2012-01 Beaches Turks & Caicos - Day 8

Today is departure day.  Unfortunately.   We started with breakfast at Reflections.  It is a buffet breakfast.  One tip, it is best to avoid the 9 am hour for breakfast.  It is the busiest time for breakfast.  Also, they serve buffet breakfast at Marios in the Italian Village and Guiseppes in the French Village.  They serve ala carte breakfast at Scooners along the beach.  

After breakfast, we took a dip in the Italian Village pool and got espresso at Cafe de Paris.  We had lunch at Gordon's and it was really good.  Mike had chicken parmesan sandwhich; Amy had stomboli; Karlin had a salad; Ardan had pepperoni pizza; and Madison & Sutton had chicken nuggets.  Our flight was scheduled to leave at 3:30 pm.   We got our shuttle at 1pm and were seen off by a bunch of the staff.  It was a great send off capping off a great week.

The flights home were good.  I'd recommend getting to the airport at least 2 hours before your flight.  There are days that the airport can get pretty hectic.  The terminal is small and if there are flights that are delayed, it can get crowded.  All in all, it is not terrible if you keep a relaxed attitude.  We had a tight connection in Charolette - 1 1/2 hour.  We normally like to have a 2 hour connection to be able to get through immigration, get your bags, go through customs, go back through security, and get to your gate.  We were able to make it, but barely.  There was a lot of people going through Immigration, but the line did move quick.  Our bags were there when we got to baggage claim and we moved through customs quickly.  We were able to get through security relatively easily, but ran to make sure we didn’t lose time.  The flight to Harrisburg seemed to have less people, so I’ll bet there were people who didn’t make it. 

We were tired, but made it home on time and had a great trip.

2012-01 Beaches Turks & Caicos - Day 7

We (Mike & the kids) started the day with breakfast at Scooners.  They serve an ala carte breakfast.  The kids had chocolate chip pancakes and bacon.  I had the Caprese Sandwich, which was basil, prosciutto and mozzarella on cabanera bread.  

Diving in the morning.  On Sundays, they only do one tank dives.  We dove in Grace Bay at the Aquarium.  The dive was great. There was at least 2-3 sharks that we saw 4-5 times during the dive.  I got some great video.  The site is a coral reef that slopes to 130 ft.  While we were chasing the sharks, we were swimming over the 130ft part.  On the way back, we swam closer to the reef and saw a spotted moray eel and a couple more encounters with the sharks.  We saw a large puffer fish and a couple of trumpet fish.  I also saw a sting ray near the end of the dive.  

Mike had lunch at Arizona's with Madison, Karlin, and Ardan.   I had rice and jerk chicken.  Amy had pizza delivered to the cabana from pizza de Napoli.  The pizza there is the best.  It is made in a brick oven.   They have these pizzerias at a number of Sandals and Beaches resorts.  

We spent some time at the French Village pool.  Then to the waterpark for one last ride on all the slides.    The girls wanted to do a hobi cat sail (same sailboats).  I wanted to take them out, but they didn't trust me, so we went out with a person from watersports.  They will also give you lessons if you like. Today was great for sailing because there was a nice breeze. They had a great time so we went out again.  The second time, the watersports person tried to get Karlin wet.  It was pretty funny because every time he tried, Karlin ducked and Madison got wet.  The hobie cat boats are fun and remember, they are included, so all you have to do is see the watersports person at the beach and sign up.  If you know how to sail, you can take one out yourself.  If not, they'll give you lessons or you can have them take you out.  

We spent some time on the beautiful Grace Bay beach (one of the best beaches in the world!).  The girls wanted to bury each other in the sand and Ardan wanted to "surf" with his boogie board.  Of course, there isn't much surf in Turks (unless there is a hurricane), but that was fine because he had trouble getting on the board anyway.  We also got some nice shots of the kids in the sunset.  This time of year (January) the sun sets between 5:00 pm & 5:30 pm. The beach is a great spot for sunset pictures.  You can also set up a free photo shoot with a Beaches photographer.  They do not charge a sitting fee.   You just pay for the pictures that you like.  

