ultimate family vacation

How to Make the Most of a Short Vacation

October 1, 2019 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

When you really need a break from work to go on a vacation, but you just can’t fit one in, it can certainly feel like the universe is against you. There’s no need to feel down, however. Two or three days is enough to fit in exactly the break you need. You can have a fun-filled, relaxing or activity-based weekend vacation and make it feel like a two-week stay with these simple tips.

1. Plan Your Itinerary
When you have two whole weeks to plan what you’re going to do, you can easily leave it until when you get there and see what you feel like doing, but when you’ve only got two or three days, you need to be prepared from the get-go so that you don’t waste a second of your time.

If you want to visit attractions, check their opening times beforehand and plan to get there as soon as they open so that you can spend as much time there as you want to. Even more vital: choose the attractions that you want to visit ahead of time! You don’t want to be still discussing where you want to go when you’re having breakfast and need to leave soon.

2. Rent a Car
It can be a pain to rely on public transport when you have limited time. Buses often don’t turn up when they say they will, and this can put a strain on your vacation when you’ve only got so much time.

To avoid this altogether, contact E-Z Rent a Car; they will be able to provide you with a vehicle wherever you are taking a vacation, so you can do it your own way and save time on the highway.

You can also go off the beaten track when you’re driving your own car, so you can fully experience the destination of your vacation without limits.

3. Don’t Overbook It
In most destinations, there are probably many places and attractions that you want to visit and experience, but there simply won’t be enough time to see them all, even on a longer vacation. You don’t want to overbook your vacation and make it a stressful experience for you. After all, it is supposed to be about relaxing and having fun.

Instead, plan to visit a few tourist attractions and be realistic about how much time you can or will spend there. There is no fun in having a fully packed itinerary if you miss half of it and spend the visits you did make feeling tired or run down.

Short vacations make for a great burst of fun and activity and are a nice little break from the routine stress of everyday life. It’s good to keep in mind that if you do approach a weekend vacation like a two-week vacation, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. They can be just the break you need if you plan them well and treat them as what they are: short.

@GreatWolfLodge Will Provide Lasting Memories for the Whole Family!

April 30, 2012 by dadofdivas 26 Comments

Have you ever looked for an amazingly fun getaway for your family that gives you the best of all worlds. This past weekend my family and I had the opportunity to travel to Traverse City to go to Great Wolf Lodge. We had never been there before, but we had heard of many people that had gone and they had a great time. For us, it took us a little over three hours to get there, but the three hours were definitely worth it. When we got there, of course, the kids wanted to hit the waterpark. While the waterpark is a large part of the resort, I came to find that there was much more to the resort than just water and slides.

Before I get into the rest of the resort, I have to talk about the waterpark itself. The waterpark was huge and had a little bit of everything, from pool, three waterslides, whirlpools and huge waterpark tree park. One of the best things about the waterpark was the fact that they kept it at a constant 84 degrees inside the waterpark and the water is also quite comfortable as well (unlike many waterparks that I have been to in the past). For my eldest daughter, she mentioned that her favorite parts of the waterpark were the waterslides as well as the huge can of water that dumped on bystanders every 5 minutes or so (and did it ever drench you). The three waterslides were quite different, and I have to say that my favorite was the yellow on that allowed up to three people go down and provided a bit faster ride and you even got to go in the dark. My youngest daughter loved the two waterslides that came off of the tree fort and for only being four, she showed some great bravery going on that over and over again!

On day two of our stay at the resort I spoke to the manager and he let me know about a program that they had called the paw pass. This great addition to your stay opens up the rest of the resort to you and your family. It provides you with the opportunity to try out a interactive scavenger hunt called MagiQuest as well as get a cool tattoo, a stuffed friend, a snack in the waterpark, tokens for the Arcade and a memorable take home gift from the Cub Club.

MagiQuest was something that looked awesome and in starting the quest itself, my eldest daughter worked to become a Master Magi. This took a few hours and quite a bit of walking between floors, but she was able to achieve this rank and then battle both a Dragon and Goblin King.

There was quite a bit more that she could have done if we had more time, but alas, we were not able to complete everything. The game though is fun because you get a magic wand and go around collecting special runes that you need to defeat your enemies, as well as gold to support your quests. The game makes you think deeply about riddles, and remember where things are along the way. The game was a ton of fun and the resort had some hidden fun things around the resort as well which worked with the wand that made it even more worthwhile.

The tattoo that I mentioned is not your run of the mill tattoo but a multicolored, sparkling tattoo that was amazing! They had so many tattoos to choose from and my youngest chose one of the characters from the resort and as you can see it is quite intricate.

