Jamaica 2009

We boarded Air Canada for a direct flight to Montego Bay on the morning of Tuesday, December 29th. It had been cold and foggy the day before, and flights had been delayed or even cancelled in the days after Christmas. Instead of driving to the airport in the wee hours of the morning, we decided to stay at a hotel the night before. There was a car park across the road which was handy. The next morning at 6 AM we took the hotel shuttle to the airport. It's busy in the morning and there was a long wait to get through security that day.

We arrived in Montego Bay about 4 PM. A long walk from the plane and a longer wait to get through customs. Air Canada had given us only one form per couple, when Jamaica customs required one per person. This meant a delay to find another form and get it filled out. In the meantime the line had grown.  We were almost the last ones to get through. Our luggage was waiting for us by then. We continued on until we came to someone holding a sign that said "AC Vacations". They directed us to another person with a list of names. Thankfully our names were on it. We were then taken to our bus. The sun goes down early in Jamaica, so our 90 minute bus ride to our resort at Ocho Rios was in darkness.

Arriving at Sunset Jamaica Grande Resort we were offered a glass of juice and a form to fill out while waiting in another line up to check in.  It was 10 PM local time when we got to our room #521 in the South Tower. To enter the room we had to hold the card key just so or it wouldn't open. The room smelled musty and bathroom seemed a little old.. but then we were tired we'd had a long day. And we were hungry, we'd not had real food since breakfast. With the buffet closing at 10 PM the only thing open was a grill in the north tower. It was a busy place because many of the new arrivals had not had food. So with the hunger satisfied we were off to bed.. a rest was what we needed.

The next day, the sun was shining and we felt more like exploring our new surroundings. However, first things... we had to find where breakfast was served.  The dining room was located on the lower level. It was wonderful, so many choices of food and coffee served to the table, dishes removed for you. Wow, this is great! We continued to enjoy all the meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner. We were also allowed three a la cartes. These had to be booked in advance. We chose the Asian and Italian restaurants. Going to these meant dressing up a little, no shorts or flip-flops.

The first morning we had a introductory meeting with our Air Canada representative. He talked to us about things to watch out for in Jamaica and about tours available and how to book them. We booked three tours: Annandale Great House; Sun Valley Plantation & Firefly; and Ocho Rios highlights which included a duty free shopping centre, Fern Gully, Coyaba Gardens and Dunn's River Falls.

Our one week all-inclusive vacation to Jamaica also included time on the beach, at the pools, a 5-minute walk to the town of Ocho Rios, sitting in the lobby in the evening watching people arriving and leaving, shopping in the hotel store and walking around the hotel and resort. It was a most enjoyable time.