May 14 21, 2004
Since I enjoyed everyone elses trip reports so much, I knew I needed to take the time to write one too. When you are counting down the days until your turn comes, it is really fun to read trip reports.
This was our 6th trip to Jamaica and 3rd to Couples Ocho Rios. We have also been to Couples Negril twice. We renewed our vows for our 25th anniversary at Couples Ocho Rios in 1998 and we hadnt been there since, so we were anxious to go back.
Our travel agent David from All the Way Travel found us some great rates. He also included a spa certificate for $100, which was really nice. I had asked for a remodeled room and David sent a note to Couples with my request. I arranged for the return guest flight from Montego Bay to Boscobel airstrip. My husband Dale and I left ORD on Friday, May 14th at 6:15 and got to Montego Bay at 10:05. Customs and immigration went very quick. Couples brought us to the smaller terminal for the intra-island flights and we waited there about 30 minutes. They kept us informed about what was going on and soon our 6-passenger plane was ready. It was just us and the pilot. The scenery was really great and we flew right over Couples. When we got to the airstrip they called a taxi so we waited a few minutes. The ride to Couples was about 10-15 minutes, but we were there by about noon. Not too bad!
Of course our room was not ready, but we knew our way around and told them we would come back in a little while to check. The buffet restaurant opened at 12:30 so we had a drink and walked around until it opened. We ate lunch and came back to check on our room at about 2:30 PM. It was ready so we collected our bags and they showed us to our room. We were also presented with flowers, tee shirts and coupons for 2 massages. Our room was 458 which was at the far end of the resort but still facing the ocean. I was not real happy with the room as I had requested one of the remodeled rooms, but we decided it would be very quiet at the end of the property and it would be a good thing to have to walk a little bit and burn off some of the calories we planned on consuming. In hindsight I could have asked for a different room or said we would wait until later in the day and they may have accommodated us, we arent used to complaining, so we let it go. There are so few things that we had to complain about on this trip, that it really didnt make that much difference. We unpacked and settled in.
We took a short nap as we had been up at 3 AM and decided to visit the exercise room. I had recently lost 30 lbs. and we were used to working out every day. We decided that we were going to pretty much eat and drink what we wanted, but we were going to continue to work out. We went to the orientation, mainly to see if there were any knew things or changes and to get to meet some of the couples that arrived that day. There were a few changes, but many things were the same. We returned to our room to find a bottle of champagne and chocolates. By now we were feeling pretty spoiled. We ate at the Verandah restaurant that evening. There was music on the beach that night after the regular entertainment. It was quiet loud, as we could hear it all the way to our room. That was the only night we heard anything. We were in bed pretty early, as it had been a long day.
On Saturday we awoke to a beautiful day. We went down to breakfast and sat on the beach trying to unwind. I checked with the spa to see if I could get an hour massage, instead of both of us getting hour massages. They had no problem with that, so I arranged one for that afternoon. Winsome did my massage, and she did a great job. We went to the duty free shop and made a couple purchases. The guy was willing to bargain on jewelry. We noticed that there were many weddings that day. That evening was the pool side buffet. It was very pretty with many tables of food such as a salad table with sushi & shrimp, enchiladas, stir-fry, breads, desserts and also a main buffet. There were ice carvings and bread carvings. There was entertainment which started around 7 PM. One change we noticed was they had many more entertainers, sometimes 2 or 3 a night rather than just one show after the house band played for dinner. We never did make it to the AJ Brown show that night.
On Sunday it was not a windy, but still very nice. The wind that week was nice, as I didnt get hot at all. We got room service that morning, which arrived right on time. We had arranged to be driven to church for 10:30 mass. Chef brought us to church and picked us up afterwards and also drove through Fern Gully for $25. We had brought some things for the elementary school he and his wife sponsor. They are happy to get any donations for their school. That afternoon we were able to take the Hobie cat out for a ride. It was windier than last time, but once Dale got the hang of it, we were able to go for a pretty long ride. We were able to check our e-mail at the Internet room, we didnt usually have to wait too long, but there was usually someone waiting after a few minutes, so we didnt spend long periods of time on it. We ate at the Bayside restaurant that evening. When we were leaving we noticed it had started to rain, but it didnt interfere with anything.
