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Sandy's Trip to Sandals Whitehouse
Jamaica
February, 2009
First off, I would like to preface that this was
-- hands down -- the most romantic vacation two people on Earth can take!
Sandals Whitehouse truly lives up to their motto "Love is all you need".
They supply EVERYTHING else.
THE AIRPORT -- It had been 20 years since I had
seen Jamaica, and things have certainly changed! The most important change
was the airport. It had been drastically remodeled and Sandals Resorts has
a private lounge for all incoming guests. After leaving immigrations, just
ask for the lounge, and you will be directed to it. In the lounge, they
take your luggage, allow you to change to island-wear, and relax with
complimentary ale (Red Stripe beer), soda or bottled water, until your
air-conditioned shuttle is ready to transport you to the appropriate
Sandals, ours being Sandals Whitehouse -- some 75 minutes away.
THE RIDE -- Sandals provides complimentary
shuttle service to all it's Resorts, from the Montego Bay Airport. And
yes, they even provide this for Travel Agents going on reduced rate. And
what a ride this was! To say that it was a Disneyland "E" ticket ride, is
an understatement. The roads are very windy and narrow, with oncoming
propane tankers having near-misses darn near every other corner. Believe
it or not, that added to the excitement! Crazy, I know, but this provides
your client with a real adventure, at no additional cost! And the ride is
predominently thru the interior of Jamaica, so it provides a first-hand
eye-opening experience as to REAL Jamaica -- the inland jungle ending with
a bit of untouched Western coastline small towns.
THE RESORT -- Upon arrival, we were escorted to
the Concierge Level check-in, which was a total surprise, and I think
Raina, our Sandals Rep, had something to do with that! In any case,
Concierge check-in is certainly the way to go...champagne and hors'd
ourves overlooking the turquise ocean...they deliver your luggage to your
room, and have you go eat lunch. When you arrive back from lunch, you are
escorted to your room, and your luggage is there, fully-stocked bar
(replenished daily), and a refridgerator with ale, sodas, juices and
bottled water. All rooms at Sandals Whitehouse have an ocean
view........ours, oceanfront! We were able to open up the patio slider,
and walk about 100 feet to sand and water....not joking here! All rooms at
this resort have King-size four-poster beds in Mohogany wood. This resort
is made up of four uniquely different European Villages -- Italian --
Dutch -- French. We were in the Italian, very appropriate...ha ha! I would
suggest that you book your clients in the Italian, as it is the most
conveniently located to all restaurants, water sports, main pool, theatre
(yes!), and gift shops.
THE DINING -- Now let me preface this as letting
you know upfront that the dining at Sandals Whitehouse quite possibly is
the best possible dining we have experienced in 23 years of marriage! Not
that we have been ALL over the world, but we have certainly enjoyed fine
cuisine here and abroad. To me, what qualifies fine dining is the
following: Entree selection; White-glove quality service; private/quaint
table setting; and presentation. Sandals Whitehouse hit the mark on ALL
four of my qualifications on three of their Restaurants. My TOP
recommendation is Eleanor's, which serves filet mignon and large lobster
tail, nightly. Also, just a side note on restaurants -- there is a morning
coffee shoppe -- Cafe d'Paris -- which is similar to Starbuck's, but it
has the Sandals logo.....and of coarse, it is such a pleasure to pick up a
morning latte at 6am...on the house...as it IS an all-inclusive resort. I
kept wanting to hand them my Starbuck's Gold Card, but when there is NO
charge, that is just silly of me.
THE BARs -- The Staff was absolutely superb! They
all remember you by name. Bartenders see you walking (or swimming) up to
the bar, and say, "Hello, Mrs. Regoli...may I get you your usual, or your
backup drink?" Now, if I'm counting correctly, that would be six things
they would have to remember....your name, your spouses name, your drink,
your spouses drink, your backup, and your spouses backup. What a pleasure
to remember their names, also. Garth (G-man) and Shelane at the main pool
swim-up bar are about as good as bartenders can get! Thank you to both of
them for creating an atmosphere that couples can truly relax and enjoy
each other's company. I may want to add that this resort, expecially the
bars and restaurants, is really not for the younger party-goers, or those
wanting to stay up late. That was SO nice!!!
