Sandals Grande Riviera - Ocho Rios, Jamaica?

Andama08

This is currently our first choice for our honeymoon. Any reviews or recommendations???

dazyabbey

Hahaha. I just went on a rant about Sandals like 2-3 posts down.

You know there are hundreds of resorts that are just as nice as Sandals, if not nicer. And they are usually much cheaper. Sandals just advertises much more and ends up giving a higher commission to Travel Agents so they usually get more business.

Is there a reason you chose Sandals- Ocho Rios?

Andama08

My FI researched and that's one of our options. I also figured for our first time traveling outside of the country together I want it to be a positive experience and Sandals is definitely a trusted resort.

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_sandals-grande-riviera-ocho-rios-jamaica?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:c65db9e0-3dd9-49b6-a951-10734d3b8870Post:237e943b-19be-4c6f-a927-59d28a768b01">Re: Sandals Grande Riviera - Ocho Rios, Jamaica?</a>:
[QUOTE]Hahaha. I just went on a rant about Sandals like 2-3 posts down. You know there are hundreds of resorts that are just as nice as Sandals, if not nicer. And they are usually much cheaper. Sandals just advertises much more and ends up giving a higher commission to Travel Agents so they usually get more business. Is there a reason you chose Sandals- Ocho Rios?
Posted by dazyabbey[/QUOTE]

dazyabbey

Yeah, if it is your first trip outside of the US I would not go to Jamaica then.

&&mrsgreen2b

Why not Jamaica? What is your reasoning for saying not to go there if you're a first timer?

We are considering Grande Riviera as well for our honeymoon and have also never been out of the country before. 

Do you have any suggestions that are "just as nice if not nicer" and also less expensive like you say? Sandals may be kind of cheesy but it does seem really nice. I want to be as pampered as I can on my honeymoon!

Knottie37373131

I am getting married at Sandals 5/15/15, we are staying for seven nights. It will be fiances second time out of the U.S. and my first time. This is the first time I have seen somebody say not to go to Jamaica their first time out of the U.S. I am interested as to why. I think we are planning on staying at the resort the whole time.

dolewhipper

Get ready for a 2 hour drive from the airport to Ocho Rios on a rickety road, paved with poverty stricken areas. My FI works for a company that partners with Sandals and I can tell you from his experience, he'd rather us go to a Secrets resort if we were to do an AI. If you are very picky about your food and don't want your HM to resemble anything to where you are staying (other than a tropical island), stay at Sandals. Americanized food, service, and tacky steel drum bands playing "One Love" every 15 minutes is what he told me Beaches/Sandals Ocho Rios was like. (FTR, he was there last week.)

teetee143xo

&&mrsgreen2b said:

Why not Jamaica? What is your reasoning for saying not to go there if you're a first timer?

We are considering Grande Riviera as well for our honeymoon and have also never been out of the country before. 

Do you have any suggestions that are "just as nice if not nicer" and also less expensive like you say? Sandals may be kind of cheesy but it does seem really nice. I want to be as pampered as I can on my honeymoon!

I'm staying at a Sandals resort as well (St. Lucia) for the same reason as you are - people know the name and I can trust it. As a first timer, that's what I'm going by because I'd hate to be disappointed!

While I don't have my own personal experience, I did have two different friends tell me to steer clear of Jamaica. One who went there one her HM last year (I don't think she stayed at a Sandals resort) and one who frequently travels around the world (she was extremely adamant about this which ultimately led me to my decision to not go there). Honestly, I'm sure Jamaica is just fine, you'll probably have a great time, and I do still want to go there some day definitely, but just after the warnings, I decided that for my HM, I was going to go somewhere else. 

CrazyCatBride

I was just in Ocho Rios this past summer, but I stayed at Jewel. It was amazing and less $$ than Sandals.