The Travel Journey Podcast

11 - Our Travels to Sandals Montego Bay

So today we are going to chat about all things Montego Bay: things to do, our favorite restaurants and foods we recommend that you eat while at the resort, how far this resort is from the airport, travel tips, and FAQ we get for our clients.     My first time to Sandals Montego Bay was before they remodeled the resort which was years ago I want to say like 10 or 11 years ago. I am so glad we were able to see the way it was compared to how it is now, because it is a totally different resort! Everything about it is spectacular. We have had the opportunity to travel to this resort at least 6 or 7 different times so we are very familiar with the resort.    Kayla and Brett honeymooned at Sandals Montego Bay. They go above and beyond, making it feel more special for the two of you. The complimentary Honeymoon package includes a bottle of chilled sparkling wine, special turndown service with flower petals on your bed and breakfast in bed the morning of your choice.    The Sandals Montego Bay is the first ever Sandals All Inclusive Resort and with all the remodels they have done to this resort, it is spectacular the moment you arrive with your complimentary shuttle and the Sandals staff instantly greets you with your lemon-scented hand towels and a complimentary beverage. You can view the ocean instantly with the open air lobby giving you stunning sea views.     This resort is just 5 minutes from the airport to the resort. After traveling all day it's such a nice perk to arrive at the resort so quickly.  If you upgrade to Butler Service or certain Club Level rooms you get complimentary private car transfers.  Now one thing about being so close to the resort is you do hear planes take off, but you really don't notice them that much.   Of course, dining is included at the resort. Let’s chat about dining because I am all about eating good food. One of my favorite things in life is FOOD!    This resort has over 12 dining options to choose from but staying here they include a complimentary shuttle where you can eat, drink and play at Sandals Royal Caribbean. So you actually have 21 dining options to choose from.  I get asked which is my favorite restaurant all the time and all the restaurants are so good it is so hard to pick one restaurant, but I do love  Butch’s Stakehouse. I'm wishing I had a golden fried crab and bay scallops ball or their cast iron garlic shrimp and for the main course we have had a few different things, but I always like to go with the Surf and Turf; the filet mignon and lobster tail is so delicious. Another place I want to recommend is Sushi the Soy is one of my favorites.  Unlimited delicious sushi.    The nightlife and entertainment at the resort is fabulous. Sandals Montego Bay is known for it vibrant atmosphere and I would say that is so TRUE.  They have live shows, music, a piano bar, beach parties (silent night disco) and themed nights such as the white party on Chocolate night.    Latitudes Over-the-Water Bar  The Latitudes Over Water Bar is open to the warm Caribbean breezes where guests can lay in a hammock over the water or sit in a relaxing chair taking in the view of the turquoise Caribbean ocean.   Over-The-Water Chapel  This unique and picturesque venue features stunning 360-degree, panoramic water views and a glass floor aisle, so you can truly be walking on water on your special day.   Activities included at the resort  PLAY * All amenities at Sandals Royal Caribbean * PADI-Certified SCUBA diving and equipment * 7 pools, 3 whirlpools * Waterskiing and wakeboarding * Hobie Cats, paddleboards, kayaks * Snorkeling and equipment * Tennis and land sports * State-of-the-art fitness center * Day and night entertainment and live shows   Checkout or reach out to Carlie and Kayla info@2travelanywhere.com [info@2travelanywhere.com]        Topics we discussed: Our first time to Sandals Montego Bay About Sandals Montego Bay Honeymoon Sandals Montego Bay  A quick drive from the airport  Favorite dining options  Nightlife at Sandals Montego Bay  Entertainment and Activities included Over the water wedding chapel  Complimentary Shuttle to enjoy Sandals Royal Caribbean  Upgrade to MOBAY at the Jamacia airport

10 - Should I Upgrade to Butler Service?

