Reviews:

“The Royal Caribbean is a great tropical island getaway”

For our vacation this year, my wife and I decided to try an all-inclusive, adults-only resort in the Caribbean. We booked the honeymoon suite (with concierge service) at the Sandals Royal Caribbean Resort in Montego Bay, using an online travel agent called Vacations-To-Go. I highly recommend both the resort and the travel agent. Everything was organized and prepared in a timely manner, the travel agent was professional and knowledgeable, and the resort staff was friendly and courteous. We were warmly greeted at the airport by Sandals employees who escorted us to a comfortable, private lounge where, after making sure our luggage was secured, they provided us with pastries, fresh fruit, and Jamaican Red Stripe beer. There we waited only a short time until the shuttle arrived to take us to our destination.
The ride to the resort was less than 15 minutes away, and after making sure our luggage was transported to our room, the concierge gave us a full rundown of the resort amenities. There are two other Sandals resorts nearby, Sandals Montego Bay and Sandals Inn, both of which were fully available for our use via a free shuttle. The concierge then made arrangements for our dinner reservations for the week, and after a private tour of the resort, we were taken to our room.
There are numerous activities at this resort, most of which are included in the price, such as snorkeling, scuba diving, sailing, glass-bottom boat, kayaking, wind-surfing, tennis and golf. They have four pools (two of which have swim-up bars), whirlpools, private beaches, and an off-shore private island with two more beaches, one of which offers "secluded" (aka clothing-optional) sunbathing. My wife prefers topless sunbathing, and the Royal Caribbean is one of the nicer resorts for this purpose. There were no annoying gawkers on the clothing-optional beach, just a small group of friendly, respectful, similar-minded people like us, most of whom were in our age group, from about 30-50. In fact, almost all of the guests with whom we shared this wonderful week were friendly, fun-loving people, ranging in age anywhere from 18-70. We did not see any loud, obnoxious drunks at this resort, even though the alcohol flowed freely 24/7. There were several small wedding ceremonies during the week, which added to the romantic aura of the resort.
The private island also has an open air gourmet Thai restaurant serving dinner only. In fact, all of the resort's fine dining restaurants served us delicious, gourmet meals. There are bars all over the place and an outdoor beach grill where you can get hamburgers, hot dogs, jerk chicken and other local foods. You can literally eat and drink 24 hours a day, and it's all included. You don't even have to tip anybody.
We were often accosted by local vendors selling hand-made items such as necklaces, artwork, wood carvings, etc., some of whom hung out during the day on kayaks in the water right outside our room. At first we were a little offended by this, but then we soon realized it was a cultural thing, and the locals are actually very friendly and respectful. We ended up buying a bunch of souvenirs from them on our last day.
Although we did do some kayaking and snorkeling, and we took an offsite excursion to the Dunn's River Falls, we spent most of our time lounging and swimming on the private island's secluded beach. Fortunately there was an outdoor bar available to provide us with all the Red Stripe and rum punch we could drink. We hadn't had a chance to sunbathe on an actual beach since leaving Miami five years ago.
Overall, we had a wonderful vacation, and for anyone thinking of going on a tropical island getaway, I suggest you consider the all-inclusive version. And if you don't have any kids going with you, I recommend either the adults only or couples only alternative. We both highly recommend Sandals Royal Caribbean Resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica.