Jamaican All Inclusive Review

by Shopify API December 27, 2017

written by De'Von Walker a Black Lifestyle Blogger

edited by Sinclair Wilson

Introduction to Jamaica

We choose to celebrate our 6 year anniversary and first international trip at an Jamaican all inclusive resort in Montego Bay. Celebrating 55 years of National Independence Jamaica is a nation of diversity, culture, and tremendous pride. The standard language in Jamaica is English but the language spoken in comfort among Jamaicans is Patwa, a blend of Spanish, Dutch, French, English, and African dialects.

Cost 8/10 - How much bang did we get for our buck?

My Fiance and I both love ballin on a budget. For this trip we used cheapcarribean.com and booked an All Inclusive (Airfare, lodging, food, drinks, shuttles, and activities) resort for $1300 per person for 6 days. This was by far our most expensive trip but it was also or longest trip and first time traveling internationally. Excursions outside of the resort were on the expensive side. We did the ultimate thrill seeker package that included ATV, river tubing, zip lining, Rum tasting, lunch and a open bar for $175 a person. This was a full day excursion and well worth it. Other excursions included going to Bob Marley’s house or Dunn’s River Fall starting at $120 a person.Later we discovered that the resort had activities included like banana boating, snorkeling, glass boat rides, Margaritaville boat shuttles that were free of fairly cheap. Overall the trip was affordable for us. Our first international trip for less then $3500 for two people. If we wanted to do it again we would have to save $150 a month each.

Culture 6/10 - Did we see or experience the authentic culture?

We spent a majority of our time at the resort, rookie move. This was great for convenience but not for experiencing the authentic culture. The resort itself had a great diversity of customers and tenants therefore they needed to cater to a wide variety of people and cultures. This made the food at the resort just ok in our opinion, which is explained more in the next section.

Pelican Restaurant: Jerk chicken, rice and peas, and steamed market vegetables

We traveled into Montego Bay and visited the “Hip Strip” but we were accompanied by a taxi driver/ bodyguard that warned us of the danger of the city. This made me in particular worried about exploring by ourselves, which could have been a strategy to increase their business. The most authentic experience we had was returning to the hip strip by ourselves and buying Jerk Chicken from a street vendor and eating on the roof of Margaritaville overlooking the ocean.

Cuisine 6/10 - Did the food touch our soul?

The food within the resort was Ok, they had a Japanese and Italian restaurant for the formal dining options. An open buffet and grill for informal dining where food choices ranged from french fries, cheeseburgers, fresh pastas, seafood curry, jerk chicken, and more. The surprise highlight of the resort was having a street like cart that sold Jerk Chicken, festival, and white bread free for resort guests, FIRE. We also ate dinner at a restaurant on the Hip strip called The Pelican which had really tasty oxtails, jerk chicken, jerk shrimp spring rolls , and fresh fluffy bread rolls. Food experienced outside of the resort was of course more authentic but if you want to save money you can definitely stick with the food you paid for with your all inclusive resort. If you are a foodie you are going to want to leave the resort.

Pelican Restaraunt: Jerk shrimp spring rolls.

Capades 7/10 - How much fun and adventure was available?

There were tons of excursion options available for us to take advantage of and if money was not a barrier we would have done them all. As stated earlier in this blog we took advantage of one excursion and experienced a full day of activities outside of the resort. At the resort we were able to kayak, banana boat, and of course endless beach bonding; which my fiance loves. If you appreciate warm and clear water you will love Jamaica. Jamaica has great balance because there is intrinsic beauty to relax and appreciate passively and/or plenty of high intensity and adventurous type activities.

Chukka excursion site.

Convenience 9/10 - How easy was this trip to navigate?

For our first time traveling internationally (besides Mexico) this was a pretty smooth experience. The standard language of Jamaica is English, making communication throughout the trip fairly easy. The staff at the resort were very accommodating and welcoming, they had no problem helping us take full advantage of the accommodations provided. On the first night we ate at the fancy Japanese/Thai Restaurant and I order conservatively, the server laughed and said “It’s all inclusive mon”. I then ordered 3 additional dishes. Of course because we were at an all inclusive resort virtually everything we would want was on site for us; food, drinks, night club, beach, water activities, laundry, pools, you name it. If you are looking to get your feet wet in international travel Jamaica is a great choice.

Conclusion

Overall we rate our experience a 7.4/10, mostly due to choices we made during our trip.No doubt about it we will definitely be returning to Jamaica in the future, likely to Negril for the 7 mile beach. Next time we plan to stay at an adults only resort, hoping that there will be more activities catered towards adults on site. We would also bring friends or be more social to connect with other couples so that we are able to travel safely as a group throughout the island. If you are looking to travel internationally an all inclusive stay in Montego Bay (Mobay) is a great way to go. Happy traveling and stay true.