Hedonism II Jack and Jill June 24-July 4, 1998
This was our fifth trip and after reading many of the other trip reports, I decided to make this one sort of an "update" and not recount all of the travel details, tips, transportation info and all of that. There is plenty of that here so let me see if I cannot let y'all know what was new and or different on this last trip of ours.
First, we did NOT really see the sex police interfering with anyone unless a complaint about unwelcome advances had been made. Two of those got ugly and I will get into those later. In point of fact, from our perspective, there was much more "openess" and "exhibitionism" than we have seen previously. That's fine with us. I only mention it because some of the earlier reports noted that this had been curtailed. Not so. We saw everything, in every combination, number and technique. Both during the traditional wee hours of the morning in the hot tub and throughout the daylight hours, the level of sexual activity was high and left unmolested.
On this trip, we were rather dissapointed to see some friction between people. Never have we seen this before. On several occasions guys got into arguments over cameras and women got into arguments over whose stuff was on whose deck chair. Boy, the camera issue is an important one, but the offender sort of jumped in with a bunch of other "gawkers" peering at a group of about six people. He should not have approached, but the reaction was way out of line. In the deck chair issue, well, yes it was crowded, but as the afternoon progresses, people move about, leave their towels and get new ones and it is hard to know if someone has marked or abandoned a chair. A simple "Hey, Honey, do you mind ? I was sitting there ? See my stuff underneath ?" would suffice. A couple of these erupted into all out wars.
Twice we saw guys escorted out of the nude area by security after multiple warnings that their very physical advances were not being appreciated. Neither got the hint at first and returned. I won't go into the details of their misbehavior but you can imagine. It was blatant and noticed by all. A dozen people sought the help of security and the guys were removed. It got so bad that as one guy was being taken away the entire pool and bar started singing "nah nah, n n nah nah.. hey heya , gowud bye !" Cool actually. Well , it was until two of the SO's of the offended ladies took the guy on verbally while security was walking him out. Glasses were thrown. Good thing they are plastic.
Don't let any of this discourage you. Security handled it and handled it well. It is too bad but we didn't let it ruin OUR fun ! The overly ambitious boys never returned.
No report, newbie or veteran, would be complete without a food report. The Italian Restuarant remains, in our view, an excellent alternative to the main hall for dinner. We had no trouble making reservations at the main desk if before 9 am. It was not slow in there, the food was great and the wine much better than in the main area. The beach bar on the nude side, in our view, has improved. The bread is much less heavy, the burger meat seems of better quality and when Robert is there, it can be your best bet for dinner. Although, boy, that jerk sauce is HOTTER than I remember it from last August.
Guess what.....they were up on the roofs over the rooms all week laying new water pipe. Seems the much promised inprovements to the showers is underway. Personally, the hot/cold variations don't bother me. I just don't jack up the water spray too far and I can handle it by steping in and out.
Take a moment and look at the model of the new Hedo III that is on display in the lobby. It really looks impressive. We may delay our next trip till that is finished. It looks grand.
Room assingments; a problem always. Our agent could not book us an ocean view on the ndue side. We found out later why. Both Castaways and Lifestyles had big groups that came in a few days after us. We ended up way, way down, our window looking over the back of the dive shack. I did talk to the desk twice and gave up trying to move. But, actually, it worked out fine. My only concern is having to get dressed to get to the nude pool. You don't have to from 2210. No one really did from that end. If you walk all along the catwalk and not the asphalt you can save your feet and not carry footgear. Frankly, I ran into so many people going back and forth it was kind of fun. Conclusion: we have been in many different rooms on the nude side including the very last one on the bottom looking out over the pool. This was the worse we have been in, but, really, it just does not matter in the end.
A note on the nude cruise: we didn't make it this trip, but folks told us that on a couple of trips it was announced nude, but really was not. Others said no problem, it was fine. The difference seems to be that you need to assemble your own group to make sure the cruise goes whatever way you want it to go.
Beer...... we are not terrific imbibers of this, but for those of you in need, know that the beer tap at the new gazebo near the hot tub and the one outside of Delroy's old bar (the massage shack) are kept up and running just about all the time. This includes way late into the night. People were pouring beer still after three in the am.
Delroy's bar...... he really could have used some more help this last week. Lovell was there and a couple of the girls later (like Michelle Dove) and there were usually two in the bar. But with two big groups plus the regular crowd at times in late afternoon it was two or three deep at the pool bar. The rule was be patient, order simple stuff to make it go faster or use the beer tap.
Weather......it was overcast and hazy part of nearly every of our ten days. We found it was not a concern. It simply let you use less suntan lotion and there were still many hours we spent slipping into the shade now and then to keep from burning. Both of us got enough of a tan to have appreared to change races. It did rain about everyday, on some days quite heavily. I think this contributed in part to the haziness of the pool water although the human load was very high as well in the water. Some afternoons you could see more flesh than water !
Entertainment...........we don't spend a lot of time getting our ears blasted in the main hall or the disco. But they have some new poolside games we got a charge from. "Find your Mate" is where the ladies have to be blindfolded and then find their SO by touch in a line up. The "Dirty Joke Contest" is cool too. I won 40,000 Hedo bucks for one joke. Diva has been promoted. She is now the personal relations manager or somesuch. I did not ask for details but she did walk us to our room.
Customs, airport and misc: We got through on the way in and out with little trouble. There were lots more personnel than usual. On the way back, though, my bic lighter set of the metal detector and I had to empty my pockets and get wanded. They must really have it set to a high sensitivity level. So don't leave ANYTHING in your pockets. They were not too happy with me ! On our trip out, we could not believe the traffic. A full 12 flights came in and out between 9 and about 12:30. But all went smooth even with that traffic. Our charter back was with RENO airlines. Never heard of them. They are based in Calif with crews from San Jose. Nice flight. Good staff. They used a 2 seat/3seat McDonald Douglas that was very low to the ground. We did not even have to use the ramp. The aircraft doors had enough steps.
Toga and PJ's...... Everyone (on the nude side, anyway) seems to have had it with the heat and smoke in the Disco on PJ night. They should really move it up to the main hall and do it just like Toga night. Lots agreed. To make it worse, they are starting PJ night at 11:30 so you will need a nap if you want to be involved. We were at Toga night twice. Over the years, the number of custom made togas and the level of revealing togas has really increased. If you use a sheet, you feel out of place. In terms of revealing, many more gals are bare to the waist in their outfits and one gal had nothing more than a sheer aviator's scarf that ran once around her neck and drapped down about four inches wide in front and back. Conclusion: skip PJ and do toga but bring some "accessories."
Getting sick. Um, Jill was and so was a freind of ours. But medical attention is available including a licensed doctor that makes room calls. We never knew this. But did use the service this time after advise from the nurse when Jill went for something to settle her stomache. I was impressed with the MD who was trained in Germany. Just make sure you get out your VISA, MC or AMEX if you call them.
We had a fabulous time as always, met lots of new and old friends and can't wait to get back. I won't wax laconic about the water, the grounds, the service, the views and the romance. That was not my intent here. But I do hope some of this is practical info for those about to return.
Irie.
Thanks for the interesting report. - Denny