Vacation suggestions - need help

[Crazy4Blue]

Thinking about taking the family to US Virgin Is (St Thomas) or Bahamas. We've never been to either...is one more desirable than the other? Any other Islands I should think about (Puerto Rico, Dom Rep, Jamaica, St Croix)?

Criteria - Me, Wife, (4 boys ages 13, 13, 9 and 5)

We are currently looking on Expedia for Hotel/Condo plus flight from CVG

Thanks in advance!

[Darrell KSR]

Take the wife to any of them. Leave the boys at home :).

Sorry, as a parent of five, I couldn't resist the obvious joke. I don't have any real experience beyond going to the Bahamas (mediocre to me) and going to the Cayman Islands (great to me). When I was looking at where to go (this was 15 years ago), I looked briefly at Jamaica, and was persuaded to go to the Caymans as an alternative. There were several reasons that I thought were good at the time, the only one that really stuck with me was that there was less poverty in the Caymans (basically, the person that I spoke with said they were constantly seeing panhandlers in Jamaica; just a little bit of a bummer). That a) may not be true, b) may have been localized to wherever they were staying/visiting; c) may not be relevant, and d) may not still be the case, since it was 15 years ago anyway.

[blueboss]

Punta Cana has excellent all in one deals, however I'm not sure about the cost effectivness of the all inclusive trip with children.

As for me, the wife and I are looking at properties on Dauphin Island, anybody got anything there for lease or know of a property we need to look at. Our criteria is, needs to be oceanfront with preferably a small dune line.

[Crazy4Blue]

Good stuff. Thanks Darrell - was wondering the same thing about the poverty aspect. Punta Cana - that's a new one I'll have to check out.

[Darrell KSR]

Well, don't take that as gospel--it was a long time ago. We saw no panhandlers or anything like it in the Caymans, but that might be the case in Jamaica now, too.

[dan_bgblue]

Been 20 years since we were in the Caribbean. Been to Jamaica (Ocho Rios), Bahamas (Nassau), Puerto Rico (resort west of San Juan) and St Thomas (Charlotte Amalie). Much may have changed in the intervening years but we had the best time in St Thomas by far. At the time my wife and I both called it the Hawaii of the east. Absolutely beautiful water, great beaches and water sports, some really nice restaurants that may no longer be there. We stayed at Frenchman's Reef while there and it was really nice but that was 25 years ago.

That is probably worthless info but we did have a great time in St Thomas and the other places were just OK and warmer than home.

[Crazy4Blue]

Thanks Dan. Since the US Virgin Is (St Johns/St Thomas) are US owned, I imagine we will not need passports?

[CitizenBBN]

Darrell if anything from what I hear Jamaica is worse than ever. That's just from a friend who went there on a mission trip, but if you get out of the resorts that are all walled off and into the capital proper it's pretty dicey in a lot of places.

Hey we have that in the US too, but we don't generally go there on vacation either. It just pays to do the homework and know what kind of trip you've booked. My friends who have gone there on the all inclusive deals and stayed in the resorts and on their organized events have liked it. I'm just a "get out and see where you're at" kind of person, so I like going places I can do that.

Havent' been to the Bahamas in 20 years, no doubt it's changed a great deal, esp. where we were on Paradise Island and Nassau. Doubt anything I'd offer would be more than conjecture.

[suncat05]

Avoid MEXICO! Just sayin'.......... :533:

[CitizenBBN]

Avoid MEXICO! Just sayin'.......... :533:

Hey why not just go to Suncat's or Doc's? Nice area, weather is good, they speak Southern too.

[suncat05]

Lots of stuff to do in both places. Pick a coast, the weather and the water will be fine in a few days!

