Review of the Sandals Royal Caribbean in Montego Bay Jamaica
Author: Weiting Bollu | Date: January 2022
Star Ratings for Categories
These are categories on which Sandals requests guests to rate the resort on. It was a perfect set of feedback for our public review too!
The overall experience at the resort (5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Customer Service (6/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Value (5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Cleanliness (5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Dining (3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Activities and golf, if applicable (4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Pool (5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Romantic Experience (5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
How likely are we to recommend Sandals Resorts to a friend? (5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Background Information
Resort: Sandals Royal Caribbean, in Montego Bay Jamaica
Total Nights: 7
Guests: 2
Time Frame: Saturday, December 18, 2021 until Saturday, December 25, 2021
Celebration:
Babymoon (~17 weeks at the time of travel)
11th year anniversary
General mental health care and relaxation
Main Pool area
Main pool area
Main beach views
Main beach tree shade
Our Room Choice: Kensington Cove Honeymoon Beachfront Club Level (HB)
For the Kensington Cove Beachfront Club Level room, it was beachfront, oceanfront, oceanview, and pool view. In addition, it had all of the following room features and amenities.
There are 3 types of levels to the rooms - see full explanations on Sandals' website.
Luxury - you get a room.
Club - there is Room Service and other benefits. (OUR PICK)
Butler - one or more personnel attend to your needs each day.
Room Features
Room service, conierge service, in-room bar with select liquors, roundtrip airport transfers, free wifi
Room Amenities
Air conditioning, airport transfers, balcony, ceiling fan, club sandals concierge service, coffee and tea maker, daily housekeeping, HD Smart TV with cable, hair dryer, in-room bar, in-room electric safe, iron and ironing board, king-size bed, make-up mirror, nightly turndown, outlets (110-240 volts), patio, plush his and hers robes, red lane spa amenity kit, refrigerator with water juice and sodas, room service, shower, sitting area, telephone, whirlpool tub, wifi
Main beach volleyball and gazebo
Main stage, breakfast area
Kensington Cove pool
Kensington Cove Corner Room 4108
Total Amount Spent for accommodations, transportation, and miscellaneous
We took many precautions during COVID-19 times. The total spend on this trip was around $8,500 CAD.
On Resort 🏖 🛎
Sandals Royal Caribbean Resort
Accommodations at the resort: $5,968.95 CAD
Fun Slow-Motion Photo: $30 USD & Cabana on Private Island Booking: $180 USD. Total $275.36 CAD
Souvenir hat: $23.81 CAD
Transportation ✈️ 🚘
Flights for Two with Checked Bag: $1,412.40 CAD
Seat Purchases: $188.00 CAD
Food on board: $10.98 CAD
Private Luxury Vehicle Transfer (upgrade)
Sandals Driver: $105.00 USD = $139.27 CAD
Tip: $10.00 USD cash
Uber on to/from Pearson Airport
Departure to: $82.22 CAD
Arrival Back: $38.71 CAD
Miscellaneous 📌
Airport Purchases
Sanitizer wipes: $6.38 CAD
Food: $20.33 CAD
MoBay Club Airport Lounge (Arrival and Departure)
$90 USD x 2 = $210.92 CAD
Tip for greeter = $40 USD cash
Tip for baggage handler = $1.00 USD cash
Tip for Sandals Lounge personnel = $4.00 USD cash
COVID-19 Travel Testing
Switch Health: $84.72 CAD x 2 = $169.44 CAD
Comments - Small Gestures Makes a Difference
The little things that we loved during our stay...
General for all
Every single staff member wore masks or face coverings of some sort.
Each time a staff member saw you they greeted us with a 'hello'.
Each team member was extra friendly when they found out or noticed that we have a baby along the way.
Staff members walked us to the areas when giving directions.
No tip allowed. We REALLY like this because it reduces the anxiety of holding money on us and deciding how much to give each time.
Food Services Team 🍉
Food services delivered a fruit bowl (or sometimes 3) to our room every single night.
Hourly ask if we need drinks when sitting by the beach or pool areas.
A team member remembered our request for a Beef patty when they were all out.
Delivery of special requested local beer that wasn't available on the resort.
Entertainment Team 🎤
On Christmas Day, there was a solo violinist at breakfast time on the main stage. Beautiful Christmas and popular music serenading us first thing in the morning.
On Christmas Day, Santa and his elves made an appearance. In addition, a marching band came onto the property to hype up the holiday spirit.
Each night, there was fantastic Jamaican Reggae music that had us on our feet.
Room Cleaning Services 🧹
We came back every day to a made-up bed.
The fridge full of drinks was always stocked.