The resort itself had a great gift shop, and inside this gift shop you can find some amazing items to help you remember your trip. One of the things that my youngest was able to do thanks to the Paw Pass was build a stuffed friend that she will have forever. If you have ever been to Build-A-Bear workshop this is a similar idea and they have outfits that you can purchase as well.

The Cub Club is a fun location that allows kids to be able to be creative or just chill out playing some games, watching a movie, or making a fun take-home item (for a small fee). They had a ton of things that you could make and take home that allowed kids to show their creative juices and my eldest made a knap sack and my youngest made a monkey pillow (as she loves monkeys).

The arcade was a blast and you can find games that range everywhere from one to four tokens (each token is worth .25/token). Our girls each had 10 tokens so they did not last too long, but that did not stop them from having a blast in the arcade itself!

Finally was the snack that they had in the waterpark. The snack, called Potato Stix, really was a potato on a stick. What was amazing about this was that they literally take a full potato slice it up in a machine with a spiral cut, fry it and place seasoning on it (based on your own taste) and it comes out looking like potato chips on a stick. The snack itself is not completely crunchy like a potato chip, but it was still a lot of tasty fun.

These are only a few things that we tried and enjoyed. There was also a ton of daily activities such as an animatronic show as well as story time every night which was fun and the kids got to meet some of the resort characters after the story. They had an on-site restaurant which the kids liked as well.

All-in-all this was a great trip which will provide long-lasting memories. I think we are hooked and I believe that you will be too! I highly encourage you to consider taking your own family to a Great Wolf Lodge near you!

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Franklin D. Resorts – Underwater Fun for All

June 1, 2010 by dadofdivas 1 Comment

I had the pleasure to be asked to take my family on a vacation to Jamaica to visit the Frankin D. Resort in Runaway Bay, Jamaica. Over the next few days I will be talking about different aspects of our experience at this resort, today I want to talk about activities for adults on and off the resort.

Prior to going to Jamica I had never had the opportunity to go snorkling. Franklin D Resort staff take guests out two times per day to great snorkling sites around the resort. Yet, in saying this, for me, I found the best sites for snorkling to be about 50 yards out from the resort. I have to say that I was amazed at how bouyant a person is in the waters around Jamaica. I never felt that I needed a fe jacket to stay afloat. Also, I have to say that diving on some of the reefs around the resort allowed me to see both healthy and diseased reefs.

It took me a while to get the pressure equalized in my ears when I did decide to dive down, but I finally did get this concept down and was able to dive further down than I thought I could at first. What I loved about diving down was that you could swim in directky into schools of sh and close to beautiful coral. Some of the best days of snorkling was when I was swiming out from the resort and there were beautiful electric blue fish swimming all around me, and in divind down they simply continued to swim around me as well.

I was particularly impressed at the brain coral that was found on the reefs. Some were small and some were very large. All-in-all I have to say that my underwater adventures were ones that made me want more. I am hooked and I know that the next time I get to a location that provides me the opportunity to snorkle again, I will definitely be taking advantage of it.I was interested to meet some of the local Jamaican divers that went out every day to find conch shells for tourists. Of course their first thing to do when they met me was to try and sell me a shell, but I persisted in asking questions about how they did what they did and how they learned to dive. Most of these divers could free dive over 60 feet which was amazing to me. One may stated that he could get to about 150 feet on a good day. The men were very friendly and of course very willing to sell you a beautiful shell.

If you have never done this and enjoy swimming and seeing amazing things, then you must find a time to snorkle for yourself. You will not be disappointed!

I should also mention that the resort also has certified dive instructors for those that do want to dive to deeper depths and see more things during the week. I chose not to do this at this point, but seeing how much I enjoyed the snorkling, I might enjoy diving as well, you just never know!

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All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site’s Terms of Use for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions. All images were taken with The Olympus Stylus Tough Camera that was provided during the trip. Also our family received sunglasses for the trip from The Sunglass Warehouse.

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Franklin D. Resorts – Making Friends!

May 31, 2010 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

One of the great things that I noticed at this resort was the opportunity for kids and adults to meet others like themselves and make friends, even when they were not looking.I know that while we were there Diva-J made a number of friends that were of many different ages.Much of the nature of the resort places you in close proximity with one another. Whether this was in regards to the fact the the reort was small and the rooms were close to one another or the fact that there were so many activities that brought prople together, I am not for certain, but it happened none-the-less.
The kids had so many opportunities to be together they are thrown into opportunities for getting to know each other and I definitely saw this to be the case for Diva-J.

Making friends though was not only for kids. Actually, the adults also had some great opportunities to have fun experiences with other parents.Seeing that all of the parents were in the same boat, we were brought together by common experiences and bonds.

At the time that we were at the resort all of the children staying there were under age ten. This being the case, all of the parents were going through similar issues with thieir children, and we all started having opportunities to talk and get to know each other (sharing experiences and parenting challenges at first).

For J-Mom and I, we really enjoyed our time with the other adults, and we could see ourselves hanging out with these adults again in the future if given the opportunity.

While we were there a group of us even decided to go and climb a waterfall together, we had a blast and were so glad that we took this opportunity!

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Some great Books to Engage You and Your Family

May 29, 2010 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

I was given the opportunity to review a few new Hunter House Publishing books that give great ideas for having fun with you families during the summer and all the time. These and many other such books can be found over at Hunter House Publishing!

101 Cool Pool Games for Children
It’s a fact that kids love water and that water play is a great way to keep kids physically fit. Playing games in
the pool is a fun and social way to burn calories and improve overall fitness level. Water provides more
resistance than air because of its increased density. This increased resistance helps promote better muscular
endurance and tone. The activities and games in 101 Cool Pool Games require walking, running, jumping, balancing, stretching, kicking, catching, swimming, treading water, racing on floats, diving under water, dodging sponges, pushing and pulling fun stuff in the water. The book is aimed at encouraging cardiovascular fitness and includes variations of games created exclusively by kids.

For quick access and easy-to-follow directions, the activities are organized into six sections: racing games, tag games, imagination games, team games, out of the pool water games and individual games and activities.

Since water safety is priority number one, each activity includes a recommended skill level, the type of equipment that may be needed and the recommended number of players. There are shallow water and deep water games, so whether you have a blow-up pool in your backyard or swim in the Atlantic Ocean just take the plunge into the coolest pool games!

In this age of electronic media, where we become watchers instead of doers, we tend to overlook the many wonderful ways of playing together.

About the Author
Kim Rodomista has been a fitness and dance instructor for 20 years. She has received nine certifications in fitness instruction and personal training, specializing in Kid’s Fitness. She served on the Governors Committee of Youth Fitness, worked in over 25 school systems teaching fitness to kids and has developed many successful summer camps throughout Massachusetts. She has been a lecturer at fitness seminars throughout New England. Her permanent home is in Texas, but she is currently living for a year in Quebec, Canada.

101 Family Vacation Games

Travel often presents parents and caregivers with a problem— how to
entertain their children while on vacation, away from their toys, friends, and the normal amusements of home.

Whether in a car, on a plane, at the campsite or simply hanging out at the beach, 101 Family Vacation Games has an activity that will fit the bill. Shando Varda’s book provides a simple, healthy, and engaging solution for
the family in need of diversion. Ranging from mind exercises to physical challenges, the games utilize simple props, and are a healthy alternative to the video games, television, and comic books that so often become the
quick-fix for bored children.

Organized by place (beach, car, plane), the games provide a supportive, trustworthy, and dynamic play environment, and can be used just as readily in the home or classroom. Parents can use them as a tool to meet their children as equals, act as role models, interact with them creatively, and reinforce positive behaviors.

Teachers, camp counselors, and even therapists, will also find this book a valuable resource filled with
interesting, unique, and absorbing activities. Games such as Word Tennis, Storytelling Starters and Pebble
Pictures are a great way for adults to engage children away from the home, and a wonderful tool to get kids
outside and moving around. 101 Family Vacation Games provides activities for:

Long car, and plane, rides
Parks and beaches
Birthday parties
Long days spent at home

These lively activities will create vibrant memories for both kids and caregivers, and put on end to the endless
“Are we there yet?” question. So have some fun and try some of these “boredom busting” games:

Blind Distance -Travel Game
How to Play: The driver chooses an object far in the distance and announces the chosen object (ex:
bridge, church, lake, hill, billboard). Next, all the players close their eyes. The players wait until
they feel the car has reached the object. At that time, each player will call out, “Now!” Then, she
will open her eyes. She does not say whether or not the car has actually arrived at the object. This
way, the other players can still guess. When all players have had a turn guessing and have opened
their eyes, the driver decides who the winner is. Play resumes with either the driver or the winner of
the last round choosing a new object.

