Riu Montego Bay Hotel

... our last day we got a local taxi driver to take us down the road to Negril, another town on the west of the country. There is a great beach there (7-mile beach) and some cliffs with the most amazing turquoise water crashing beneath.<br><br>To sum it up, Mobay served its purpose perfectly: gave us a chance to catch up with Craig, do some swimming, catch a tan, drink some beers but most of all just take it easy and relax and have a holiday form our holiday!

... a water camera only and water shoes. What a riot, this would be such a fun activity for the group. <br><br>The evening entertainment, to my surprise and delight was the Steel Drum band the Silver Birds. AMAZING I SAY. There were also locals set up in the area between the main pool and the lobby (downstairs terrace area) with there goods to sell. <br><br>The grounds are immaculate. Focal point of this resort is the 18 hole Golf Course and the Sugar Mill pool &amp ...

... so you don't need to walk very far to get a drink. I tend to be kind of a busy body and get tired of lying on the beach. My usual routine is to casually make the rounds between all three, taking in the sites, and chatting with friends along the way. <br><br><br><br>That is the beauty of this resort. If you want to do nothing but party, there is always a party going on somewhere. If you want to just relax and soak up ...

... I wouldn't mind a little icing on the cake, too, after pretty boring food for two months. The boredom diet works, and the travel diet too. I'm down to 173 pounds from probably 183 a half year ago. That's fighting weight, lean and mean and polished to a high sheen... Blood pressure's good, too. So it costs me $70-80 for the office visit and a week's worth of penicillin from a clinic called, I **** you not, 'Doctor's Office'. What the Hell; this ...

... and take a vitamin pill. Some cold weather in Cuba is one thing; that's not even the Caribbean proper. That's only a stone's throw from Miami and subject to major cold fronts coming down over the plains from Canada, one after the other, like planes taking their turns on the runway. Most don't make it to Jamaica of course, nor Cuba either, running out of steam at around Orlando, maybe leaving a little patina of frost on the fruit crop ...

... this is why we were not leaving at 2....as the staff needed minimum hotel time before flying again. - They had not been fueled as the Jamaican staff needed a Thomas Cook signature - not accepting the Monarch signature instead. The pilot left the plane and pulled a fuelling machine from another plane as they were in danger of going over their hours and having to wait another 10 hours here! We set off and had a few more problems! - The A300 could not make ...

... back, for many a days'. We did some souvenir shopping at the ship's terminal and board the ship again in the evening. The Jamaica goverment had in place a grand send-off for us with a Uniform Band playing to us as our ship left the shores of Montego Bay. "My heart is down, my head is turning around, I had to leave a little bit of me in Montego Bay...".

... I quickly phoned on of my best friends in Indiana who was also going to Montego Bay for Sumfest. It was 4AM her time but she made me promise that if I won I'd wake her up. Her and I were so excited that we'd see each other again.....even though I had just gone to Indiana a month earlier to see her, we ALWAYS wanted to meet in Jamaica but our timing was always off. The next morning at work I was severly dragging my ass around on 3 hours of sleep. I was ...

... and take in the full flavour of its Caribbean city appeal. One huge downpour of rain resulted in cars floating around in the town centre, which made the place look spooky, and it was good to discover that a 5 minute walk further up from the payable Doctor's Cove beach was a stretch of beach equally enjoyable, minus the full extent of facilities, but cost-free, and the kind of beach with which I would associate a Caribbean ...

... hurricane that's all set to destroy another chunk of America. Oh, yeah, and the Chief Justice died right after Sandra Day O'Conor stepped down, so the Supreme Court will be packed with conservative P HOLES! Don't make me come back there and clean up this mess! You guys better have it figured out by the time I get back!