On Saturday 9th October 2010 I left Birmingham & made my way to London Gatwick where I meet the rest of the group I was travelling with. When we checked in we were upgraded to world traveller plus which was a nice start to the trip, we were flying with British Airways. On the flight there are only five rows of 2 4 2 so not many in that part of the cabin.
On arrival it didn’t take long to collect our luggage, we were met by Neil one of Amstar rep to take us to the hotel. It took about half hour & on the way he was telling us about the resort & what there is to do as well as pointing out some of the local landmarks.
First hotel Secrets St James, there was just enough time to get checked in & get a quick change before our hosted dinner at Bordeaux (the French restaurant). We was able to pick from the menu which was nice because we could all have different options & see a variety of food served instead of it being a set menu. The food was lovely.
Day 1
Site Inspection after breakfast (buffet style) we meet up in St James reception to start the tour; at Wild Orchid we met with the sales manager. Who told us about the resort & explained the different styles of the hotels & rooms. We walked around the resort looking at the various restaurants, pools, bars, gym & the spa. The hotels are very similar apart from the décor of them.
In the evening we dined in the Himitsu restaurant at the teppenyaki table which was very entertaining, the chef made everyone feel welcome & as though the whole group knew each other.
Day 2
Today was an early start picked up by Amstar at 07:00am to go to mystic mountain were we went up in a cable car over the Forrest, the view was fantastic. At the top there was a few restaurants & shops, you could either go on the toboggan ride or the zip line. The toboggan ride went round & ended up back where you started. The zip line took you half way back down the Forrest & then you took the cable car down for the rest of the way. Then onto the cool runnings Dunn’s River cruise. This was a short ride, we had a light lunch & then joined the boat to Dunn’s River. This was a nice relaxing trip to the falls, on the boat you could rent out some shoes to climb the falls (well recommended, I would never have been able to do this in trainers) at the falls we were put into 2 groups to climb the falls, one group either side to do the climb (it was a little cold at first but) everyone was really friendly helping each other up the falls. The climb seemed never ending but once we got to the top it felt good to have achieved it. We decided to walked back down. Going back on the boat it was a real party atmosphere, the drinks were flowing & the music playing was not quite as calm as on the way out.
A short coach ride back to the hotel & we were just in time to get ready & jump back out to try the Italian restaurant.
Day 3
Time to check out of St James & check into Wild Orchid, after lunch then a shopping tour. We visited some local shops to buy souvenirs & duty free. At the local market the locals were selling & make many of the goods. Back to the hotel we had a few drinks followed by a meal at the seafood restaurant.
Day 4
This was a leisure day, I spent most of the day relaxing round by the pool & went to the spa for a hydro therapy. The Spa was very relaxing & a lovely way to end the trip. Late afternoon & we decided to visit the Luminous Lagoon. You could go swimming to experience the luminosity of the water. Back to the hotel to try the Mexican Evening
Day 5
Second day of leisure & then time to check out & back to the airport.
Time to check in & experience world traveller plus which again was a nice & a fabulous way to end to the trip.
Jamaica is a beautiful island & I hope to go back soon.