Sardines– Play at Home Game
How to Play: The player designated as the hider goes and hides while the rest of the players cover
their eyes and count to a predetermined number. The hider has to hide somewhere where there is
room for others to hide as well. When the count is complete, the other players shout “Coming!,”
and try to find the hider. When a player finds the hider, she has to hide with him without letting any
of the other seekers know. This may involve coming back when the coast is clear. The game ends
when the last player finds the hider (and others who by now are squeezing in together and trying to
keep quiet). The first person to find the hider gets to be the new hider in the next round.

About The Author:
Shando Varda is a storyteller, musician, community artist, teacher, workshop
leader, and playleader from kindergarten to corporate levels. Inspired in the 1970’s by the new
games foundation’s approach to cooperative play, he now teaches and leads play with people of all
ages. He lives in Lyme Regis, Wales.

101 Movement Games for Children
This addition to the SmartFun series contains games intended to teach children how to use their bodies as a means of expression and to cultivate their social and creative abilities. The games stress excitement, humor, challenge, surprise, and cooperation, rather than competition.

About the Author Huberta Wiertsema has been collecting and inventing educational games since childhood. The movement games in this book were developed in the daily practice of her work with children and teenagers as a drama and theater teacher. She lives in the Netherlands.

All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site’s Terms of Use for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

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Franklin D. Resorts – The Food

May 24, 2010 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

One of the items that you could always dependi on at the resort was the food. No matter what time of the day you could find you could find great tasting food that were either local to the area (Jamaican fare) or items that you would find at a restaurant here in the U.S. (pancakes, omelets, etc.). The food was never ending and though I did not gain a ton of weight while there, you probably could if you didn’t be careful.

I definitely had some favorites while there, I loved getting the fresh fruit smoothies every morning at breakfast (that was the only time they were available). While the smoothie menu was a bit limited due to the fact that it was off season and they carried no nuts, there were still a ton of great tasting smoothies that were fresh and lifted your morning spirits (well…at least mine).

I also was one to try the local dishes. With dishes such as Escovetch Fish (Spicy!), Oxtail, and other such local creations, I found muself enjoying them all. This is not to say you couldn’t get something simple such as a pasta dish or chicken or beef, as there usually was all of these options at every dinner.

The resort did have two adult only restaurants that provided both Jamaican and Italian foods. We tried both while there and were impressed with the food. I will however warn you to be wary of their version of the Habenero pepper, WOW, my mouth was on fire for at least 5 minutes!

The resort also takes care of the kids. With a special dinner every night kids can get some of their favorite dishes while in a foreign country. My kids never complained about the food at all, in fact they liked the variety and they tended to try a lot of the different dishes. We tended to find that it was easier to have them eat first and then let them go to the Kids Club to have fun while we ate our 4 course meal (yes you heard it right…every night was a 4 course meal).

The kids also liked the desserts. At times they tended to stick with the old standby ice cream, but the resort did offer many other choices as well.

The resort even went out of their way for special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries. While we did not have any of these to celebrate while there, we did celebrate a birthday with a few other couples and they made it very classy with a special seating arrangement for all of us as well as a birthday cake made just for the occasion!

Finally, what inclusive resort would not be complete without the drinks. Yes, drinks were available anytime during the day. The staff at the bar and throughout the restaurants were great and always willing to serve. The bar staff was always willing to try different things, and you could always get great, refreshing daiquiris or my favorites mango coolers. One of the other things that I likes was the fact that they had Red Strips (both regular and light) on tap!

The last things I will also mention is that your Nanny will also stock your room with food that you feel that you may need such as Cheerios, crackers and cheese, Red Stripe, Soda, or anything else.

You will not go hungry or thirsty at this resort!

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Franklin D. Resorts – Activities for Adults

May 17, 2010 by dadofdivas 1 Comment

Yesterday I talked about all of the great kids activities that the resort offers guests. Adults are no different. Every morning the activity staff write out the activities for adults as well. Some of the activities are healthy, such as the aquacise where Donavan kicks your butt in the pool, and I mean kicks your butt! Other activities are fun and have some great local prizes such as Jamaican Coffee or Rum or other fun things! Usually these activities include things like trivia, bingo, couple games, scavenger hunts or other such activities.

Outside of the pool there are water activities such as Kayaking, Snorkeling or going out on the resorts’ Glass Bottom Boat (which is a family activity). I spent a ton of time snorkeling while here. This was my first time snorkeling and I took to it like a fish in water and I found some very cool shells that I was able to bring home as mementos.

I came to find that for me there were a ton of great spots to snorkel even right by the resort (you don’t have to wait for the boat to take either of its’ two trips that it takes per day snorkeling).

