Bill and Joyce , April 25th to May 1st ,
Bottoms Up Bunch of the Last Week of April ,2000
This trip report was difficult to write because almost nothing remarkable happen this time as compared to the other trips and we have already posted on the message board most of the remarkable stuff that is fit for print . LOL . We had a great time and enjoyed seeing all our friends . HEDO does not change but we do , it is like when you have been there so many times before , and done that , and done that , and done more of that too, that nothing shocks you and you become content or complacent with each day at Hedo. LOL.
This year we started a small group called the BOTTOMS UP BUNCH , and here is what we are about. We have a yahoo club website that is unlisted and by invite only for those going the last week of April . Names are taken from Denny's Hedo Visitors List , and with his permission , people are sent in invite to join. Actually anybody can join if sent an invite by another member.
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We are the BOTTOMS-UP CLUB, a new and unorganized club of people going to hedo the same week. So welcome new and veteran Hedonists, even if you already belong to another group, this site is for all who go to hedo the last week of April, the only rule is RESPECT for each other. The topic can be anything you like, just like hedo ,what is said here, stays here, the purpose is to get to know each other, post your pics in the club, update your profile ,show info to get info. |
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The club made it a nice place to really get to know the people that you will be sharing your vacation with for a week or so , before you get there. Rather than send out tons of email to everyone for months , you get to profile yourself , post pics in the photo gallery and leave messages for all on the board , get input from a larger group that you will actually see while at hedo. A smaller version of Denny's , condensed just for that week. At present 56 members of couples and singles representing over 100 people that went that week . Some members of the "original last week in April club" did not make it this year but did join the club and are counted . Thanks to all the members for making the trip a great one , it is like the old show on TV , Cheers , "where everyone knows your name" , that is what makes hedo and the people special. A special thanks to Fred and Maureen for being the Co-Founders and helping to monitor the club. Also to Dave and Marcha , firsttimers that were converted and corrupted. <G> Dave made the great banner that we now have , see picture.
WE will be back next April and do more of the same thing ,
and i guess it is up to us to get off our asses off the beach to find
something else to do. Sitting / Laying on that beach , naked , letting
the wind blow through your legs , drinks in hand and music in the background
has some magic to it that you just do not want to leave the beach . But when
we do , it's only when we get too hot and for the cool water of the pool/bar ,
more drinks and fun in the sun with friends again . LOL . Thanks everyone for
another magical week.
Mon , I want to go back , now!!
The film crew for the Travel Channel was there Tues. the 25th , PJ nite , and for the next two nites including Thursday , Toga nite . They did the PJ in two places , the disco as usual for those who did not want to be filmed , and the dining room were the filming took place . They filmed only the dance floor for the PJ and Toga nites . They also filmed beach shots but only the nude area by the volley ball courts and the prude beach . They did a good job and were not intrusive but they were suppose to be there the 21st to the 23rd not a week later as they posted on the board. We hardly gave them any thought while we were there and refuse to have anyone spoil a great week.
To us the film crew was not intrusive but we did hear some
rumblings from others that they were . I think that some of the problems
was at the PJ party , they split the people into two parts , those that cared
and those that did not care about being seen on TV. Those that care went to
the hot smoky disco and those that did not went for the more comfortable
dining room.
Now if you stayed in the dining room , which was a great place to hold the PJ
nite , and wanted to try to compete for a category , you had to be seen on
film , also they did not do all the categories that they normally do at the
disco. We did not go to the disco this year so we do not know what they did ,
but they usually have several categories from the most lame ,to the most sexy
, to Mr. and Mrs. S&M , to Mr. and Mrs. Etc. , some of these were not done
in the dining room. I think the leather and chain people when in the disco ,
we did not see them in the dining room.
You could tell that people were more reserved in the dinning room knowing
they were being filmed ,everyone danced with their backs toward the camera .
But if you think about it , when you watch anything on TV , how many of us pay
attention to who is who if they not the main actors.
Alfred Hitchcock put himself in all his movies as an extra and after all these
years and reruns you still can't find him. He is there for a few seconds and
nobody notices , and that is the same at hedo when there is a film crew .
people watching TV is looking beyond the people and looking at the
surroundings and costumes , not at faces.
