This year’s report should be shorter than in the past. We didn’t do as many activities as in prior years.

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Travel to Jamaica was mostly uneventful other than a same delay on US Air leaving Philadelphia. Arrived in Jamaica. We breezed through immigration but after getting our luggage the lines at customers were longer than I had ever encounter there before. It was very warm and some of the people were getting quite agitated. We just stood in line and waited our turn and got through in about half and hour. We made our way to the Couples desk and in about 15 minutes we were taken to a bus. I must say the staff at the airport should check the paperwork you fill out. They didn’t even look at to see that we were returning guests. I don’t mind the bus ride, so no big deal.

The road to Ocho Rios is under construction, which makes the ride take a bit longer. We had a wonderful driver this year. He was more cautious than most. There were 7 couples heading to the resort. Some of them didn’t have a chance to get any Red Strip at the airport, so the driver stopped at a gas station and bought the bus 2 six packs for the trip. He happens to have a refrigerator on the bus so they could be kept cold.

Arriving at the resort we were met with towels and Champaign. I spotted Ava one of our friends on the staff in guest serves. We chatted for awhile and finished the paperwork. Our friend Mcgiver stopped by and shortly after that the new management staff Mr. Stephens and Mr. Henry pasted by and introduced themselves. Then it was off to our room. By now it was almost 6pm.

We were given room 411 a mountain view penthouse. This was the same you used in an episode of "A Wedding Story" on TLC. In the past we had always had an ocean view room, but this was after all an upgrade. The room was beautiful. It had a view of the front gardens and the mountains. The room had a Jacuzzi tub and a separate shower. Being a suite it also had a minibar.

We checked out the room. I have to say I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t have the towels in the shape of two swans on our bed. In the past your beach towels were done this way. Now you have to go to water-sports to get even your first set of towels. Afterwards we headed down to the main bar. We were suppose to meet Jane from the message boards there at 7. We got to the bar and ran into another couple Meghan & Steve from the bus ride. We were all starving so we headed for dinner at Calabash. (Jane did catch up with us the next day on the beach). During dinner several of our friends on the staff stopped by and said hello. We chatted over dinner. Then we showed them where the piano bar was. We watched a little bit of the show and then headed to bed.

Day 2

Woke up the next morning to wind and rain. You could hear the awing over our balcony flapping. We had put out the breakfast room service card the night before and breakfast was promptly delivered at 8 o’clock. We ate breakfast on the balcony. The rain stopped and the sky started to clear but it was still windy. We decided to change into our swimwear and head to the patio to grab some more coffee.

While we were drinking our coffee Gary Stephens past our table. We said hello and he joined us for a little while. We talked about the resort and the things they would like to do in the future. He’s working hard to make sure the resort keeps getting better.

Afterwards we headed for the beach. The wind was still quite strong so water sports was closed and so was the island. The island people seemed to spend their time on the pier. The island was opened up in the afternoon once things had calmed down. We got to chat with Delroy one of our favorite staffers from the beach crew. He’s been there on all our visits and always makes us feel at home.

We decided to have lunch at the patio. Afterwards we went and checked email followed by a quick stop at the gift shop to buy postcards for the folks back home. Then more beach time before heading back to the room to shower and change for dinner at the Bayside. After dinner we watched the talent show. So few people were willing to participate that the talent was all staff and the house band Heat.

Day 3

Again this morning it was windy and drizzling. We opted today to do the buffet for breakfast on the patio. There are so many choices of what to eat. There is everything from cereal and baked good to made to order omelets and smoothies. I found again that I truly love papaya. I think I ate it at almost every meal where it was available.

After breakfast Joe headed for dive class. He again took the resort course so he could go diving. Since all water sports had been cancelled the day before they weren’t sure when they would be able to do an actual dive.

I will say the weather was not the way it usually is in March. But even so since it wasn’t raining I headed for the beach to read and watch the waves. Being by the water is so relaxing to me.

We lunched at the buffet and then spent the afternoon chatting with the staff and just hanging out.

That night (Saturday) was the "gala pool buffet". They set up tables all around the pool. They also have food stations set up serving all sorts of wonderful things to try. This year we found a table for 2 over by the squash court. Sometimes you do have to sit with another couple during this dinner. There are musicians playing soft music while you dine. By the way the only restaurant open on Saturday night is Le Gourmet.

On Saturday night besides the house band they typically have extra entertainment. Tonight they had A.J. Brown. We had seen him the year before and really enjoyed his performance. We managed to get a table up front and we really enjoyed the show. A.J. does one song that is called the Big Bamboo, which is hysterical.

Day 4

When we got up we discovered the phone in our room wasn’t working. We had a situation back home that required us to have a phone. We went down to the front desk and notified them. They said it would be taken care of.

Today was another day to just hang out. We chatted with D&S who we had met on the bus ride to the resort. This was there last day. As it turned out they had had reservations at Le Gourmet for the night before, but after seeing the pool buffet they opted to eat there. Joe and I had reservation at Le Gourmet for that night. I went to guest services to see if we could change our reservation to a table for four instead of two. They said no problem so we invited them to dine with us. We thought it would be a shame for them to miss the experience.

