Resort for a Day (Rose Hall or Jewel Runaway Bay) questions - Falmouth

fromthePDX

Earning My Ears
Joined
Oct 25, 2016
I am travelling on a Fantasy Western later in the year. Our party is made up of 4 adults and 3 children (7, almost 5, and 4.5). My husband wanted to go to the Blue Hole but I was concerned about the appropriateness of that excursion for the kids. Got him to agree to a beach day instead.

I have a couple of questions for folks that have booked all inclusive passes with Resort for a Day (either Hilton Rose Hall or Jewel Runaway Bay).

1. For those who have experienced both, which resort do you prefer? Seems like the amenities are pretty similar but the Hilton is about 15% more expensive. Is the price difference really worth it?

2. I know you pay the deposit for the reservation on the RFAD website. Where do you pay the balance? At the resort? to the company rep at the port?

3. Where and what time does the tour meet? DO you meet within the gated port? A little iffy if we need to leave the port gates due to the safety and comfort of the little ones.

4. Is there a set time to go back to the port from the hotel? Or are there regular trips (say every 30 mins starting 2:00 PM for example) back to the pier? If we decide not to spend the whole day at the resort do they provide earlier trips to the ship or are we stuck with taking a taxi?

5. Are taxis available at either of the resorts?

Thanks!
 
I've actually stayed at the Hilton Rose Hall. It's decent. The adult beach was small and didn't have much of a beach to it. I do not recall seeing the other beach so I can't give you an opinion there. I can tell, the food was good at the restaurants and the property is pretty.

Also.... I have been to Jamaica several times and have never felt unsafe. I love the locals and they are very friendly.
 
Here are two pics from the resort. Sorry I don't have better ones or more for you to see.
 

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We used a RFAD reservation for a day room on Grand Cayman. We were responsible for getting ourselves to the resort and back to the ship.
 
We used Resort for a Day at Jewel a Runaway Bay on our last RCL cruise and had a great time. We basically spent the day in the water park area but our daughter loved it. Service was awesome. The one thing you need to remember is to NOT miss the buffet lunch. Its really good and when its over you can still order food but its not as good as what is on the buffet.

This is a vacation video I made from the trip and most of it is the lazy river but the Jamaica/Runaway Portion is from the 5:05 mark till the 6:50 mark.

Here is another tip...take some bread from the buffet into the water to feed the fish and within a minute or so you will be surrounded.

 


I know you pay the deposit for the reservation on the RFAD website. Where do you pay the balance? At the resort? to the company rep at the port?

I THINK we paid at to the resort once we arrived.

Where and what time does the tour meet? DO you meet within the gated port? A little iffy if we need to leave the port gates due to the safety and comfort of the little ones.

Shortly after disembarkation begins just off the ship near the transportation/taxi terminal. The ship is within site at the meeting area (you'll see a RFAD employee with a sign).

Is there a set time to go back to the port from the hotel? Or are there regular trips (say every 30 mins starting 2:00 PM for example) back to the pier? If we decide not to spend the whole day at the resort do they provide earlier trips to the ship or are we stuck with taking a taxi?

Yes, they will tell you what time to meet in the lobby of whatever resort you choose. Don't be late.

Are taxis available at either of the resorts?

Yes. If you don't think or dont know if you will use the RFAD transport back to the cruise then let them know somehow. Don't let the other cruise passengers wait while the driver looks and waits for you.
 
My husband wanted to go to the Blue Hole but I was concerned about the appropriateness of that excursion for the kids.

I was looking at the Blue Hole for our trip and I have kids around the same age as yours, so I'm curious about what you mean here?
 
I was looking at the Blue Hole for our trip and I have kids around the same age as yours, so I'm curious about what you mean here?

I watched a few videos of the excursion and saw it was a lot of climbing of wet rocks and jumping. While there are many accounts on the internet of families having same age kids enjoying the Blue Hole and having no issues, I just thought the activity might be a little much for them at this stage.
 
I THINK we paid at to the resort once we arrived.