The Toga party was different and proved my point , the crew blended into the
hedo atmosphere , and nobody gave them a notice . It was just like another
toga party , everyone was on the dance floor and competed for the prize. I
wonder if they stayed the week and as everyone got used to them , would people
accept and partied with them while ignoring the camera because they did it
right.
Now i am not saying that hedo should open it doors to film crews , and have seen intrusive suspect crews in years past that roped off an area that we could not use till they were done and you can wonder about whether your pic was used or not. but this crew was professional and did announce their presence ahead of time on this board , and wanted feedback . They however were supposed to be there the week before , but no problem Mon.
We were there 4/25 to 5/1 , yes , several people were bumped but we were not and got the room we wanted , again thanks to the hedo gods, . I think all it takes is patience and waiting them out and by 5 pm there were rooms available. But if you insist on getting a room in a hour they will bump you to another resort. Be respectful and be patient.
The Butt Crack group was there but not so many as to cause the bumping , it is just the way hedo does business , chill and relax , have a drink , get naked and enjoy . No problem , Mon. Stop back at the front desk and check your status often , give them time to get the rooms cleaned , your name will get to the top of the pile , do not be intrusive , but do hang around the lobby , bring the staff some cokes and you will soon get your key if you are there when the block of rooms are ready . If you are not , you will get bumped. The one lady at the desk , name omitted , thanked me for being so positive and patient , not like the others , take it for what it is worth. Think Jamaican!!
Do not really know if it has anything to do with bumping or getting a room faster but I did notice that when they saw go classy on our vouchers , our names went closer to the top of the pile for a hedo room. Food for thought. But we did have to instruct the lady as to NOT to put any more new arrivals on top of people already there but rather on the bottom , FIFO , "first in first out". rotation , rotation, rotation. LOL.
Another thing was they took the beer taps out from the nude side hot tub beverage stand and the old delroys bar , they said too much spillage , you now must get your jugs filled at the dining room bar or disco after 10pm, but we handled it with a little finesse and the kindness of another Jamaican lady at delroys pool/bar.
There was guy who was out of control drunk most days and nites , he walked
into our room one nite when we had stopped in to get undressed for the hot tub
and left the door open to let the cold condition air out. He yelled at us to
keep the door closed and left , when i went out to chase him , he was gone. We
think he was looking for his room number and could not see the number with so
many doors open at that time.
He was so drunk he could hardly walk. Then at the hot tub 15 minutes later ,
he did a swan dive and did not come up for a long minute. We thought he broke
his neck for sure, but god saves babies and drunks. Some people were very
upset with this guy from previous incidents and were about to knock him out.
Fighting with a guy like this is not the answer and not the way to handle the
problem . Just notify Security and the office about the offender.
Fighting might get you both thrown out of hedo and a great week ruined. Your are right to think , with all the drinking and stuff that goes on at hedo , that more fights would occur. Actually , we have not seen and only heard of a couple near fights in 5 trips the last week in April. No one should be afraid to walk the grounds alone , day or nite, most people are middle aged and do not want to destroy a great week with a fight. Respect and Tolerance is practiced to the max. The one or two idiots that are drunk and looking for more than they can handle are escorted off the property by Security , who are always around but un-intrusive and hidden. Now that said , do not leave your common sense home.
Also there was no sex police around this year and it was business as normal . LOL After 5 visits to hedo , we finally found the TV room , if it has always been there , it is news to us , maybe too much ganga. LOL . A great place for some sexual encounters............you know were to find me next year and i will not be watching TV. .<G>. The room was empty and has one way smoked glass , you can see out , but they can not see in. Cushion bench seating all around the room and a large who knows what size TV with satellite hook-up . It is between the two bathrooms , mens and ladies , outside of veronica's in the courtyard.
This year we took a dual person raft , 19.99 from k-mart and left it there . Recommend it highly , it is the greatest , out there playing with your partner but since we were in the 69 position we never got the hang of rowing in the same direction and kept going in circles or being blown down the beach by the wind . Besides Fred kept throwing sand and stones on us from the beach . LOL.