In the afternoon we strolled around the resort. We watched some of the bingo game being played on the patio. After that we went to the game room and played a game or two of billiards. While there someone won at the slot machines.

We stopped back at the desk to check the status of the phone in our room. We were told they hadn’t been able to fix it, so they would switch us to another room. They moved us across the hall from where we were to an ocean view room. Since my preference is an ocean view this was no problem.

Once we were resettled we headed downstairs to check our home email. While doing this a gentleman passing the computer room asked if we were Joe & Lynn. It turned out we had corresponded on the Internet after he found my web site. His daughter in part had chosen the resort from my info. She was getting married there. We got to meet the bride & groom as well as both sets of parents.

Tonight was the night I took some great pictures of the full moon on our way to dinner.

Day 5

Today was the day Joe finally got to go scuba diving. I had prepared my digital camera in its waterproof case the night before so he could take it with him on the dive. So you know a few of the pictures were also taken with a disposable waterproof camera.

He was diving today with Fruity & Wayne. Two of the people he had met at the dive Class Rene & Tom were also on the dive. They had a great time and got to see some interesting coral and sea life.

While Joe was diving I decide to try some arts & crafts. Somehow I hadn’t done this on any of our past trips to the resort. I knew there was a tie-dying class available so I had brought 2 white shirts with me on the trip, just for that reason. Besides I wanted to take some pictures of this type of activity for this web site. So you know they also have classes in basket weaving, hat making and bamboo carving.

Dawn is the instructor for this class. If you don’t have your own shirt to dye she can sell you one at a very reasonable price. I had a wonderful time making my shirt. This wasn’t tie-dying as I had known it as a child. The tying was the same but instead of dyes we used fabric paints. I found it much easier and not nearly as messy or as many stages to doing it. Dawn and her assistant Collin were wonderful and very patient with everyone. I even had a chance to do some painting on my shirt after it dried overnight.

Joe came back from his dive and we went to lunch. While there I got a chance to chat briefly with Devon the head of water sports and Leonard Henry the operations manager of the resort.

We hung out on the beach for awhile that afternoon. Then we went with a group over to the craft market located across the street by the tennis courts. The vendors have a wide variety of merchandise for sale. You can even have some of the items personalized.

Monday night is the night of the managers’ welcome party, the returning guests’ dinner as well as the beach party. We ended up going to the returning guests’ dinner at the urging of Ava in guest services. The food was wonderful. The staff member at our table turned out to be Sunny. He’s one of the Couples sales manager and he is located in New Jersey.

Day 6

We did the breakfast buffet again. There are just so many choices of what to eat.

After breakfast we went on the nature walking tour of the grounds. Paul did an excellent job of identifying the different plants. The tour is done at 8:30 most mornings.

Joe managed to get in on a dive that afternoon so I opted to tie-dye another shirt under the careful guidance of Dawn. She and her nephew also helped me to paint a palm tree on the first shirt I had worked on, now that it had dried.

Later we went and arranged to have a couples massage for the next morning. Of course we then just relaxed on the beach. That’s my favorite thing to do at the resort. I never tire of watching the ocean waves. So you know, there were some broken lounge chairs on the beach. Just watch which one you choose. The vast majority are fine.

Day 7

Our last full day. I got up early, made some coffee in the room and watched the sunrise over the ocean. What a beautiful sight! Breakfast was delivered at the requested time. Joe and I just enjoyed the scenery from the balcony until it was time for our massages.

We headed down to the spa and were greeted by Pamela. We filled in a short form and then shown to the massage room. The masseuses came in after we disrobed and gave us each a wonderful massage with vanilla scented oils. It was so relaxing I didn’t want to move.

We lunched at the Patio again and then went into town with one of our friends to do some shopping. I had been told the best prices for coffee were at one of the supermarkets in Ocho Rios. We stocked up on Blue Mountain coffee and Rum Crème. That way we’d be able to take a small piece of Jamaica home with us until we could come back.

Back at the resort we decided to take a romantic walk around the ground. We wandered over to the aviary to check out the birds. We spent some time in the basket swing in the jungle area. We just wanted to savor this time together.

We had made reservation for the bayside that night. Ava from guest services agreed to join us for dinner. The food was wonderful. The atmosphere of sitting out over the water is so lovely. I hated to think we had to leave the next day.

Day 8

Today is very sad. We are leaving. We’d arranged to fly back to Montego Bay but the weather was windy and rainy. I don’t do well flying in stormy weather, so we changed our plans to take the bus back to the airport.

We packed and put our bags outside the room. We went around and said our goodbye to the staff. At Couples they say, once you’ve been there you are part of the "Couples Family" and I have to say it’s true. We did feel like we were leaving our family behind. But no problem mon, we’ll be back. I can hardly wait to return to our home away from home.

If you have any questions feel free to email me.

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