Butler Service at Sandals and Beaches Resorts - Is it really worth upgrading to Butler Service?  Umm.. YES! You'll be absolutely spoiled with Butler Service at the Sandals Resorts.  Butler service will make you feel like a celebrity. They go above and beyond to make sure everything is perfect for you. Booking with us we help with your butler preference form. An example of the butler preference form is in our show notes. The preference form for butlers helps the butlers learn more about you- food allergies, favorite foods, alcohol preferences, special requests, and whether you're celebrating something special like a birthday, honeymoon, or anniversary. Now you can’t make dinner reservations before arriving to Sandals or Beaches Resorts, but let your butler know where you want to eat, and they can help you schedule that reservation. The butler can even arrange a more special table for you at one of the restaurants.   Sandals Resorts started  Butler Service in 1995. All the butlers for Sandals and Beaches are required to complete training with the Guild of Professional English Butlers, a prestigious organization to deliver the best hospitality.    Arriving at the hotel you are provided with lemongrass-scented hand towels, welcome cocktails, and culinary delights perfect after a long trip.  Now checking into the hotel with butler service you are treated like VIP. No waiting in line for checking in at the front desk your butler will greet you upon arrival and escort you to your suite. Check-in is at 3pm so for any reason you arrive earlier and your room isn’t ready your butler will escort you to a place to grab something to eat while you wait for your room. Butlers will handle your luggage to the room and even unpack your suitcase – if you prefer to unpack your own suitcase let the butlers know but they are really great at unpacking everything perfectly, even ironing your clothes that may have gotten wrinkled during travel.    With the Butler service, you are given a cell phone during your stay. Just be careful not to jump into the pool with it in your pocket! The cell phone is perfect for calling and texting any requests. If you're at the beach and you get hungry for pizza, just ask!   So how many butlers do you have during your stay?  You have a morning and an evening butler.  During your stay, you will have two butlers if you are staying a week, typically one of the butlers will get a day off so they will have  3rd butler step in for their day off. They alternate shifts so one day you will have the same butler for the morning and then another day you have that butler for the evening.    What do you ask your butler to do? Save a spot at the beach or the pool. Now I will say the ONLY resort where butlers don’t save a spot is Sandals Ochi and that is because Ochi has the largest team of butlers so if they saved seats there wouldn’t be any chairs for anyone else.  Have your butler bring you a cooler with your favorite drinks.  Have them bring you lunch by the pool or the beach. Have a tub ready in the room before dinner and/or have another bath ready after dinner with champagne and chocolate strawberries.  Surprise your partner with a decorated room while eating dinner.  Breakfast in bed or sleep in and have lunch in bed.  Dinner reservations- see if they can set up a more private or special table for the two of you.  If you decide to have dinner in the room ask your butler to set up something more special.  Possibilities are endless with butler service within reason.     How much should you tip your butler?   Sandals Resorts does have a no-tipping policy, however, butlers and spa team members are allowed to accept tips during your stay. It's the butlers lfull-time job to take care of you during your vacation. The average tip for a butler is $20 a day, but don’t forget you have a morning butler and an evening butler so $40 a day is an average tip for butler service. If you wish to tip more or less-  this is totally up to you. If you feel like your butler went above and beyond for the two of you then tip them more. You can pay the tip in US dollars or at check out you can charge tip to your room. We always take cash with us for tipping. Like us, if they get paid in cash, they don’t have to pay taxes but don’t tell anyone I said this.    Butler Service is the best! They will even help pack your bags for departure and help you check out. Like checking in they will help handle everything for departure as well.    If you have any questions about butler’s service please reach out to us on Instagram @2travelanywhere by sending me a DM or email me info@2travelanywhere.com [info@2travelanywhere.com]  I will put my information in the show notes.

9 - Traveling to Europe: Top 5 Destinations for Relaxation, Romance, History, Architecture and Nature

Welcome back to another episode of our travel journey podcast, I am Carlie and I'm so excited about today’s episode. I have today with me our travel advisor Kayla and a special guest Chad Long [https://www.europeexpress.com/sales-team.aspx#Chad] to discuss our Top 5 Destinations for Europe! The three of us have all been lucky enough to travel to Europe ourselves and each one of us has a favorite destination so it will be fun for us to discuss and narrow it down to only 5 different destinations. Kayla and I are travel consultants with 2 Travel Anywhere and we love helping others plan Europen getaways and our special guest Chad Long works with Europe Express doing the same!  I have been blessed and spoiled to travel to Europe. My husband and I have travelled all over Europe. In the past 12 years we have been to Greece, Iceland, Italy, France, England, Spain, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Croatia, Montenegro, Belgium, and Norway. We are experienced and knowledgeable about traveling to Europe.  As we dive in, Kayla tells us about her European travel experiences as well as her experience living abroad in Europe, and Chad tells us about his work with Europe Express and his travel experiences. We have so many favorites for Europe so it was hard to come up with just a few destinations for this conversation. In fact, I think could even do another podcast to discuss even more about each one of the destinations we've highlighted below.    Here are our top picks for Europe: Relaxing destinations: Santorini, Greece or Mykonos, Greece    Romantic & Wine destinations: Tuscany, Italy or Southern Italy such as Naples or Sorrento    History destinations: Paris, France or Spain like Barcelona and Madrid    Architectural destinations: Prague, Czech Republic or Budapest, Hungary    Geographic and nature-focus destinations:  Switzerland and Ireland      We'll leave you with 3 travel tips to wrap it up for today. Thank you so much Chad for joining us!

8- Over Water Bungalows in the Caribbean

The Over water bungalows that we are chatting about today are all adult, all-inclusive, and absolutely perfect. I have had the opportunity to see all the different bungalows for the Sandals Resorts and I have personally stayed in them so I am so happy to chat about the differences in these bungalows and help explain which bungalow option could be best for the 2 of you. If you are unsure where to even begin for trip planning be sure to download our guide-  https://www.thesandlady.com/download-our-guide-to-selecting-your-sandals-resort  to selecting your Sandals Resort – with over 20 different Sandals on 7 different islands this guide will help you narrow the best option for your next vacation getaway.    The bungalows are one of the of the top requests we get from our clients and if you have seen pictures of the over bungalows you understand why they are a popular request.  When people think of bungalows they typically think of Maldives and Tahiti but did you know there are bungalows in the Caribbean as well?  The Caribbean over bungalows are spectacular and a short quick flight and the bungalows are all inclusive. What are the perks for booking a Sandals over water bungalow vs. a different destination, what is included and which destination is best for the two of you.    Let’s dive and chat about the FAQ we get about the overwater bungalows for Sandals Resorts.    What is included for a Sandals Resort over water bungalow?  Wow maybe easier to tell you what isn’t included than what is included.  the overwater bungalows are all inclusive- all food, drinks and alcohol are included. so you want to have breakfast in your room but then go eat breakfast at a restaurant -why not..   lunch you decide to eat jerk shack and have some local jerk chicken or jerk fish but go to your room and decide you want to eat more.. don’t worry it is all included so order as much as you wish as many time as you wish. The in room dining for the over water bungalow is unlike any other room option at Sandals – all your meals are over the water which makes it even better with the ocean breeze, the sound of the waves and best of all just the 2 of you.   I highly recommend having breakfast, lunch or dinner on the private patio over the water and your butler can setup everything – to make it feel even more romantic.  Each bungalow has Glass floors you don’t even need to step outside your room to appreciate the Caribbean crystal-clear waters.  With the see through glass floors, you can experience ocean from your luxurious villa. You can turn on the light in the evening and view the sea life in the evenings. When I stayed in the room it was so exciting to wake up and going to bed to view the fish while still lying in the bed. The tranquility soaking tub outdoor is made for 2  – the tub offers private curtains to use the tub anytime of the day. The shower has two entrances so you can enter from outside after swimming in the ocean or come in from the room – I love having this feature, so you don’t get water all over the floor after swimming in the ocean.  The over the water hammock is perfect for reading a book or taking a tap and it is made for 2 to enjoy. I recommend relaxing one evening on the over water hammock and watch the stars.  AND the Personalized butler service is top notch like if I win the lottery one day, I am going to definitely hire one of the butlers as they are best!  These rooms have the best butlers, trained Guild professional butlers who provide butlers to nobility and celebrities. Your personal butler will handle every detail on your vacation- I could talk forever what all a butler does for your vacation that I actually may do another podcast on butler service.  Back on track to the topic Luxury airport transfers round trip is included And all the typical things that are included with Sandals your entertainment, land sports, water sports, snorkeling, scuba diving and more.  With the over water bungalow if you want to snorkel everyday off your private patio- no problem snorkel gear is included, if you want to enjoy stand up paddle board from your room no problem it is included.  Now one thing that is really important about Sandals Resorts all the rooms only offer king beds – so the bungalow options for Sandals are only king bed rooms. .       So l which Sandals Bungalow is best for the 2 of you? The bungalows for Sandals are located on the Caribbean islands of Jamaica and St Lucia.    Jamaica was the very first bungalow at the Sandals Royal Caribbean. These stunning bungalows have two different room categories.  