Some adults just want to take advantage of the break from their kids and lay back and read or take a nap and you will find wonderful hammocks throughout the beach area as well as in shaded areas by the spa.

I almost forgot to mention that there is a Spa right on site and for a fee you can be transported in a realm of utter tranquility through massages, reflexology and other such niceties.

The resort also takes trips to Ocho Rios for shopping two times per week (this is included) and trips to Dunns River Falls two times per week ($35US per person). We ended up deciding to go with a group of couples to Dunns River Falls while we were there and we were very impressed. When they said that we would be climbing a waterfall, they truly meant that we would be CLIMBING a waterfall. While there were many good climbing points and it is a gradual climb, it still is a climb none-the-less and you will get wet and the water tends to be quite chilly! Overall though it is a trip that we will remember and that we were happy to take. One thing to keep in mind though is that when you leave the waterfall area, to leave the area you are routed through a shopping area. Just remember to stick to your guns and keep walking unless you want to buy something. The people that are selling are very persuasive and do not like to take no for an answer.

The resort also has a large waterslide that can be used by all (called affectionately Big Blue) and both of my daughters were braze enough to go down (even Diva-PJ with her dad of course)

The resort has two adult only restaurants (which I will speak of more on a different day), but know that they are available!

Finally, I would be remiss to mention the opportunity to make new friends while on vacation. We loved the fact that we were at the resort at a slower time of year (May -June) as there were only about 10 families there for most of the week. Prior to leaving (on mothers’ day) the resort got packed with local Jamaicans and other guests, so we were happy to be leaving before the chaos ensued. Needless to say though that we truly got to know a few of the couples quite well and we even shared contact information. It is hard not to get to know couples as you are eating together three times per day and are seeing them all over the resort, but it was a great thing, trust me on this!

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Franklin D. Resorts – Activities for Kids

May 16, 2010 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

Being a family resort, I knew there was going to be activities for kids, but I was impressed by the number and how organized the activities were. Every day when we got up we would stop by the Kids Center to see what was on the plan for the day. Each day there was a chalk itinerary placed up so people could tell what was happening. Everyday Diva-J would find a laundry list of items that she wanted to do during the day (outside of being in the pool). There were times though when it was raining when Diva-J and Diva-PJ went to the kids’ center and simply played inside for a break from the sun.

One of the fun activities that they provide free of charge is Tennis Lessons. Diva-J took three lessons and by the end she was doing a great job. All kids have the opportunity to make their own Tye-Dye T-shirt (you do need to provide a clean T-Shirt to Tye Dye. We bought ours at Michaels). The girls loved working with Elodene and Taneka with the Tye Dye, as well as all of the other projects,and activities that the kids want to do.

Some of the activities are run of the mill activities that you would guess they would have such as Tennis or coloring. Outside of this though, everyday they have Rabbit Time and a Movie Night for the kids as well as the opportunity to feed the fish.

There were activities such as allowing kids to fish in the morning or early evening. And what do they use as bait? They use sausage (and boy do the fish and crabs love it). These activities are some of your more run-o-the-mill activities. They also have activities that identify the talents of your child. For example they have a super boy contest and a miss mini FDR contest where your child can strut their stuff in front of the audience to show them what they are made of. Diva-J showed everyone her skills with the Hula Hoop. She is quite good!

Other activities are ones that I know that you will not find back in your home town. For example, on one of the days they had crab racing. Now for me, I thought we would be seeing people on their hands and feet walking like crabs…oh know, they truly did mean crabs! A gentleman from the hills (as they stated) brought live hermit crabs to have them do four races to see who could get out of the ring first.

Another such oddity was the notice that we found that stated that they would be having Goat Races on the beach. After seeing the crab races the day before, I knew that I would need to see this race to believe it! They meant what they said and they did have goats racing on the beach and we picked a color to win.

These were some of the more “out there” events. They had two birthday parties on the beach for kids celebrating their birthday on or around their stay at FDR, as well as classes such as Mixology where kids had the opportunity to mix different flavors of drinks together to see if it tasted good or not.

The staff of the kids center did an amazing job keeping the kids entertained and I have to tip my hat to them, as they were individuals that made our lives as parents much less stressful.

One of the biggest things that the kids there got to do was meet new people and make new friends. Diva-J made friends with kids from Texas, Pennsylvania, Boston and San Francisco while we were there and we did similarly (but I will talk more about that in a later post).

Our girls were never bored at any point. They were scheduled the entire day (though some/much of that time was built around the pool!)