[dan_bgblue]

Thanks Dan. Since the US Virgin Is (St Johns/St Thomas) are US owned, I imagine we will not need passports? Correct. Puerto Rico, St Thomas, St John, and St Croix do not require passports for entry or exit. When we went we just carried raised seal copies of birth certificates and drivers license. I just checked and the requirements have not changed

[Crazy4Blue]

Correct. Puerto Rico, St Thomas, St John, and St Croix do not require passports for entry or exit. When we went we just carried raised seal copies of birth certificates and drivers license. I just checked and the requirements have not changed

Cool, that'll save me $690 if we choose to go to any of those. Lots of research to do....fun research that is.

[dethbylt]

Cool, that'll save me $690 if we choose to go to any of those. Lots of research to do....fun research that is.

I second the vote for anywhere on the gulf coast. Cheap, and only a few degrees cooler than the island. OK, maybe 15-20 degrees. Still, "Cheap" and "warm" are good for us.

[badrose]

I went to Jamaica on my honeymoon in September,1984. We Flew in at Ocho Rios (aka Ian Fleming Airport) and I noticed as we went to get in line that the locals were looking at me funny. After we checked in there we headed toward our bus and along the way we were approached 3 or 4 times to purchase some pot. That, coupled with the way some had been looking at me made me a bit paranoid, like I was being set up. So, I declined. The bus was old and small and it was packed with passengers but we were off to Runaway Bay! It was about and hour and a half drive IIRC, and the driver seemed to be in as much in a hurry as we were. There were no right/left lanes and the ride was bumpy. After several close calls with oncoming vehicles I'd resigned to myself that the driver knew what he was doing and had as much a sense of self preservation as I did so I relaxed a bit.

I think it was around 6PM when we arrived at the resort and got in line to check in. Again with the stares! The girl who checked us in and exchanged our money for beads (resort currency) told me I looked exactly like the Jamaican Prime Minister. I only just today looked him up and there is a strong resemblance to me then except I had a mustache. He may have as well. I dunno. There were some shots of him with a beard in my search.

http://digjamaica.com/app/webroot/img/EdwardSeaga13416619691114.jpg

At the time I thought it was strange that Jamaica would have a white guy as PM but was relieved I wasn't a target for a sting operation. We were led to our cottage which was efficient and roomy enough. A large bed and a ceiling fan, no air conditioning. Dinner was about to be served so we changed quickly and when we got to the dining area (outside) we were shown to our table which would be our table for the week. As a guy who is drawn to structure I liked that. The menu consisted of mostly, if not all, local cuisine. Jerk this and jerk that and plantain among other things but in the time we were there it was all good. May or may not have had my first Red Stripe that night, I can't remember. I'm guessing we retired early. It had been a long day.

I got up early the next day and let my new bride sleep so I put on my trunks, a t-shirt, sandals, and gathered a towel, suntan oil, and sunglasses and I'm out the door to scout things out! The resort was relatively small. The beach itself was maybe 200 to 300 yards long. There was a pool closer to our cottage but I wasn't interested in that. I ventured on, the beach to my left, and there was a tiki bar maybe a third of the way that jutted out about thirty feet in the water with a wooden walk leading up to it. As I was approaching it a resort employee approached me and informed me where different things were and that the beach was divided (marked by the boarded walkway to the bar), the nearer end was "clothes required" and the other was "clothing optional." The only end to enter the surf, however, was the optional end. The nearer end had sea urchins and other hazards, so I opted for the optional side to settle in.

Lawn chairs were provided but before I'd decided on exact location I was approached by a local whose name was Albert aka Albert the Hat Man who sold hats made from the leaves of the tropical trees there (coconut, I think) and also a purveyor of local 'weed.' I got a hat. So I proceeded to get a chair and situated it according to the angle of the sun. It was hot already, around 9:30, and after a few minutes of taking in the beautiful scenery a nice girl comes around asking me if I'd like a cold drink, Pepsi was the only choice, so I ordered a Pepsi. In the meantime I started reading a paperback novel and after what seemed to be a while I'm wondering where my Pepsi was. The nice girl arrives with my 10 oz. Pepsi which was $1.00. There was no tipping allowed which was sad, but I knew that Pepsi would last about a minute so I ordered another. "No!" she said. The sand was hot and she was barefooted but I really wanted another so I assured her the second would be the last for a while.