The Loop Team 📱
Attended to every single request I made through the mobile app.
Responded to every single message I wrote in there for employee complements. Some of which were met with comments from staff the next day.
Concierge Service 🛎
Each time we walked into the Club Concierge service desk, they were very happy to see us. Oftentimes, they remembered who we were.
Super smooth booking of Cabanas, restaurants, and anything else we needed.
Water Sports Team 🏊🏽♂️
Helped us inflate our double water floats.
Assisted us on the Paddleboard and Kayaks - free of charge.
Resort Facilities ⛱
Lifeguards or sand rakers, very open to conversations.
Photography Team 📷
When we returned from kayaking and paddleboarding, they took photos of us.
On Christmas Day, they took photos of us near the holiday signs.
Private island Cabana
Dog towel art made by our Cabana Butler
Swings on the water
On the water hammocks
Thank you goes out to the following staff members
During our stay, numerous staff members made our stay a wonderful experience. We'd like to give them a shoutout on our site, as well as on Trip Advisor, Loop, and Facebook group.
10 Tips We Learned From Others and Our Observations
We learned from others and observed a lot when we were on premise.
Join the Facebook Group: Sandals Royal Caribbean Fans Official. Search in the group's search bar and you'll get all your questions answered. I'd be surprised if there was a question that hasn't been asked yet.
Being pregnant and hanging out at the resort was really fantastic. Great staff who attends to our requests. Very pregnant-friendly place. We ended up doing a lot of relaxing with 0 laptop time. We are in tech so it's quite unusual for us to go a week without touching our laptops but we did it!
We made a room change request. We were originally allocated Room 4216 on the second of the Kensington Cove. Afterward, we were changed to Room 4108 on the first floor. This helped immensely because as pregnant ladies know, we need to go to the washroom every other hour. Removing the need to climb the stairs each time made our stay extra great. What was great was that room 4108 was a corner room and it was extra spacious!!!
While Butlers reserve many of the great seats on the beach, there will still be some leftover. Most people decide to hang out around the main beach and main pool. By 9 AM, all of these seats are generally taken. Whatever the case, pack plenty of sunscreen and/or suntan lotion. The resort sells the SUN BUM brand in their gift store. We used A LOT over the span of 7 days.
Those of us without Butlers still have an amazing time. There are staff members who come by to take your drink and food orders on the hour if you are sitting by the beach and the pool. We did NOT feel like we missed out.
There is no tip allowed unless it's for Butlers and Spa personnel. However, what staff really value are compliments inside the LOOP mobile app. They can earn recognition and incentives when we give shoutouts in the app.
Bring a float where you can chill in the water. We saw a good number of people with this Hammock-type of float but we didn't like it. We didn't even end up floating in this one because we saw others having trouble laying in it. They generally put it under their armpit to hold up their drinks. It looked like a lot of work. We also brought a Rectangular Chair Lounger that was high quality and actually allowed us to float in the water.
Club MoBay is ideal, though it's a hit and miss on its usefulness. Our flight from Toronto to Jamaica was delayed so we landed in Montego Bay at around 10:00 PM. We were the last flight in so it wasn't busy at all. We were in and out of there in about 15 minutes. We did not even see the arrival lounge! On our way back to Toronto, it was Christmas Day. Very few people were flying the evening of Christmas Day but we did get to experience the lounge here.
Due to this being around COVID-19 times, we stayed away from many things we would have otherwise done. For example, we didn't travel to the Sandals Montego Bay sister resort or go on external excursions. However, we still had a lot of fun on-premises. There was plenty to do on the resort such as paddle boarding, pool activities, kayaking, etc. Due to the wind and weather on certain days, we didn't get to experience the Windsurfing or the Hobie Wave.
Some things will run later than usual. But hey, we're on ISLAND TIME! Sit back, chat, relax. Be patient.
Extended Photo Gallery
Gazebo in the water near sunset
Same gazebo in the water during sunset
View from the private island onto the main Sandals resort
Excursions boat, evening time
The Mariner restaurant lunch area; serving drinks and delicious Beef/Chicken patties. Get them while they last each day!
The Mariner restaurant outside seating area
The Mariner restaurant area
Outside games area, also near an area where folk scan smoke
Club Level room service delivered cantaloupes and kiwi to me each night
I loved the fruits so much that it deserves another photo
Personally delivered local beer from the Food and Beverage and Concierge team
On Christmas, there were photo opportunities like this Holiday Joy photoframe
Christmas day banner where santa and his elves took over later in the day
Letters for L.O.V.E on the property
Gazebo where many Candle Light dinners and weddings happen
Walking between the Kensington and Balmoral buildings