We had dinner at the cabana at Schooners.  It was a chef's selection dinner.  It started with an appetizer of Risotto With Lamb Lollipop.  This was very good.  The lamb was tender and the risotto was creamy.  The main course was Filet Mignon with a Shallot Port Reduction and Portobello Mushrooms.  The beef was very good quality--very tender and tasty.  We ended with a dessert assortment - tiramisu, key lime, chocolate pineapple cup, chocolate palm trees, strawberries, and lime sauce.  These were very good too.  

While we were at dinner, our butlers started packing our bags to leave.  This is another great benefit of the butler service.  Your last night of vacation is a bummer because your need to clear time to pack your bags.  With butler service, you do not have to worry about those important details as they are taken care of for you and you can enjoy more quality vacation time with the ones that you love.

Thanks for reading our blog.  Stay tuned for more as we end our trip tomorrow…

2012-01 Beaches Turks & Caicos - Day 6

I did the two-tank dive again today.  This time they went to Grace Bay for both dives.  The great thing about diving in Grace Bay is that the dive sites are really close, so you are back around noon.   We dove Graceland and Aquarium.  The first dive was awesome.  I immediately saw a sea turtle at about 40 ft.  I was able to get really close to him and he swam around us for a while.  The we saw a shark at 90ft swimming around.  He looked like he was on the hunt.  I didn't see him eat anything, but was able to get really close.  Later in the dive we saw another sea turtle crawling around some corral.  I got a workout on this dive chasing after sharks and turtles.  

On the 2nd dive we saw another shark.  We saw a spotted moray eel and I got some good pictures of him with his mouth open.  Both dives were really good and we were back by noon.  

Amy and the kids hung out at our Cabanna in the Italian Village in the morning. They always decorate the Cabana really well with towel art in the shape of sea animals that the kids love.  Ardan & Karlin decided to go to kids camp this morning.  Karlin went to the pool, played in Xbox, went to the waterpark and went on the slides, scatagories.  Ardan went to the pool and ate at Mario's.  He had chicken nuggets and curly fries.  Karlin ate at Arizona's.  She had salad and fries. 

The weather has been beautiful this week.  Temperatures have been in the low 80's during the day, with an abundance of sunshine.  Most of the pools here at Beaches Turks and Caicos are heated so they are quite pleasant throughout the year.  The ocean temperature is fairly cool this week but refreshing. 

When I returned from diving, I picked up Ardan and Karlin wanted to stay until 4pm because she was having so much fun with her new friends.  I took Ardan and Madison to Arizona's for my jerk chicken and rice. After lunch, I did a video tour of the Governor's Suite, the Parrot Cay Suite, and the Caicos Premium.  We'll be posting these videos on our YouTube Channel, DreamMakersVaca, once they've been edited. 

We had a private candlelight dinner on the beach.  It actually was in a cabana by the beach.  We had Escargot, Pumpkin soup (great with a little bit of spice), Caesar salad, Tropical Salad, Garden Salad (Excellent), Fruit platter, pizza, and Filet Mignon (very good, tender and tasty). Omar was our waiter and he was both professional and friendly, we would recommend having him as a server.

After dinner I took a walk with Karlin & Madison.  We walked to the East along the beach.  There were several resorts having beach parties and beach fires.  It was a moonless night, so you could see tons of stars as were walking.  You could see the Milky Way.  It was a nice, quite walk. In years past, Madison and I walked a lot further  and  for 45 min or so. but Karlin wanted to turn around.  She was afraid we wouldn't get back on the resort. It wasn't a problem.  They saw us walk off the resort and they asked our room number.  We always feel very safe here, but appreciate the strong level of security.

2012-01 Beaches Turks & Caicos - Day 5

Amy and the kids started with breakfast at Marios in the Italian Village. It is buffet for breakfast.  The food is good.  

Before diving, Mike did a tour of the French Village Two Bedroom Suite and the French Villlage Walkout.  Once edited, he'll be posting them on our YouTube channel, DreamMakersVaca.

