, I don't eat meat, but I know they all loved it.
• Sunset Cove is a beautiful little beach, and the main beach is also pretty good.
• The rooms are very spacious and clean.
• The resort is HUGE, we did a lot of walking, but it was great because we walked off all of the extra calories we consumed.
• The service is definitely not the best I've had. I am someone that expects good customer service wherever I go, and when I don't get it, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. This was my biggest disapointment with the resort and especially the wedding coordinators.

When we first checked in, they told me that we would be in room 2916, I asked if this was ocen view and was told No. So, I asked to be upgraded and they said I would have to speak with a manager. I had actually paid extra to get an ocean view, but they informed me that an ocean view is never guarnteed, so I would have to speak to my travel agent for a refund. I then spoke to the manager and requested an upgrade to a honeymoon suite ( or what they call Bungalow). They informed me that this wasnt possible because they can only upgrade you to the next category, which in my case, would be a junior suite with an ocean view. I was told by my first wedding coordinator - Sherice, that they would put in the request for the honeymoon suite and if it was available they typically give it to the bride and groom, so I mentioned this to them and they said they would have to call the manager of the wedding dept. I was then passed the phone and spoke to Nina, who was completely rude and obnoxious to me and told me that I was never promised anything and I shouldn't have expected to get the bungalow. I was shocked at the tone she had in her voice. I went back and forth with various front desk staff and management for about 20 minutes because they couldn't find me an "ocean view" room on the Lady  Hamilton side which is where all of our guests including the groom and I had booked, finally they decided they would put us in a bungalow because nothing else was available close to our guests. The resort only had about 800 people there this week(our bellman informed us), when they are usually at around 3000 during the busy months, so it really irratated me that they had numerous bungalows available, yet I had to fight with them for almost an hour to get an upgrade to this room after bringing 65 guests with me, and paying a substantial amount for a private reception.

I am very glad I didn't give up, because the bungalow was absolutely incredible. We actually go the last one, on the tip of the ocean, 2nd floor and the view was just breathtaking. It was a gorgeous room with an outdoor shower and massive jacuzzi.

The second thing that bothered me and my guests was that they kept running out of alcohol. And this was early in the evening. We spent most of our evenings at the Infinity Bar and most of my guests are vodka drinkers, so it was frustrating when after 30-40 min, they continued to inform us every night that they had no more vodka, and again the same thing with gin. This is totally not acceptable for an all-inclusive resort. It's not like we were requesting some random liqour, Vodka is a staple at any bar. We specifically told them to make sure they had a lot of vodka for our wedding reception and again they ran out after about 30 minutes. When we mentioned this to my wedding coordinator Kadi, she commented that we must all be alcoholics. Alcoholics? No. People that are on vacation, at a celebration, and want to party and enjoy a few drinks of their choice? YES.

And lastly the wedding coordinators. I've never witnessed such an un-organized bunch of people in my life. Their lack of communication is horrible. There were a number of issues, but just to name a few: I had asked for a price on the chivari chairs about 3 months before the wedding ( I needed 62 of them for the ceremony and reception), I was never given an answer after asking numerous times, they kept saying they were waiting on a price. Until the day before the wedding when it was time to sign the contract, and then she said she had gotten a price, $11 per chair. I'm sorry but that is absurd. There was no way I was spending $700 on chairs, so I told her that I'd just go with the regular chairs and she got irratated that she'd have to cancel the chivari's and change the contract. They also overcharged me for the stereo system by $500, and had to remove that from the contract.

I asked for some glasses to hold these fans we had made for the centrepieces and they seemed very reluctant to find some for me and said they'd have to call around. We just need 9 drinking glasses. They couldn't even manage to do that. We got tot the reception and our fans were just scattered on the table. I had asked if we could have our own people set up the reception to ensure it looked the way I envisioned but was told no one would be able to get in there until 4:30, which was in the middle of my ceremony??? They were NOT helpful at all. They do the bare minimum required. I am a very forward person and I ask for what I want, and even still I didn't get it. They like to do things THEIR way, not YOUR way. So be prepared to be very very very persistant and thorough in telling them what you want.

My dress wasn't steamed until about an hour before I needed it and came to my room just in the nick of time, even though it had been in their office for 2 days prior.

