This was the first time we stayed at RDCC. We had a great time here.
Staff
Entertainment team were outstanding. They put so much into making sure the guests have a great time both during the day and in the evening. They never stop. They are all polite, fun people. It is fun to join in with the activites and you have such a laugh. You get to Play different games during the day as well if you want to.

The reception staff are helpful and answer any queries that you have, no problems with any staff at the hotel.

Waiters and witresses are polite and help you find a table if you cant find one. This was a problem the 2nd week when it got busy. But we always had a table found by one of the waiters who we saw each day and built up a repore with.

Bar staff friendly, didnt get to know them that well except one in particular at the swing bar.

Restaurants/buffet
Good food but becomes bit repetive after two weeks. Always plenty of food and choice available.

Jamaican restaurant
Very good food. Although need to book the earlier time to make sure they have not run out of the food you may want to order.
Enjoyed this restaurant and wish we had booked it more often. Need to book at reception. You can book on the day you want to go and if theres spaces then thats great. Good service here too. You get waited on for most things.

Jasmine delta restaurant /grill

During the day it serves snack foods from 9-5pm. Not bad, although i am not fast food fan. But it tasted fine what i had.
At night some nights they do thai food. Went here once. Again you have to book at reception. Be careful what you order as some things are very spicey which i found out and couldnt eat it. They did change what i ordered allthough not sure they were happy about doing it, but they did and were fine about it.
This is the night we ate with new found friends from TA. It was a good night.

Sports activities

Water sports included are the snorkelling, glass bottom boat, numerous other boats, cant remember names of them. Banana boat. You need to book up from 8am in the morning so you get a place. Glass bottom boat was fun.

They also do bike tours but we never got time to go out on them. Do these daily, the entertainment staff take you out.

Monday nights entertainment staff take you to margaritaville. See the staff in the day if you want to go. great fun. Learn to do the dance during the day, to try out at margaritaville.

Rooms
We were in the courtyard room. Very basic, small and not decorated that well. Room was kept very clean, housekeepers do a good job. Fresh bottle of water every day put in the fridge.
Shower cubicle big. Didnt spend much time in our room, either doing something in the hotel or out and about. Bed comfy and always had a good nights sleep

Pools
Large main pool. Not that busy first week, busier towards end 2nd week. There is another pool which we never used. The main pool the stage is near to it and this is where entertainment is.
Sunbeds were plentiful 1st week and again towards the end 2nd week not enough around pool or on the beach.

Swing bar/jetty always sunbeds available so thats where we were if none on the beach or by main pool. So you do find them just need to look.

Beach
Nice sandy beach area, you can walk along it or lay and chill. Bit rocky in places but managed without water shoes.

Disco
Hit and miss. Sometimes lots of people there other times just a few.

Excursions
Went on all these with a private driver we know so never booked through the hotel

Shops
There is a gift shop on site, supermarket just outside gates, chemist,cash machine, other shops too.

Massage
Hubby had this done and thought it was good. Option to have done on the beach or in the shop. Not expensive

Phonecalls

You can use the phone in your room. I bought a digicel sim card and used my own mobile while i was there. Had no problem with calls, messages etc. very clear reception. some people who used international calling card and phones in rooms had problems.

Overall had a very good time here and would go back. Great place to take families. Children will be entertained all day so everyone is happy.

Hotel kept clean, had no problems here.

Our holiday was wonderful. If you want five star then pay for it. This place offers fantastic value for money. We got the room we had paid for, right on the beach. It wasn't imaculate but had everything we needed for a family of 4. We found the staff to be charming and friendly at all times and were fantastic with the kids. The food was brilliant, even for fussy eaters and given that you can eat at two a la cartes as often as you like you would have to stay a long time to get bored with the choice. Having virtually lived on the beach for 2 weeks I cannot understand peoples criticisms of it. As for the beach being rocky and swimming difficult - did these other people go to the same place? My children who are 6 & 4 swam without injury in the sea every day for many happy hours. They only wore their beach shoes to climb Dunns River Falls which is a must along with Dolphin Cove. Jamaica is not a rich country but still a wonderful place to visit. Take the negative comments with a pinch of salt. Go with an open mind and positive attitude and you will love this place as much as we did.