Dale signed up to go diving on Monday morning, but the dive was cancelled. He talked to the Divemaster and he said there was not much diving or snorkeling going on for the past several weeks because of the wind. He explained that the seas were very choppy, especially where they go for diving. I went with Paul on a nature walk that morning. There was just one our lady and myself. He took us around the gardens, and across the street and pointed out many interesting flowers, plants and trees. I would not have noticed some of these had he not showed them to me. After that I went to tie-dying class with Dawn. I brought three tee shirts with to tie-dye. It took me quite a while even with help, but it was fun and made a good souvenir. The arts and crafts place also had hat making, basket making, and woodcarving scheduled at different times during the week. We made hats one other time, so I didnt make them again, but I saw someone elses and they were really cute. While I was at the craft area, Dale said they were giving away Margaritas and coupons to go to Margaritaville in Ocho Rios that evening. They would drive you over there at 11 PM and bring you back about 1 AM. Knowing that we werent even able to stay up past 10:30 yet, we decided to pass on that. We did notice that there were more younger couples, in their twenties, during this stay than any of our 4 previous stays at couples. Many were on their honeymoon. That afternoon we went on a horseback riding trip at Prospect Plantation. We had been to this plantation during a previous trip, but the horseback riding was done at Couples. They have combined the two trips into one. The trip is offered every day except Sunday in the morning and afternoon. There was only one other couple with us. They stopped a couple times to take pictures and we watched the guy climb a tree. Someone videotaped the ride and they tried to sell you the video and pictures. On Monday evening they have a Managers cocktail party which is now set up on the pier. It was very pretty with fancy drinks and snacks. They were setting up the beach for the beach party, but we were attending the repeat visitors dinner at Le Gormet. We listened to the steel drum band for a while and then went to the piano bar at 7:30 for drinks, and then went to the restaurant. Each table had about 3 couples and a manager. It was nice to meet a few more couples. We had our choice of chicken or fish. They gave each couple a small bag with jerk seasoning, rum, and coffee.
On Tuesday we had more rain than any day during our stay. This was the day we decided to hire Chef to take us to Port Antonio. We had never been there and had heard it was beautiful and lush. Since we had been to Dunns River Falls and to Ocho Rios several times, it was something different. We would not advise renting and car and driving, the roads are bad and many people drive like maniacs. Chef picked us up promptly at 9 AM. It was a 2- hour drive to Port Antonio so it was going to be a full day. We ordered the continental breakfast from room service again, to try to save a little time. We wore our swimsuits under our clothes as Chef suggested. We brought our snorkels, fins, and masks with along with other necessities. On the way Chef pointed out the Galina Basic School, the school they supported. It is amazing how different their schools are from ours. They had 260 students in one small building, with each teacher in charge of about 35 students. Chef told us that some schools had morning and afternoon shifts because of the over crowding. The ride was very interesting; we saw banana, coconut, and other fruit trees. The road seemed to get worse, the farther we went. It was also raining off and on. We stopped at the Blue Lagoon, which was quite beautiful. Dale went snorkeling; I took some pictures and had a drink at the small restaurant. There we nice changing rooms and restrooms. There was a small admission fee to this area. Next we went to Boston Beach which is the birthplace of jerk. We ordered some chicken, and chicken sausage. They also gave us corn bread and yams. The food was wonderful. There was a small bar there too. We bought beer, ting, and tried some soursop juice. I bought a bottle to bring back. Next we went to the Rio Grande to go rafting. When we got there the river was very high and running fast. It was still raining a little, but they gave us an umbrella to use. The guy told us that the river was very fast that day and that it is usually clear and slow. As we went down he also told us that others told him not to go as the river was too fast and some rafts had tipped over, he didnt tell us this until we were already on our way! It stopped raining and although the trip was very fast, I didn't feel like we were going to tip over at any time. The trip only lasted a little over an hour and I guess it usually takes 2-2 hours and although we did enjoy it, we did not get the usual trip and it probably would be more fun in nice weather and a slower river. After that we headed back to Couples. We stopped at a small roadside bar for a drink at Port Maria. We got back to Couples at about 6 PM. Everywhere we went people were very nice to us, although we felt that we were probably over charged for the food. Chef charged us $180 for the day trip, which was the original quote. I would definitely recommend Chef; it was interesting to talk with him about Jamaica. He actually lived in England for many years and was very easy to understand. After showering we decided to eat at the buffet restaurant that evening. They had casino night that night. Everyone got $200 of play money to use for gambling. We lost ours fairly soon. We listened to the band and danced for awhile that evening.