Another highlight was when my coordinator came to my room as I was getting my make-up done to inform me I would need to pay $150 an hour for both videographers that had just arrived. I lost my mind at this point, because I was never informed of this prior. She said they have to charge that because it's a guest on site providing services. I told her that Sherice never informed me of that, and the only thing I was told was that I'd have to get them a guest pass for $75. I refused to pay the $1200 to get them on-site and she said she would call Nina/Simone and see what they could do. After a quick conversation, she informed me that I'd only have to pay $75. It seems like they try and make more money off you, any way they can.

Regardless of all of those issues, we had the most incredible wedding and day. I don't look back with regret, as the most important parts were just the way I imagined them to be. We provided our own "Ceremony" format to the minister, and he followed it word for word. He actually loved it so much that he asked to keep it to use for future ceremony's. All of our guests said it was the most touching and beautiful ceremony they had ever been to, and I felt the same. We were surrounded by love, in paradise, and at the end of the day, that's what a wedding is all about.

I just wanted to make sure I included the negatives and the issues we had to ensure future brides can avoid the same hiccups.

Overall the GP was a great place to vacation, Jamaica is my favourite place in the world, I had an incredible and memorable wedding. They just are not organized and experienced enough to host weddings the way some resorts like Sandals and Dreams do. They have a long way to go, but hopefully with more experience, and feedback from previous brides they will get there someday.

If you want to check out more of my pics go to:

http://freshphoto.ca/viewing/?slideshowID=109801 

password: Jamaica

All the best to the future brides and thank you to the past brides that provided tons of great info!

xoxo

Here is a picture from our ceremony on the beach. The ceremony was at 4:00. We all went barefoot. The ceremony was absolutely perfect and I felt like I was dreaming because it was so amazing.

You can see from the pic what the groom wore, and the groomsmen wore white linen pants and navy linen tops.

I will do a full review for you guys this weeken (I started back to work this week from my Maternity leave and we jsut got back from GP on Sat.)

Overall, I was pleased with the day, but mostly because I married my wonderful husband, surrounded by our loved ones, in paradise. There were definitely a number of issues I had with the GP and the wedding coordinators specifically which I will share in my review.

Originally Posted by mswhatever 

 

 

 

 

No I would not have had a cocktail hour if I could redo it. There is no time. If you have one, you will not be able to enjoy it.

 

Here is how my wedding day went went

 

4:00 Guests arrive

4:15 Here comes the bride

4:40 Ceremony in over

4:45 Champagne time

5-5:40 pictures

5:45 Infinity bar to meet guests

6:00 reception time. We were late to the reception by 15 minutes.

 

The meal is a 4 course meal. You will get the first course and cocktails pretty quickly. If you are worried that you will be starved, ask one of your girls to bring you a snack while getting ready. 

 

I had planned to spend 4 hours at the spa. I got an one hour massage, flash facial and my hair done in 2 hours. I would have had plenty of time for lunch. 

 

Spend the money on entertainment. It takes the pressure off of you to entertain and they will not notice the slow service. They will be distracted by the awesomeness of the show!

 

Thanks! You have been so helpful!  I was planning a cocktail hour as well, but was worried there wouldn't be much time to enjoy it. If my wedding is on the beach and reception at Blue Lagoon, are they far from each other? How much time should we allow to get from the beach to the restaurant?

 

 

Originally Posted by kasabre28 

 

Hey how are you my wedding is october 29,10 and we are having about 41 people 38 have booked so far I too was very worried about this stuff so I think I have the answer to some of your questions  I have a vision of what I really wanted our cake to look like....and it was nothing like any of the photos of the cakes that was sent to me another concern that I had was having a one tired cake..i wanted at least two tiers  I finally got a straight answer about this cake issue the other day while speaking to Sherice (who WAS my third planner at the hotel since march)....she stated that for the

amount of people that will attend a two tiered cake is an extra $50.00 a tier.. Because I didnt like any of the cake photos I sent a photo to Nina and she promised to let me know what they can do to get as close to my photo as possible, I also presented an option B for a plain two tired  ivory colored cake and I would just bring the cake decor with me.

OOT boxes I just completed our kraft colored gable boxes when I spoke to Sherice on monday she stated that This would be a good time to start sending the supplies for our boxes by fedex.to the address that is located at the bottem of all the email sent to you by your planner ( the wedding is in 6 weeks) ...thought that might be helpful.. also GP charges $2.00 per room to distribute guest bags or gifts we have opted to give them at at a welcome get together or upon guest arrival.

Table decorations for reception

I priced some of the flower arrangements from the florist used by the hotel (the smallest ones) and they were $120-$150.00 i dont know about your wedding budget but but I didn't see a point to spend so much each??? I just did a sample last night of a center piece that came out beautiful My  colors are Peach and Ivory and we are going with a is Star Fish  theme Etc..    so I got a clear 7 1/2"X3" Vase I placed peach sand at the bottom about 3" high, then I placed clear Crystals over the sand, then i placed sea shells and a star ontop of the crystal i poured water in the vase and placed a 2 1/2" ivory floating  candle at the top )))) let me know and I will take a photo and send the website for the supplies...sorry for the long post i'm detailed....lol

I don't think I'm going to have a cake, because I'm really not happy with what they're providing, plus it usually doesn't get eaten. I really want to have a candy bar, but was worried about transporting some of the glass candy jars. Does it seem pretty straightforward to ship to the resort through Fedex? Do you know what the costs are like? I'm also thinking of shipping some lanterns from Ikea for my centrepieces, but don't want the shipping expenses to get out of hand! Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated. All the best with your wedding! You must be so excited. Right around the corner.

MsWhatever...thanks for all the info. You have been such a huge help! Everything turned out beautiful for you. It's definitely reassuring, as I'm getting really stressed about how this all is going to turn out.

Thanks for all the great info Ladies! Thankfully there is at least one forum for GP brides. Otherwise I'd be lost.

 

Does anyone know if there is anywhere I could get flowers nearby the resort? We would like to make our own bouqets with local flowers to save some money.

I'm worried about getting all of my decorations, favours, and OOT bag items there. Did you have any issues?  I've heard that some people fill Golf Bags with this stuff, because it doesn't count towards your luggage allowance. We have a 1 year old little boy, so I have to bring so much with us!

So beautiful!!!! Everything turned out amazing. The colours look gorgeous together. I am getting married on the beach, I hope it looks just as nice as the Gazebo. How was the dinner service? I'm having about 45 people, so I'm a little worried about timing. Did you book the Blue Lagoon for the reception?

Congrats! So happy to hear it was more than you expected. Can't wait to hear more. All the best.

I have booked the GP for our wedding on Nov 11/2010! After going back amd forth between Cabo and Jamaica, we decided we really prefer the vibe, music, culture, people of Jamaica. It is where our heart was telling us to go. Thanks for all the great tips and info.

Great Review! Looks and sounds like you had an amazing day. I was originally considering Jamaica for my wedding but wasn't happy with the Riu Palace Negril (thought it was over priced), so started looking at Mexico. My heart is still in Jamaica though. Love the culture, people, music. After reading your review I am now thinking I should reconsider. I just want to make sure the food is good and that the wedding is what I want. Thanks for all of the great info you provided.

LOOOOOOOOVE IT ALL! You should be a wedding planner. You have thought of everything. Great job. All the best!

I havent heard back from the WC at Dreams. I emailed and left a message on Monday to see if they had availability for Nov 2010. Are they usually pretty quick to respond?

Wow! Beautiful pics. Stunning wedding.

Hi Ladies!

I am going crazy trying to decide where to have our wedding. We had originally planned on Riu Negril then decided it wasn't worth the price they were asking, then we thought Dreams Cabo would be best, but I really love the music, vibe, culture in Jamaica. I'm so confused. I've heard great things about IRH and am now considering Nov 2010. There is a lot of great info on here, that will hopefully help us finalize our location. We don't have much time! Thanks for all the info.

We have decided to get married in Cabo in November 2010. We were planning on Jamaica but changed our mind. Hoping to get married at either Riu Palace, Dreams or Barcelo.

Great! Thanks Cindy. I will check out the reviews. Not even sure if the Dreams is available the week I want, but I have emailed to find out. I don't have much time, so I need to move quickly.

Hello!

We had orginally planned on getting married in Jamaica on Nov 11th, but decided to change the destination ot Cabo - it is more affordable for our guests and we have heard good things. Undecided between Riu Palace, Dreams and Barcelo, and we need to make a decision ASAP. Barcelo and Riu fit within the budget, and Dreams is a little pricier for our guests, but I've heard good things?!

Courtney

Cabo

November 11, 2010