St. Lucia Adults-Only Paradise at Sandals Grand St. Lucian

Travel advisors Julie and Ryan welcome Julie's husband Steven to discuss their incredible 5-night couples getaway to St. Lucia's Sandals Grand St. Lucian Resort. After seven years without an adults-only vacation, this Eastern Caribbean adventure offered the perfect blend of relaxation, adventure, and luxury service.

Getting There:

• Unique helicopter transfer from airport to resort (first helicopter ride for both!)
• Scenic flight over rainforest and landmarks
• Alternative ferry option for return journey

Accommodations:

• Club Level beachfront walkout room - 30 steps from pristine beach
• Rodney Bay location with mountain views and yacht-filled waters
• Perfect resort size - not too big, easy navigation

Dining Excellence:

• Gordon's over-water steakhouse (exceptional snapper and lamb)
• Bombay Indian restaurant (world-class cuisine)
• Soy sushi bar (visited twice)
• Outstanding breakfast buffet with fresh omelets and tropical fruits

Must-Do Excursion:

• Full-island jeep tour with amazing guide Lulu
• Rainforest waterfall hike and swimming
• Drive-through volcano experience - unique to St. Lucia
• Volcanic hot springs and mud baths
• Cultural immersion learning about local life

Why St. Lucia:

• Adults-only Sandals experience vs. family-friendly Beaches
• Top honeymoon destination with 80 couples on their flight
• Small island (24 miles long, 180K population) perfect for exploration
• Excellent snorkeling, kayaking, and water activities included

Practical Tips

• Club level provides private check-in and concierge services
• No beach service unless Butler level
• Fast-track airport service highly recommended
• Pack food for departure (limited airport dining)
• Bring proper footwear for excursions

Bottom Line

Perfect adults-only Caribbean escape combining luxury resort amenities with authentic cultural experiences. The couple would "return to this resort in an instant" and highly recommend it for couples seeking relaxation with adventure opportunities.

Next Episode: Vacations off the beaten path series begins!

Planning your own St. Lucia getaway? Contact Wonder and Beyond Travel at wonderandbeyondtravel.com

Transcript

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 0:13

Hello and welcome to all things Travel. Julie and her husband Steven, just returned from a wonderful couples trip to St. Lucia. This Eastern Caribbean island has so much to offer, and today we'll discuss their time on the island and experience At Sandals, grand St. Lucia.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 0:32

Listen in with travel advisors and destination experts, Ryan and Julie. He is your travel professor teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation. And I am a Disney loving Maryland mom of three and a specialist in family travel. we're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing personal stories, it's always all things travel.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 0:55

All right, Julie, so we are recording this right after 4th of July and so I'm used to booms and crashes and sounds going on behind me. So I am prepared because tonight we are recording with both you and Steven with three children. That are supposed to be in bed at your house, so I, I'm well trained for any triggers that might happen during this recording.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 1:21

one is supposed to be in bed, but she's a screamer, and the other two are supposed to be watching a movie, but one is in the process of losing a tooth. So we've already had one interruption

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 1:33

So we may have a live extraction while we're recording. I love it. It's all for the ratings, right? It's all it all. It's all for sweeps week, uh, at the podcast here,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 1:45

our house is pure chaos. So the fact that we could even both get on this is a small miracle.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 1:52

So today I was working and I went to the kitchen for something and Jasmine was asleep on the couch and Nala, our little puppy was asleep underneath the couch and I'm like, yeah, this is about right. This is, you know, it's nice and quiet much like your life.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 2:08

Oh my God. That was not our house today. We had some friends over Their three kids were here. It was chaos.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 2:15

Well, Steven, welcome so much to all things travel.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 2:18

Thanks for having me.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 2:20

Absolutely. I'm excited to hear about this trip. Um, I know.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 2:24

amazing.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 2:26

you all have been planning this for a while. I know talking with you, Julie, during the trip. You were just having an amazing time. I want to get right into it. I've got lots of questions. I know our listeners want to hear all about it. First I want to remind folks if they need to get their nostalgia on. Last week we talked all about nostalgic Walt, Disney World. the things that were, the things that are, and the things we hope will always be there. Well, first, before we get going, give us the stats. it was the two of you. When did you go, where did you go? Why did you go?

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 3:03

So we went about two weeks ago. At the end of June, we went for five nights to the island of St. Lucia. There are three Sandals Resorts in St. Lucia, Sandals Halcyon, which is a smaller, quieter resort. There's Sandals LA talk, Regency la talk, which is kind of. Built into the side of a cliff so it doesn't have a great beach. And then there's Sandals, grand St. Lucia, which is where we went. It is the biggest of the three Sandals Resorts on St. Lucia. It did not feel big to me. It felt like the perfect regular size for an all-inclusive resort. I knew that they had the best beach, which, if you've ever listened to our podcast, you know that I love beaches.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 3:43

Yep.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 3:43

and so that was really important to me. And when we were thinking about doing an adults only trip, because it's been like seven years, we brainstorming where to go and the way we ended up on St. Lucia was we knew we wanted to try sandals because

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 4:00

huh.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 4:01

is a brand that I advocate for a lot. And we have done Beaches Resorts, which is the family friendly sister to sandals. And it was kind of like, where are we not going to take the kids in a couple years? Right. Steven, we had kind of talked about like we would take the kids to Jamaica because there's Beaches resorts there. were potentially gonna take the kids to like The Bahamas and Barbados in the future where they're building some beaches resorts. But we knew we would not be taking the kids to St. Lucia in the future.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 4:32

