2nd Desire Trip Oct. 8th to 16th, 2016

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2nd Desire Trip Oct. 8th to 16th, 2016

Postby eglp » Thu Nov 03, 2016 7:03 pm

We've been home a few weeks, just realized I hadn't done a trip review. This was our second Desire trip, in 2013 we went to DRM.

We booked our trip on the secret sale back in April, originally planning to arrive on the 9th and leave on the 16th, we scored a smoking good airfare deal to arrive on the 8th (after we were already booked) that we couldn't pass up. When I called Pearl to update our arrival, 4 days after the secret sale ended, they honored the secret sale price for the extra day :L (really weren't sure if they would for that add-on). I do recommend the secret sale pricing, we saved about $1,400, but it is a kind of a downside to know that you could end up at either resort and any room class. Although I was told that if you book for the SS via the Pearl site, it increases the odds of staying at Pearl.

Our flight landed at 9:20 pm, but by 11 pm we were at Pearl, checked in and in bed, we did get to see everyone heading to the Disco, and had a brief conversation about heading there as well, an upside to arriving late like that, immigration, customs and luggage all seem to move faster, well immigration and customs anyway, luggage took awhile.

When we booked, Pearls site recommended AVentures for getting to/from Pearl from the booking site. I will say, I don't recommend them, while going from the resort to the airport was easy, going from the airport to Pearl felt very sketchy. Our emailed confirmation, that arrived a few weeks before travel (after I gave them our flight info) said the driver or rep. would give us a receipt that had our return info on it, they never did, and acted like they had no clue what we were talking about. Thankfully, a call from the front desk the next day got that cleared up, but even when they called, the people were kind of rude to him. I think in the future USA Transfers might be a better option.

We had an ocean view room, very comfortable, great room, housekeeping was great and kept up most everything, I did have a hard time getting the fridge restocked.

Seemed like every day we'd get a brief downpour in the early morning, usually lasting 20 to 30 minutes and then moving on. Our final full day, Sat., we were awakened about 4:30 am by a clap of thunder that shook the entire building. I thought I was dreaming, but from talking to other guests later in the day, several others said they heard it as well. Those downpours helped to amp up the humidity, but also seemed to help the day start off fresher.

The beach at Pearl, this brings up my first negative, maybe it's because they are in a protected forest, not sure, but the amount of seaweed and kelp makes the beach so much less beautiful than DRM. They do work at it all day, seems like two or three guys who all they do is rake the beach and haul the seaweed away, it helps, but kinda detracts from the otherwise beautiful beach.

Monday brought forth our worst and only real problem. Our room had a small patio, with two steps down to the grass, and then 10ft to the sidewalk. We had a small, wall/lounging area to one side. Each day my wife wanted to go out that way to save time getting to breakfast and the days activities. On Sunday, when we left the room, my wife went down the steps by the wall, using it as support (she developed a bad knee a few weeks before we left, and kept a knee brace on for most of the time), on Monday, she went down on the other side of the steps. At the bottom, we didn't realize there was a washed out area close to the steps. Her right foot hit the washed out area, lost her balance, and fell, spraining three toes on her left foot, and twisting her left knee. Another guest stopped and helped me to at least get her seated upright, a few minutes later I spotted a staff member, turned out to be Jony with Security, and waved him over. I explained what happened and he got on the radio. Within minutes, the General Manager, Maintenance, and guest relations were there. They gave us a choice calling the Dr., going to the hospital or wait and see. We opted to wait and see, they did apply some ointment, smelled strongly like BEN GAY or similar, to her toes, she said it did seem to help. Over the course of the week, they checked on us several times. Maintenance fixed the problem within an hour, in fact they checked and fixed the same area around several other rooms.

The rest of the week was great, we spent the time either at the beach or at the pool. The entertainment staff: Charlie, Marco, Bella, Emily, Kia are wonderful, so friendly, so much fun, and the surprise guest at the Sat. night entertainment is a shocker.

The food as always is great, so many choices, so many options. We dined in Aphrodite a few nights and Pearl a few nights, didn't get to try the Gastropub. The one thing I missed from DRM, was the food in the lobby bar after hours. But, a few snacks from the Logo shop, or a call to room service alleviated that issue. The one morning my wife found a long strand of hair in a piece of watermelon. We pointed it out, the hair was long and blonde, they said the person who cut it up was a boy with short black hair. A short while later another guest found a similar, they pulled all the watermelon and put out fresh.

It was good to see they were fixing up buildings, painting them, touching up other things, the grounds were really great and super maintained. We were warned one night about a large Iguana that was seen near the wall across from our building, never saw him, but did see many of his smaller relatives on the patio in the mornings.

All in all, we had a great time, we've had some discussion about going back. This trip almost didn't happen, my wife was hesitant about going back, wanting to go to a regular resort instead, but when the secret sale popped up, and I showed her the price differences, as well as comparing to other nearby resorts, she said ok. Now, after so thought, we've decided we need to return to Pearl. Sadly, the Tuesday after we returned home, I was diagnosed with kidney cancer, so that will put any future trips on hold while I have surgery, chemo, recovery and pay off those bills. But, it is on our list as a must return to.
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Re: 2nd Desire Trip Oct. 8th to 16th, 2016

Postby curious-couple » Thu Nov 03, 2016 8:15 pm

i wish you the best of luck in your treatment and recovery. Here's hoping you are back at Desire soon in full health posting more trip reports
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Re: 2nd Desire Trip Oct. 8th to 16th, 2016

Postby enjoyit » Tue Nov 08, 2016 10:45 am

Great trip report!! Best of luck with and healing prayers your way. Hope you both find yourselves at the Pearl soon.
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Re: 2nd Desire Trip Oct. 8th to 16th, 2016

Postby Regina Lima » Wed Nov 09, 2016 8:05 am

We wish an excellent treatment and recovery to have. Faith and strength! :L
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Re: 2nd Desire Trip Oct. 8th to 16th, 2016

Postby skyviewblue » Wed Nov 09, 2016 10:31 pm

Thanks for the trip report. Take care of yourself and best wishes for a speedy recovery to full health & more trips to Pearl.
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Re: 2nd Desire Trip Oct. 8th to 16th, 2016

Postby southerncomfort94 » Thu Nov 17, 2016 2:34 pm

Enjoyed your trip report! We've been to DP four times, but always in May. Looking forward to our December trip this year!

I'm so sorry to hear about your medical issues. Hoping it's only a season, and that you and your family are back to life as usual very soon. Keep the faith!
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