puerto vallarta...part i - meeting the other JACK winners
I can't believe that only a week ago we were flying home from our fabulous trip to Mexico, courtesy of JACKFM!
It was incredible. The Palladium Vallarta resort, the scenery, the sun AND most of all, the wonderful people we met during our stay.
As we waited to board the plane, Stephen and I were looking around trying to figure out who else won their trip. Could it be the fellow with the mosaic cut/coloured hair cut? What about the couple packing a big plastic penguin? Penguin? Yes, penguin...more on that later.
The flight down on Skyservice was terrific. We were a little leary, considering it was a charter flight. Although there wasn't a ton of room, it was fine. We even got food! We decided to get things started with a mimosa...m-m-m! Nothing like a little alcohol at eight in the morning...after two and a half hours sleep the night before (we were at the Bare Naked Ladies concert -- great show, as always).
Next we were treated to a full breakfast including a breakfast sandwich, juice, yogurt, cheese and crackers. Later in the flight we were given champagne and tropical juice. Oh, and would be remiss if I didn't mention that before our meal we were given a moist towelette (from a tray, not a package) to freshen up. Nice little touch, I thought.
Before we landed, we were warned about the gauntlet of time share reps that would be waiting for us. We were told that our actual travel rep would be waiting beyond the doors and DON'T stop to talk to anyone else! Great advise! They were merciless! "Oh, you're with Skyservice. This way." or "Signature Vacation? Have you received your welcome package? This way."
We made it through and while we were sitting on the bus (for the 45 min drive north to the resort) we thought maybe we should just shout out, "Who's with JACK?" ...but I couldn't muster up the nerve. Not like me, really. As we would find out later, others were thinking the same thing.
As it turns out, an orientation was scheduled for the next morning and that is where we all met up. It was very exciting for those of us that won. And remember the penguin I mentioned earlier? It was there too! Bernie, Brian (and 'The Traveling Penguin') were one of the winning couples. Pop over to their website to check on some of the cool places it's been and people it's met.
After the orientation, eight of the nine winning couples got together for a Penguin picture.
Before we went down, we decided to upgrade to the Royal Suites. Glad we did. We were on the adults only side of the resort, which had its own pool, bars and restaurant. We also had free high-speed internet access on two computers in the lobby bar, which made staying in touch with home easier, as cell reception was limited to a couple spots on the resort.We met more great folks hanging around the pool. Chris and Mary from Wisconsin, Dave and John from Calgary and our pub crawl pals, Megan and Nathan from Medicine Hat. I should also mention Robb (who we just seemed to run into every time we turned around...fun guy!).
Here are a few pics of the resort...
lobby bar (main resort)
gazebo (main resort)
main pool (main resort)
royal suites pool
royal suites pool - late afternoonThe sky couldn't have been bluer. Next up...a day in Puerto Vallarta.
