This was our first trip to Jamaica. Actually it was our first trip anywhere if you don't count me going to Hawaii when I was twenty-three. We heard of a trip being planned to Grand Lido Braco with a local radio personality and one of our Green Bay Packers. We were there from 2-7-99 through 2-14-99.
Who are we? I am 43 and my wife is 40. We have two children and this was the honeymoon we never had the time or money for until now. We live in Wisconsin and getting away in the middle of the cold, snow and wind is something most Wisconsinites need to do.
We booked in late October through Funjet Vacations at our local travel agent for a cost of $1,549.00 each. We also upgraded to an Oceanview room for an additional cost of $250.00 each.
We flew direct from Milwaukee to Montego Bay via Sun Country Airlines. Got off the plane in the bright sunshine. We were steered to the customs/immigration lines by two ladies from Funjet and Fox Valley Travel. We had to wait for about hour. Waiting for the luggage was not a fun part of the trip. I think they must have made 10 trips to the plane to unload. Since we were the one of the first ones on the plane, our luggage was sure to be the last off the plane. When we had our luggage, we were walking around the corner to the waiting area and the Grand Lido Braco people were there waiting for us. They handed us tags for our luggage with our room numbers on them, asked us to tag the luggage and put it in a specific area and out the door we were led. The young lady took us directly to a waiting bus and they had a cooler waiting with beer and soda. The gentleman pointed out that the DG on the Red Stripe beer meant "Damn Good" beer. I have to agree with him, cause it went down well. We left the airport and traveled a very narrow, bumpy highway for the hour long trip to GLB. We stopped about halfway there at the "Last Chance" roadstop. It had beer and most important a couple of bathrooms. Reminder, the toilets are not very clean and do not flush, but better than nothing. Soon we were at the main entrance.
We were greeted when we arrived and offered Champagne and Rum Punch. They took us to the main building and we picked up our key and safe deposit key and gave them a charge card for any additional room charges (i.e. phone calls, etc.) You could also make reservations at the two restaurants that they are required at, the French and the Japanese. We were told that our luggage would be delivered directly to the door of our room, Not to worry. I am glad we packed warm weather clothes in our carry-on. We went to the room, changed and headed for a tour of the place.
We had room 222 with an Oceanview. The room had a King Size bed. Large bathroom with hair dryer and a shampoo/soap/lotion dispenser.. We had a beautiful porch with tow chairs and a table. The view was nice, but there were a few trees in our way. There is a 2 drawer dresser built into the TV Cabinet, and a large closet with an ironing board. There was a sitting chair, Satellite TV, and room-safe. The safe is 12 x 8 x 6, so it could easily hold wallet, purse, documents, camera, etc.
FEBRUARY 7, 1999
We went to the 6:30 orientation get together. It was buggy and dark and we really could not see what we were eating. We were introduced to the social directors, and to our representatives from the travel places. We decided to try out one of the restaurants. We went to La Pasta. The smell was terrific. We just sat down and within a minute we had a waiter who welcomed us and put our napkins on our laps. We both ordered spaghetti and wine. The food came quickly and was plenty. We went to the Victoria's Market and sat at a table and listened to the entertainment. With getting up at 4:30am to get to Milwaukee and the long flight we were beat and went to bed.
FEBRUARY 8, 1999 We woke up around 7:30, showered and went to see the Radio Show. You see the 170 of us Wisconsin people were on a trip with Murphy in the Morning from WIXX in Green Bay, Wisconsin and Adam Timmerman from the Green Bay Packers. They broadcast live each day from in front of the piano bar. We got to scream, hoot and holler at the people in frigid Wisconsin. They were on from 7-9 each morning. We left to have breakfast at Victoria's Market. They offer a buffet as well as three cooks behind a counter that would make you eggs any way you like, pancakes, etc. The scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage were great tasting. You could also have fruits, breads, cereal, etc. Just get your food and sit down anywhere. After you sit, there are at least two people coming to your table. One person was offering juice, one for coffee. We decided to spend the day at the beach. We had both been tanning the last month, so we figured we were protected. WRONG. At least for me it was, I got sun burned badly on my chest, head and shoulders. I should have known better, but, We tanned right?? After finding a place on the beach, I went over to the sports shack and got two large towels and we took two recliners to lay on. The water was great and we had a light breeze. There always seemed to be a girl coming down the beach offering drinks for us. Now this is the life. No having to get up for anything or anybody. Heck it took me two days to get used to having to do nothing. We decided to go for lunch around noon again to Victoria's Market. Again a large lunch buffet was served. We decided to get better aquatinted with the resort. We walked along the beach all the way from the Beach bar on the west to the au-natural limit on the east. We stopped and turned around. Didn't want to be called gawkers. There was a very nice workout room with stationary bikes, free weights and walkers. We visited quite a few of the shops. Of course they threw me a bit. A bikini for $1700.00, then I realized it was priced in Jamaican dollars. The exchange was $36 Jamaican for $1 American. We looked at all the beautiful flowering trees, banana trees, coconut trees and rubber trees. There was a cactus garden and we ended up back at the beach bar, imagine that!! We went to supper at Victoria's Market. Looks like they change the menu every night. We never had a bad meal the whole time we were there. After supper, there was entertainment. The lady who performed had a fantastic voice. There isn't too many supper clubs with entertainment where we are from. The social directors were there all dressed up and asking people to dance. These people are the greatest. They are just about as personable and courteous as can be. I really believe they love their jobs. The entertainment ended around 10:30pm and the people headed to the disco or the piano bar. We headed to the piano bar got a drink and headed for our room.
