Ron Jon's review

[Lori00789]

Stayed at Ron Jon's July 28- Aug 7th. Family of 6 stayed in a 2br deluxe. We paid $200 per night. We won't be going back. The room was OK, pool and lazy river was nice, when not over crowded.

Negatives-
Anyone who goes on a timeshare tour gets a free day pass to the water park. Carnival cruise line used it as a stop for the cruise ship coming from New York. If you purchase a timeshare you get 3 free years of unlimited use of facilities, many people from Orlando and near by cities purchase a time share then drive over for the day and use the facilities. At times pool area gets very crowded. They don't have lifeguards and people don't watch their kids and they are diving into 3-4 feet of water. We didn't have any maid service until our 6th day, then all she did was make the beds, she didn't vacuum, clean the kitchen, or change sheets. We were told to buy garbage bags, bar soap and toilet paper in the gift shop. Water main broke and we were told to boil drinking water, fire alarm went off twice and electricity blinked on and off a few times each day.

 

[chasbos]

Wow, good to know. I had planned on staying at Ron Jon's with my family of 6 in January. We are taking a 4 day cruise but planning on arriving 2 days early to see the Space Center and rest from our 2 day drive. Would you recommend anywhere else that would accomodate the 6 of us comfortably?

 

[GenieDana]

Originally posted by chasbos
Wow, good to know. I had planned on staying at Ron Jon's with my family of 6 in January. We are taking a 4 day cruise but planning on arriving 2 days early to see the Space Center and rest from our 2 day drive. Would you recommend anywhere else that would accomodate the 6 of us comfortably?

You could try a two King-bed Suite at the Radisson. That would involve 4 in beds, and two on the fold-out couch (of course you could order a roll-away too). You get an in-room whirlpool tub too.

.January 2005 looks like $159 a night on the Radisson website (just checked).

 

[chasbos]

Thanks for the quick info. That is likely what we will do and the Radisson has good pools too. My kids could live in pools for our entire vacation if we would let them! I just wish Disney would get onto this family of 6 in one room thing! It would be alot nicer to be able to stay in room instead of 2 but then again they would not be able to charge me for 4 adults and only 2 kids!

 

[buzzdad100]

We are heading down there now and I am a little concerned. We are supposed to be in a two bedroom from Tuesday through Saturday. Did they give you a reason why no maid service?

 

[SeaSpray]

Here are some more info/experiences regarding Ron Jon's. It's from the Cruise Critic web site. It contains both happy and unhappy guests' opinions, and I think it's worth reading if you are considering staying here. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=66408

BuzzDad: It explains why there is no maid service.

 

[vossjemi]

you should also check out tripadvisor.com. many reviews there about this resort...some good/some not so good. Management has also posted a response.

 

[CRB#33]

I'm glad to see someone post this.

Our one night stay was average. Of course, someone left body waste in the pool that evening and it had to be closed for the night. Now while that was not the management's fault, it certainly was a bummer.

There is also no safe to lock up your valuables.

I accidentally left my jewelry bag in the back bedroom and it was never turned in after we checked out.

I wrote a letter a month ago and have never heard a word.

I'll never stay there again.

 

[buzzdad100]

Just re-worked our whole trip for next week. Got a great deal at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress ($15/night more), and will head to the port on Saturday.

If anyone has horror stories about the Hyatt, Shhhhhhh!!

 

[Lori00789]

The reason we were given for not having maid service for 6 days was because we checked in on Wed and the next available day for maid service was Tuesday. The resort is set up for people checking in on Fri, Sat or Sun only, then given mid week maid service. It doesn't make any sense that they can't accomidate the weekday checkin because they have maids available to clean rooms after people leave. We had such minimal maid service on the day she did come, it wasn't worth it. She didn't refill the toilet paper, vacuum, or wipe the kitchen table, clean the bathroom in anyway or wash any floors. The only thing she did was make beds.

We also had the pool closed for a few hours because a child had pooped in the pool. We were told it would be closed for 24 hours but a few hours later it was re-opened. I'm not sure how well it was cleaned or what the chemical level was when it re-opened. I didn't go in it for 24 hours. I know it isn't the resorts fault that a child pooped in the pool, but I hope they cleaned it properly.

 

[piglet33]

We'll be staying at Ron Jon in October for the night before our cruise so we'll see how our stay is and what happens. I've heard bad things about the Radisson too so I guess it just depends on when you stay and how long your stay is.

 

[tezb]

Just because a few people didn't like Ron Jons, or had a negative experience, I would not change my reservations w/ them. You could go somewhere else and have a bad experience also. We stayed at Ron Jons in June and thought it was a very nice place. We were only there 2 nights but enjoyed the time spent there. The few negatives were minor and we knew in advance about the sometimes rude or inexperienced staff. Didn't ruin our stay and if we ever cruised out of Pt Canaveral again, we would gladly stay at Ron Jons. I am glad to see they made a few changes though...like more staff at the restaurant and keeping the water park open til 7pm. At least they're listening to their critics and trying to improve!

 

[Lori00789]

I posted the facts that happened on my vacation at Ron Jon's to let people be aware of what to expect. I appreciate the time others have taken to write reviews and I read them to help me make an informed decision on where I stay. I was concerned about my choice in staying at Ron Jon's because many people had negative experiences. I regret that I did not change my plans after reading all the negative reviews. I stayed 10 nights and spent $2000 for my room and I have never had so many bad experiences in one stay. I travel a lot and spend about 35 nights a year in hotels. I do think the pool area is nice and the room was OK, we enjoyed the movie theater and mini golf, but there were too many unprofessional things going on all around us and the resort has been open 8 months, this should be long enough to get the bugs worked out.