Shortly after disembarkation begins just off the ship near the transportation/taxi terminal. The ship is within site at the meeting area (you'll see a RFAD employee with a sign).



Yes, they will tell you what time to meet in the lobby of whatever resort you choose. Don't be late.



Yes. If you don't think or dont know if you will use the RFAD transport back to the cruise then let them know somehow. Don't let the other cruise passengers wait while the driver looks and waits for you.

Thanks for the answers LSUfan! Appreciate the information. One more question, when do you let the driver know if you will be returning with them? Is there a way to contact them while at the resort?
 
Thanks for the answers LSUfan! Appreciate the information. One more question, when do you let the driver know if you will be returning with them? Is there a way to contact them while at the resort?

If you don't want the round trip transfer then I don't think you should really book resort for a day (which includes and you're paying for round trip transfers). If you just want to resort hop or hit the resort and leave, hire a taxi from the port. I can't speak for the driver but the package includes a round trip transfer to/from the resort so if you want to arrange something other than that, not only will you essentially be paying for transportation from the resort twice (once through resort for a day and once however you actually get back to the ship) but you will need to work that out with them. I'd say email them and ask them.

Day passes start at $60.
https://www.jewelresorts.com/sites/default/files/jrb-116_package_flyer_v2_hr_new.compressed.pdf

The whole idea of using resort for a day is that you don't want to book things individually and are booking a day package. It sounds like you're trying to book a day package, then add things individually which could add alot of confusion and potential delays for other cruisers using the package if you become unaccounted for.
 
We spent a day at Rose Hall and liked it very much. I think their water facilities would be good for your kids' ages. Our family of four was me, DH, and DDs 13 and 9. We LOVED the pools and the food. The beach was just ok in my opinion (we have vacationed in Hawaii many times and prefer the beaches there). We often talk about the great day we spent at Rose Hall!

Our scenario was a bit different...I booked an actual room at Rose Hall with Hilton points and contacted RFAD and asked if we could buy transport only to which they agreed. (We were too chicken to take a taxi with our young girls in a new country and liked being with a large group instead) We met the employees inside the gated area and loaded the bus. I was a bit yanked as they made us all wait over 45 mins for a party that was confused by the meeting time due to the time change. I feel they should have left that party behind rather than make us all wait, but they felt differently. Also, as part of his commentary, the bus driver on the way back to the port told a joke on the intercom that I did not feel was appropriate and let them know via email once we returned.

Have fun! We would def do a beach day again if and when we ever visit Jamaica via a cruise.
 
We spent a day at Rose Hall and liked it very much. I think their water facilities would be good for your kids' ages. Our family of four was me, DH, and DDs 13 and 9. We LOVED the pools and the food. The beach was just ok in my opinion (we have vacationed in Hawaii many times and prefer the beaches there). We often talk about the great day we spent at Rose Hall!

Our scenario was a bit different...I booked an actual room at Rose Hall with Hilton points and contacted RFAD and asked if we could buy transport only to which they agreed. (We were too chicken to take a taxi with our young girls in a new country and liked being with a large group instead) We met the employees inside the gated area and loaded the bus. I was a bit yanked as they made us all wait over 45 mins for a party that was confused by the meeting time due to the time change. I feel they should have left that party behind rather than make us all wait, but they felt differently. Also, as part of his commentary, the bus driver on the way back to the port told a joke on the intercom that I did not feel was appropriate and let them know via email once we returned.

Have fun! We would def do a beach day again if and when we ever visit Jamaica via a cruise.


When you book a room, what time can you get in and what time do you have to check out? Seems that it would be a better idea??
 
When you book a room, what time can you get in and what time do you have to check out? Seems that it would be a better idea??

It was four years ago and the details are now a little fuzzy! I cannot remember if we arrived wearing our bathing suits under cover-ups and went straight to the pool or if we actually went to the room and put on our suits. So, what I guess I would say is that it is probably like checking into any hotel: if they have a room available at 9:00am, they will give you a key and it is yours, if they don’t, then you would need to wait til check-in time.

We sailed in October, it did not seem very crowded at the resort.

Good luck!
 

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