Just returned from a 5 day stay at the Royal Decameron in Runaway Bay. Wish we could have stayed longer. If you are looking for luxury on a grand scale, this is not the place for you. However, if you want a great tropical vacation without breaking the bank, this is a great choice. The resort is extremely clean and well kept which is my first requirement for any facility. The food is not gourmet but certainly tasty and there is something for everyone. You will not go hungry. The staff is friendly and eager to please if at all possible. The resort is small which gives it a more intimate feel and making friends is very easy as you see the same faces on a daily basis. The jetty bar seemed to be our favorite spot. George, the nightly bartender at the jetty bar is a real character and you want to be sure and get to know him. The beach at Royal Decameron is not a large sandy white beach but suited me very well. The water is not crystal clear as there is seaweed growing and it washes up on shore nightly. There are workers that do nothing other than rake and haul off seaweed on a daily basis. It did not lessen my enjoyment of the resort at all but for those of you requiring sandy white beaches and crystal blue water, you will be disappointed. I can't imagine a more relaxing or fun filled vacation than the one I just experienced. We stayed in an ocean front cottage and it was just great. I didn't watch television, spend time on my laptop or cell phone the entire time I was there. It was great. I look forward to returning and hopefully soon.

It happened to us…overbooking from Hell!!

We booked our trip on Travelocity.com and relied on their strength to make it right if we didn’t get the gardenview cottage we booked. Even they failed us when it came right down to it!

We arrived at 7:00 p.m. to find our cottage was not available for the first night but they would put us in a “Royal Room” with was the same as the cottage and get us moved the next day. Since we had been traveling since 3:30 a.m. we were hostile to say the least. We were quickly ushered to guest services office so we would get out of their lobby. The guest services person was a joke!

Apparently they had “given our cottage away because someone wanted to extend their stay.” Which we quickly told him is perfectly fine IF YOU HAVE SPACE AVAILABLE. Otherwise stick them in the “Royal Room” and not in the cottage we reserved 3 months ago! We asked to speak with the manager – who could not be contacted anywhere on the island after 5:00 p.m. We were offered a FREE SAFE (a whole twelve dollar value) for our inconvenience and were repeatedly assured the other room was the same as the cottage. On our further insistence that I could have booked a hotel room anywhere in the world, but booked a cottage with them, we were offered a free shopping trip to Ocho Rios (a whole twenty dollar value). We finally demanded they contact Travelocity who was unable to convince them to give us a cottage or relocate us to another resort.

The guest service person finally offered us an “oceanview cottage” for the remainder of our stay and we gave in and passed out for the night in our “comparable room” which had mold on the ceilings, was older than the Bible and had paper thin walls.

The next day we were shown to our “oceanview cottage” which was the “best location on the property” because they “wanted to make it up to us.” Yeah, right! Right next to the disco (open until 1 a.m.) and the buffet line (open at 7 a.m.) even though several other ocean views that were more remote were available. Then they offered us the “Hibiscus Suite.” We refused and DEMANDED our gardenview cottage – which they attempted, again, to put us right next to the buffet!! When the screaming was over, we finally got a gardenview cottage that was more remote.

Now for the rest of the vacation:
Beach – fine. Rocky yes, but some swim shoes would do just fine.

Food – above average. Good choices on the buffet. Definitely try the Jamaican restaurant and the cheesecake whenever you have the chance!

Bar – average. Never waited longer than 10 minutes for a drink but the quality varied from over strong to extremely weak depending on your bartender and time of day. Stay away from the “fire water” (bottom of the barrel overproof rum)!

Service – average. Dining room and buffet service was okay for the first half of the week, but we couldn’t get any service the last two days. Dominique in the dining room was excellent and Patel at the Jetty Bar was excellent.

Cleanliness – well… The “royal room” was a moldy, stinky dump! The gardenview cottage, while older, was spotlessly clean.

Hot water – good. If there are two and only two people in your cottage you are fine. Each unit has its own 20 gallon hot water tank but after two showers – its gone.

Pools – well… All were clean and well maintained however someone should enforce decorum. Taking off your shirt and jumping into the pool in your bra at the common pool is not acceptable at a family resort. Even worse – taking off your shorts and swimming in your white undershorts in the adult pool is just disgusting!

Overall – a disappointing anniversary. I would recommend if you have the opportunity to cancel your vacation to do so now and book at either a Sandals resort or the Bahia Principle (very new, very nice).