FEBRUARY 9, 1999
We woke up around 8:30, showered and went to see the Radio Show. Adam Timmerman and Murphy were signing autographs for people. We got a few autographs and got our pictures taken twice with both of them. We headed for breakfast at Victoria's Market. After breakfast, we decided to stay around the pool and out of direct sunlight. We met a couple from around our area in Wisconsin and met quite a few people that are from the area I work in. For lunch we went to Nanny's Jerk Pit. This is pork, hamburgers and chicken cooked over an open flame to well done and served with a sauce that is quite sharp (HOT!!) My wife even tried it, and she dislikes spicy food. After lunch we headed for the beach. They arranged for a beach Olympics for our group. Murphy -Vs- Timmerman teams. They had a blast passing a tennis ball chin to chin and hopping in the sand with a balloon between your legs, etc. We saw a couple coming back from snorkeling and asked how it was. They were very nice and we seemed to get along great. So great in fact that most of the rest of our trip we ate evening meals with them and even went to Dunns' River Falls and shopping with them. We had a private mixology class at the beach bar put on for our group. This was to show us how the special drinks are made. Renard and Paul the Social Directors along with the bartenders had us drinking and choosing our words carefully. Otherwise it was a five star for you. A five star consisted of ounce of five different liqueurs chosen randomly. One had scotch, sweet vermouth, dramboui, rum and brandy. One guy got in trouble so much he decided to head down the beach, one step forward, three steps backward. We also signed up for the Dunn's River Falls and shopping trip the next day. The cost was $55.00/person. This included the falls trip and shopping at two places in Ocho Rios. We decided to meet with Tim and Gaye for a few drinks at the piano bar and then decided to have supper at La Pasta. We each ordered a pizza exactly the way we wanted it. It was excellent tasting. The waiter we had was young and not very busy so he spent a lot of time answering our questions and asking about our Frigid State. After dinner, we went again to Victoria's and sat down at the table and enjoyed the gentleman singing. We stayed until about 11:00 and headed for the room.
FEBRUARY 10, 1999
We watched the show and had breakfast as usual and met at 10:30 for the trip to Dunns' River Falls and Ocho Rios. Our guide was GlenRoy. There were six of us on the trip, GlenRoy and the driver. GlenRoy was taking video from the time we left until we got back. We stopped at an outdoor museum for a few minutes. The we continued our drive along the very narrow road. We stopped at a store in Ocho Rios that GlenRoy gave us discount tickets for. We purchased quite a few t-shirts and shirts. They accepted American dollars and amazing enough gave back change in American also. We stopped at the local flea market next door and my wife had a blast bartering for price for bracelets and necklaces. We went to lunch at a place GlenRoy suggested and had a cheese burger. Then it was on to the falls. I really wasn't too sure I wanted to go, but it was a great time. The guide takes you down to the bottom of the falls and collects you cameras so they can take pictures of you as you climb the falls. It takes about 45 minutes to get up the falls. You need to wear aqua socks or you can rent them for $5 American. All the while you are climbing, GlenRoy is taking video. At the top of the falls you are asked by him if you want a copy of the tape. The cost was $40 American and well worth the cost. The tape was ready the next day and he even added Jamaican music to it. It was a great momento of our trip. We returned around 4:30. We went to our rooms and got changed. Reminder to all who go on this trip: wear swimsuits and grad a towel before you go. It was raining that day and a trip to the falls was perfect. You are going to get wet anyway, so a day there is great. We met the other couple for supper. We ate at Victoria's Market again. Again, they changed the menu. We stuck around for the Talent night. Quite a few of the Wisconsin people sang songs and the Social Directors also performed. The two Social Directors, Paul and Renard, dressed up as the pointer sisters and they were great. That night they also had the "Dare to be Bare" pajama party at the disco. My wife and I went back to the room and put on our idea of pajamas. We got to the disco and there were people all around the place staring at what people were wearing. This of course made my wife uncomfortable, but we went in anyway. They stopped us at the door to take a picture of the two of us, which you can purchase the next day for $8 American. We went inside and I got us a drink. The disco is dark and very loud. There were skimpy pajamas and one lady with bottoms and no top. There were various stages of dress. We stayed for an hour or so, but the noise drove us out of there. We left and headed back to the room and watched a movie.
