Linz1131

Hey ladies! It was amazing!! Meg looked beautiful as you can see and it was so much fun to meet her and her friends/family. Here is our review: Our stay was from December 3, 2014 through December 13, 2014 with our wedding occurring on December 6, 2014. We had 28 guests. 25 adults and 3 children (ages between 6 and 12). My little cousin did not want to leave the kids camp and was obsessed with the Xbox lounge. One of our guests didn't make it because he didn't realize his passport was expired so please urge your guests to double check and to also make sure it doesn't expire within a certain time period as different countries have different restrictions. Travel: Traveled US Airways there and American Airlines on the return flight. They did not offer to hang my wedding dress so we put it in the overhead bin with no issues. Flight there was a little long with a layover in Charlotte, NC but flight back was nonstop back to Dallas which was so much nicer. Apparently American only offers the direct flight on Saturdays. Coming in and out of Turks was a breeze. The only thing that took a while was for our luggage on the arrival. On the return flight we did not abide by the 3 hour recommendation and actually left the resort around 3:00 p.m. to catch our 4:50 p.m. flight out and had no issues at all. Our family and friends did abide by the suggestion and agreed that there was no reason to get there that early. The shuttle was waiting when we arrived so no issues there. They run pretty regularly so if there isn't one, the longest you would wait would be 5-10 minutes. Check In - Greeted with a cocktail. Luggage was taken care of. You will be required to fill out some paperwork but no big deal. Check in starts at 3:00 pm so if you get there earlier your room will most likely not be ready just yet. We suggest bringing a bathing suit in your carry on and enjoying the resort while you wait. We were upgraded in the Caribbean Village to adjoining rooms with a king-size bed in one room and a dining room table and sleeper sofa in the other room. It was a very nice room and we had no complaints. Tryston helped unload all of our things and was AMAZING. He brought us whatever we needed and even surprised us with a cheese, cracker, & fresh fruit tray. Later in the trip he gave us a very sweet card and brought us champagne. We LOVED Tryston. We stayed in the Caribbean Village and really enjoyed it due to the accessibility to the beach. Any room you stay in will be good unless you are just an extremely picky person. Italian Village had the most families. Key West was very nice and expensive, it had more of a low key feel. We didn't see the French Village rooms but the pool was very nice. They were renovating some of the Caribbean Village walk out suites while we were there and they looked AMAZING. Weather - It was beautiful the entire time we were there. The weather was about 80 degrees each day and sunny. There were a couple of days where it was a little hazier but then it would clear up. On our wedding day it rained for about 10 minutes and then it cleared up and there was a beautiful rainbow in the background. Restaurants - Some of the restaurants were not open for all of the listed meals due to the resort not being as busy when we traveled. My matron of honor is gluten free and they did a great job accommodating her at the resort. You must go to the culinary desk though and advise them in advance. They will ask you to let them know where you want to eat 24 hours in advance which was kind of a pain but she made it work. She said that the staff was amazing. You can also advise the desk 24 hours in advance if you want crab legs as Schooners as an appetizer. Side Note - We loved that it wasn't as crowded but that is personal preference. There was only one other earlier wedding the day we got married but on the Saturday we left they had 7 scheduled so it gets significantly busier. Cafe De Paris the best coffee. We went there almost every morning to grab a cappuccino or the beaches caramel. They also have light breakfast options (cereal, croissants, little sandwiches) and mini desserts. In the evenings from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm they have a chocolate fountain. Reflections - Probably the best breakfast selection. It is a buffet and they had a great omelet station. They were open for lunch as well but we never went there. Bayside - Second best breakfast. Also a buffet but it is situated in the Key West Village and had a much better view than Reflections. They also had a great dinner buffet and a bonfire area right out front that has live music so you can grab some dinner, sit, and listen to music. Bella Napoli - Great pizza! This was our regular lunch selection as you can take it to go. It usually took about 15-20 minutes to be ready but it might be longer depending on how busy the resort is. Arizona's - My husband loved the ribs. I didn't eat here but the margarita was yummy. They do have a lunch station with jerk chicken, jerk pork, hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, etc. that was also very good. If we didn't have pizza for lunch we ate at the station. Barefoot - We had breakfast and lunch here. Both order restaurants not buffet style. Food was decent, nothing spectacular but right on the sand. The shrimp skewers I had were pretty good