Mike did the two tank dive to Northwest Point again.  They dove The Stairway and Ampitheater.  Both were good dives.  By the way when diving the water temp has been around 75 degrees.  Most people wear shorties or a full suite.  I dove with a bathing suit and t-shirt and was fine--just a little chilly.   It just depends how tolerant you are of the cold.  

The dives were very good.  We had a great group of divers this week. Everyone got along and was respectful of everyone's space and everyone dove safe.  We saw a shark about 30 ft below us, but then he came up to 80ft where we were and I got a great video of him swimming right by me.  This week, i believe I saw a shark on every dive.  Dean, our dive master from England pointed out a really cool octopus.  It was pale green and was eating something in the coral.  We also found a large moray eel.  We only saw his tail, but after some time searching, we found his head and got some good pictures.  On each dive, we usually saw at least one lobster.  This dive, I saw a family of lobster.  There were two big ones and two small ones.  

After diving, I had my usual lunch at Arizona's--jerk chicken and rice.  The jerk chicken is the best at Arizona's.   Then, we spend some time at the water park and went to the quieter French Village pool.  I also got a double shot of espresso at Cafe de Paris which is in the French Villlage.  Then we headed back to the Italian Village pool for a quick dip before our client cocktail party.  

And our butler Moses did a little show for us in The Cricketer's Pub in the Italian Village. He balanced 5 wine bottles on his chin.  I'll put the video up on our YouTube Channel soon.  He said that he can do 7 bottles, but wouldn't let me film it.  He said that you have to come to the resort to see that.  He also juggles wine bottles.   

We had 13 families on the resort this week.  So, we decided to throw a party to get to meet everyone.  It  was great. We enjoyed heavy appetizers and a bar.   Most of the managers were there to show appreciation to our clients.  They got to meet Don, the General Manager as well as many area managers, like Matthew, Rommel, and Noel.  As well as Lucky and Enrico, acting hotel mangers.  Colin, the executive chef was also there.   It was a fun time and we got to meet and socialize with our clients.  

We ate dinner at Marios.  Gilbert was our server and we spoke again to Cris the Food & Beverage Manager of the Italian Village.  He is a great guy and very interesting.  The service is really good at Mario's.  Gilbert was right there to remove my plate when I was done.  He was very gracious and offered suggestions.   I had the White Bean Soup and it was very good.  For my entree, I had the Lamb Chops at Gilbert & Cris' suggestion.  They were very good and tender.  Amy had the Lasagna and liked it.  

We're heading to bed now to get up and do it again in the morning. 

2012-01 Beaches Turks & Caicos - Day 4

We started with breakfast in our room, served by our Butler Aide.  We got bacon, croissants, fruit, Sausage, and Cranberry juice.

 I did the two-tank dive again.  We dove at Northwest point.  No whales or dolphins on the way there or back.  We dove Eel garden and The Chimney.  The dives were good.  Our dive master was Edwin.  He is great to dive with.  He likes to dive slow and enjoy a nice relaxing dive.  We saw a shark on both dives, a sea turtle, a large crab, and a couple of sea turtles.  

At the Kids club Karlin and Ardan rode a hobby cat, and boat cruise, and had lunch a picnic lunch of Gordon's pizza and fries.  

The best part of the day was the arrival of Amy, Madison, and Sutton.   They arrived around 3pm.   She was met by Lucky (hotel manager), Ryan (the butler manager), and Aide our butler.  It was a warm welcome with chocolate covered strawberries and drinks.  They kept us informed by the cell phone we were given for the butlers.  So, we were able to meet them at the Italian Village lobby and give them a warm welcome ourselves.  Sutton and Madison were so excited to be here.

We spent some time in our cabana and also reconnected with two of our butlers Hilario and Arnold.  We also stopped at the beach so Sutton cold build sandcastles.   

We had dinner at Kimonos at 7 pm.  As always the show for dinner is fun.  The hibachi chefs are fun.  After dinner, we went to Cafe de Paris for chocolate fondue.  

2012-01 Beaches Turks & Caicos - Day 3

Today started with breakfast at Reflections.  Karlin wanted to try Reflections because she said the bacon was more crispy.  After breakfast, I took then to kids camp.  

