Rick & Cindy - November, 2008
Trip Report – Hedo II (
We flew Delta round trip with no problems, although we were about an hour late each way. MBJ airport has changed a great deal in the last year with the shops moving up to the departure terminal and the pattie stand moved around the corner. We blow through immigration and customs (both ways). Margaritaville has a little outlet as you exit towards the bus (but has extremely slow service. Cindy came back from the bus and got me before I was served.) There is a little store (next to Wendy’s) with good patties and bottled Coke (or Red Stripe)-$4 total on your departure.
The road to Hedo was in good shape. No stop going either way. Took 1 hr and 20 minutes. (Hedo sends you to the airport ~4 hours before your flight.) Check-in took only a few minutes, barely time for me to get a pit stop and a beer. Cindy had champagne while waiting.
The attendance was low the first week (~30%) but starting picking up towards the weekend. The second week (Spanksgiving) got up to 70%. That’s the lowest for Thanksgiving in years. Kevin Levee recently took over as GM and is walking the property every day. The staff seemed enthusiastic about his return.
The Spanksgiving Day parade to Sandals was a lot of fun. I think we got most of the folks to show their tits or dicks with a few uptight exceptions. One guy showed his dick and got lots of beads. When Cindy went up to him and asked to see it again because she missed it the first time, he graciously complied and got more beads from Cindy. Next year, we need to bring noisemakers. I don’t remember any of the staff coming with us this year, leading us in rude cheers as they had in previously.
For tennis players:
Venus and Jupiter were very visible every night from sunset until we went to bed. On clear nights the stars were quite visible. A good website to tell you about the night sky is http://www.astroviewer.com/. (Latitude = 18, longitude = 78 for Hedo).
The good news:
* Deon is playing in the piano bar and the energy is back! He is much better than Dave was in his first year. Hopefully he will learn to work the crowd better as time goes by.
* The property was in good shape. The landscaping was beautiful.
* Our room was unchanged (other than the new air conditioners). Everything worked fine and was clean. (It will take weeks for the room to recover, however, from Cindy’s unfortunate powder glitter accident (think a puff mushroom). We’re both still wearing it several showers later!)
* Pastafari was excellent each and every time we ate there. We didn’t have all the entrees but probably sampled ~half on various nights and found them all excellent.
* Reggae Café (aka Prude Grill) was very enjoyable and offers the same entrees as the Nude Grill plus several Jamaican dishes. I wished it carried Coco Bread. It is nice to be served instead of standing around waiting in a line. Just throw on a towel or a wrap. It’s only open for lunch, no longer for dinner.
* The ocean on the nude beach has become sandy and it is possible to go out into the hook without foot protection! First time in my memory.
The bad news:
* The variety and selection of food at the Terrace Dining Room was not up to previous visits (more below).
* The pool by DelRoy’s was 82F—too cold to enjoy when the air temp is 78F in the morning. It got up to 85F by the end of our trip which is warm enough to get in and stay for a while. It’s amazing what a difference a degree makes in comfort. I really wish they would add a little bit of heat when it rains and cools the pools down.
* The EC (entertainment coordinators) were sick and/or missing. Luckily, Winston and Sunshine worked their little butts off and tried to do everything from beach games, volleyball, and Dinner shows.
* The nude grill was worse than last year. I would not eat there. However, the Reggae Café offers a good alternative.
*
The hamburger meat comes from
The Terrace Dining room (food is always central to a vacation):
* The food at the Terrace (main dining room) has become even more repetitive with the same dishes showing up often. The fish, chicken, and pork dishes were good. The beef was good when it was the steamship round or prime rib, otherwise, poor. No steaks served over the two weeks.
* Salad selections were minimal. Apples were abundant, tropical fruit missing (one platter of papaya/morning—when it was gone, it was an hour before another may or may not arrive).
* Breakfast—they no longer have a tray of scrambled eggs so Charlie has to cook all the eggs. Sometimes another egg station was set up. Limited amount of yogurt (Dannon-Peach, Strawberry, Strawberry/banana, and raspberry). Once it was gone, it was an hour before it might be replenished. Every day.
*
Cheese Selection-Yellow and white.
Occasionally,
*
Wine—better than I remember for both the red
and white.
* Pasta station at lunch and dinner everyday.
* Gala night is Friday. The first Friday, no lobster. The second Friday, lots of lobster.
* Martini bar was available on Gala and other nights (if there was a pattern, I missed it).
Bar Staff-we saw the entire bar staff except Matta who was on vacation the whole time we were there. Everyone seemed happy and looked well. The first week Grace, Anna, and Paulette were on vacation but were back at work the second week.
As I don’t care for Munasan and Cindy didn’t insist, we skipped it this year, so no report. Same for the Disco.
Overall, a nice peaceful vacation which I think is what we wanted and needed. Everyone makes Hedo their own experience so I know that some other guests were going to bed just a couple of hours before Cindy and I got up. I did hear one guest say that he hadn’t made breakfast or lunch once on his trip. Since they serve lunch until three, I wish I had thought to ask him what the sunrises looked like.