My wife soon arrived and I helped her secure a chair and get it situated and then proceeded to share the events of my morning. A while later after I'd flipped over I noticed a young couple holding hands wading out into the water...without a stitch on. I thought it was a lovely sight and after looking around to see the reaction from other guests I determined that it was pretty ho-hum for most. I turned to my wife and said, "I will if you will" so we began working on our all-over tans. Not too long afterward we were visited by a German couple who clearly were old pros at the whole full disclosure scene. Their English was pretty bad but good enough to know they wanted us to go snorkeling.

I had a mustache in those days and getting a good seal with my snorkel mask was just impossible. Not to be deterred, we proceeded to get our gear and off we go, entering on the safe end of the beach. The water was clear and visible down to the bottom at least twenty feet deep. Saw lots of different schools of bright colorful fish and some large shells were scattered about on the floor... I'd never been snorkeling before and when my mask would get full I'd tread vertically and drain my mask, no big deal. After about 20-30 minutes they decided to head back to the beach. At some point I'd separated from the group and veered to the right and the sealing wax was diminishing so I had to pull up more often to drain the mask. As I'm approaching the beach, clearly on the wrong side, I empty my mask one last time and the water is getting shallow and before I knew it I'm 4 feet over a stingray with a wingspan that would rival my own and a tail that was long enough to make contact. My mask was about full of water and I needed to pull up and walk out but had no really good place to get vertical so I'm getting panicky, seeing the headline on my hometown Ashland Daily, spinning and getting closer and bigger (like in the old movies) Local Man Killed By Stingray While Swimming Naked. After I'd safely passed the stingray there were rocks and sea urchins but fairly discernible so I pulled upright and tiptoed to shore only wearing my flippers no doubt with panic still on my face.....on the clothed end of the beach.

My wife had followed my journey in from the beach and was there to greet me bent over laughing. I continued walking with my flippers on for a bit which had to be a great source of humor for everyone but I really wasn't paying attention to that and hadn't really thought about them till I got back to our spot. I was able to laugh about it pretty soon after and I still get a chuckle when I'm reminded of it. I had then decided I needed to see Albert the Hat Man again.

That evening there was an excursion to a restaurant/club where there was live entertainment. The food and service was good and a band that played a lot of reggae and some song about small penises that was pretty funny and the whole crowd joined in on that. In the meantime I'm getting keenly aware that my rear end was sunburned pretty good so when we got back I knocked on a couple of cottage doors looking for something to relieve my discomfort. I was lucky that I found some so quickly and the girl, not willing to let me take it with me, applied it herself. Not bad.

Outside of the German couple we'd pretty much kept to ourselves. There was this one older couple we ended up having lunch with. They spoke with a real country twang and used the word 'praycious' to describe many different things and she had gotten one of those hairdos with the little braided strands all over going all the way to the scalp like Bo Derek wore. I became annoyed and bored pretty quickly. Another couple who had gone on the dinner club excursion hung out with us some and in addition to his love for the small penis song had determined to get his new wife to go skinny dipping. She finally relented and got a surprisingly large applause, I'm assuming, because he could finally move on.

The waiter assigned to us was very gracious. I think his name was John as well. He played cricket and loved baseball but cricket was the game there. My wife had taken a bunch of ink pens with us upon hearing that they'd be loved by the wait staff. Turns out that if they're lost the cost of replacing them came out of their pay so we were generous and handed them out to everyone. Word got out among them and everyone was extra nice to us just because of that one little thing. The last evening we were there we were greeted by John well before we got to our table. There was one table that had been beautifully decorated with local wild flowers. It was our table. The only one decorated. I was deeply touched by that. I was approached by one lovely young lady who was a waitress and she gave me her address hoping I could help get her to the States. I left Jamaica feeling so lucky and so blessed to be an American. It is also the fondest memory of my time with my first wife.

[suncat05]

Sounds like you had a great honeymoon, bad.

[badrose]

Sounds like you had a great honeymoon, bad.

It really was. It was about 30 years ago and I was 27 and had never been out of the country.

[Doc]

We own a timeshare at Atlantis in Paradise Island/Nassau Bahamas. I'm OK with it as its easy to get to since they have an international airport in Nassau. The Bahamas can be somewhat run down unless you go to one of the mega resorts, and expensive. We go every other year (trade off years) and like it but then we seldom venture off the Atlantis resort except for meals. The Paradise island resorts are top notch. Best comparison would be the Las Vegas Casino resorts. Once outside the resorts its a bit of a dump.

I've never been but hear Bermuda is about the nicest island, so its something I'd consider.

Above it was mentioned to avoid Mexico. We are headed there this summer to Cancun. We traded our Bahamas timeshare for this so will see if its a good trade or not.

[Padukacat]

Just thought I would share that we just got back from Jamaica and did couples San souci in Ocho Rios and holy heck it was an awesome place. The grounds were insane and the people were nice and food was tasty. Hardly any crowd but the workers make it fun as there is a 1:1 ratio of worker and guest. Look up pics on TripAdvisor if you want. We will prob go back in five years or so, really liked it.

[kingcat]

Visited Hilton Head last year. That's a place I'll visit again one day. Very nice.

[KSRBEvans]

Just thought I would share that we just got back from Jamaica and did couples San souci in Ocho Rios and holy heck it was an awesome place. The grounds were insane and the people were nice and food was tasty. Hardly any crowd but the workers make it fun as there is a 1:1 ratio of worker and guest. Look up pics on TripAdvisor if you want. We will prob go back in five years or so, really liked it.

Thanks for the report and the tip. Glad you had fun.

I love going someplace warm in the winter. It's like you're getting over on something or somebody. (I say this as it's 30 degrees and flurries here in the Peoples Democratic Republic of Louisville.)

[Catfan73]

I got married in Jamaica in '98 in Negril (with a small ceremony at church when we got back home). We stayed at the Sandals (straight) couples only resort and the beach is spectacular, with lots of topless European women. We got an upgrade to a cottage with its own patio, etc. Had a great time, but the poverty there is crushing and they even tell you to not venture off the resort. That being said, I'd love to go back sometime and sip that blue mountain coffee on the veranda.

The best vacation I ever took was the following year in Paris at the turn of the millennium. Went to the Louvre, climbed the Eiffel Tower and rode the Metro everywhere from our hotel. And its not as expensive as you might think.

[KSRBEvans]

^Some great deals on Europe vacations right now, I guess because of the weak Euro.

Mrs. BEvans and I are going on a Rhine River cruise this June. Starting in Amsterdam and stops at Cologne, Koblenz, Mainz, Strasbourg, Breisach and ending in Basel, Switzerland. It's my 1st time to Europe so I'm excited.

[Doc]

One not mentioned is Costa Rica. Right now is a bit pricey but still cheap, if that makes sense? Go late summer (Aug and Sept) which is the start of wet season and prices drop dramatically. We did 4 days/3 night including air fair out of Lauderdale for under $800. Going now, during dry season flights still cheap @ $260 round trip nonstop from Lauderdale. Is also more options out of Miami. However I found package deals on travelocity for 400-1500 hotel and flight for TWO in the Arsenal region (central CR, town of LA Fortuna) for 4 nights going in March. You need a rental car which runs about $300 (4 wheel drive mini SUV with insurance, which you definitely should get. Seeing the roads, its self explanatory). Costa Rica is one of the best bangs for your buck. Its nicer than Mexico unless you want a resort aka resort prices, far more pleasing to the eye as its know for it ecotours, and far less expensive than any Caribbean island

[Catfan73]

Don't you have to watch out for dinosaurs?

[Doc]

Just pterodactyls