Airline: Sunwing departure was to be 6:00 am on Sunday February 5, 2012, from Ottawa. We left at 9:30 am with no explanation. We pre-purchased our seats. Elite Plus don't bother unless you really need the leg room or extra luggage weight. Cabin crew are excellent and very nice. They do their best with the hot meals but they really aren't good. Duty free shopping is great on the plane.

Transfers to Hotel: One and a half hours from Montego Bay Airport to the Resort. They stop along the way to grab a cold one and something to eat. Big bus, air conditioned.

Hotel check-in: Be smart, sign up for Riu Class card email the hotel in advance, you will get exactly what you want. We had ocean view, in the deluxe wing of the resort with one king size bed. The other side is older and considered to be the "party side". Clean room, no bugs, no issues. Safe key, bring a large key chain or one of those wrist bands to keep your keys. This is a large resort. At the time of our trip it was at 80% capacity.

Shopping at the Resort: There are three places to grab whatever you forgot. Chocolate bars $2 US and Suntan lotion up to $23...but a t-shirt was $10. If you have a Riu Class card you get 15% off at the store and spa services.

Room: One king size bed, tv, seating area, room safe, bar fridge, with water, beer, and pop. They refill it every two days. Standard bedding, nothing spectacular. They say you can drink the water. If you leave open pop bottles you will get ants...duh?

Meals: I have no idea why people complain about the food. There is so much variety at the buffets, St. Ann is the main breakfast buffet, with so much to choose from. The head chef and sous chefs are constantly buzzing about. What is definitely worth waiting for is the Jerk chicken bbq on the beach. Bar service while you wait, hot chicken, rice and beans, with amazing sauces..jerk and bbq.

A la cartes: Since we had the deluxe wing you could select four restaurants, so after reading the reviews we got up very early and waited but 5 minutes in line to select the first three. We went to the following in order of preference Mamamee (steak house), Sir John (Gourmet), Japanese and then the Asian. We had no problems getting any reservation.

Entertainment: The staff work extremely hard at this resort, practicing during the day for the shows at night. They were silly fun and we didn't watch all of them. The people at this resort are super friendly and will do anything to help you or to please you.

Sports Bar & Casino: Yikes...not a great place...its open 24 hours..games room, old slot machines..tv..a place to get sandwiches, hot dogs, nachos...I found this to be a convenient place to get a plastic container for the fruit that I needed when we checked out.

Beach/Pool - you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to reserve a space. Although by 10:00 am it was filling up. The beach is nice...its not huge...its not the Dominican...your not walking for hours down the beach. Pool bar is great, the staff are fun and remember your drinks from the day before!

Tours and Excursions: We took the advice of our tour operator for insurance purposes we only did sanctioned trips. We did the Catamaran and Dunn's River Falls trip. Wow! $93 per person. Gets you a short bus trip to where the Catamaran launches. Yes they try to sell you everything, but just say no thanks if your not interested. Pics of you on the boat, pics of you in the sea, snorkeling near the reef..t-shirts they will try to sell you everything. We were an extra hour on the boat due to the "starter" on the boat failing...oh well an extra hour on the sea with the sun and breeze how can you complain about that?

Dunn's River falls. Heed their advice, bring water shoes, if you wear glasses you will loose them. I wear glasses and glad I left them on the boat. You can also leave your belongings on the boat safely. It was a scary fun adventure, human chain men, women, men, so that the men help the women up the slippery rocks. The water is refreshing it is beautiful and exhilarating!! After the one hour climb, it is about ten minutes back downstairs to the boat where rum punch and the party starts! They will offer you a video to purchase at $40. I got mine for $20 as I said no and it was offered at the last minute for less. Bring a waterproof camera.

Shopping: We paid $10 each to go with Travis the tour bus driver into town. What an experience. They stop at three places. The first place is owned by East Indians. Jewellery, cigars, sauces, and coffee. Make sure you barter. $15 for coffee is what you should pay. The Flea market is a cultural experience. This is where it separates the men from the women! I love to shop and enjoy seeing how people live, make their money and am not bothered by the constant hassle. I smile, say no thanks and move on. You can buy a t-shirt for up to $30 or you can get 5 for $20...its all about quality. You get what you pay for. Buy your booze at the airport, it the least expensive place to buy and they box it up for you.

Check Out: Our flight was at 11:30 am, so check out was at 5:20 am...the night before, we went to the Sports bar and took a sandwich container and had it filled up with fruit. We got to the airport again no issues. Your luggage will weigh more than you think. Clothes gets damp, humidity sets in. I didn't have a lot of souvenirs either. We met a great man named Wayne from Ottawa who had a portable scale,,,I am sure he saved us some money as I had to move some clothes into my husband's suitcase. We were to leave at 11:30 am but were delayed one hour due to the plane having to be de-iced in Ottawa. Great pilot and crew again.

Problems: I read as I did my research on this resort about odors/sewage smell...and yes it is true. On day 4 the elevator stunk to high heaven..and then it would go away..certain parts of the resort had an distinct odor to it..days 5, 6, the room had a smell and we aired it out by opening the patio doors. Not really sure what the problem was. I hope the resort fixes that one fast.

Overall: Would I stay at this resort again? Yes, however, we like to try new places but will continue with the RIU chain.