THE BEACH -- I saved this for last, as it was my
VERY favorite...and what all my photos are of. The beach at Sandals
Whitehouse is very secluded, made up of many little pockets of private
natural foliage, where two people in love can spend quality time together;
read a book; fall asleep with each other -- all in the privacy of your own
little cove (see photos). There certainly are open areas for those that
prefer the chair-lined areas of beach...but that is the exception to the
rule at this resort. If I could sum up the beach here in one word, it
would be...'relaxing'. We did do a bit of snorkeling on the reef,
kayaking, sailing, and laying on the ocean-rafts (made for two). These
were all, of coarse, all-inclusive of the resort.
FINAL NOTE -- I would highly recommend Sandals
Whitehouse Resort for your clientele who wants an upscale resort...and who
can pack light, as "All you need is Love"...they supply the rest! A big
hug and thank you to Raina, our Sandals Representative and Glendon Lowe,
the on-site Sandals Sales Representative, who was very hospitable to me
during our entire stay. Thank you, both. This agent knows a winning Resort
when she sees one -- Sandals Whitehouse is just that!
Elizabeth's Trip to Southern California
February, 2009
Most of us have been to San Diego and Anaheim
many times before, so you don't need a whole lot of info on Disney from
me. Here are a couple of tidbits, however, from my recent trip.
The Residence Inn Maingate is very nice. I booked
a room there at a Famtastic rate that we just used for the day as a place
to take the kids to get away from the hubbub of the parks. It's two long
blocks from the park - an easy walk if you're used to walking, but little
kids would be whining if they didn't have a stroller. We actually drove
our cars there, since they have free parking, and the Disney lots allow
in-and-out, so we didn't have to pay to park again when we returned, which
was very nice. If people have purchased the ART passes it is on the route.
This is a great property for people with kids, or who want to save some
money on food by having the kitchen. The hotel has a full breakfast buffet
in the morning (eggs, pastries, waffles, cereals, etc.) and on certain
nights during the week they have an evening reception. The day we were
there they were cooking hot dogs, which the kids loved - so that was a
free meal right there.
The rooms are nice, the property is quiet and
feels like a little community built around a courtyard area where there is
a barbecue if people want to eat outside. The kitchen is fully equipped,
and they provide coffee, tea, and a bag of microwave popcorn. The kids
really seemed to enjoy the room and the respite from the crowds. They
probably enjoyed standing out on the balcony shouting "Hi" to all
passersby as much as they did the rides we took them on.
The Finding Nemo ride was actually a little
frightening to my 2 and 4-year old niece and nephew. Samantha cried
through most of it, and JC was quiet, but he did end up crawling into my
lap and pulling his knees up close under his chin. They weren't familiar
with the movie, and so thought the whole thing was a bit too intense.
Lines are still long for the Toy Story attraction
and the submarine.
At the San Diego Zoo you definitely want to take
the bus ride first thing because the zoo is so large that you need the bus
ride to get oriented. You can then decide what areas you want to walk back
to see up close later on. They're opening a new exhibit for the elephants
this summer which should be pretty neat. Right now the three tiger cubs
are on exhibit. They're getting to be close to full size, but are still
quite playful and we happened upon them when they were romping, which was
fun.
If your clients are contemplating a trip to San
Diego I'd highly recommend that they spend some time just walking around
Balboa Park, which is where the zoo is located. It is one of the most
beautiful, well-laid-out city parks in the country. The buildings are left
over from the International Exhibition of 1915 and are in an ornate
Spanish-Moorish style with covered walkways opening onto vistas of richly
planted gardens. The museums housed there are the natural history,
aerospace, space and science (with an IMAX theater), and art. There are
probably more, but I can't remember what all is there. The gardens and
fountains are beautiful, and the giant lily pond in front of the botanical
building is a wonderful place to sit on a bench in the sun and relax while
listening to the chimes from the tiled bell tower of the Museum of Man.
The Old Globe Theater is also located in Balboa Park. In the summer
children cool off in the giant fountain outside of the Reuben H. Fleet
Space Theater and Science Center. It really is a wonderful place to wander
around, have lunch or an ice cream cone, and soak up some local color. On
Sundays there are free organ concerts at the outdoor Spreckels Organ
Pavilion.
We spent an afternoon at the beach just south of
the town of Laguna Beach. It's a beautiful, ritzy little town full of nice
shopping and restaurants. The beach itself was quiet in February, but the
weather was 75 degrees and sunny, and the water was calm and sparkling in
the sunlight. It was a very relaxing escape after the Disneyland and zoo
days, and we all enjoyed winding down a bit that way.
And that is about it for my helpful tidbits from
So. California.
Rosemary's Cruise to Europe
February, 2009
Barcelona - a charming city that values the arts.
Easy to walk or use the underground. Apparently it is a pickpocket haven-
second to Rome, so advise clients to be cautious, especially around the
major tourist attractions. (Watch for the pigeon-poop scam and the guys
selling individual flowers)
NCL's Jade - she was built as the Pride of
Hawaii, and then renamed when NCL moved her to the Med. All her décor is
still Hawaiian, which is rather incongruous and feels a bit strange when
sailing in Europe. She has 2 major dining rooms that are always free of
charge for dinner the menu is the same for both and changes nightly. One
dining room allows jeans at dinner- the other does not. There is also a
buffet dining room and a couple of fast-food places that are also free.
Other than that, the ethnic style restaurants have a cover charge for
dinner- ranging from $10 to $25 per person. The best deal is that you get
2 for 1 on the cover charge if you dine between 6pm and 7pm on the days
the ship is in port. Advise your clients to make reservations for dinner,
and then they won t have to wait for a table. Each restaurant/dining room
has an electronic chart showing which dining places have space for the
whole evening, which is very helpful. The longest wait was the first
night, because passengers did not understand the system yet. The
restaurants have the same menu every night, and they each have one entrée
that includes lobster in some format (like lobster tacos in the TexMex).
NCL has now organized their menus into only 2 sections (other than
dessert)- so appetizers, soup and salad are all in one category, and
entrees in another. I think they are trying to let people know that they
don t have to overeat and choose one item from each of the past
categories. Passengers were still ordering multiple items from the first
category. I thought their food was fresh and tasty. Desserts were on the
boring side, but otherwise food was good. In my opinion, Le Bistro is
still the best choice if clients want to have a special dinner. Every
eating place has a machine with disinfectant in it, and a staff person
with a spray bottle of disinfectant to supposedly help stop the spread of
disease.
The shows were not so good- they definitely did
not have the fireworks and stage design and special lighting effects that
other cruise lines have. The best by far was a group of 3 excellent
flamenco dancers.
My guess would be that 50% of the passengers were
English-speaking (British and North American), the rest being German,
Dutch, Scandinavian and Spanish.
Cabins were good- a comfortable bed and a great
shower.
The crew was very friendly- we had some great
conversations with our wait staff, who always proudly declared where they
were from. They all spoke really good English.
The gift shop was ridiculously expensive, and was
nearly always empty. Alcohol was also very expensive, and passengers were
being cautious with their drinking. I was disappointed that the wine list
was largely US wines since we were in Europe. The NCL-U classes were
nearly all oriented around alcohol and so there was a charge for them
(wine, whisky, martini tastings). They did have 3 free classes on Spanish
culture on the days at sea, which we attended, and they were interesting.
Also a charge for most exercise classes.
Banking warning- I had bought some Euros before
our trip, and had called our debit and credit card companies to advise
them we would be out of the country. We used most of our Euros in
Barcelona before the cruise, and then wanted to use an ATM with our debit
card to get more cash for the taxi ride to the ship. We went to about 6
banks and were declined each time. I called our bank and they were closed
due to the 9 hour time difference. Our hotel told us the ship was at the
end of a couple of blocks- so we decided to walk- to make a long story
short- 4 miles later, we found the ship! When I was able to get ahold of
our bank, they told us we were declined at the ATMs because there was a
block on Spain, because of all the fraudulent acitivity there. Sweet! The
ATMs on the ship only dispense USD (also rather weird in Europe) |
