Hilton Rose Hall and other day resorts

[unionville3]

Thank you CruizeCast - the link to your review was great!

[AgVball]

Those were great pictures!

I thought I would chime in with a few "review" comments based on our visit Thursday, December 15, 2011 while cruising RCCL Mariner.

 

We felt the instructions about when to get off the boat and meet the group were a little confusing - local time versus ship time. We got off the ship immediately, and ended up waiting for 30-40 minutes for everyone to leisurely show up. It seemed like the last ones ended up getting to the group at ship time rather than immediate. So, if you get off really quick, you can take your time and look at the items for sale as you walk. There was also a man on stilts making balloon animals for kids.

 

Our bus was decent. Our driver noted some points about Jamaica and the immediate area - I thought that was a nice touch. The ride wasn't too far. Maybe 20 minutes. Rose Hall was the first stop, they were taking passengers to another hotel/resort down the road.

 

Once inside the hotel, you had to wait in line to pay the remainder of your bill. That took another 15 minutes (from the back of the line).

 

Walking out, its so beautiful, you look out over a HUGE pool. There were guests exercising in it. Note that lunch/restaurants will not open for a while, so if you need a snack until then, you better bring it with you. Water seemed to be available around the pool, and wait staff was always available.

 

The beach was "ok" - nothing compared to Cayman, and not as good as Cozumel. It was very windy when we were there, and the red flag was out. We tried to build some sand castles the best we could. I gave someone $5 to get me a coconut. A lot of seaweed or some type of plant on the beach, but someone was raking it up.

 

The lazy river/park was nice, but you may have to walk around to find a lounge chair. There are two slides/chutes - I think you have to be 6 years old or older to go down them (on inner tubes...maybe one without inner tube)....it was a lot of fun! We got in the hot tub at one point and that was nice. I didn't partake of a swim up bar. I couldn't find a water spigget to work to wash the sand off my feet, oh well.

 

Wait staff was around constantly. You really could get whatever you wanted to eat/drink. At an outdoor restaurant, I got the Jerk Chicken - oh - it was delicious! I also got a fruity virgin drink (strawberry and banana, I forget the name of it), it was wonderful - and one of my girls loved it too. Our waiter, can't think of his name off hand, gosh, he was so good - excellent service!

 

In the inside restaurant, they have ice cream - don't forget about that! We grabbed some for the ride back to the ship ;)

 

It was definitely worth the money considering the beautiful facilities, the transportation, and the included food and drinks. I have a couple of pictures, I may try to add them later.

[unionville3]

AgVBall - So we just got our JamaicaforaDay Resort pass. The directions explain what to do if you arrive before 9 am or after 9 am. Is that referring to ship time or local time? And what is the time difference? Is there a place to rinse off and change clothes before returning to the ship? Thank you for posting about your experience.

[AgVball]

Unionville - the answer depends. Our ship sailed from Galveston. So, ship time was Central. I believe that Jamaica was Eastern (at least at that point). So, we probably pulled in at 8ish (maybe 10 minutes after)...which would have been 9 to 9.10 their time. Usually excursions (official and on your own), go by Ship time, however, maybe because there are people coming to Rose Hall from both Montego Bay as well as Falmouth, you may have ship's in from different ports/timezones....so maybe its easier for them to say local time.

 

As far as rinsing off, if you can find a spigget that works, then you are good to go. Surely there was one that works - I'm sure they don't want a ton of sand in their lazy river / waterpark. I just didn't take the time to ask. I'm not sure if there is a 'changing room' - but there are indoor restrooms up near the indoor restaurant. I think there's another restroom, but I think my husband said it wasn't working or something, so we went to the one I mentioned. Most people getting on the beach look like they toweled off and put their cover-ups on.

 

When checking in, you'll get some towel cards (I forget how many because we had little ones who were free)...I think you get one card per paying adult, but you get 2 towels per card. They have a towel station, so you can get fresh towels if needed. No need to bring towels from the ship.

 

The inner tubes are already there and free to use (I've seen a resort in the states NOT provide them and sell them to you - argh). No need to bring your own unless something is very special. For my kids, I brought their little "wings" that are coast guard approved. The inner tubes are BIG, so little/toddler kids can't maneuver them.

 

If you play chess, there is a huge life size chess board - not sure if they have checker pieces too.

 

I've included a picture of the pier - you'll get off and walk from the left side of the picture ALL the way to the very right where all those white tents are.

[AgVball]

I thought I could edit a previous entry, but I guess not. I thought I would add some more photos. The lazy river / park area - it can be good for even tiny babies, and they have a couple of splash areas there where you walk in. I saw quite a few families with tiny babies - not sure if they were guests of the hotel or from a ship.

[unionville3]

AgVBall - thank you for awesome information!

[disneyfan68]

We were there last week. I personal felt it's way too expensive for the value it provides and the limited time we got there. Also, my kids didn't like the messy beach. The waves bring in lot of sand unlike most other nice clear Caribbean beaches. But, the resort itself is fantastic because of the pool and lazy river. There are lot of activities if you want to participate. There is not much force in the lazy river pool like say the one at Watercountry USA, Williamsburg. But the beauty can't be beaten. All those lovely coconut trees give you shade when you are in the lazy river pool and in the water slides line. Jerk chicken is fantastic. Don't even bother going into the Fresh dinning in the building unless you want Yogurt Ice cream or desserts or salad. All the good food is at Sea Side Grill. Also, we tipped one staff there $5 bucks and asked him for fresh coconuts. He brought 3 of them cut with straws. Sooo good. If I have to go there again because my daughter likes it so much, I might choose to think about going on cab or something as one party in our group came late and made us all wait a while. I'd saw we lost about 20-30 minutes there.

 

My picture on Fickr (includes the port)

 

 

 

 

Just viewed your pictures on Flickr. It looks awesome! Thanks so much for sharing them :).

 

Karyn

[disneyfan68]

Then again, we're just dumb hicks from Indiana, so what do we know about beaches? It sure beat being home in 30-degree weather with brown grass, bare trees and no ocean within 700 miles. It all depends on your perspective, I guess.

 

Love it :)

[disneyfan68]

We were there last week. I personal felt it's way too expensive for the value it provides and the limited time we got there. Also, my kids didn't like the messy beach. The waves bring in lot of sand unlike most other nice clear Caribbean beaches. But, the resort itself is fantastic because of the pool and lazy river. There are lot of activities if you want to participate. There is not much force in the lazy river pool like say the one at Watercountry USA, Williamsburg. But the beauty can't be beaten. All those lovely coconut trees give you shade when you are in the lazy river pool and in the water slides line. Jerk chicken is fantastic. Don't even bother going into the Fresh dinning in the building unless you want Yogurt Ice cream or desserts or salad. All the good food is at Sea Side Grill. Also, we tipped one staff there $5 bucks and asked him for fresh coconuts. He brought 3 of them cut with straws. Sooo good. If I have to go there again because my daughter likes it so much, I might choose to think about going on cab or something as one party in our group came late and made us all wait a while. I'd saw we lost about 20-30 minutes there.

 

My picture on Fickr (includes the port)

 

 

 

 

I was looking through your pictures on Flickr. Just curious - what ship was in port with you in Cozumel. It can tell it was a RCCL. The Allure made it look like a tug boat ;)

[pipeye1]

Going in May, after I read all and seeing your photo's, I am so looking forward to spending a few hours there..........