Discretion

[Naughty Nudists]

If you have an ATT phone is will work in Jamaica without the international plan. It will automatically switch to Jamaica B&G or Jamaica Lime and you can receive and make calls back home. If no one calls you're all good. If they have to call for an emergency then who cares what it costs, it's not as expensive as everyone thinks.

Also no one will notice that they answer the phone Hedonism if they is an emergency and they have to call direct. I know when you are away from your kids it seems like a week is a month, but I was always amazed when the kids were little and we'd get home it would feel like we had been gone forever, but for the kids it was just another boring uneventful school week which for them just flew by.

And lastly, you'd be surprised how many people respect the idea that it's your vacation and if you love to lay on the beach nude it's not that big a deal, au natural afterall. As far as what goes on at Hedo, I just people not to believe everything they hear. LOL.

Cheers

For some reason I am under the impression that I will get hit with roaming charges while in Jamaica with my AT&T Mobility(formerly Cingular Wireless,formerly AT&T Mobility) phone unless I payup for some international plan texts and/or some talk time.So far I have been lucky and not have to use it.There is only one person back in the states that knows where we are and they AIN'T family,well,not officially family.....

[Naughty Nudists]

Most people practice discretion by saying they are at Sandals as there is no nudity there.You can google their site and learn about 3 restaurant names and it will be like you were actually there because there is absolutely nothing to do there as far as I could tell.Mention trips to Ricks or Dunsfalls from other Google searches and you will sound like you did something other than party nekkid for a week having the time of your life.My doctor asked me 6 months after we went "what did you do" in Jamaica so I said I "sat on the beach a lot!" which actually was not a lie.Where we live,you can't say "We partied with beautiful nekkid people for a week" as that don't wash so good down here in the Bible Belt.If you lived here,you would certainly understand.

[Cdn_cpl]

Now that there's free wifi in the courtyard you can also text at no charge and no international add on is needed. If it's iPhone to iPhone (or other iOS device) you can use the built in Message App or if it's some other phone you can use an app that works on all platforms such as What's App or BBM.

[Cdn_cpl]

If you have an ATT phone is will work in Jamaica without the international plan. It will automatically switch to Jamaica B&G or Jamaica Lime and you can receive and make calls back home. If no one calls you're all good. If they have to call for an emergency then who cares what it costs, it's not as expensive as everyone thinks.

This is true but if you're planning on making a lot of calls you're much better off to buy an international plan before you leave. This will give you a preallotted amount of minutes and data and is much cheaper than just roaming on the Jamaican networks without it. If all you need is to text then you can do that just using wifi for free.

[rennie69]

When we got new phones we kept one of our older ones. Took it with us and paid $15.00 to have international minutes put on it in Jamaica. I texted our kids let them know we were safe and having a great time. After being there a couple of days we went for a walk on the beach past Sandals snapped a few pictures of their sail boat and the resort and sent them to the kids saying it was a wonderful place. Of course people at Sandals were either reading or on their lap tops, not much fun happening there. Our kids are in their 20's and living on their own so it was pretty easy compared to your situation. At work I put the picture of the Sandal's boat on my computer as a wallpaper so when people saw it they thought I was at Sandals.
Have a great first trip.

[Markis]

Last week when our family was over my brother in law informed us "We almost drove down to Key West and surprised you, when you guys were there in October". Holy Crap! I'm thinking they might have been the surprised ones! LOL.
Sorry, off topic, but it made me think about that hearing that we aren't the only ones giving "false" hotels.

[JayNSteph]

All our family and friends know where we go, so my mother-in-law would not be surprised (she stays with our kid when we go). However, we know the importance that discretion is to people and it is nice to hear that the courtyard now has wi-fi for instances like this. If an emergency happens, you can be contacted via email, text or even wi-fi calls. I would make sure whoever is watching the kids knows what to do in an emergency (I mean I am sure they do or you wouldn't leave them with this person if they didn't) and maybe make a "schedule" of when you want to check in and head to the Courtyard to check in. That is just my suggestion.

[Newfie Screech]

We tell people phone service is spotty in Jamaica and that resort phones are unreliable (true) and to call the cell phone, or better yet email as cell phone service may not always be available anyway. I have to keep my cell on for work, and they pay for the roaming, even out of country, so the cost is not an issue. That being said, with the free wifi available now, it's easy to keep tabs on an email account at breakfast, lunch and dinner without having technology really interrupt your vacation.

[Outlaw11b]

We rented a phone from Island rentals. They meet you in the airport on arrival and departure. Super nice guy and easy process. It was 20 bucks and we got unlimited calls. We just told people we went to Negril. YSW was a blast last year want to go in March but due to schedules we are prob going to go in Oct

[mustanggirl0401]

we told them we were staying at Grand Lido (which we did one year until we decided to go to hedo and never looked back). Then we ask them to email us everyday with an update on their day. we email and chat back and forth and its worth any extra charges for wifi. we expect an email every day as we are worriers and we can even facetime if we need to. we tell them that there's no point in phoning because given some service issues and language issues we have had in other countries and resorts, it can be almost impossible to get through...plus you would actually have to be in your room to get any calls or messages. we tell them to imessage and email often. if there's an emergency, the few hours difference isnt going to get me on a plane out of there any sooner.

[gmarksthespot]

Very informative thread. Thanks everyone! Sounds like adding international minutes is the way to go if wifi isn't going to suffice.

[Yoda0310]

We to have two young kids. We had the same sort of concerns. We ended up just using email with the free Wi-Fi on the iPad in the courtyard. We have Verizon and would've had stiff roaming charges if we used cell phones, but they will work there.

We told most everyone that we were going to sandals next-door and then we took some pictures there.

[T and J]

All very good advice - we just set a time each night usually as someone previously posted (getting ready at dinner) to text/face time/call only 2 or 3 times during trip - but I have heard that you can buy or rent a JA sim card while there and slide it in your non apple phone - after our first trip most of our family and friends all know and they don't seem to know or care - LOL - good luck and enjoy your first Hedo experience

[gman04]

This past April was our first time at Hedo. We researched the resorts close by and picked one to tell those who asked where we were staying. We have two very young children and as this was our first time away from them, staying in touch was extremely important. We brought our iPad with us and purchased the ridiculously high priced Internet package. We skyped every night either just before or right after we got ready for dinner. The cost sucked but in the end, we would have paid no matter what the cost just to keep in touch each day. For that and that alone, it was well worth it.

[Tigger And Pooh]

Lie.
Say you're going to a totally different resort
If you travel with a travel group - give them whomever is leading the group's contact info - likely they'll know how to find you at the nude pool, or swim up bar without blowing your cover

Pooh