I think the most important stat there is the two of us.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 4:36

Yeah.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 4:36

the two of us.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 4:37

I hear ya. I no, I, I hear ya.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 4:41

yeah,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 4:41

Yeah.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 4:41

echoing what Julie said, definitely looking for something, where we could really just, the two of us enjoy. and maximize that amount of enjoyment, with the time that we had.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 4:51

Great, great.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 4:51

St. Lucia felt like a place we could really disconnect, right? it wasn't a regular destination that you hear of every day.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 4:59

I mean, it's very popular,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 5:01

Mm-hmm.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 5:02

it's off the normal traveler's path,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 5:06

I did not realize how far south we were.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 5:09

Yeah, we're pretty close to Venezuela

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 5:11

Yeah. we looked at a map and I was like, I did not know we were this far south

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 5:17

yeah.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 5:18

let's talk about the trip itself, and I definitely want to emphasize how you got to the resort because it's very unique to St. Lucia why don't you talk about the trip a little bit and then tell us how you got to the resort.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 5:30

All right. So I'll start at the beginning. we had a flight from Philly, where we are, we tend to fly outta Philly for Caribbean destinations. That was easy. Flight was easy. I really liked the airport. Based on our experience in the Turks and Caicos airport, which you can listen to on that episode, which was not pleasant. this was a Caribbean airport, but it was lovely. There was a nice sandals lounge when we arrived

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 5:52

Mm-hmm. And that's one of the things that all sandals do, which is a nice touch.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 5:57

Yes. So you have a place to be while you're waiting for your transfer. There's water, there's a couple snacks, and they're kind of just, they're guiding you towards your transportation, which is nice when you're arriving in a destination you don't know much about.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 6:09

Yep.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 6:09

Um, sandals Resorts in St. Lucia, really any of the resorts in St. Lucia are not near the airport. Our resort was about 90 minutes without traffic. So I will let Steven tell us about how we decided to get to our resort.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 6:25

Yeah, so, so putting that into context, it's 90 minutes without traffic and also you're gonna be winding through the mountains

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 6:32

it's like when people go to Ocho Rios or Negri in Jamaica, like once you're there, it's fabulous to be there. But it's, it's a hall to get there. And St. Lucia is the same.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 6:42

you gotta definitely take that into account. Um, and so we opted out of that, right? Uh, we, we opted to, uh, take a helicopter across the island,

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 6:50

Dang.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 6:51

which,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 6:53

Uh,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 6:53

I've never

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 6:54

I've never been on a

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 6:54

before. I know Julie's never

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 6:56

helicopter. Helicopter.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 6:57

So both of you, this was your first time on a helicopter and you're taking it to your all-inclusive resort.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:04

Yes.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:04

And our pilot, Ryan, he was so funny. He was like, is this your first time in a helicopter? Mine too. So it was really nice.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 7:12

Yeah.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:12

Yeah. I've become a little bit more adventurous, over the past couple

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:15

Couple years

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:16

uh, where I've just not as anxious about those things.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:19

we got in

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:20

and,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:21

you know,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:21

strapped

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:22

in

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:22

we're going, right?

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 7:23

Wow.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:24

away. we're flying low across

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:26

the

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:27

and then

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:27

over.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:28

and then we're over the island, right? Like, we're over the rainforest. we're getting shout outs to all these landmarks, over the island. We're seeing the peons in the distance, right? and so, I mean, when I think

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:40

Back on it, right?

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:41

That was

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:41

was our first,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:42

unquote excursion,

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 7:43

Yeah. Right, right. You got an excursion from the first minute.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:47

yeah.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:48

to go see the island from the air, and sort of experience it

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:51

That way.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:52

so what we did was we ended up landing at their older airport, their original

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 7:57

Mm-hmm.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 7:58

and, from there, it was about, I don't know, there was traffic at that time. It was rush hour in St. Lucia. and, it took about, what, Julie, two hours, hour from there.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 8:08

I would say like 40 minutes.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 8:10

Okay, less than an

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 8:11

That, but I

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 8:12

it.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 8:13

it would have been like 20 minutes But we definitely were stuck in traffic after. It's not like, which I was not prepared for that, and I hadn't told Steven that. I was not prepared for, okay, we're gonna land and then it's gonna take us another X

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 8:26

Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 8:27

We landed actually pretty close to Halcyon. So if you were, and we flew over LA talk, so if you were staying at either of those resorts, you're pretty close. But we had to go in rush hour. And let me tell you, in St. Lucia, there are not stop signs. I never saw a stoplight, but they are the most courteous drivers.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 8:45

Yep.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 8:45

one of my favorite things that we learned, and we learned this on an excursion is that. They don't have stoplights and stop signs because people are really courteous. They let you weave in and out of traffic. and they honk to say hello, not to like yell at you, which is not how it is in Maryland. the police do not enforce speeding or drunk driving instead. On the sides of the road. It's just a cliff. So if you choose to speed or drive drunk, you're just gonna fall off the road anyways.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 9:16

Okay.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 9:16

just, just,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 9:17

have a bad time.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 9:18

just fascinating, watching and having that experience. But yeah, the helicopter was really, really fun.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 9:25

Would you do that again? Would you do that again as your

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 9:29

Yes. even though we still had a bit of a ride and. a longer ride than what I imagined to the resort after getting off helicopter. It was just the two of us in a car. It wasn't a share

