I cannot give the Royal Plantation enough stars! We stayed at the Royal Plantation June 15-21 and were married at the resort before traveling to Negril to stay at the Caves for our honeymoon portion. Some of our closest family and friends came along with us, for a total of 13 people. We all had an incredible time! My two younger brothers are only 18 and 19 and I was worried they would not have a good time since we read in previous postings that the resort can be a bit stuffy. I had absolutely nothing to worry about! They had the time of their lives, along with all of our other guests. We had guests in their late teens, twenties, fifties, and sixties and every single person had such a great time! My mom is already thinking of going back over Thanksgiving!

We stayed in room 159, a luxury oceanfront room. It is on the west side, which I recommend. All rooms on the west side have the best view. My mom was in room 61. This is a corner room so they had not only the balcony but a window on the side as well. I imagine room 161, 261, etc. would have the same. My husband's parents stayed in one of the honeymoon suites and they have a huge balcony so if you enjoy spending time on the balcony go with that room selection.

The Wedding:

First, let me just say that Andre, the wedding coordinator, is amazing. He made everything completely perfect and our wedding was everything we could have ever hoped for. The RP certainly exceeded our expectations and went above and beyond to make our day absolutely wonderful.

The ceremony was beautiful. Along with the arch we purchased, we also bought two bags of white orchid petals to have scattered in the sand. Andre upgraded us to rose petals free of charge. We had the ceremony on the east beach at 4:30 p.m. The beach was very secluded and beautiful and the weather was perfect. Andre also added banana leaves in the sand, which really gave it a nice touch.

The only unpleasant experience we had with the Royal Plantation the entire time was dealing with the corporate headquarters in Miami regarding the wedding prior to our arrival. If you are planning your wedding at the RP don’t panic if you do not get all of your questions answered or if they do not want to accommodate special requests. Andre and the rest of the staff at RP will make sure it is exactly as you want it. Also, find out about all of the charges prior to booking. We were informed at the last minute of a $1260 fee for a private dinner with our guests in addition to the $85 per person on the royal plan and ended up canceling the plated dinner and booking a cocktail reception. I recommend doing a cocktail reception rather than the plated dinner, especially if your group is smaller, around our size of 13. There is only a $420 set up and break down fee then, and although the people in Miami won’t guarantee dinner reservations, the resort will accommodate you. We told them it was very important to us to have dinner at Le Papillion following the cocktail reception and they made it happen.

Following the ceremony we did pictures and then had our cocktail reception. We also added an hour of open bar. The hors d’oeuvres were so tasty and so filling! All of our guests were stuffed after the cocktail reception but we still had our dinner at Le Papillion! The hors d’oeuvres included lamb, coconut shrimp, cheese platters, fruit platters, mini steaks, etc. At that time we also had our cake…go for the rum cake!

When we first arrived at the resort we made dinner reservations at Le Papillion for all 13 of us, no problems. They put us all at the same table, and even saved the flowers from the arch to use as a centerpiece on the long table. They made a special menu for us, and printed out the menus for each guest. It was such a wonderful touch. The food was incredible; they created a special surf and turf plate for our party. Both the steak and lobster were amazing. The wedding was more than I ever imagined and the Royal Plantation far exceeded my expectations.

Some things you should definitely do:

Snorkel at the shipwreck: ask the captain ahead of time so you can plan on a morning to go out.

The Private dinner: Have it on the beach, it’s so much more romantic and worth every penny. If you have your wedding there it’s included in the package.


My husband and I will definitely return for an anniversary! And that’s saying a lot because we generally agree we won’t revisit the same places since there are so many places in the world to see.
If you are looking to have your wedding in the Caribbean, the Royal Plantation is your place! It is a beautiful resort, and the staff are amazing. Andre, Derrick, Garry Guy, and Gladstone were only a few of the many staff members to make our stay absolutely wonderful. If you have any questions feel free to email me!

We just returned from RP, June 23-30. It was exceptional. Our final vote for this resort was after trip advisor.com voted it the best "all inclusive resort for 2007".
It was a great experience. Marcia checked us in and booked all of our evening meals for us the next morning. We booked a helicopter ride thru Island Hoppers which was expensive buy great.
We confirm all of the positives that others have said--food was great, Beach Grill was the least responsive in service but La Terrace and La Pappion were fabulous. My husband especially liked Garey and his customer service. My husband ordered "off the menu" a couple of times and Garey was always accomodating.
I know others have complained about the long waits for room service and dining, this did not happen to us.

We met other great couples and even dined with them at night. S & C. from the Dallas area and the couple from N. C. were great! We even booked a shopping expedition with them thru the gift shop and they even sent a personal shopper with the 6 of us.

HouseKeeping was great also! If you laid down on your bed during the day, they would re-make, change the sheets, etc. during the trun-down service. Always plenty of towels. The large closet off the bath made a great place to keep all your clothes and luggage.

Dislikes- We had room 208 which was a Premium Room. The shower was a tub combination and the shower head was small and worked poorly. Surely a better shower head could be found!

There were no extra electrical plugs in the bathroom for curling irons, etc.

NOTE: If you bring a laptop, don't forget your network cable as the wireless isn't always "up".

Over-all it was fabulous and we will go back!!!!!!!!!!!!
David and Belinda

We stayed at the royal plantation as part of our honeymoon from 11 June for 7 nights and had an amazing time! I'll try to give as much detail as possible as I appreciated the in depth reviews myself.

