Reports by:
Heather

Royal Decameron Club Caribbean
Runaway Bay Jamaica
November 2002

The Royal Decameron Club Caribbean is a small moderate resort, very laid back and relaxing or very lively. The motto says it all…Lazy but Lively.

We flew out of Toronto via skyservice on the early morning 6AM flight. We had to be at the airport 3 hours before our flight so we just stayed up all Saturday night, we wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway. The flight left on time, and was uneventful which was good. No delays at Sangster either, and we were quickly on our bus and enroute to Club Caribbean. We booked through World of Vacations, and one thing I liked about them is that they do the orientation on the bus, which saves you an hour or so of your vacation time. The rep explained all about the facilities at the resort, and what tours were available. I thought this was great.

We arrived at the resort around lunchtime, and we didn't expect to get into our room until 3 PM but check in was a breeze and our room was ready. Gotta love that.

We were booked into a garden cottage, and they gave us one very close to the beach. The cottage was really quite spacious, I expected something a little more rustic and cramped but I was pleasantly surprised with the size and décor. The cottage consists of one main room, and in our case it had a King size bed, and a single bed for our daughter. It had a dresser, two chairs and two small tables and a TV, a large walk-in closet, which I'm told used to be a kitchenette before they went all inclusive, and a large bathroom with a glass block shower. No tub, just the shower but very clean and spacious. Again I must say I was pleasantly surprised with all of this. The room had both a ceiling fan and an air conditioner. There was no coffee maker in the room, but I was prepared, I brought my own. The grounds surrounding the cottages were beautiful, very lush and well groomed. We constantly saw men working on the gardens all week. We dropped off our cases, and headed down to check out the beach and dive shop. Paul the dive master greeted John by name, before we even introduced ourselves. We couldn't believe it. John had been emailing with them before we arrived, and they knew when to expect us. I can only assume that he guessed who he was because we arrived when we said we would, and looked like newbies. It was a nice touch, and a very good first impression. John got to know them quite well over the week, and has nothing but praise for them. He said it's the best dive operation he has seen, although the dive boats were a bit on the small side.

The beach consists of small coves with brown/black sand. While we were there they were building those beach umbrellas for shade. Lots of sun loungers on the beach. Not the best beach I've seen but adequate. All water sports were included, even the motorized ones. Water skiing, banana boat rides, and glass bottom boat rides. There were kayaks, pedal boats, wind surfers, sunfish, and hobie cats, and snorkeling excursions. Everything was included and the water sports team was more than willing to instruct. Everything was no problem mon, whatever you want to do.

The main restaurant was the buffet, which was situated right next to the beach and pool. There were two al Carte restaurants as well but we didn't try them. The food at the buffet was excellent, and the desserts at dinner met with my approval. I'm very fussy about my desserts. Wine was served with lunch and dinner. Breakfast was always good, but my one complaint is that they don't always come round and pour your coffee. It wasn't a big deal, because the coffee machine was only a few steps away but I like to have my coffee cup full in the mornings. The toaster is the best I've ever seen. Some places you have to put your bread through a couple of times just to get it warm, but not here. Once through and you have perfect toast. Lots of fresh fruit, cereals, muffins, croissants, omelet station, eggs of any variety, and of course the usual cooked fare, bacon sausage etc. You will never go hungry.

The pool bar is the main bar, and they will serve anything you want. They have one drink on the menu called the Village Lawyer, a few of those and you quickly become the Village Idiot. They also have the pier bar, which used to be the swing bar. We found it quite windy out on the pier so didn't use it much. Further down the beach is the Beach grill, which serves the BEST jerk chicken wings all day until 5. It then becomes one the al a cartes for dinner. There is also another bar in the disco this is the British pub. We never stayed up late enough to visit this, but heard reports of everyone having an excellent time.

The main pool is beside the buffet, and this is where all the activities take place. I have to take my hat off to the party makers they are incredible. Non-stop energy from morning till early morning in the disco. Bonnie and I joined in for the dance lessons, and John took part in the beer-drinking contest. He can't say no to a Red Stripe. The pool itself is not large, but it was never crowded. One end is 8 ft deep and the other is about 3 ft deep. A lifeguard is on duty all day, and he keeps the pool spotless. The other pool is the adult pool and supposed to be the quiet pool. It is situated over beside the suites. It is new, and very nice. Again it's not very big compared to some resort pools but big enough. There are plenty of sun loungers, and a small bar, which opens at 12. A lifeguard is on duty all day there as well. There are no activities at this pool, and no music. Except for one day when someone brought their boom box and blasted us with music. The sun disappears from this pool around 4 PM. It goes behind the suites, which are 3 stories high. The pool closes at 5, and the lifeguard goes home.

The lobby of the hotel is large and open air, with comfortable seating. There is a TV lounge off the lobby, which is non-smoking. A small bar in there would be a nice touch.

The staff at the front desk, were not very friendly, it was like pulling teeth trying to get any kind of information from them with the exception of two. Jacinth who helped us get to the Tobolski Basic School, and Anne the wedding coordinator. Jacinth went out of her way to arrange transportation for us, and arrange the visit, and Anne was just a genuinely beautiful person. She was very busy the week we were there. There was a large wedding out on the point and it was breathtaking. The bride was from Canada, and she brought 20 guests, and the groom was from Texas and he brought 20 guests. The place was hopping. We saw a few smaller weddings in the gazebo.