The Over water private island butler Villa with infinity pool room code for the room is OWV  Located on a private island with boat transfer included. The main difference between these suites and the other is having a private pool and the room is larger with a larger outdoor patio. The room has a glass floor and the patio also has glass floor to view the sea life any time of day.   The other room category at Royal Caribbean that offer over the water is called.  Over-the water honeymoon Butler Bungalow room code for this room is OWB Very similar to the other room with the glass floor, soaking tub, over water hammocks, outdoor showers everything is the same you just don’t have the pool like the other room. Boat ferry is included for this room as well.  One of the perks about staying at this resort you are minutes from the airport which is really nice after traveling to arrive to resort so quickly. Guests staying at this resort can dine at the Sandals Montego Bay making it 21 dining options all included in the price. The restaurants that require dinner reservations your butler can help setup the best time for the 2 of you.     The other resort in Jamaica that overs the over water bungalow is Sandals South Coast. Sandals South Coast is a 90-minute drive from the airport to the resort. If you want a larger beach this resort is perfect for the 2 of you located on 2 miles of beach- perfect for beach walks.  Dining options you have 9 different restaurants all included in the package.    Private car transfers is included for this room. No boat ferry is required for these bungalows you can walk anytime out to your rooms. Every bungalow has same layout with the glass floor, outdoor private soaking tub and outside shower with the in room dining and Elite Butler service.    The third bungalow option St Lucia at the Sandals Grande St Lucia located on Rodney Bay known to have the calmest waters in St Lucia. What makes this resort so unique you have Caribbean on one side of the resort and the Atlantic Ocean on the other side of the resort. This resort has 12 dining options included but guests staying here can dine at the nearby Sandals. You have Sandals Halcyon about 20 minutes and Sandals La Toc about 25 minutes away from this resort making it 27 dining options to choose from.   Private car transfers are included for this room as well. You can walkout from the beach to the rooms no boat ferry is necessary. The layout of the room is the same as the other options with the glass floor, outdoor soaking tub with privacy curtains and outside shower. Enjoy in-room dining and the butler Elite service.    So if you have any questions about anything that I talked about on this episode you can always find me on Instagram @2travelanywhere I would love to hear from you. I always have people DM questions  Want a free custom quote or have questions about the bungalows? Or need help with pllaning Please DM me  Go to www.2travelanywhere.com [http://www.2travelanywhere.com] contact us to start planning.     What We Discussed  Which Bungalow is best for the 2 of you? What is included with Sandals Resorts Bungalows?  Where are the bungalows located?  Guide Which Resort is best for you? https://www.thesandlady.com/download-our-guide-to-selecting-your-sandals-resort   Please contact us. We have personally vacationed to all the bungalows,  so we are very familiar with them.  Hope you have a wonderful week and join me for our next episode.  Bye Friends

7 - Scuba Diving at Sandals and Beaches

Today’s topic on the Travel Journey Podcast is the inside scoop about scuba diving at Sandals Resort and Beaches Resorts. We are chatting with someone who is a dive specialist with the resort, Melissa. In today’s episode, we’ll be talking about: - Locations for the Sandals and Beaches Resorts - Favorite dive destinations - Dive programs with Sandals and Beaches Resorts - Dive equipment included with the resort - Dive boats - Medical questionnaire – everyone must complete this for diving at the resorts - How many times can you dive at the resort? - Night dives - Pro-tip Upgrade to butler service - Dive cameras Melissa recommends Thank you Melissa for joining us today! If you want to learn more about scuba diving or want a free custom quote, you can contact us https://2travelanywhere.com/contact A huge thank you to Melissa for coming to chat with me today. Links Mentioned:  Medical questionnaire for diving scuba-medical.pdf (sandals.com) Contact us info@2travelanywhere.com  www.2travelanywhere.com Instagram https://www.instagram.com/2travelanywhere/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/2travelanywhere New to scuba diving New Divers - Courses & Scuba Diving Adventures | Sandals Dive sites Dive Sites at Our Caribbean Resorts | Sandals