For Ardan's  kids camp, they went swimming, played dodge ball, and later in the afternoon, they did a science experiment - they made a glitter ball.   For Karlin kids camp they made bracelets for her and her best friend Scarlet.  Then they played Basketball.   She had so much fun that she wanted to stay until 3:30 when I went to pick them up at 1:30.  She met a friend from New York and they had a great time.  

I took the 2 tank dive to Northwest Point again.  We dove Eel Garden and North Wall.  Both were good dives and relaxing.  We saw sharks, eel, sting ray, sea turtle and many fish.  However, the best part of the dive was the school of dolphins we encountered coming back.  Captain Rick spotted them and we steered towards them.   They swam with us a bit giving us great opportunity for great video and pictures.  He radioed another boat in the area. They came over and stole our dolphins.  They dolphins followed their boat for a bit, but Rick got them back.  We stopped two more times on the way back when we encountered more dolphins.  It was a great experience.  I couldn't believe whales from the day before could be topped, but the dolphins where great.   I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.  

While Ardan did his science experiment, I took Karlin boogie boarding & to the slides in the water park.  Then we headed to the Italian Village Pool and hung out with Andrew and Tadane.  These guys are great bar tenders.  They make it fun for everyone.  

Tonight we went to Giuseppe's for dinner.  Karlin said that she wanted to try Sushi at the sushi resturant by Kimonos.  She was curious about what it would be like.  When we got there, I told the waitress to bring us a good sample.  Karlin said that she didn't want sushi with fish.  I didn't tell her that sushi is uncooked fish.  They brought a sea weed salad which she liked.  I got her to try a small bit of Salmon guesapcio, but it looked too much like fish, so she said she didn't like it.  I thought it was good and I'm not a seafood eater.  They brought us, California hamachi tuna sashan, Crunchy shrimp, Tuna nigiroi, Salmon nigiroi, and a Volcano.   I liked most of them especially the Tuna nigiroi.

At Giuseppe's I had the Beef bougenione and Make your own pasta.   The food was good.   It is buffet, but was good.  

Tomorrow Amy, Madison, and Sutton arrive.   They arrived late because Madison could not take that many days off.  Everyone is excited to see them. 

2012-01 Beaches Turks & Caicos - Day 2

This morning, I did the 2 tank dive.  You check-in at 8:15 am and they usually go to Northwest point.  It takes 35-45 min to get to the dive site, except today.  On the way to the dive site, Captain Rick saw what looked like smoke from a boat that was ahead of us.  Then he saw it again and identified it as a whale.  We slowed down and found 2 humpback whales.  They were swimming together and we were able to spend 15 min with them.  Everyone on the boat was excited even the staff, so this was truly a special experience.  The whales migrate past Turks & Cacios between January & March, but most times it is later in Feb or March.  One year in early Feb we saw whales every day on the way to our dives?  It was awesome.

The first deep dive was at The Crack.  We saw a shark swimming by about 30 foot below us.  We saw a sting ray and a barracuda.  It was a nice dive along the wall with a max depth of 100 ft.  After a surface interval, our 2nd dive was at Eel Garden.  We saw another shark, a sting ray buried in the sand, and a small sea turtle.  They were good dives. 

We got back at 1:15 pm and I picked up the kids from kids camp.  Karlin went snorkeling off the beach and Ardan played tennis.  They also swam in the pool.  The kids club opens at 9am, but they have an early drop off of 8am for divers. 

I had lunch at Cricketer's.  Even though the kids had lunch at the kids camp (Arizona's), they also had someting to eat st Cricketer's.  The fries were great.   The wings were also very good. They had BBQ and hot sauce, but the hot sauce was not very hot.  I had the Potato soup and the Sunday Roast which was tender for the cut of meat.

After lunch we went to the watermark for the slide and lazy river.  At 4pm they had tie dying.  A good tip is to bring your own white t-shirt.  If you don't have a t-shirt, you can buy on at the resort.  If you have your own shirt, the tie dying is free. 