Halfway through the week we decided to move to the suites, not because we weren't happy with the cottage but we like to sit out at and there was nowhere to sit outside at the cottages. A couple of evenings we dragged the chairs and table outside, and sat and star gazed and listened to the tree frogs. We moved into the suite, it was larger than the cottage. It had a separate living room with kitchenette facilities with a sofa bed, two chairs, tables, lamps etc. The bedroom was large with a King Size bed, a single bed, dresser, and closet, which housed the TV. There was a door off the bedroom leading out to the fire escape, which was a small landing with a spiral staircase. The bathroom was between the bedroom and living area. It had a tub and shower and toilet in a separate area, the sink was outside this area with a door leading off to the bedroom at one end and the living room at the other. The balcony off the suite was huge with a large round leather-covered table and four leather covered chairs. There was room for another table and chairs. I met our new neighbors and exchanged views on the resort only to find out that she was the owner. Her and her husband built Club Caribbean back in the sixties. Royal Decameron now leases it. We became instant friends, and I couldn't get enough of her stories of Jamaica and the making of Club Caribbean. She told me that a few of the staff that were still there were her original staff. That's loyalty, to stay for over 30 years. That also tells me that they treat their staff very well. She was very interested to hear my views on the resort, and relayed them to management. She invited me to go with her to a place up the road that she frequently visits called Cranbrook Flower Forest. We went early in the morning before it opened to the public, and it was breathtaking. The owner has developed the land over many years, always adding something new. You can follow the river path, which leads up to the falls, and if you have ever wanted to walk through a tropical rain forest then don't miss this place. The flowers and trees and birds are amazing. I was looking at tropical plants in their natural state and size that we normally only see in small flowerpots. Breathtaking. We didn't see any parrots but she assured me that there are lots there. There is an orchid house, but no orchids. The owner explained that somebody keeps breaking in and s#A596B5ing them. What a shame. He is such a nice gentle man, and so accommodating. He charges a small admission fee of $6 US to help with the upkeep. On the way back she stopped at the top of the hill and the view as incredible, we were looking at smugglers cove and she showed me where their house was. I wish we had more time, and the weather had been better because she wanted to take me snorkeling in the cove. What an amazing woman she is.

I told her about our plans to visit the Tobolski Basic School, and she fully approved, and promised to spread the word about their needs. She told me that they had a small school for the children of the resort staff on the property. What a great idea. She wasn't sure if the new management would keep it open or not. We made arrangements with Jacinth at the front desk for our visit to the school. She got us a driver, and told the school we were coming. The drive to the school was an eye opener. There were mansions built into the hills with shacks surrounding them. The poverty and wealth lived side by side. We pulled up to the school and the children ran to meet us shouting tourist. They were beautiful. Some of the parents were there as well, and we got to talk to them. The teachers took us into the school, which is no more than a shack, and said Welcome to Steven's school. I was so emotional. Steven had been there two weeks before us and made quite an impression on them. I had printed off a couple of Stevens's pictures he had taken of the kids, and gave them to the teachers. Their smiles said it all. The kids were crowding around to see themselves in these pictures, and giggling and laughing and remembering. One little girl pointed herself out and said," I danced with Steven", what a doll she was. We did a quick tour of the two classrooms, and I signed the guest book. Now there are two signatures in the book, I took a picture of the book. We then went back outside, and John was very busy taking pictures of the kids. They were posing and frolicking and having a great time. I noticed that there was construction going on, and it was explained to me that with Steven's generous donation and a donation from a local builder they were able to start construction on 3 new toilets. Currently they have one outhouse, which all the kids have to use. My daughter Bonnie made friends with a teenage girl that was there, and they arranged to be pen pals. She was so excited. The children sang some Christmas Carols for us, and I asked the teachers and parents for their wish list. They were very modest and didn't want to do it, but I eventually persuaded them to put one together. Their needs are very basic, things we take for granted, but they have also asked for a TV and VCR with some educational videos. They are doing a wonderful job with these kids, and I for one will do everything in my power to help them, and I encourage everybody who reads this to do whatever they can do as well. The school is run by volunteers, and funded by donations from the parents. These children deserve the best we can give them, because they are the future of Jamaica. If they learn that through the generosity of "tourists" they got a better start in life, then maybe when they are older they will work harder to alleviate the poverty that is so prevalent in Jamaica, and make it a better place for us to visit. It shouldn't only be the drug lords who can expect a better standard of living in Jamaica. It was time to leave, and we had to drag ourselves away. I was on such an emotional high for days after that visit. I highly recommend to everybody who is in the area to visit, and make a small donation.

For the rest of the week, the weather was bad, high winds, and rain. The sun did come out enough so that we could sit by the pool, but all water sports were cancelled. John had been diving everyday but he was still disappointed because he was hoping to get in some more dives. We only got out once for snorkeling; they took us to a reef, which is just out from Breezes. I felt like I was swimming in a tropical fish tank. The colors of the fish and coral were amazing. None of the resorts along there had great beaches, Breezes, and Hedonism had very little beach. It seems like we had the best beach in the area.

Overall, we had a great vacation. The resort is small and moderate. It's a 3 star rating, but it has a lot of 4 star qualities. We are water babies; we love a great beach, good pool and lots of water sports. The beach and pool were adequate, but the water sports exceeded our expectations. The rooms were comfortable and spacious, the food was good, I gained 5 pounds, the drinks were free flowing, and the Jerk Chicken was the best. The entertainment was good; although we couldn't always stay awake long enough to see it all. We heard that the disco was great. The staff was wonderful with the exception of the few on the front desk. The impression I got from the staff was that they don't like the new management. The big boss from Decameron flew in while we were there, and you could feel the tension among the staff. Hopefully management gets their act together and listens to the staff; they know best what the guests want, some of them have been there for years.

Our flight home was delayed a couple of hours because of bad weather in Toronto. When we left Jamaica it was hot, and when we landed in Toronto it was minus 26 degrees C. What were we thinking? We should have stayed in Jamaica.

Heather

Pictures are here