We flew from Newark with air Jamaica - I will never fly this airline again. Terrible service and uncomfortable plane - the staff were extremely rude. Thanfully our return flight was with Continental. However all was good on arrival in Montego Bay. Met promptly by Sandals rep and shown to the lounge. Didn't have time really to spend there as we were in our private transfer before we knew it. Took about 1.5 hours, stopping for Jerk Chicken on the way. Beer & Water in the car also.

Met at RP to do check in. Got a glass of bubbly with Sugar Cane and Cold Towels - just what we needed. There had been a problem with our booking - they had us down as European Plan (Room Only) when we had booked and paid for Royal Plan ( All inclusive). This was very quickly fixed. We then got taken on a tour of the property before being shown to our room - a Honeymoon One Bedroom Plantation Suite - room 206. Was amazed by the room - living area, bedroom with 4 poster (v comfortable), balcony, luxury batchroom with jacuzzi tub and rain shower, standard bathroom and large wardrobe/dressing room with a safe. There were 2 TVs, DVD, Video, I-POD Dock In and CD player/radio. Air conditioning was excellent - remote controlled. After about 10 mins staff promptly arrived with spirits etc for mini bar - fully stocked with champagne ( sparkling wine really...), beer and plenty of soft drinks, water & mixers.

Food was fantastic in both the Beach Grill and Le Papillion - La Terraze wasn't that nice to be honest so we only ate there once. They open the beach grill on one evening which was the nicest location for food as you were right by the sea. Dress code wasn't as OTT as I expected - jackets aren't needed for Le Papillion. Breakfasts were fantastic - loved them, esp the banana bread. They had the Monday night BBQ which wasn't great, but the desert selection was out of this world. My hubby doesn't do desserts, but he ate one every night! Didn't pay the money for a private dinner as to be honest, if you got a good table at the Royal Grill then it's not too far off being private!

The pool was small and I only used it once as the beach was so nice. As said before they set your table up and brought you a mangosa to start your day off, then platters of fresh fruit were brought round late morning. Cleon on the beach was brilliant and Curtis was a young shy guy but always made an effort to speak. You got your flag to wave for service, but I thought it was a bit much to wave a flag - I just waited till Cleon was passing me and caught him then! Try the Miami Vice at the beach - half pina colade, half strawberry daiquiri - to die for - want one now! Food at the beach was spectacular - particularly the Club Sandwhich!

Other good points - they sent up a bottle of champagbne, chocolates and a $50 spa voucher for our honeymoon.

Afternoon tea was amazing sometimes I missed lunch as was still full from breakfast so tea at 4pm was just perfect to keep me going till dinner.

There are some negatives, but nothing major but just worth being aware of.

- it is really, really quiet at night time - no-one really sits in the bar after dinner. We quickly learned after the 1st couple of nights to book later for dinner as the 2nd & 3rd night we ended up back in our room by 9.30pm when we had a 7.30 dinner and watched TV - not what I want to do on holiday. The entertainment wasn't great - bit cheesy elevator music with dinner.

- you have to book for dinner every night - this isn't because tables are limited ( but you get a better table the earlier you book) but so they can guage numbers in each restauarnt. It gets a bit annoying to be stuck to a time everynight - sometimes you just want to play it by ear.

- you are constantly being asked if everything is okay - good to a point, but they actually don't know how to react if your not 100% complimentary - I really don't want to have to give an update on my thoughts constantly. They even phone after room service.....

- the beach grill closes at 4.30pm for food and 5pm for drinks. Typically my hubby and I like to sit at the bar till the sun goes down having a few cocktails - not really an option here.

- there is nowhere to get a snack - it's a meal or nothing. You can get potato chips or anything similar to keep you going till dinner.

- Ordering more drinks (beer really) in your room is hit or miss - sometimes they send it up no problem really quickly and other times they will say no we only have 4 then you wait for an hour for it. It depends who answers the phone (there was 1 culprit for this)

- Spa was very overpriced - the cheapest treatment was $85 so the $50 voucher didn't go far. I also had a faciaf where she bumped up the price by $70 half way through my treatment as my skin was so conjested. But the quality of the treatments was exceptional - best massage the hubby has ever had and best facial I have ever had. They do try very hard to push the products on you.

In summary - I'd go back in a flash! I heard when leaving they are opening another one in Negril in the fairly near future - will definitely give that one a go as and when!

My husband and I had a horrible honeymoon when we married in 1998, so for our 10th wedding anniversary it was HIGHLY important that we stay at a fantastic place. Well, needless to say...WE FOUND IT! Let me tell you that this resort looks exactly like the pictures. No funny photography here that makes it look more colorful or beautiful than it really does. It was so nice and clean. It was laid out just beautifully. The gardens and landscaping are magnificent. The pool is nice. The beach beautiful. The service was great; however, I will say this-you are in Jamaica, they don't tick to the same clock we do and things will take longer (ie: waiting on room service) than you may necessarily want them to, but hey, you're on vacation so why be in a hurry!? =) We enjoyed everything. We dove twice while we were there, we sailed on the Hobie cats, we swam in the ocean, we went on a zipline tour. The meals were very enjoyable and our waiter Gary, at the Le Papillon, was such a great guy. Our private driver to/from the airport, Shorn, was super nice too. We just had a vacation that we will never forget. Now, the only problem...how to top this one? If you are contemplating going...you must!