Mark

We had a great time there last week and got married on Friday. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.

I posted some pictures and a brief description of the trip on my web site at http://www.devault.org/wedding.html

Steve

Mark

Is this the Sandals on St. Lucia? If so , how were the beaches there? Specifically the ones in walking distance from the hotel?

Mark

Yeah, it's the bigger one in St. Lucia. The beach was nice. It's wide and the sand was very soft. I didn't even get in the ocean, but my wife did. Like most people there, we spent more time by the pool.

If you're into water skiing or other watersports, they had plenty of stuff. I wanted to try out a 2 person kayak, but we opted for the less strenuous looking aqua trike (or whatever you call those things).

One drawback is that you can't take a walk on the beach and get very far.

KIM(IN)

Just wondering how was the food? and what was your favorite place to eat? We are going their in Feb.

Mark

The food was wonderful! I'm sure your tastes may be different, but I basically like simple food (I'm happy w/ a cheeseburger or pizza). This trip may have changed that.

It's tough to pick one we liked best. For breakfast and lunch, we basically stuck to the Pavilion. They had buffets with fresh fruit, bagels, eggs, etc. for breakfast and a really good selection at lunch. I knew if I ate a lot of food I wasn't used to all week, I'd regret it, so it was nice to have the Pavilion where I could eat "normal" food.

Dinner was a different story. We LOVED the Pitons (Caribbean), the Pier ("gourmet Caribbean" at Halcyon), La Toc (French), and the formal night dinner at the Pavilion. Our other two dinners were at Arizona (southwestern...ie. steak), and the Pirates night buffet at Pavilion. They were both really good too.

Our least favorite place was Armando's (the italian restaurant at the Gold Resort). I heard Mario's (at Halcyon) is much better.

If I were going back for another week (soon, I hope!), I'd probably hit Mario's instead of Armando's and I heard lots of good thinks about Kimono's (Japanese...reservations required and an awesome view). But I would definitely not want to miss Pitons, The Pier, La Toc, and the Pavilion.

We brought back a sample of the menus, if you'd like, I could send 'em to ya.

KIM(IN)

Yes, if you could please I would appreciate it and I thank you for all your help. Also did you do any out side excursions, I have a list of them from the resort and can't wait till Feb.

Mark

We did the Sourfiere Day Sail. It was very nice. You get to see all the hilights in one day...the Pitons, Botanical Gardens, volcano, Marigot Bay, do a little snorkelling...and back to the resort by 5:00!

I would have liked to do the "booze cruise" (same ship just in the evening), but it didn't work into our schedule.

We also didn't get the chance to go shopping in Castries which would have been nice. I think they do a little bus trip into town some mornings. My new sister-in-law did some shopping there and later had to rub in the fact that she bought t-shirts for about $8-$10 instead of the $20-$25 you'll pay in the Sandals gift shop.

Mark

This is what we had for our wedding dinner at La Toc. It was a special menu, but the rest of it seemed pretty similar:

A Sweet Combination of Jumbo Tiger Shrimp and Mushrooms laced in Curry Sauce served in Cassolette

A Sensual Pumpkin and Asparagus Chowder Topped with Caramelized Leek

Fresh Garden Salad with Fresh Heart of Palm Touched by Herbs Vinaigrette

An Amorous Affair of Beef Tenderloin and Sea Scallops Gently Caressed by Green Peppercorn Sabayon

Chocolate Croustillant served with Grapefruit Confit Nestled with Grand Marnier Coulis

Nikki

Wow! Just had a look at your photos, brings back memories as we just got back from Halcyon yesterday and already i am missing it!!! we never got our helicopter shuttle as it was cancelled due to bad weather. We loved Armandos, it was definately better than Marios and we went there twice! Kimonos was ace went there twice too! Pier three times including our vow renewal meal, which was ace! La toc and Pitons were also ace; we ate so much in two weeks it was amazing! We preffered Halcyon to La toc as La toc was too noisy and busy for us and the staff at halcyon knew by name so quickly!! Your wedding photos look great we must get ours on the net soon!

KIM

Please tell me how the ride from the airport was? Im debateing about taking the helocopter to the hotel or not.

Cassondra

Hi Kim,
I am getting married on Dec. 6th at Sandal's Antigua. We will be going to St.Lucia (Halcyon)on Dec.9th.

Can you please e-mail me the list you have of excursions. I have had such a hard time getting the one from Antigua. I have not received the best customer service from Sandal's so far. If you can send me the list you have I would really appreceiate it.

We are also interested in the helicopter trip. If you find out any new info could you let me know?

Thanks alot,
Cassondra

Mark

The ride from the airport wasn't really as bad as I'd heard. It took about an hour and 15 minutes. The roads are very windy and they drive all over the place, but I was sitting in the back of the van and didn't have too much trouble. Since we knew it was going to be a LONG day anyway, on the way home we decided to take the helicopter. It was AWESOME. I'd recommend taking it regardless of the long drive.

Nikki

Loads of excursions available and the reason that Sandals wont tell you much is because it sint them that do the trips; it is a seperate company that you will find out about when you go on the Orientation on your first day (10am and 5pm) each day. Loads of trips; my favourite was horse riding and going swimming on the horses back in the ocean; the weather was fab that day and the memories...amazing!!
Helicopter shuttle trip sounds amazing but we didnt get it due to bad weather!

Nicole

Mark,

Sounds as though you had a great time! We are planning on going in May and are having a hard time deciding on the room. Where did you stay? If you got the concierge service, was it worth it?

Thanks,
Nicole

Lynn

I'm going in April for my Honeymoon and am curious to know how much the helicopter ride is and how much extra you spent on activites that were off the sandals property?