Honeymoon Discussions

Sandals vs Couples...Jamaica, St lucia....

I have been out of the US once ans it was  to Cancun....not a fun experience at all

My FI has been all over the place on cruises...

We have decided on Jamaica or St lucia at this point...but that also changes lol

Wondering what people think that have been to both sandals and couples resorts....

also what are some of your favorite Sandals locations in Jamaica or St Lucia

we are looking for romance and beach but also some nightlife as well......but still keep it all adult and couples...

Any help would be great

thanks

Deanna
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Re: Sandals vs Couples...Jamaica, St lucia....

  • frantastic12frantastic12 member
    100 Comments 5 Love Its First Anniversary
    edited May 2012

    I haven't been to either, but if you're considering Sandals and Couples, be sure to check out Secrets too. I was originally dead set on booking at Sandals, but Secrets was significantly cheaper ($700 less for a 6 night stay for the 2 of us) and newer.  We ended up booking at Secrets Wild Orchid. 

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  • polim22polim22 member
    10 Comments First Anniversary
    edited May 2012
    My fiance and I stayed at the Sandals Whitehouse in Jamaica.  It was the newest of the Sandals Resorts in Jamaica (there are several scattered on the island).  We went in January and the weather was perfect.  It was our first time to Jamaica and our first time at an "all inclusive" resort.  We had gone to Aruba the year prior and LOVED it!  The accomodations at Sandals Whitehouse were very nice and we had a great room that overlooked the beach and pool.  The food was ok - there were several restaurants to choose from (Italian, Steak, Seafood, etc).  It is definitely a plus to not have to be pulling out your wallet everywhere you go. BTW 1) you cannot, or rather SHOULD not, leave the resort - it can be dangerous (lots of crime on Jamaica) and 2) there is NO Bud Light on the entire resort.  Not sure if your fiance is partial to a specific beer - but mine is - and that was kind of a bummer for him - since basically that's the only beer he drinks.  The resort staff were wonderful, friendly, and made our trip very fun.  There were many honeymooners there too. We enjoyed ourselves and we can cross Jamaica off our list of places to visit.  Hope this helps.
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  • We just booked at Sandals LaToc in St. Lucia.  I love that you can do a stay and play so we chose the middle of the two resorts but can hit all of them for food, entertainment and activites! 
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  • My FL and I just booked La Toc in St. Lucia as well.
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    262 Invited image
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  • Sandals gets absolutely horrible reviews from what I've seen. We are going to couples swept away
  • We've been to three Sandals, Grande in SL for our Hm and again this past March, Negril Jamacia and Grande in Antigua. I have detailed reviews and pics of all in the link above my siggy pic. HTH and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.?
  • Several of my friends have gone to Sandals Grande in St. Lucia and had nothing but amazing things to say about it. We booked a Rondoval there for our HM in July.

    "Judging a person does not define who they are. It defines who you are."
  • Dh and I have been to Sandals Negril.  It was nice, as I think all Sandals resorts are.  It's a little far from the airport though, about an hour and a half bus ride.  It's a nice ride though and you stop for beer.  
  • We just got back from our honeymoon in St. Lucia. We stayed at Sandals La Toc. It was amazing. We had a honeymoon suite in the bluffs. We had our own private pool with an oceanview and butler. It was perfect. I definitely reccomend. 
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_sandals-vs-couplesjamaica-st-lucia?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:a0f28431-634e-4dc3-b941-6ea06d1fb0b2Post:646d8105-2626-4698-8c72-0600838f9d37">Re: Sandals vs Couples...Jamaica, St lucia....</a>:
    [QUOTE]We just got back from our honeymoon in St. Lucia. We stayed at Sandals La Toc. It was amazing. We had a honeymoon suite in the bluffs. We had our own private pool with an oceanview and butler. It was perfect. I definitely reccomend. 
    Posted by nicoleeichelberger[/QUOTE]

    We are going to St. Lucia La Toc in July and I am so excited!  Do you have any activity suggestions?? 
  • I went to Couples Tower Isle (which is in Ocho Rios) this year and we liked it enough to re-book for next year (even though we're saving up for our wedding.....).  What I liked about couples was that everyone had the same level of service (different levels cost a different amount at Sandals-AND from what I read on TA (TripAdvisor.com, which I highly recommend you check out!) there are certain restaurants there that you can't go to UNLESS you have their buttered room, as only the butter can make reservations).  Couples also includes some excursions (glass bottom boat tour, catamaran cruise, Dunn's River falls) in the price you pay, which was the first time I had seen that at an all-inclusive.  The food was really great and the drinks were amazing.  Not sure what they had for US beer, since red stripe is one of my favorite beers in general, so I really didn't care to drink any other beer while in Jamaica.  We also went off resort and had no problems.

    I wasn't a big fan of Cancun either, too party-cetric for me (though I liked Playa del Carmen-we actually stayed right outside of it, but could walk there).  I'm more of a lay back and relax or explore the culture type of vacationer.

    Hope this was helpful!

    Either way, I'm sure you'll have an amazing honeymoon since you'll be spending it with the person you love!
  • We HMed to couples tower isle last july and absolutely loved it we are planning to go back for our 5 year anniversary to renew our vows and I cant wait!
  • @bridetobemo-Right! *Love* CTI!  Everyone was so friendly and I thought the place was awesome.  Did you go to the Island?  My now fiance really wanted to but I'm not quite as comfortable with it as he is (and when he tried to go by himself, they told him couples only).  We did do the private island dinner though (that's where he proposed!) and thought it was really nice!

    deanna5776-sorry to hijack your post!
  • TheSlowskysTheSlowskys member
    500 Comments
    edited May 2012
    I've been to Jamaica and St. Lucia, but neither at a Couples or Sandals.  Anyways, I would hands down say I liked Jamaica better.  I am also guessing you will get more bang for your buck in Jamaica.

    The beaches in Jamaica tend to be wider, flatter white sand beaches. St. Lucia has more of the volcanic type black sand beaches.

    When we went to St. Lucia we stayed in Rodney Bay. I saw the Sandals Grand (the one further north) and it looked very nice. It is near Pigeon Island which is a decent day trip. The other Sandals are closer to Castries, which is a dump. We drove by one (the smallest) and we thought it looked kind of scuzzy from the outside.

     If there were any trips you wanted to do on the southern end of the island be aware that it is very tough getting around. Although its only 27 miles or something, a drive to the south (like Soufriere where the drive in volcano, Pitons, and sulphur springs are) will be expensive and take about an hour. If you do go to St. Lucia I liked hiking the Gros Piton, but do it toward the end of your trip b/c you will be sore. I can't think of anything else remarkable about that island besides the number of rats I saw in Rodney Bay.

    In Jamaica we stayed at a private villa in Ocho Rios as well as at Breezes Runaway Bay. There was a sandals next to our villa which looked very nice.  Dunns River Falls is a good day trip near Montego Bay (I think?). I didn't go, but my fiance has been to Ricks Cafe in Negril so if you stay there it is worth a trip.

    And I have to counter PP.... get off the resort in Jamaica. Just use your head and you will be fine.
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_sandals-vs-couplesjamaica-st-lucia?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:11Discussion:a0f28431-634e-4dc3-b941-6ea06d1fb0b2Post:f1c92427-2bff-4f6e-b92e-83728edfc1b2">Re: Sandals vs Couples...Jamaica, St lucia....</a>:
    [QUOTE]Sandals gets absolutely horrible reviews from what I've seen. We are going to couples swept away
    Posted by shelby8020[/QUOTE]

    i know! i am kind of nervous booking there but fiance has his heart set on it.
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