We watched the Sesame Street parade and then had dinner at Mario's.   We started with salad at the antipasti bar.   We ordered white Bean Soup which was good.  Ardan had the spaghetti with bougnese sauce and meat balls.  I ordered Veal Marsala with white rice.  Note that this is not on the menu.  They have Chicken Marsala and another Veal dish.  They combined them for me.  Ramon was our waiter and he was the best.  By the way, when we got back from getting our salad, both Karlin & Ardan commented that they had a Shirley Temple waiting for them and they didn't even order it.  They had big smiles on their faces.  Moses is a great butler!

Eric the food & beverage manger of the Italian Village also stopped by to say hi.  He said that he was going to make us a special meal when Amy arrives.   He said that he'll have them make anything even if it isn't on the menu. 

So far, the food on this trip has been very good and I've had several staff approach me to ask me how the food is (and I don't believe they knew who I was). 

Now it is time for bed so that we can get up again tomorrow and enjoy this wonderful resort. 

2012-01 Beaches Turks & Caicos - Day 1

I (Michael McHugh) traveled today to Beaches Turks & Caicos with my daughter Karlin (10) and my son Ardan (7) for a week.  It was a great travel day.  We flew out of Phili to Charlotte.  Since it was Monday, there were no direct flights out of Phili (only on Sat or Sun).  The flights were fine with little turbulence.  Since we booked so late, on the 2nd flight to Turks, we were in the absolute last row of the plane.  At first, I thought we got the worst seats on the plane.  However, they turned out to be one of the best.  We sat with a group of fun loving people who shared their Godiva chocolates.  Then, when we landed, they opened both the front and back doors, so we were one of the first off the plane.   

As always, going through immigration in Turks is easy.  Our bags were one of the first off the plane and we headed outside to catch out shuttle to the resort.  What a great reception!  Right outside we were met by Moses (one of our butlers), Ryan (Butler Manager), and Enrico (one of the resort managers).  They offered the kids fruit punch and champagne to me.  They also had a beautiful plate of chocolate covered strawberries and rice crispies covered in chocolate.  They picked us up in one of the new Beaches SUVs--they just picked it up yesterday (I think for our arrival :-) ).  When we were got to the resort, we were greeted by Don, the General Manager and Lucky, the acting Hotel Manager as well as other managers and Aide our other butler.  Aide is our butler from Aug 2010.  He did an awesome fire dance for us then.  See the video of the fire dance on our You Tube Channel, DreamMakersVaca.

Then we were escorted to our room, one of the beautiful Italian Village Imperial Suites, the Medici.  These suites have a bedroom with a King size bed, a bedroom with bunk beds and pull out trundle bed, and a living room with day bed with pullout trundle.  The suites have two full bathrooms, each with showers, but the master bath is the only one with a jacuzzi tub.  It also has a nice sized balcony.  All of the Imperial Suites include butler service. Which is awesome!

Then we headed to the dive shop and I met with Carol, the Water Sports Manager.   She got me signed up for my dives for the week.  I'm taking the two tank dives every morning.  We also stopped by the kids club to get Karlin & Ardan signed up for the kids club.  Remember, you need to bring the kids passports the first day you sign them up for kids club.  Then we took a quick swim in the Italian Village pool before dinner.

We had dinner at Arizonas at 7pm.  Arizonas is a TexMex restuarant with steaks, ribs, and other TexMex dishes.  Moses, our butler escorted us to dinner.  Dan, the Food & Beverage manager was there to greet us and introduced us to the manager of Arizonas who took great care of us.   Lucky & Enrico stopped by to say hi and see Ardan almost fall asleep.  Ardan woke up when he had the Tortilla Soup which has a little bite to it, but that is how Ardan likes it–-gotta love a 7 year old that appreciates good spicy food.  We also had the wings from the kids menu as an appetizer.   They were really good--they were not spicy, but had a good BBQ sauce.  Karlin had the beef tenderloin and it was really good and tender.  I had the ribeye and it was good too.   We were going to have desert at Bobby Dees or Cafe de Paris, but everyone was tired, so we just went to bed.  We had a surprise treat in our room from our butlers.  They made towel art guarding our cup cakes and other treats.  

