We stayed at Royal Plantation for our honeymoon June 23rd - July 1st. It was AMAZING! We couldn't have asked for a better trip. I don't even know where to start...
-The food is great! Le Papillion is by far the best restaurant on the property, with a 5-star rating. I believe I read it's the only 5-star restaurant in Ocho Rios. Lunch at the Royal Grill was great as well...and just a few steps from your chair on the beach! You don't even have to leave your beach chair all day if you don't want to. They accomodate your every need...food, drink, anything! Cleon was awesome...great customer service! The Mangosas are great too! We did a private dinner on the pier and it was awesome. Food was delicious...and eating by candlelight on the pier was very romantic.
-Our room was wonderful! We stayed in Suite 61, which was on the corner on the West Wing. Amazing view! A short walk down the staircase and we were on the beach. Room service was always great for us...on time and delicious! LOVED the walk-in closet! Lots of space for all your luggage, clothes, etc.
-The beach was pristine. They are constantly working to keep the property beautiful (cleaning, combing the beach, etc). The peacocks roaming around were fun to watch too!
-We only left the property once to do the Jeep Safari/Dunns River Falls tour. We had a great time! Dunns River Falls was definitely a fun experience!
-Our drivers to and from the airport were great...and equipped with Red Stripe, water, coke, etc. I'm so glad we didn't have to take a tourist bus for the 1.5 hour drive to the resort!
-The spa was great as well. They do try to push you to buy their products, but after you say "no", they do not bother you about it. We got a couples massage and I got a manicure and pedicure. They are very thorough and spend LOTS of time with you. It was very relaxing and worth the money!
-The Royal Plan is definitely worth the money...and it's great to not have to worry about money while you are there. However, make sure to bring money to tip some of your favorite employees (this is not required, but some employees went above and beyond and we wanted to give them a little extra)

Overall, we had an amazing honeymoon! We can't wait to return! It was the most relaxing resort we have ever been to...which was definitely needed after a year of wedding planning! This is definitely the place to be if you want to RELAX and be treated like royalty!

We read many reviews before choosing Royal Plantation. The only recurring knock we read was that it was too quiet. We loved that aspect of it. We went with 3 couples all mid 30's with a penchant for cutting loose. We were worried that we would be to rowdy for other guests. The fact that the resort seemed to only be at half capacity eased our concerns. We opted for the all-inclusive and definitely got our money's worth. The rooms were ample but not overly nice. Room service was prompt. The beach was beautiful. The relaxing feeling we all had was hard to describe. We have vacationed together every year without kids for 5 years. We always pick a new place just in case we are missing something. This place was our favorite overall. The restaurants were pretty good. Lobster wasn't available, due to the season. We have had better food, but not enough to fret. The staff was cool. Mcleon and Lenmore could not have given more effort. Great service and personalities. Our driver, Davian aka "Young Lion" was so cool on the trip from the airport that we requested him for every ride we took from the resort. The only knock I would offer was that their was no nightlife after 9:00. It wasn't a problem for us but it might be for some. Great time !

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