Wednesday was our 31st anniversary and we really didnt have much planned. Dale checked on diving again, and the dives and snorkeling were canceled again for the day due to the wind. It was a beautiful day and we found the 2-person hot tubs and sat in one for awhile. We also found the basket chairs and sat on the beach for awhile. Other than hitting the gym, we relaxed most of the day. We had made reservations for the Gourmet restaurant for 7:30. Courtney took care of us and we enjoyed our dinner. We listened to the entertainment for awhile, but could not stay up for the piano bar. It was a wonderful anniversary, and even though we did next to nothing, we really enjoyed it.
Thursday the dive boat finally went out, so Dale was able to dive once this week. I scheduled a body wrap with my spa certificate and it was wonderful. It took about 75 minutes, I had Clover, and she was also great. That afternoon we went to the craft market across the street on the shopping trip with one of the Couples employees. She really just brought us over and told us to come back when we were ready. The coffee was about half of the price of what they were charging in the gift shop. Of course, you need to bargain, but they didnt seem as pushy as I have seen in the past. We signed up for the catamaran booze cruise for 3 PM. We picked up our tickets at 3 PM at the water sports area and then went to the lobby where they bused us to the Silver Seas Hotel in Ocho Rios. We got on the catamaran there. The water was much calmer today. We were happy we didnt go on Tuesday, as the water was choppy and many people were sick. They offered rum punch, punch and water and played music. They took us around the port of Ocho Rios and pointed out some of the hotels and the cruise ship dock. They stopped for about 15 minutes and several people went swimming. This was different than the past two times we were at COR. Those times we went from the resort and we played games and danced on the boat. We took the bus back to Couples and decided to eat at the Verandah restaurant again. We prefer sit down restaurants to the buffet. After dinner we headed to the piano bar as one of the couples we met Monday night said they were going there. They introduced us to several other couples. A guest named Scott started playing the piano, as it wasnt time for the regular player to start. Scott did a great job, he must be an entertainer, and we had a great time. We actually managed to stay up until 11:30 PM.
Friday was our check out day; we had to be out of our room at 12 Noon. We ate breakfast, exercised, and packed, then checked out. Our bus did not leave until 3:15 so we had some time to kill. We looked at our pictures taken during the week and decided to purchase one taken Wednesday night for $15. I completed the guest questionnaire and we ate lunch. We left on time with only one other couple from England in the van. The trip took over 2 hours, we ran into some rain again. We were able to use some of the new road, but we also saw two accidents. When we got to the airport at about 5:30 there were hardly any lines at all at the Air Jamaica terminal. What a change from leaving during the afternoon! We had plenty of time to buy some rum and a few other things. Our plane left on time at 7:15 PM.
WEATHER
Of the 6 times we have been to Jamaica, 4 of them were in May which is the rainy season. The forecast sounded terrible, chance of rain every day, but that is typical of Jamaica. Actually, the weather was good for the most part. Others said it rained much more the week before we were there. Other than Tuesday it rained a couple evenings and on the way back to the airport. Some days were cloudy, but there was plenty of sun.
FOOD & DRINK
We enjoyed the food. The poolside buffet was particularly great with so many choices. Le Gormet was fabulous, no lobster as it was not in season, which we knew. The desserts are to die for. I tried several different drinks, many were similar. The wine at Le Gormet was definitely better than the other restaurants.
WATER SPORTS
It was much windier than we had ever seen before which put a damper on some of the water sports activities. We only took a Hobie cat out one time and many things were cancelled. This is the first time we didnt go on a snorkeling trip. It forced us to relax a little more.
BEACH & POOL
The beach and pool are much nicer at Couples Negril. We are not really pool people, so we didnt even use it. There were plenty of floaties and we could always find a place to sit on the beach. Sometimes there wasnt a real lot of room in the shade, but we could always find a place. There was someone taking drink orders on most days.
FITNESS ROOM
We used this room every day. There were steppers, treadmills, and exercise bikes and weight machines. We kept up our home routine so I didnt worry as much about all the food I was eating. It was especially nice to go for a swim after exercising.
MISC.
We pretty much knew what to expect since this was our third visit. There were a few changes. We noticed that the hot tub by the beach gazebo has been removed. I have never noticed this before but just about every evening I noticed lots of people filling their plates at the buffet and hauling them back to their room. As usual the staff were very friendly and would always acknowledge us as we passed. We had one of the best vacations ever and plan to return again sometime. It might be nice to try CSA next.
Bonnie and Dale