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 9:41

mm-hmm.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 9:41

any means. And we were not the only people in the helicopter. There was two other couples in the

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 9:45

Oh, really? Oh, okay. All right.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 9:47

all had our own car to our resort.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 9:50

okay.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 9:51

so even after getting off of that, you have a private transfer to your resort from there,

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 9:55

Yeah,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 9:56

When we kind of thought back on it, had we take the shared transfer, which is included when you stay at a Sandals Resort, you were gonna hit that same traffic.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 10:04

yeah. Right.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 10:05

it was gonna be at least two hours. by no means was it a quick trip from the airport to the resort. It was still like two hours. two and a half hours until we got to our room

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 10:17

In total, yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 10:18

But like Steven said, we thought of it as an excursion and another experience. It was such a fun way to start the trip. Steven, tell us your first impressions of getting to the resort.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 10:30

just on the note of the helicopter two,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 10:32

yeah.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 10:32

just finish that off. the transport at the end did give me some time to calm down

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 10:37

from the helicopter.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 10:39

I survived this.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 10:40

I

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 10:41

I survived. Yeah. I was like, okay. so on the way from,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 10:44

smaller airport to the island, just being able to see parts of St. Lucia, you know, we got the drive through the capitol, stuff like that. And then once we get to the actual, resort, it's on the north and side of the island, relatively secluded, I

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 10:57

Mm-hmm.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 10:58

at the, on the

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 10:58

Mm-hmm.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 10:59

side. once we get there, we just roll up into the, I can't pronounce the thing,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 11:03

Port Kche.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 11:05

Posure. Thank

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 11:05

Thank you.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 11:06

Um, and, uh, right

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 11:08

right away, uh, we,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 11:09

warm chows and they sing to us.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 11:11

Nice.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 11:12

was

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 11:12

Nice.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 11:12

was a nice, welcome party,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 11:14

yeah.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 11:14

for just the two of us. You know, we just kind of

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 11:17

Stand there awkwardly.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 11:18

let them sing at us. I was like, all right, let's go, let's go figure this out.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 11:22

Nice. that's a really neat, way to be welcomed. And so you kind of felt like, I'm here, my vacation has begun.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 11:29

Yeah.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 11:30

Yes.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 11:31

we were staying club level, which means you get a more private check-in

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 11:36

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 11:38

lobby.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 11:38

Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 11:39

which is a huge perk of staying club level because they escort you over to the club lounge, When we were checking in, there was maybe one other couple in the club lounge you're right in front of your check-in person that is helping you and they're introducing you to the resort, the perks of the club level lounge, they brought us a mango mimosa because mangoes were in season on the island and we passed a lot of mango trees on the way to the resort.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:04

that was the first drink?

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:05

Yeah.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:05

Um. Um,

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 12:06

There were others to follow.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:08

yeah, There were others

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:08

follow. I,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:09

I would say

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:10

It was, it was white glove service,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:11

yeah.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:11

basically, you get there, you're escorted to the concierge and you're never really left

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:18

Mm-hmm.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:19

you're all ready and checked in.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:21

Yes.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 12:21

did you feel, was that kind of uncomfortable, kind of burdensome? Or did that feel ta you felt taken care of?

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:31

Yes.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:31

I mean we, yeah, we felt taken care of. I I mean, it just removed mental load,

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 12:36

Mm-hmm.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:36

it's like you go there and you don't have to think about anything, which is, a

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:39

Yeah,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:40

for Julie and I, in, in our lives. I mean, even

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:43

like.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:44

when we got

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:44

never been there.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 12:45

Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:46

been there before, so we don't know where we're going, so that is nice.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 12:49

So your last trip we talked about, was your beaches trip.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 12:54

So

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 12:55

Talk about what's the, just briefly, what were kind of the differences between going to a sandals and going to a beaches and what was your experience having now staying in the club level versus having butler service with beaches?

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 13:12

Yeah, so at Beaches, the Butler level, while Butler level is certainly a luxury you can appreciate and enjoy, I did not think that was necessary for us at a beaches resort. I would not travel again without a butler because. the ages that our kids were on that trip. Looking back on that trip, it saved us having a butler to help us. By bringing our lunch to us,

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 13:38

Mm-hmm.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 13:38

securing our spot on the beach or the pool or the waterpark, by bringing us room service, breakfast every day at sandals. I mostly just want at club level. I kind of want it to be left alone a little bit. We really just wanted to decompress a lot on the beach and, have that time. So I wouldn't really want someone interrupting us, but I enjoyed both experiences. I felt like they weren't that different as far as check in. Went.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 14:03

Sure

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 14:04

when you have a butler, they're with you every single day checking in with you, what do you need? What can I bring for you? And that is a phenomenal amenity to have if you want it.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 14:14

Yeah,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 14:15

just not the experience I wanted I wanted to be by myself and do our own thing.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 14:18

club level was the concierges there. Were helping you with your reserv,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 14:22

Yes.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 14:22

Yep.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 14:23

planning, your reservations. They have some excursions you can be part of at club level. There's different activities going on. Okay, that's good.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 14:30

so they definitely had, like in the club lounge, they had like a, a martini night, a cocktail party, a couple events going on there. It was also a nice spot to go and watch some of the evening entertainment. They also had some really great rum punch that you could only get at the club lounge. we went there to make our dining reservations. That was really easy to do. and they did have, an exclusive excursion that was not an extra cost, that you could choose to go on that was a hike and a sunset catamaran cruise, and that was included in your club level room. You did not need to pay extra for that. We decided not to do that because we already had an excursion booked for ourselves. But I think that's a great option if you don't wanna pay extra for excursions.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 15:15

Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 15:16

We secured a club level room because I wanted that extra kind of one-on-one check-in experience, that little bit of a concierge help throughout the trip. as well as I wanted the specific room that we were placed in.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 15:30

All right, so that's my next question then, guys, what accommodations did you have and give an overview of the resort.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 15:38

Okay, so our room was a club level, beach front walkout, sandals tends to label their rooms with like 20 different words, but

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 15:47

So confusing.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 15:48

we were club level and we could walk out of our room and see the beach. Our room was. Phenomenal. It was so much better than what I had even anticipated. We were like 30 steps to the beach it was so close to us. We had a little walking path we could go down. It was amazing. I really liked those first floor rooms because I like being able to walk right out. it was just beautiful. there was definitely a more lively side of the resort and a quieter side and we were on the quieter side which we really enjoyed.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 16:17

lucked out.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 16:17

you know,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 16:18

You know?

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 16:18

the sandals that I've been to, all of them seem to be that way. So I, I think understanding what vibe you want, is really important. when it comes to booking.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 16:29

So we learned our vibe is not the pool, and it's not the pool swim up bar. the quiet side of the beach. And that's probably because our house is such chaos. We just wanted to sit on the quiet side of the beach. But I will say like we showed up at the resort, Ryan, and we walked over to a window and I was like, oh my gosh, look at this beach

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 16:50

yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 16:50

It was beautiful. it was a good long stretch of beach. It was wide, the water was beautiful. you were in Rodney Bay. so it's kind of closed in a little bit. There's some boats and sailboats and yachts docked in the water. you can see mountains. It kind of looks like Hawaii with the mountains a little

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 17:09

Sure.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 17:10

It was stunning. Just stunning. every day we walked out to the beach and said, I cannot believe we are here. We loved the resort so much. It was so easy to navigate. Even though on the map, we were on the left side of the resort, nothing felt far away. The furthest thing from us was probably the over the water restaurant and some of the water activities, like kayaking, but that was still like maybe a five minute walk. It was not far. Now that's comparing to Beaches, Turks, and Caicos, which is huge.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 17:42

A, a city unto itself.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 17:43

Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 17:44

this was a really lovely side because it did lend to those people who did want that party atmosphere at the bar because there were a ton of honeymooners. Our flight Ryan had 80 honeymoon couples on it because

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 17:57

Wow.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 17:57

is the number one honeymoon destination.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 18:00

Okay.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 18:01

a lot of them were at Sandals Grand, we kept running into the same couples. It was really funny. We were on an excursion with the same couples. Then we went on an excursion from the resort with the same couples, we just kept running into the same people. It was funny,

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 18:12

There you go.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 18:14

it was nice that it had that for those people. And then it had the quiet side for us, older folk who were here celebrating not being with our children. Because every, everywhere that we went through were like, and what are you celebrating? We'd be like, getting away from our children

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 18:28

Right, right.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 18:29

Yeah.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 18:30

So Steven, you, you were on the quiet side of the beach. Did you still feel like you had drink service? Did you have access to food? was it still a good place to be?

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 18:42

I mean, yeah, we definitely, to be left alone, especially right now. but there was, was a bar like a popup bar

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 18:51

huh

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 18:52

on that side. Like, it was like, it was

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 18:54

it.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 18:54

the strangest hours.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 18:56

Did they,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 18:56

was a shot,

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 18:57

Did they call it Stevens? By the end of the week?

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 18:59

I never went there because I

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 19:00

I never

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 19:01

always saw

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 19:01

saw them set up. And then by the time I was ready,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 19:03

be closed.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 19:04

that's funny.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 19:05

and so,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 19:06

but the bar we went to wasn't far,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 19:09

everything was within a reasonable

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 19:11

Yeah. Okay.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 19:12

minute, a three minute walk.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 19:14

rea like it depends on what you're, what you mean by reasonable. Yeah. but there was no issue. There was no

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 19:17

There was,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 19:18

and getting what we needed.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 19:19

there was not beach service. They were not coming to wait

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 19:22

Got it.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 19:23

But that did not personally bother me.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 19:25

Yeah. Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 19:26

remember, our room was near the beach, so our room was fully stocked with liquor and all sorts of things.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 19:35

behind us and get

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 19:36

That's true. That's true.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 19:38

Yeah.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 19:39

All right, so I want to get into the nitty gritty with food and dining and kind of service that you experienced at sandals. I wanna talk about excursions, all that fun stuff. But first I wanna talk about where in the world is all things travel. When I looked this week at newer locations, Dallas, Texas popped up. I think we've had Dallas before, but it was a long time ago, and I found a really cool place that I wanna meet our listener in Dallas. It's called the Sixth Floor Museum at Deley Plaza. The sixth Floor Museum at Daley Plaza Chronicles the life, death, and legacy of John F. Kennedy. The museum is the former Texas School book Depository Building where evidence of a sniper was found in the assassination of President Kennedy November 22nd, 1963. Much of the space looks as it appears in the sixties, and it highlights the snipers area and the FBI's model of the shot. It has exhibits of everything that happened that day and all sorts of stuff, and I just think that would be a really fun and important and interesting place to meet our listener. Well, hey Dallas, do me a favor, reach out to either Julie or I on Wonder and beyond travel.com 'cause I would love to send you a little thank you gif for being featured on the show today. Alright, so let's talk about excursions. What did you guys do? What did you think about it?

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 21:15

we booked one excursion in advance. We initially only had the trip booked for four nights, and we added the fifth night, last minute. we didn't wanna do a lot. I'm a big beach person. I have not sat on a beach without children in about seven years. So my biggest concern was, sitting on the beach in peace.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 21:32

Nice.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 21:33

the excursion we did was St. Lucia is known for. You know, the nature, the rainforest, the peons. We knew we really wanted to do something in those areas, with some adventure to it. this was like a, an open air jeep that we took. There was three other couples on this tour with us and our one excursion guide. What was her name?

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 21:58

Lulu,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 21:59

and our excursion guide

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 22:02

Lulu.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 22:03

Lulu was phenomenal. She made the whole trip. she told me that she used to be a nanny back in Colorado and I literally was ready to have her come to Maryland. Amazing woman. We took this Jeep excursion, we basically drove the entire island and the island is only 24 miles long. So. It's not big and the population is 180,000 people. we drove through every town on this island and it was amazing. I felt like we learned so much about the culture in this one day because our guide, Lulu told us. So many little details and tidbits, things we would never have known, and that was truly what made this excursion. Like those are the things that I remember She told us all about the way they build their houses and why they build them that way, The way that people make their living and all sorts of things and how they raise their children and how their school system is set up. And it was just amazing. if you watch the Olympics most recently there was a TrackStar athlete from St. Lucia, Julian, all red. and there were posters for her everywhere, and Lulu was telling us about the day that everyone went into town to watch her race. No one thought she'd win anything and how then she won the gold and it was just such, like this big deal, like the island is just so proud and everyone was so kind. So anyways, so we went on this excursion. We drove a, this open air jeep through the entire island. We passed through significant areas like this big banana farm where they grow a ton of bananas. we saw a guy next to us on the side of the road, Ryan, that had just caught fish and was selling them. he had caught them that morning and he was just selling 'em right there on

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 23:49

Wow.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 23:50

It was very immersive. our first stop was at a waterfall. So we pulled up and you take a hike, about 10, 15 minute hike. And I would say I would definitely recommend that you are somewhat able to be active to do this hike. We did have walking sticks, but you were definitely on like slippery rocks, walking through small streams, narrow pathways, They were there to give you assistance, but I would recommend somebody be in some sort of shape to

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 24:19

Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 24:20

this walk.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 24:21

it was a little treacherous.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 24:22

It was a little tress. so then you get to the waterfall, which wasn't like a massive waterfall, but it was beautiful. And it was great. There were these other locals there that were playing music. You could tell that's like what they came and did for their day, was they came and played music at the

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 24:36

Uh huh.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 24:37

all the tourists.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 24:38

Yep.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 24:38

and then you get to go into the waterfall. You get to have the waterfall splash over you. I have some great pictures from this. And then we actually opted to stay in the water. a lot of people got right out, but I was like, no. let's stay in like we're here. they don't like to use the cold or the cool word for the water temperature. They like to say it's refreshing. It was definitely very refreshing. it was so beautiful. And then you hike back and that was it. There was only one cruise ship, docked that day and it was a smaller Royal Caribbean ship, but they sat on other days. Like that area can get pretty crowded.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 25:10

Okay.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 25:11

can tell us about the second part of the excursion, Steven, do you have any thoughts on the waterfall that I didn't say?

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 25:17

it was treacherous, getting there, and sort of, um, uphill

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 25:22

Yeah.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 25:23

our guides were wearing bare feet,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 25:25

Yeah.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 25:25

this is like what they do,

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 25:26

Yeah. we just took, uh, old shoes. Like you, you, you should, if, if you go on something like this, taking, um, the right footwear. Yeah, this is not a flip flop excursion.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 25:37

which I wore.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 25:38

Oops.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 25:39

Because you're also walking through water.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 25:41

grant, granted, I also left those flip flops in St. Lucia. 'cause that was it, for those. just looking at, all the plants and all the flowers and trees around us just, we're in the

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 25:50

Yeah,

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 25:51

Yeah.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 25:51

through the rainforest.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 25:53

she would point out all sorts of things. Like, look, this is a cashew and you can see the cashew nut growing down. And then she would just eat it. it was so immersive. I've never been on an excursion where they've been that Frank with you,

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 26:05

Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 26:05

so personal with you. Um, so after the rainforest we went to lunch. First our Jeep broke down and we sat on the side of the road

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 26:14

Hm,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 26:15

45 minutes.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 26:16

you got, you got the true island Caribbean life experience.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 26:20

the ex and we didn't complain.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 26:22

There you go.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 26:23

we just hung out. We just chilled. It was fine. So then we got a new Jeep, and that was fine. then we went to get some lunch, which was delicious. It was a local little buffet, very different style foods from here. they definitely encouraged you to try a little of everything. I thought it was pretty good. We had like chicken and all sorts of different type of. Salads and banana things and all sorts of stuff. It was really good. And then we went, uh, St. Lucia is the only island that you can drive through a volcano.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 26:51

Really

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 26:52

Mm-hmm.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 26:53

Steven, what was that like?

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 26:55

yet another,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 26:55

uh, drive, through the mountains to get there. and when we got there, you could tell when you were getting close just because of the smell of

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 27:03

Mm-hmm.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 27:04

and so, once we get there and you get out of the car, it's quite pungent. So. Uh, it really smacked me in the face. Uh, and it was, after a while, it sort of like, you know, fades into like, you know, uh, okay. We, you're used to

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 27:16

Yeah,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 27:17

for a second there. Wow. Um, it, it was

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 27:21

So the volcano there, it's active, but it doesn't spew lava. It spews smoke, but it's

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 27:28

so.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 27:29

it's active all the time.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 27:30

I've been to Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii. So was it like a volcano tube that you were driving through?

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 27:39

Caldera caved in

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 27:41

okay.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 27:41

of it, you can drive through that.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 27:43

Okay.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 27:44

Yeah, so like there, so we went to the hot springs there, which they had built sort of these like concrete ponds that sort of captured this black river water coming out of the volcano and letting you sit in that. And then it just, the river would keep flowing. there's like these four little like concrete sort of like hot tubs. Right

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 28:02

Okay.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 28:03

tubs. Um, which it was like hot tub level water or temperature wise. Right. Um, uh, and also had these two, um, uh,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 28:15

Fucking

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 28:16

of, of

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 28:17

full.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 28:17

one of them was like a gray mud and one of them was a blackish mud.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 28:21

From the volcano. From the volcano,

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 28:24

Okay.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 28:24

like. Um, and you're supposed to like, put that on your body to like exfoliate your, your skin and all that. Um, which, uh, as I was going through all this experience, uh, mind you, I was sunburned from the first day.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 28:35

Oh,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 28:36

so, I had,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 28:37

Terrible.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 28:38

terribly, and

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 28:39

oh, oh.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 28:40

it was tough for me to get into the hot,

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 28:43

You, you, the, the exfoliation was not really on your to-do list at that, at that point.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 28:48

less than ideal.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 28:50

Oh,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 28:50

less than ideal.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 28:51

I really tried my best.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 28:52

get into this hot spring. I got up to my waist and I was like, I can't. can't go any further. So I had to rely on Julie to sort of wash all the mud

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 29:01

Yeah,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 29:01

which was a scene in sight for most people.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 29:04

So the,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 29:04

was having

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 29:05

yeah. So the idea is that you are with your partner, your spouse, you know, whoever you're there with, and you are supposed to be rubbing this mud on them. It's exfoliating their skin, and then you can decorate them with this darker color mud, like hand prints or drawing on them, whatever. then you get in the hot spring and it's supposed to be. kind of like a curing type it's definitely set up for tourists

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 29:27

Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 29:27

there's an area to set your things down. there's buckets of the mud waiting for you. there's a little shower area to like rinse off if you are like Steven and don't get completely into the hot spring. you load back up and go back to your resort. we did have like a two hour drive back to the resort. But let me tell you, this tour guide, Lulu was asking us all these philosophical questions on the way back. it was so entertaining.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 29:54

Before we get to that though, there, there was a whole other like portion of the Caldera

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 30:00

Oh

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 30:00

like take a tour on, right? you could go tour the actual like, and

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 30:06

yeah.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 30:06

like.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 30:08

More of the

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 30:09

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 30:10

of the volcano which we didn't do, because we were on a schedule with the other

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 30:14

Yeah.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 30:14

but, uh, yeah. So we could only go so far. But it would've been, know, cool to just continue that portion. And I, I'm a big into all that kind of stuff and I love that we were actually inside a volcano, right?

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 30:26

That's really neat. It's very unique.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 30:29

yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 30:29

and that is,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 30:30

I.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 30:31

that's definitely like the one of the number one excursions in St. Lucia, no matter which way you get there, a lot of people wanna go do the waterfall and do the hot springs at the volcano.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 30:40

Okay.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 30:40

It was very cool. I don't know that I would do it again. Steven said, going further into the volcano was cool, and again, I felt like it was such a bonus and not something I really thought of was getting to explore the rest of the island on the drive there and the drive back.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 30:54

And the

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 30:55

it was very cool hearing so much. I mean, she was pointing out. Where the governor lives and where this person lives and oh, so and so rented out this celebrity, rented out that resort, and just telling us all these little tidbits that we never would have known. I really enjoyed

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 31:10

SS. So you did one excursion while you were there, you had the option to do a club level excursion if you wanted to. Did you feel like one excursion was enough to see St. Lucia this day and then enjoy the resort the rest of the time? I know that was kind of your focus of the trip.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 31:28

because you have to remember that at sandals you have so much included.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 31:33

Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 31:34

day after our excursion, we also did kayaking. You could have gone sailing, you could have gone paddle boarding. we did do a little boat out and do snorkeling for a while, so. so much that you can do at the resort. I felt like we definitely got a full vacation, especially because it is a small island and we literally drove the entire

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 31:58

Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 31:58

get to the volcano. when you look at the map, we are opposite sides of the island, and we did that helicopter tour, so I feel like we got so

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 32:05

Y You did, you did.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 32:08

Yeah, I don't feel like we missed out on anything in St. Lucia.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 32:13

So Sandals is known for good food, good bars and drinks, and good service. talk to us about your experience with that.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 32:21

experience? Yeah, so at Sandals Grand St. Lucian, there were three restaurants that required reservations. Those reservations were very easy to get once we were on site. Concierge got 'em for us right away. Gordon's, which is an over the water restaurant that required reservations

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 32:38

that's a steakhouse, correct.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 32:40

yes, it is a steakhouse and they also have a lot of seafood and it was delicious. The food, literally one of the best meals that we had there. probably one of the better meals we've had at any resort. Really, Steven, right? I mean, it was delicious. we had snapper and we had some lamb chops there, and it was, it was just delicious. They had a signature drink that was really good. another restaurant that required a reservation was, Bombay, which is their Indian style restaurant. we really like Indian food, and this was Out of this world. delicious Indian food, like we could have eaten there every single night. the restaurant itself was absolutely gorgeous. It was stunning. the other restaurant that required a reservation was for hibachi, and we

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 33:24

Mm-hmm.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 33:24

to do that on this trip. We're just not. not really our scene and we kind of like a quieter dinner.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 33:30

Sure.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 33:30

so we did not do that, but it didn't seem like it was hard to get that reservation. And that restaurant is connected to soy, which is the sushi restaurant. And we did go there twice. So it never looked like it was overcrowded. The resort did not feel crowded to us at all. it was lovely. So we went to those two restaurants. Bombay and Gordon's. We went to Soy the sushi place twice, which was delicious. We went to Barefoot By the Sea, which is a fairly casual restaurant. You eat, you know, your feet in the sand,

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 34:03

Mm-hmm.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 34:03

It

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 34:04

Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 34:04

delicious food, loved it. and then we also ate at the Italian place one night where we had an appetizer at the sushi place and then a meal at the Italian place. that was really great. Again, nothing felt crowded. We'd never had to wait for anything. The other thing that really impressed us was the buffet for breakfast. I'm usually a big fan of room service, but the thing that. Deters me from room service is the wait time. Sure. And I'm like a hungry morning person, so I can't really do that. So, so we went to the buffet for multiple breakfast and. Steven can attest to this. The buffet was one of my favorite meals.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 34:41

Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 34:41

beyond thrilled with this buffet, Ryan. I am still dreaming about the breakfast that I had time I had the same meal, a shrimp omelet and fresh coconut, fresh mango, and a fresh smoothie. And oh my gosh, I was so blown away. I'm not a buffet fan, but if they're gonna make me some fresh omelets and give me some fresh coconut, it was amazing.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 35:04

Nice.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 35:05

I was impressed. Steven, any other thoughts on food? I gave Ryan A. Good overview of where we had dinners.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 35:11

did.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 35:12

What do you think was our favorite? Barefoot was one of the better meals we had. And again, like you're added all inclusive, you can try multiple

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 35:19

Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 35:20

we definitely took advantage of like, okay, we don't have lamb a lot at home, let's try that. So I think that's something people forget. We're so used to going to a restaurant and ordering one thing, but. You can very easily say, Hey, can I have a side of salmon? And they'll

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 35:32

Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 35:33

the

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 35:33

I, yeah, I, I mean, I don't wanna waste food, but I also like that about, a cruise, an all inclusive, something like that where, yeah, you can, you can get things for the table. you can share a couple different things. I, I think there, there's nothing wrong with that.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 35:49

so, and I felt like the service at all the restaurants was great. You know, sometimes at all-inclusive, you're like, okay, like we're not tipping. Who knows what the service is gonna be like. I never had a problem with it. it was very relaxing. It was a lovely experience. I would return to this resort in an instant.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 36:04

Good to hear.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 36:05

I mean the, the rapport that we had with some of the, the, the staff there too was, was, was really nice.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 36:11

Yeah.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 36:14

you know. just like to go and, and, make people, you know, feel welcome and, and, and feel,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 36:19

Appreciated. Appreciated.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 36:21

when they talk to us and appreciated. we really appreciated the effort that the staff took to sort of make at least our experience,

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 36:29

That's great to hear.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 36:30

so.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 36:31

So the downside to showing up at your resort in a helicopter is on the way home. chose not to do that. Tell us how you got back to the airport.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 36:44

So we chose to do a ferry, which is the third option. You can do the shared shuttle, the helicopter or the ferry. still were not really a fan of doing the shared shuttle, so we chose to do the ferry, which is like a two-ish hour ferry ride. It was lovely. There's one main company that operates the ferry, and I've booked clients on this company as well. They were like these young. St. Lucian logos running it. They were handing out drinks, they were handing out snacks, they were singing, they were dancing. They had some great music going. It was just a really fun, nice ride. I enjoyed it and again, it felt like another excursion.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 37:24

Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 37:24

Once we got off the ferry, we were really close to the airport. It was like a three minute drive

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 37:29

Okay. So did they have shuttles to take you to the airport from the ferry dock, or did you?

