Steve & Kim - October, 2011

Hedonism 2 - 10/28-11/04/2011

This was our 7th trip to Hedonism 2, and our first time over
Halloween/anniversary.
What better place to celebrate the freakiness of Halloween? We were taking
advantage of the 14-3 promotion this trip; we stayed 10 days in January, so
for this trip we paid for 4 and got 3 free.

We sped through customs, then waited close to an hour at SuperClubs lounge for
a bus.
We bought rum drinks at Margaritaville, just outside the airport terminal, to
get the party started; then a short Red Stripe/bathroom break on the way.

Check-in was easy and fast, room in ocean view prude, in the last building
closest to Sandals.

We decorated our door for Halloween, with some purple accents for the 30th
anniversary. We had no idea how far people go with decorations, we did not win
anything, and would not enter again. The Mrs. waited nearly 2 hours for the
judges to make an appearance on Halloween afternoon (you must be present to
win), not worth it. There was an intense thunderstorm during the judging time
that must have held them up...

First stop for us, is seeing our dive friends in watersports, and get signed
up for diving.
No dives had happened for the 4 days prior to our arrival, due to rough water.
The next morning, the dive boat came back from the river during the 9:30 dive
time, so the early dive was cancelled. The 11:30 dive was full, since many
guests had been waiting 4 days to dive. We saw a pair of dolphins on a dive
this trip.

A couple of old friends from the staff recognize the Mr., from a boat off
shore. Sadly, they no longer work at Hedo. How do they recognize him in his
nakedness at a distance? Pretty amazing.

Patronized the spa for a mani-pedi, and a couples massage.
Purchased 3 days of wireless Internet access, which was okay, not great
coverage everywhere, but could find spots with strong signal.

Heavy rain squalls passed through on a couple afternoons. Some of the
lightning was striking close to the nude hot tub. A few people fled, but we
stayed put. We thought the couple holding an umbrella would be the ones to
attract the lightning, if it got that close.

We both had many insect bites this trip. It's hard to keep repellent applied
when swimming and partying...

We ate at Martino's one night and it was good. We thought the food in general
was the same as it ever was. Good Caesar salad with anchovies, without fail.
Loved the smoothies in the morning being blended along the back table. When we
were late to breakfast, the smoked fish would be gone and we'd miss it.

Halloween is fun at Hedo. There were some funny costumes (a guy as Serena
Williams) and scary costumes (white wedding couple). Some crazy costumes -
Osama & sexy army woman, pizza box boy & delivery girl. We were thrilled that
a handful of people identified the Mr.'s costume, which was a droogie from the
movie A Clockwork Orange. Think Malcolm McDowell with false eyelashes on one
eye. He did a sexy version of a droogie.

On Halloween night there were lines for the food serving areas. Thank goodness
there was a "Witch's Brew" rum drink available close by.

The dinner presentation was lengthy this evening, with guest skits and contest
results. The Bubbly Bares seemed to clean up in the contests, especially the
lady called Bubbles.

We tried the piano bar on a couple nights, and usually took off for the disco
within an hour. A couple of nights we stayed in the disco until 2a, one night
was really fun with some outside entertainment dancers that were spending the
night.

This trip we did 2 catamaran cruises, both Tuesday and Thursday. Had a
terrific time on these party cruises, the staff is a lot of fun. The
snorkeling was great in shallow water reefs, and the water was calm for
swimming through the cave - which we did twice. Sliding off the boat was a
blast, but beware of the back flop, which a couple of ladies demonstrated
(ouch). The boat guys were *happy* to give the ladies fresh water wash-downs
after exiting the salt water. Had the unforgettable experience of dancing in a
rain squall while on the boat headed to Rick's, nothing like a naked jam in
warm tropical rain.

On anniversary night, lobster tails were served from a grill on pool deck -
didn't even have to ask for 2, the server just loaded them on your plate. We
enjoyed the entertainment this evening, even though we aren't Shania Twain
fans. An impersonator from Las Vegas performed as Shania, Katy Perry & Lady
Gaga. She was really singing, not lip-synching, to a background track.

The Bubbly Bares held a "naked" champagne party on the beach on Thursday at
11am. It dawned on us that this was why there had been a shortage of champagne
for a few days prior. The empty bottles were lined up on a bench - and there
were a lot! Many people wore "costumes" that complemented their nakedness. It
was fun to have music and energy on the beach early in the day. More events
like this would be great.

One complaint for us was the nude pool deck, which could have used a good
pressure-washing. It was getting pretty gross - sticky and slimy - with
spilled drinks, etc. An unfortunate young lady had too much to drink and
vomited in the cold water jacuzzi in the center of the nude pool. We avoided
that area for a day or two. She also got sick on the nude pool deck. Yuck!! We
started wearing flip-flops on the decks around the nude pool.

As our week was winding down, we didn't want to leave (as usual), and got busy
making plans to extend a few days. A week is not enough! Hedo & Breezes were
over-booked, so Denny arranged for us to stay at "N" for a few days. It was an
interesting contrast to Hedo, and a trip report will soon come.

Steve & Kim