and so was the steak and eggs. Sky - Scenery is the best of the restaurants but breakfast was not very good for me. I had the omelet. My husband had the fish and said it was very good. Other friends had the omelet and didn't like it so it could have just been that one meal. We only went for breakfast but they do have dinner options. Neptunes - This is tied for my favorite dinner along with Sappodillas and Le Petite. I had the seafood chowder which was very good and my husband had the special (can't remember what is was). Everyone who ate there with us enjoyed. Schooners - Decent food. I enjoyed the crab legs very much and the lobster risotto. Dinos - Not the best food but convenient to take and run. Pizza (not as good as Bella), grilled cheese, sandwiches, etc. Marios - We actually did not like the food at Marios. Breakfast was cold and dinner was okay. I will say that the special the lamb shank was VERY good so if you go, just go for that. The meatballs were pretty good as well. Giuseppe's - Didn't eat there Cricketeers' - Didn't eat there. Did play pool there which was fun, it has a good atmosphere. Bobby Dee's - Decent food. Open all night. GREAT onion rings. Basically quick fried food. Great place for kids though and late night snacking. Sapadillas - Good food. This is where we had our honeymoon dinner. It is one of the fancier restaurants. I had the lobster and my husband had the venison. Both were yummy and the dessert was good too. They designed our dessert dish to congratulate use which was very sweet. Le Petite - Very good food. We had the lobster special and it was delicious. The french onion soup was very good as well. This is a fancier restaurant as well. It requires men to wear slacks and closed shoes. Soy - Good sushi. We love sushi so I would order a lot because the portions are a little small. Kimonos - Fun but not your typical Japanese steakhouse so don't expect the same sort of thing. They sang kid songs and some newer pop songs. No fancy tricks or anything. They give you a variety of chicken, steak, fish, and shrimp so you don't order here. The menu is there to just give you an idea of what to expect. Drinks/Bars: Note - There is limited wine if you are a wine drinker. Only Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay for white and Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon for red. Favorite Drink - Mojito and Planter's Punch Favorite Bartender - No idea his name but he can usually be found at the center bar in the Italian Village. He is known for saying "Why Not". He was the life of the party and gave my grandmother too many drinks haha Make sure you look for him. Favorite Bars - We enjoyed all of the pool bars of course but we also really liked the Bayside bar due to the scenery and the live music. Turtles has live music after 9:30 so we went there a lot for dancing. Beach - Absolutely breathtaking. All sorts of activities but it does depend on the water, if the flags are red everything is on hold. Wedding - AMAZING in every way. Comanique was our Wedding Coordinator and she was fabulous. She tells it like it is, which I love. I had read some negative reviews on her and they are absolutely NOT true. Please request her. We originally had selected Saturday at sunset but switched to four based on her suggestion since we purchased the traditional photo package and wanted to make sure we had some light for the photos. Our welcome dinner was on the lawn near Schooners and was great. We had the duck, fish, and chocolate cheesecake, everyone said it was great. Our wedding was at the Arizona beach and was perfect. We just had the white structure with fuchsia linen and white chairs. It was truly beautiful, with the view you don't need to add much. Pastor Howell completed the service and had a very nice message. We had our own vows. We upgraded my husband's free massage to a couple's massage and it was perfect. Breakfast in bed was delicious. Photos- James Bond & Jimmie James were our photographers and they were AMAZING. I requested less formal pictures and more candid ones and they delivered. They were easy to work with and very accommodating. I highly recommend them if using Beaches photography. Our package included two brag books, 25 thank you cards, and a photo album which we have already been able to review. The photos turned out great and it was very difficult to choose which ones. The album came out really great as well. I will caution you that it takes several hours to choose your photos so go in prepared. Comanique warned us so we just sipped on our cocktails and enjoyed the experience. They even put a couple of our photos in the window which was fun to see. Tours - We wanted to use our credit for a catamaran cruise and spoke with both Sandra & Alla to coordinate. Due to the water being choppy it kept getting cancelled which is disappointing. However, there was a private one scheduled the day before we were to leave and Alla spoke with one of the higher ups (not sure of his exact title) Andre and got us on an excursion to Iguana Island. It was so sweet of her to go through all of that trouble for us and we greatly appreciated it. It truly was an amazing vacation for all of those involved. Everyone raved about their experience. We cannot say thank you enough to the staff at the resort for making this such a memorable experience.

