A Mother-Daughter Getaway
I recently took my daughter to Sandals Royal Caribbean. Yes, a Sandals, known for couples. But my husband and I are Sandals lovers and since we are in their loyalty program and earn free trips and discounts, when we were at our last resort, Sandals Grenada, I booked a special Birthday Celebration trip for me and her at Sandals Royal Caribbean in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
In this post:
Booking
When you book on property at a Sandals Resort, you get an extra 10 to 12 percent off the current rates, and (in the case where my husband goes with me) an additional 10 percent off if you are military or a first responder. So you can get really great deals. I booked our flights with a combination of my Chase Ultimate Rewards Points, Delta earned-mileage and American earned-mileage. So it turned out to be a pretty reasonable proposition.
Sandals Royal Caribbean Room
We were escorted to our room in the Windsor Building, a walk-out room right on the beach. Unfortunately, since I didn’t request a particular room until about two weeks before, we got probably the worst location—right by the boat pier, and the Water Sports office was right on the other side of our wall. So views from the patio and room weren’t the best. But it wasn’t too bad as we were often able to find chairs under a palapa right outside of our room (as long as I was up by 630 am), and could come and go easily through our patio doors.
Sandals Royal Caribbean Resort
My daughter and I enjoyed sitting in the Adirondack chairs watching the sunset, as well as sitting by the fire pit close to our room.
While we were there, the cool Dragon Boat that takes guests to the private island sunk! They towed it away and seamlessly provided another boat to take guests to the island.
We hung out one afternoon for a few hours at the swim-up bar, which was fun and the bartenders were great. We mostly stayed on the beach or on our patio.
The lobby and outdoor areas were all great. The bars were nice, and we enjoyed playing pool one night outside of the Pub.
The private island is small but has a pool, bar, the Thai Restaurant, the Jerk Shack, and restrooms. The beach areas are very small, but still beautiful. We reserved a private cabana for a day on the island and had personalized service of non-stop drinks, food, and attention all day. It was a fun splurge, since we did not have butler service with our room and we stayed on the island that day.
Sandals Royal Caribbean Food
In a club room, we could order room service from 7 am until 10 pm. We would get up and go to the outside restaurant and fill up our Yeti cups with coffee, and when we were finally hungry we ordered breakfast. We requested they deliver to the patio so that we could spend our time waiting on the beach, which was awesome. The room service breakfast was very good. The resort coffee was Blue Mountain coffee and it was delicious.
At our resort, we ate at Royal Thai on the private island, which was very dim, romantic and quiet. The food was delicious, the service was excellent.
We also ate at Le Jardinier for breakfast on our last morning, it was really good. My daughter loved the Eggs Benedict and I enjoyed their French toast. On a couple of nights we went up to the Maitre D at Le Jardinier and once ordered takeout dessert, and another time ordered takeout Escargot. So even if you cannot score a reservation at a Sandals restaurant, you can order food to go and still get to eat the fabulousness.
Another night we ate at the new Italian restaurant, La Tavola. The risotto appetizer was a little too al dente but it tasted good, and the scallopini and scampi dishes were excellent, as well as our dessert.
For two of the nights we took the included shuttle to Sandals Montego Bay, which was about 10 minutes away. We walked around and had drinks at their amazing over-the-water bar, Latitudes, and even lounged in the over-the water hammocks. One evening a roving troupe of musicians entertained us while we lounged—they were so good.
Our first night at MoBay we ate at Soy for sushi appetizers and then went to Tokyo Joes, where you basically choose your own stir-fry dish and watch them cook it. It was very good and fun!
The second time we went to MoBay we had a reservation at Cucina Romano, which was right on the water and excellent. I had the Risotto (fabulous) and my daughter had the Carbonara, which she loved. She wanted clams, too, so asked for a serving on the side, which of course, in true Sandals style, they did!
Pizza, quesadillas, burgers, and Jerk Shack chicken were all delicious choices that we made for lunches.
Entertainment
The weekly Beach party was set up right outside of our room. The entertainment did not really start until 930 pm. We were super-tired that day, and unfortunately missed it. Another night we caught a “Battle of the Sexes” on the stage run by Elmo, one of their playmakers. It was pretty funny and entertaining. Their Jamaican Country Singer was very good on another night, followed by dancers that were not really our style. To be honest, we got up so early each day for beach time that we were ready for bed before all the entertainment really started.
Recommendation
Overall, I enjoyed this Sandals resort. It is very small, and has a very small beach. The private island is a unique aspect to this resort which we enjoyed. As a bit of renovation was going on, most of the restaurants were outside, which could be problematic when it rains. There wasn’t a big common area in the middle with a bar besides the pool bar, which was pretty dead at night. We had a great time, however, and made our own fun. The staff and facilities were great.