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 37:34

waiting.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 37:35

Okay.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 37:36

On the dock,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 37:36

And they

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 37:37

cool.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 37:37

We saw our luggage at the resort, and then at the airport. when we booked the ferry, we also included the fast track service, which I kind of forgot that we even booked and was lovely, I've never done something like that before. Like we have TSA precheck, but we don't usually book a fast track, and I've never had that before.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 37:55

Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 37:55

When we arrived, he was like who has the fast track? it was us and a couple other couples. He walked us to the airport. walked us to the check-in desk. through, check-in through getting our boarding documents, through checking our luggage. He walked us to security, guided us through everything we needed to know for security. got us in the front of lines for various things. It was amazing. He was so helpful.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 38:16

cool, very cool. I have done Club Mo Bay, in going to Jamaica and really appreciated that. this sounds like an even more upgraded service, at least on that side of it.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 38:25

And it was not expensive.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 38:27

Yeah. Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 38:28

But it was really nice because you're in a new airport, you don't know where you're going, you're not used to things. Caribbean airports are very different than domestic airports that we have here. at the airport was a pretty good size. Everything was inside, everything was air conditioned. There are a couple places to eat, but we had learned from past travels to stock up on food before we left. So we had grabbed a bunch of bagels and stuff from the resort

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 38:52

Steven's sitting there and you pull a shrimp omelet out of your travel bag.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 38:57

when we went to Turks and Caicos, there was not a lot of food in the airport, and there were like two or three counter service restaurants but the lines were so long that we didn't think we'd have time to order and receive our food before our flight took off. thankfully we had all those. Bagels and fruits

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 39:12

we must have looked a little neurotic when we were leaving and stuffing bagels into our bags. It's just, you know, we just had a. experience at the

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 39:20

Yeah.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 39:21

airport. So we were

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 39:21

But I think that people forget that Caribbean airports are not US airports, because I heard a lot of comments from other US travelers in the airport being very surprised at the size of the airport, how small it is, the number of people, people, and the not matching number of seats. The lack of food, like you're in a Caribbean island, it's just not the same.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 39:42

Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 39:43

we've talked about this before, Ryan, where you just need to be respectful of where you are and respectful of the culture that you're experiencing. and appreciate where you are for what it is, right? And not being uncomfortable in

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 39:56

Yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 39:57

Kind of embracing that instead. so yeah, it was an amazing trip. I would head back to this resort. I could not get enough of the views.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 40:05

Did you get out of this trip? What the two of you were wanting to have?

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 40:11

Yes.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 40:12

Yes.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 40:13

our children for five nights.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 40:15

you make us sound like bad parents, Julie. we're not.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 40:17

No, I think,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 40:18

a break

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 40:19

Yes. I think every parent listening knows exactly what you're saying.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 40:23

Yeah.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 40:24

So speaking of that last question, did this spark an interest in a future couples trip for the two of you? And if so, what are you kind of thinking about?

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 40:33

Where are we

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 40:33

we,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 40:33

Jules?

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 40:34

we would love to do another sandals. I don't know when that's in the cards for us, because Steven's mother was amazing and his dad, they both came and stayed with our kids for a week and were. amazing with our children but that is a lot to ask. we do know there's a lot of new beaches resorts coming soon, so I think that's kind of our next plan for Caribbean vacation is taking the kids with us to one of those with hopes that with them being a little bit older, it's enjoyable.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 41:04

Yeah, yeah,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 41:05

our expectations about all of these things.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 41:06

yeah.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 41:07

Yeah, yeah. Our next couple trips are all full family trips.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 41:11

Sure. Sure.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 41:12

of the Seas, we've got Disney World, another Disney World, and then our Italy cruise. after that, we don't know what's coming

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 41:19

All right. After that, you two deserve a trip for just the two of you.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 41:22

seriously,

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 41:24

Vacation from vacation,

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 41:25

We went on this adult only trip to St. Lucia and then came home and took our three kids with us to Ocean City, Maryland. A complete opposite experience.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 41:36

Yeah.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 41:37

Well, Steven, thank you so much. I know you are often called on to be, both the podcast and the agency IT department. you have heard, I'm sure more about this podcast than you ever wanted to know about, and you've heard lots of annoying things that may or may not be true about me. but we really appreciate your time.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 42:00

I appreciate that, Ryan. You guys run a heck of a show here. happy to be here. Happy to support you guys.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 42:05

And the next time I see you, we'll be having a drink together on the Utopia of the Seas.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 42:09

On Ryan's drink package.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 42:11

my drink package. All right.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 42:13

keep 'em coming.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 42:15

The world is full of wonder and your next great adventure is waiting at Wonder and Beyond. We work with you to create a one of a kind journey, taking the stress off your plate so you can focus on the joy of exploring and the memories that will stay with you forever. If you're ready to start planning or you just wanna dream a little bigger, head on over to Wonder and beyond travel.com. We'd love to help you get started. We look forward to talking to you next week on All Things Travel, when we start a really exciting series about vacations off the beaten path. ​I want to see your loose tooth.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 42:57

see, that's Mr. Ryan. That's who's coming on the cruise. Oh my God. Ellie. Oh, Steven,

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 43:03

Is it hanging there?

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 43:07

Ellie.

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 43:11

We're gonna keep this in the final cut.

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 43:13

this'll be one of those cuts at the end.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 43:16

Okay, about this? How about you pick a movie now? Okay. And we'll check on you in a little bit. Hi Luca. Go back and watch a movie. Daddy's in his office. He's on with Mommy Ellie's gonna pick a movie now. That was disgusting. Anyways,

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 43:36

You're excursion.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 43:37

Yeah. And we, so we did not really do like, did your tooth fall out? Okay. Tonight go, oh my God, this thing is bleeding profusely, guys. just walked in here with a tissue and blood. Is that what she just did to you?

squadcaster-2380_1_07-13-2025_195458 43:56

huh.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 43:56

Oh God, just don't come over here, Ellie. We're

ryan_2_07-13-2025_195458 43:59

Okay, well we, we can, we can wrap this up quickly.

j_1_07-13-2025_195458 44:02

I'm gonna throw up anyways.