FEBRUARY 11, 1999
We got up and had a light breakfast of fruit and went to watch the radio show again. Both gentlemen were signing autographs again. We also found out the Adam Timmerman and his wife had to leave that day. He was not being resigned as a Packer so he had to go to other football teams for interviewing. He settled with the St. Louis Rams for a 5 year deal worth $19 million dollars. We started the morning at the pool. My wife was doing the water aerobics and I was enjoying drinks watching. After the water aerobics, the name of the game was pool volleyball. Paul asked me to join in so both of us played. We had a great time. We had also signed up to go out on the glass bottom boat and do some snorkeling. This was a great time. We were in about 30-40 foot of beautiful blue ocean. It was a trip I wish we would have done more often. Snorkeling in the little swimming bays is fun too. We saw a small manta ray, puffer fish, angelfish, red sea cucumber and a yellow and brown spotted snake, as well as the usual small colored fish. After our trip we stayed by the pool for the rest of the afternoon. We had lunch at Nanny's Jerk Pit. We decided to try they're Jerk hamburger. It was good, but spicy. The Jerk Sauce was put directly on the burger, instead of off to the side as with the chicken we had there previously. My wife went and had her free manicure and I bummed around for an hour. We went to the beach and laid around for the rest of the afternoon. Adam tried to Windsurf, but he is a bit large for the board he had. He kept falling face first into the water. They told him to come back later and use a larger board, but he was on his way home, so no time to do that. That evening they had their Beach Party. They moved all the tables and stages out to the beach. I figure it took them about 4 hours just to get everything out there. The meal was a buffet with mounds of shrimp, beef, breads and delicious deserts. Then they had people performing native Jamaican dances, a limbo performer, a fire eater, etc. It was great. We spent the whole evening out on the beach.
FEBRUARY 12, 1999
We just stayed put all day switching from the beach to the pool and back. We did another walk around the resort and went shopping in a few of the other shops in the village. We looked at the duty free shop. They only had jewelry in there. We had a light lunch and went to the hot tub. There we met a few people from Wisconsin. One of them actually was a neighbor of one of the people I work with. Friday night was their Street Dance Party. The again brought out all the table our to the square and served hundreds of foods from sushi to lobster on the grill. It was a fantastic meal. We danced for about an hour. They served food from about 7:00 to 11:00. We went to the piano bar and then took a stroll along the beach.
FEBRUARY 13, 1999
Our last real day. We spent the day taking pictures of the whole resort from every possible angle, went snorkeling at the beach and laid out in the sun. They finally set up a beer bar poolside. The Wisconsin people had run the place dry of Miller Lite beer and they had 27 cases delivered that day. There were about 20 couples laying on their float in the pool and the bartender of the beer bar was tossing out the beer to them. We went in the pool for awhile and ended up at the swim up bar. We both had a drink and then headed for the room to change. We stopped at the front office and checked out. This was suggested to elimate waiting in line the next morning. You then just turn in you keys the next morning before you leave and after you have packed. I had made 8:30 reservations for the four of us to eat at the Japanese restaurant "Manna Hauna, the Tepanyaki Japanese Restaurant was very nice The service was good, the food tasty and the show acceptable considering the fact that the cooks are Jamaican rather than Japanese. We stopped at the piano bar and had a nightcap and went to our room via the beach.
FEBRUARY 14, 1999
Sad day indeed, it was time to go back to the real world of Wisconsin Winter. We got up around 8:00 and packed up our stuff. We had all of our laundry done on Thursday and it was delivered on Saturday. After packing we went to breakfast. We then shopped around for an hour or so. Around noon we went back to our room and set our luggage outside our room. They picked up the luggage and brought it to the front of the resort. When the busses arrived, you picked up you luggage and took it to the bus of your choice. Before we left, the social directors came and gave us a hug and said their goodbyes. They were very sad to see our group leave. They said Wisconsin people know how to have fun and we did just that. We left with tears in our eyes. We stopped at the "Last Chance" again because before we left, they brought everyone one last beer or two to go. So of course we had to go. We got to the airport in plenty of time and got back by our luggage and the porter asked which bags were ours. He grabbed them loaded them and took us directly to the line for presenting our boarding passes. We were then directerd to the customs area and then finally to the waiting area. There are hundreds of duty free stores there. Smoking is permitted upstairs. If you are taking liquer, cigarettes or stuff home with you, wait and purchase it at the airport. Prices were great and you don't have to figure out where to carry it. We waited for about an hour for the call to board the plane. Four more hours we were in Milwaukee. It took another hour to get luggage, clear customs and get to our car for the hour long drive home
CONCLUSION
This was the most enjoyable trip I or my wife have ever taken. The all-inclusive is the greatest. You never really need to carry money and the people seem to waite on you hand and foot. You can do activities if you want or sit around like a bum if you want. The people who work at GLB are very special and talented. They make us want to come back again. I want to especially thank Glenroy, Denton, Charmain, Paul, Reynard, Beth and Valecia The service level by the staff was outstanding, and we thought the food service staff was outstanding. The service was flawless, and the attitude and friendliness of the staff just wonderful, without exception.