@@megthomson I'm soooo excited for you! We arrive tomorrow around 2:30 pm. I can't focus on anything and have definitely overpacked.

@@megthomson Well hopefully the construction will be all done or you could move to Key West Village maybe? I think the Italian one has too many kids. I'm so excited! The beach party will be perfect for after your wedding! Do you have more photos of the Caribbean Village?

@@megthomson I would wait until you hear about the upgrade when you check in, they may move you anyway. Friday is the beach party, which is where we will go after our welcome dinner. They supposedly have a fire dancer and some sort of theme. I think white night is a different day, I can't remember all of the other theme nights. I will take all the photos you have! Did she take any of the carribean village?

@@tyrebride2b2013 I wanted it for the welcome dinner because the beach party is that night and the plan was to have cocktails and apps then go tot the party. Another bride was able to do it earlier in the posts so I am just going to ask again when we get there. @@megthomson I am unable to do any work at this point lol too excited. That pic is GORGEOUS! Apparently the upgrade doesn't come until we actually arrive and is subject to availability. I have checked and the hotel is not full so we should definitely get the upgrade. I was so excited when I heard about the free wifi! We are having our guests download The Wedding Party app so we can get pics from everyone's experience. For future brides please note they offer a 10% discount but you have to have them add it before the final pmt. I didn't know about it and my TA didn't either (which I found frustrating) so I have two military guests that will not be getting the discount. I even tried to get some sort of credit or freebie and they refused.

@novaangel Your day is almost here! How are you feeling?

Have any ladies done a cocktail hour with hot and cold apps instead of a seated complimentary welcome dinner? I thought that was an option but Roxi said no. From what I can see it is actually cheaper for them to allow me to do this option so I don't understand why I couldn't do so.

@@megthomson I just had my fitting for my bustle and need to lose a half inch at least so am now in panic mode lol Got up at4:45 today to do cardio. I know you look beautiful Meg, not like a linebacker. Have you received your free upgrade yet? How many songs are you choosing for the actual wedding, I only have my maid of honor so it's such a short time before I come out. I'm so afraid I am forgetting something!

@@megthomson Thanks Meg! I was more wondering just drink wise. We are not going to do a sit down so were curious how close the hotel bars were to the reception areas. Right now we are planning the extra $12~15 pp for an open bar for two hours but if there is a bar already close, it would be a waste of money.

Does anyone have any insight on paying for an open bar? We have 24 people and im just not sure if we should pay the extra when its an all inclusive hotel. Are the reception areas close to a bar thats already there?

@@megthomson Hi Meg! I am soooo excited! Time is flying so fast. I am so afraid I am going to forget something. How are things going for you?

@@megthomson It is getting real now! Im so excited and need to get to the gym lol

Thanks @@tyrebride2b2013

Has anyone used the onsite salon? If so, thoughts or recommended stylists? Im leaning towards getting the bridal package

Are you girls paying for the table linens and center pieces or bringing your own? If your own where are you getting your stuff?