Tomorrow morning I'll be doing the two tank dives and the kids are going to head to the kids club.   

2011 Sandals/Beaches STAR Awards-December 2011-Chairman's Royal Brunch & Arrival at Sandals Royal Plantation

Today was our final day staying at Sandals Grande Riviera. Our morning started off with a casual brunch that was held at the Chairman's Villa,  Rio Chico that was located about 10 minutes away from the resort. When we arrived at Rio Chico, we were greeted by almost every General Manager of each Sandals and Beaches Resort. The property was decorated in bright pink and orange decorations, had a live reggae band, and a large buffet for all of the Sandals Chairman's Royal Club members to enjoy. The Chairman's Royal Club recognizes travel agencies that sell a significant amount of Sandals & Beaches Resorts and provide outstanding service to their clients. The members of the Chairman's Royal Club are recognized as the world's top sellers of Sandals and Beaches Resorts. To be a member of the Chairman's Royal Club is an honor, and Dream Makers Vacation Services was announced to be one of those Agencies on Saturday (both co-owners Mike and Amy McHugh received this honor).

 The property overlooks the ocean and words cannot come close to describing the breathtaking view of the turquoise waters of Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Large tropical flowers were strategically planted across the resort and used as beautiful center pieces for each guests table. Many people spent time taking pictures of the villas and interacted with the Sandals and Beaches Chairman, Butch Stewart and the CEO of Sandals and Beaches Resort, Adam Stewart.  This villa is available to rent (along with access to staff members), so please contact your Dream Makers Vacation Services agent if you are interested in additional information.

Once the brunch was over, we loaded onto the bus and went to collect our luggage at Sandals Grande Riviera before we arrived to our next Sandals Resort, Sandals Royal Plantation.

While Amy settled into Sandals Royal Plantation, Amanda visited Beaches Boscobel for a site inspection. Stay tuned for a later post about both of these fantastic resorts.  

2011 Sandals/Beaches STAR Awards-December 2011- Awards Night!

Last evening was the main night for the 2011 Sandals & Beaches STAR Travel Agency Awards. Dinner was served in the Pavilion located on the Manor Side of Sandals Grande Riviera. The night was sponsored by Travel Impressions, one of the top tour operators in the travel industry and one of the Tour Operators that Dream Makers Vacation Services uses. The set up for the evenings award show was extravagant and a black tie event.  It consisted of bright tropical flowers, over the top table center pieces and a beautifully decorated stage area. Amy McHugh and Amanda McAdoo attended this event, representing Dream Makers Vacation Services.

Dinner was served, and we enjoyed shrimp, lobster and small portions of steak and chicken as well. For desert, we indulged the mint chocolate cake a banana tart cake with banana sauce.

We heard a speech from the Chairman of Sandals & Beaches Resorts, Butch Stewart, where he elaborated on this year's (and past years) success thanks to the travel agents. We also were thanked and recognized by the CEO of Sandals and Beaches Resorts, Adam Stewart. Both men thanked the travel agents for putting so much time and dedication into selling their different products that Sandals and Beaches has to offer.

From the beginning of the Awards Presentations, Mike and Amy McHugh of Dream Makers Vacation Services earned the honor of receiving the Sandals Chairman's Royal Club which is an exclusive club for their best performers. Dream Makers Vacation Services also received  Top Concierge Category & Top Butler Category again this year in the Mid Atlantic Region of the US.  This is awarded for top sales & knowledge of Concierge & Butler service and room categories on all the properties.  They earned Best of the Best for sales production in the Mid Atlantic Region and again are Top 10 in the World for Sandals and Beaches Resorts!  And best of all the prestigious Presidential Award went to Amy McHugh of Dream Makers Vacation Services.  This award is given to one person that demonstrates consistent growth and a positive attitude.  Congrats Amy!

We would like to thank each and every one of our clients for another exciting and successful year. Without all of you, none of this would be possible! Please follow along as we celebrate another incredible year!