We came home with most of the $350.00 we took , with 54.00 a couple tax to get out of Jamaica and 40.00 to get the car out of parking at the airport for 7 days , Joyce 's shopping for souvenirs at 60.00 . Our whole trip cost , out of Phila , $2700 for a couple for garden nude and air by Air Jamaica for 6 nites and 7 days thanks to GO-CLASSY TOURS. All things considered , as compared to last year it was about 200.00 over for the same time period and accommodations?? WE do hope that there will be better discounts for all next year , since Easter is back to normal and we think it is April 15th next year.
WE felt ripped off when there was deep discounts for January , February, March , and especially May , and that if our trip began on May 1st instead of ending , it would have cost $400.00 less. Lance at Go CLASSY kept saying from the time we booked , in October, that we would receive the discounts as they came in but they never came , the rate quoted in October never changed . Then they added the fuel charge to add insult to the injury. Do not know who's fault it is but we feel somebody got us . We did shop around and it seemed that all were within 50.00 of each other and decide to stay with Go Classy , regardless. Think Superclubs saw April was already booked full and had no reason to lower rates to attract new guest. We will see how they regard their April guest next year. Maybe we all should change months and go for the discounts , whatever month has the best discounts. Let them go figure or re-figure, whatever the case many be.
Food was same as always \ not good \ not bad . A little problem with beach chair availability with only some broken ones left for use at times , no problem with towels . Room was great at the H Building nude side , air conditioner was new and works too well , finally figured how to work it the day we left . There was plenty of hot water , except one day, a main broke or something and the hot water only was shut off till 6:15 pm in the H Building , Joyce washed her hair in cold water and she was not happy . Entertainment was better other years . Bar service and staff was great as usual.
There was one guy who brought so many toys that he had to pay extra for the baggage , he also brought the infamous beach sling shot that was outlawed because of other incidents years past. He kept looking for recruits to help him with it , but several vets turn him down each day . No incidents to report from it , but would advise future visitors to leave the sling shots home.
For the first time we did the tanning beds before we went and it paid off , we enjoyed the sun more than before , without fear of looking like a lobster . As Joyce says it is the best suit she ever bought and it not only fits but suits her well , LOL.
There is not much to say about the repeaters party , other that it was on the lawn at the racket court , the couple who won was a 13 or 14 time repeater, Mr. Smith said there was 140 repeaters , do not know if he meant 140 invites and 280 people or just 140 people, at any rate there was only about half that showed up . No announcements of things to come , Joe Smith the GM introduced the staff and i can not remember him saying anything else.
We took the bus in and out , it was a nice ride and not the chicken bus as most people would have you believe. They do drive fast on narrow roads that are not well paved but you do get a bus drivers tour and see what the real Jamaica is like. It is all part of the Jamaican experience , pick up a couple of red stripe beers and enjoy the ride.
We flew Air Jamaica in and it was a nice flight out of Phila. , this was our first time leaving on a Tuesday , we normally leave on Sundays. Maybe because it was just after Easter , but there was only maybe 75 people on the plane . They had to ask half of us to move to the back of plane on both sides for weight balance, since we all were up front. They have a great check-out at Hedo when you fly Air Jamaica , you get your notice the day before to have your bags packed and outside the door by 9am for pickup. Then go have breakfast and take last minute family photos . Between 10:30 and 11:30 am go to the Air Jamaica table in the dining room and they do a pre-check-in with your bags and you pay your exit tax , they check your papers or documents , give you your boarding passes and you are set to go from the bus at Sangsters Airport in Montego Bay to your departing gate , no standing in lines at the airport. You vacate the room by noon with your carry-on and have the rest of your time to do whatever you want till the bus leaves , ours did not leave till 2:15 pm . So off to delroys pool/bar , got naked , and had our last few drinks in the pool . What a way to go. LOL.
Regrets are few , should have went on the cruise , should have went to Negril , Ricks , Pickled Parrot , should have went kayaking and sailing , should have pursued ............. opportunities , oh well , maybe next year. LOL.
May the wind be always at your back............
Bill and Joyce of pa.