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Franklin D. Resorts – A Nanny Makes It Different

May 15, 2010 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

One if the best things that FDR provides its guests is a nanny. You heard me right! Starting the moment that you step foot on the property you are introduced to your own personal nanny. You even have the opportunity to have more than one Nanny if you so choose. There were some families while we were there that were paying an additional $20 per day to have a second Nanny. Your nanny stays with you from 9-4:30 each day, with an hour for lunch during that time. Many families will use the nanny after 4:30 and if you choose to do this, you simply pay them cash $6 / hour (great deal!).

Our Nanny was Elodene and I would suggest for any of you to ask for her as she was wonderful and our kids loved her. Elodene was a quiet, gentle soul, that you could tell had a very large heart and was very caring toward our children. She was firm when needed and patient and calm when necessary. There were times when she simply took Diva-PJ down to a Hammock, placed her in it and rocked her to sleep and simply stayed there with her until she awoke.

The nanny takes your children to do activities as well as will take them to eat if you like. The idea is to provide the adults some down time while on vacation as well as some guidance from someone besides mom and dad.

The hidden gem of this resort is the nannies. They make the resort as special as it is and I cannot say enough good things about them. In speaking with other guests they all agreed about their nanny as well and mentioned that they would easily ask for their nanny again in the future. There were even some return guests that stated that they could not remember the name of the nanny, but once they share the picture of the nanny with the resort they made accommodations to make sure that they had the same nanny this year.

The only thing that I would mention is to make sure if you go to FDR to tip your Nanny at the end of the week. The nannies are not making much (as I mentioned they make more working in the evenings), so do give them a nice tip as we came to find that they are not guaranteed work immediately after you leave, instead they simply wait until they get a call to come back to be a nanny for another family in the future.

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Franklin D. Resort – A Different Approach to All Inclusive

May 14, 2010 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

I had the pleasure to be asked to take my family on a vacation to Jamaica to visit the Frankin D. Resort in Runaway Bay, Jamaica. Over the next few days I will be talking about different aspects of our experience at this resort, but today I want to talk about the resort in general.

Prior to going to the resort, I had read a number of reviews as well as called a couple of travel agents to find out more about the resort in general. Almost everyone mentioned that the resort ranked in about the middle of the road in regards to all-inclusive resorts. I can say that when we arrived and started our journey to the resort, I did not know what to expect though. You see, as you leave the Montego Bay airport, I was amazed to find the amount of poverty that surrounds the country. Later in the week I came to find that the average Jamaican worker makes on average $50 US per week. Anyway, as you travel to the resort you will see many homes that look abandoned, but what is interesting is that we were told that families actually live in the homes. What happens is that families do not build homes on credit, instead they build what they can when they can, so a dream home may not be built for 10-15 years, but in the end the home will be built and they will own it completely.

Anyway, when I arrived in Runaway Bay, you see a very quaint town and the resort is set back from the main road. They have their own security and when you exit your transportation you are greeted by very kind front desk employees. The moment we arrived, we were escorted to our suite. We had a 2 bedroom suite, which was wonderful, especially with our two girls, as they were able to have their own room all to themselves.

In the first few minutes that you are there you can see that the resort is not a five star resort in regards to accommodations (my picture of our room didn’t turn out 🙁 ). I would probably give it a 3.5 out of 5. The rooms that we stayed in were very comfortable. I loved having the bedrooms upstairs so that J-Mom and I could stay downstairs at night if we chose or sit on the porch overlooking the Ocean.

I loved the King Sized bed that we had and I slept great every night. This does not always happen, instead, when I travel, I many times find that I toss and turn, but not here.

I was also able to see the one bedroom, three, bedroom and honeymoon suite and all of these other options are just as nice as the suite that we stayed in. All of the units have a refrigerator, stove and microwave (though we only really used the refrigerator). We later came to find out that this resort started as a condo complex and then the owner (who still is the same) changed the concept to what it is today.

One reason I do not give the rooms a higher ranking is that at higher star resorts you will not find any blemishes in plaster, nor cracks between doors that lead to the outside. Here you find some of these issues. Was I concerned about this, not really. The resort is very secure and the rooms are doubly so with multiple locks on doors and programmable safes in each bedroom, you and your items are very safe.

The grounds of the resort are beautiful with lush greenery and flowers everywhere. I was quite impressed with the beauty of the exterior of the resort itself. The resort sitting on the Ocean provides you ample opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the Jamaican waters and ocean breezes that surround it.