Sunlovers Trip Report
December 3 13, 2002
The Decision
This was our third trip to H2 and our first with the WWW group. After talking with several WWWrs we had met over the years, we decided to book a December trip. For the first time in years we were going on vacation for 10 days taking advantage of the pay for 14 and get 3 free feature since we had already been to H2 in February of this year. In order to insure a stress free vacation (after all, isnt that the whole point?) I completed all of my Christmas shopping, wrapping & cards prior to the trip. Also, going anywhere in December was a first as we are typical snowbirds and choose to leave the north in Feb/March to hasten the season. We were a bit apprehensive about joining a group as we arent group people per se; however it was the best decision! The group insured high occupancy at the resort and an assurance that needs would be met.
The Flight
Air Jamaica was chosen and we were met with long lines at JFK and a one and a half hour delay. Our luggage was searched prior to checking it and there was debate with three of the airport staff whether or not to allow our raft. Finally, after discussion and looking things up in a manual they decided to allow it. The flight itself was good and upon landing checked in at the SuperClubs desk where we found the bus waiting for us.
The Bus
We had always taken Tim Air in the past; however with the informative Board discussions regarding the finished road and the timing between the two, we decided to take the bus. Tim Air was booked for the return since we had a 6:30 pm flight and wanted to squeeze every minute of that last day.
The bus ride was great and within minutes our annoyance at being late was history because the fun had begun. There werent very many people on the bus, but its the quality, not the quantity. One couple was from the area where we lived so it was fun right from the start. The other two couples we met we had a blast with the entire trip. (Note: We had never e-mailed with either couple prior to the trip.) One poor single gentleman was scouting out other places to say as his travel agent had informed him that if he wanted lots of single girls to go to H2. Needless to say, the poor thing was not happy and had found out right away his travel agent did him a dis-service.
We stayed way too long at the road side stand just fooling around drinking red stripes and taking pictures of everyone. Combined with the lateness of AJ our vision of being on the beach at 1:30 pm in reality was checking in by about 4 pm. We had dirty bananas in our hands thanks to our neighbor faster than we had our room keys and by the time we made it to the beach we didnt care what time it was we were home!
The Vacation: People Places & Things
It took us about two days to unpack as we werent in the room long enough. Our first night was PJ Night and we managed to walk away with a bottle of rum. Great beginning! Within the first 24 hours I woke up with the cough and a touch of the crud that lasted through the entire trip. (Hubby got his upon our return.) The disco was very smoky so I am sure that played a big part. We thought arriving prior to the big group of 240 WWWers would be a nice quite way to ease into the vacation. NOT! We had a blast from the beginning and averaged about 4 to 5 hrs. sleep at night for the 10 days there. Once we did make it to bed by 11:30. I think our bodies were just shutting down!
We met so many great people that were a key element to the success of our trip. You could hear people reciting Oh you are so-and-so! stating their online handles. Fun putting the names with the faces! From the North Pole to Canada to Atlanta to the West Coast with the Mid-West in between, new friends were made. Laughter was non stop and I swear the muscles in my face ached from smiling so much! Massages with talented hands in the pool were great. Missed some that were promised, but oh well, something to look forward to next time! The 10 days really went by faster than we ever expected.
Lots of fun to finally meet those we chatted with on I M, the Sunday evening chat room and exchanged e-mails. A special treat was to finally meet Denny and those sparkling blue eyes! NBHs collected by all! As shown in the past, people we clicked with were not necessarily those we e-mailed with. We met people new people with the WWW group and those that were not with the group at all. We got to know people better that we had briefly met over the past year. We quickly found that being with a group was a bit loosely defined. There were groups within the group and we found that some were more open to chatting than others no different from any other vacation. The orange WWW hats were a great way to see who was arriving and served as an easy ice-breaker and the picture album served as a bingo board trying to keep track of those we met. However, after our return we see almost 50% more pics that were posted after our departure which was a week before the actual designated group date so we did miss meeting quite a few people. Next year.
