Trip Review 7/14 - 7/18

We just returned from our 7th? 8th? trip to Temptation and this trip was noticeably different. We made our first trip to Desire RM before Temptation and that was probably a mistake because DRM was everything we could want in a trip. We enjoyed Desire so much we added two days to our trip and shortened our visit to Temptation.

First, I read through the "Warning" thread about the unfortunate burglary in the room. Nothing like that happened to us, thankfully, and we never felt unsafe while at the resort. Everyone we talked with was friendly and having fun, but the vibe was definitely different than in past trips.

We are both in our 50's and while we were not the oldest in the pool, we were definitely in the conversation. That's not a bad thing as it's good to see so many young people start to venture out and have fun. It was noticeable that the resort is starting to draw the club crowd and become a destination for bachelor/bachelorette parties and that's not a bad thing, either. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and getting into the games and enjoying the pool. TRIGGER WARNING What was noticeable was the number of phones in the pool and the pictures being taken. I have no problem with pictures being taken in the pool as long as the camera is pointed only at the knowing participant. There were a number of times, however, that games were stopped so they could tell people to stop taking pictures. This happened more in the few days we were there than in all of our previous trips combined.

Phones were everywhere! We watched countless people at dinners taking selfies and posing, rather than enjoying the company they were with or the food. One girl was seated at the hibachi bar with her arm extended to take selfies while the waiter tried to maneuver her plate of food in front of her and she never moved to help him do his job. I looked around and so many tables had people just staring into the abyss of their screen rather than having conversations. Maybe I'm just getting old.

Speaking of food, we usually have breakfast at the buffet but decided to try Sea Flirt for breakfast this time. WOW! First, the food is incredible but the service, especially Candelario aka "Candy Man" is out of this world. If you haven't tried it, do it and ask for Candy Man. We also ate at Romanzia, Flame, and the Asian Restaurant (the name escapes me) along with the buffet for lunch and never had a bad meal. The food and options at Temptation are better than Desire, but that may be the only thing that I would say Temptation was better at. My opinion but see for yourself.

Another thing that was different about the vibe besides the phones and the young people: This may come off as "grumpy old man" or "get off my lawn!" but the amount of trash left around the resort, especially the beach, was disappointing. I get up early and sit on the beach with coffee and watch the sun come up and then I get my steps in walking back and forth. I do my best to pick up trash I see but the amount of trash I picked up each morning was more than I ever have done before. What makes people feel so entitled that they can just leave their cups/napkins/bottles/etc on the beach for someone else to clean? The workers do a great job cleaning up but they shouldn't have to clean everything. Okay, rant over.

Theme nights were great and participation was spotty, but everyone is in charge of their own fun with that. Burning Lands may be my favorite theme night they have. It's a catch-all night. Wear what you want and you fit in. Did you buy clothes last year and your trip was cancelled and that theme is not being done this year? Wear them to Burning Lands night.

The playmakers were fun and the entertainment was excellent. J.J. looks great! I hope I can be in as good of shape when I'm his age. What I did not like, no check that, what I HATED was the volume of the music in the afternoons. Those speakers went past "11" and into rock concert levels, overwhelming everything. A regular conversation was out of the question and if you ordered drinks at the bar, it was questionable whether the order would be correct. I don't understand why the volume was pumped up. GET OFF MY LAWN!

It was good to see a lot of familiar faces and get away for some laughs. Will we back? I don't know since we now have Desire in our blood. my rating for this trip goes down from previous trips. I would only give this one a 10/10.

 

Thank you for the trip report. We are also TTR/Desire veterans and we will also be doing a combined DRM->TTR trip very soon. (We didn't want to go to Temptation, but both Desires had zero weekend availability)

We were in TTR and Pearl this past March. We had similar observations about Temptation that you did, with the phones, photos and younger crowds. Yes, why is the music so loud? We often had to escape to the lobby to give our ears a rest.

We have never eaten at Sea Flirt so we are looking forward to trying that.

Thanks again for your post!

 

Don't worry about being in your 50's, I'm barely 40 and there's people I'd like off my lawn!

Glad to hear you had a good and safe time. We're long time Desire people and the "Warning" thread (and a few other safety posts) probably have more than just us thinking about precautions. We've had great experiences with Original resorts, and posts like this are very reassuring about their continued quality.

 

Shit...JJ IS 39...lol.
Hard life and too many hours.

I recall early 50’s.
Stopping drinking, cleaning up his diet, and working out certainly saved him.

He got his inspiration from me as I am older than most think.
Oh, except for the stopping drinking, diet clean up, and working out parts

 

I actually think he is in his late 60s. Crazy, but a serious inspiration.

 

I do blame the resort for not enforcing their rules but I do think this will improve as prices have gone back up. With the massive discounts they were running at the peak of covid, before we decided to move our trip to Christmas we were seeing sub-$200 a night room prices. At those price points you are getting people who have never stayed at a resort of this level, and quite a few people that have never stayed at a all-inclusive or even a resort before. I know this sounds snobby but Howard Johnson prices brings Howard Johnson crowds. With weekend per-night prices already hitting what some people have paid for a whole trip the crowd will change back, they just need to burn through the cheep bookings now. I was trying to find the old email but if I recall the massive discounts they were offering required travel by either September or October.

and get off my lawn you damn kids.

 

Don’t think so as we talked about it last trip.
I just cannot recall but I believe I am older then he.
He is good to his Mother...we are FB friends.

Either way he is looking good and serious about working out and his diet...and I believe the drinking still.

Will discuss it next trip.

 

I was thinking JJ was in his early 60's now, so lets split the difference

I do agree, he looks great for his age because I know he's a lot older than me.

 

I get what you are saying if Playmakers tell them to stop using the phones, and they are doing it anyway, but at dinner, who cares? It reminds me of the needing to wear pants to dinner debate. Why do you care what someone else is doing, particularly at a place that has a motto, "nobody gives a shit?"

 

Or maybe, just maybe, I was pointing out what made the vibe different.