We are primarily beach people and set up our chairs beachside under the trees so when we werent floating on a raft, we could nap in the shade. We found the sun to be quite tame in comparison with our February/March trips and after starting with our usual SPF 30, quickly dropping to 15, then 8 found ourselves using no SPF the last 4-5 days of our stay and never burned. Our routine was to basically follow the sun migrating from the beach, to pool by mid-afternoon ending with cocktails in the hot tub.
We finally got off of our lazy butts this trip and did a few things! On our prior vacations we never left the nude side of H2 let alone a lounge chair! Went to the repeaters party, the WWW welcome party where gifts for the school children brought by all made an impressive mountain. Helped sort and stuff stockings for the school & wrap any leftovers. Everyone was so generous. What a great thing for the WWW to do.
The Mystery Trip to Negril was a blast, (again a big thanks to our fellow states people for coordinating it). Marguaritaville was fun, but had no sense of humor and was cut short and the shopping was good at the duty-free stop. We received a round of applause from all as we were the last to board the bus. At Ricks we watched a new friend gracefully dive, saw the sunset and tried a Jennys Brownie courtesy of our Canadian friends. That brownie is another story all together! Trust what you read folks; take only about 1/8. It takes a while for it to kick in but when it does..what a riot! Thats one amazing brownie!
Although were told we got on the wrong bus (there were two) we still consider ourselves Lucky Bastards for being able to once again make it back to H2 and for all the friends we made.
Got another bottle of Coconut Rum this time for the ring toss, and enough Hedo bucks to get three more bottles and I swear we really didnt do much as far as games go! Finally played Find your Mate and chose the wrong guy! I picked someone 10 years older than hubby and not circumcised. Hey, I was looking for shaving technique and girth!
Conspired with my Evil Canadian Twin and Hedonized a virgin southern belles outfit and broke that couple into piece by piece (they never saw it coming) followed by my own performance. Absolutely hysterical! Gawwwwlly, they were the best and had a great sense of humor.
We went on the Midnight Cruise which was also a first. Note to self: Never trust people who make promises after drinking all day, smoking ganja and eating more of a Jenny brownie especially Evil Twins. Bad People. Bad.
The Hot Tub
The jerk chicken continues to be the best and the hot tub was packed more than our prior trips. A rat made a nightly appearance around 7 pm stealing jerk chicken from unsuspecting guests who placed their plates besides them. He also scooted amongst our feet favoring one person in particular while searching for food while we sat on lounge chairs by the hot tub with our own jerk chicken. That was a good time to head back to the rooms to change! Two nights in a row, cockroaches were seen in the dining room - one on the tables and another climbing up one of the pillars. This was the first time we had seen this and noted such in our exit comment form. Apparently many guests had sightings of these critters. Were sure management will take care of the situation.
We were surprised for the amount of people in the tub how clean it actually was compared to past trips. The usual floating mass of unidentified stuff didnt seem to be around. Temperatures were inconsistent for a couple of days running from cool to scalding but was remedied quickly. The hot tub was very social and it was good to be with a group as you always had a husband when needed. Didnt notice any Vinnies, however I think a new category should be noted: Piranha. It seems some locals who think that a woman left alone even for a second while her significant other goes to get a drink or to the rest room is fair game. This person would move in on the unsuspecting female literally seconds after her counter part would leave her side - sometimes not even waiting for that. After being asked to leave a couple of nights in a row, he was no longer an issue.
The End
Leaving is always hard and the 10 days absolutely flew by. We were honored to have been given the official Moon Hill send-off and buzzed the beach on Tim Air and saw friends waving as we left with our mugs filled with our last Delroys Seabreeze.
Air Jamaica was again delayed and fun time was spent at Sangsters Marguaritaville, waiting with other Hedonites and a few more drinks reminiscing about the great week and the bane of again having to wear underwear. Dinner was served almost immediately upon take-off and the next thing we remember is the slight bump of the wheels touching the tarmac at JFK.
We took lots of pictures this time and its a good thing! Some things we had already forgotten and again broke out in laughter as we went through the pics remembering what a great time we had.
Were still laughing when we read the message board, look at our photos and play Delroys CD. So as you see, its not really the end. In a way its a beginning. We look forward to continuing the friendships made and again making more on trips yet to come!
Respect!
The Sunlovers
