Let the "weaning" continue... ever so slowly

We just had the best Jamaica trip ever this past March...by spending less $$, weaning off the big AIs (namely Couples), and stepping down. We did this by stepping down to a smaller AI (Grand Pineapple), where there is 1 eating option, 1 bar, only about 60 rooms, and you didn't feel "walled in" by staying there. On this reach, we did the pub crawl, had a great dinner at Ivan's, another great dinner at Kuyaba, visited Seastar Inn for the Sat night show...and had the time of our lives....Well ...I've just booked us for next year at Seastar. To let you know how awesome that staff is, I screwed up the days on the booking engine, called the hotel directly, and they corrected my goof. We are, however, still a little on the spoiled side. That is, the idea of a grocery run, and in room kitchen to cook in, as well as rolling the dice on every meal option isn't <yet> our cup of tea. ...and it won't be until my better half and I retire that we can enjoy a good sub in JA, thus not really being too concerned about a thing. So, we have booked 7 days at GP following our 3 at Seastar... This will still give us plenty of room to explore(plan on catching more MB webcasts), and still have a comfort zone... The good thing is, with Seastar rates as they are, and the fact that we won't be staying AI as long...we are getting the longest stay in Negril yet, for the lowest we've paid thus far.
I'm sure we will completely wean off All-Inclusive in another year or so..and be glad we did. thoughts, anyone?

We also are converts from Couples. After 10 trips to CN we decided it was time to make a change. Have now stayed at Coco La Palm twice and absolutely love it and probably won't ever go back to Couples. We do miss some of the employees and just heard from one of them asking where we were and hoping we were ok. Next trip is in November for 2 weeks staying on the cliffs for 3 nights and the rest at Coco. Staying at Couples for one week or staying for 2 at Coco for the same amount of money is a no brainer for us. We also took baby steps our first time non AI, but the 2nd time we got out and about much more. We loved Seastar and went twice (once for the Sat. show & buffet and once for a regular dinner). The dinner was one of the best we had in Negril. Now if only we could figure out how to get more vacation time we would stay for 3 wks at a time.

There are so many great little spots in Negril to eat that we never go AI. We never cook at our hotel either. Back at home we might only go out to eat 6 or 7 times a year, including fast food or pizza, so whenevere we go on vacation, whether it be at "the shore", Jamaica, Mexico or where ever, we eat all our meals out. Most often we look to see where the locals eat and start there. Of course AI isn't a good deal for us anyway as we don't drink alcohol.
The more you stretch your traveling legs the more great experiences you will have.

Regards,


Bob

Congratulations on beginning the weaning process. There are so many wonderful things to see, eat and experience and so much money to be saved outside the walls of the A/I compounds.

Bless...
Ed

take one step at a time...during this time you will "pick-up on the runnins"..(catch on more).........then finally venture away from the tourist spots entirely and stay in a home...then you will have experienced all the "tastes" and "flavors" of Jamaica...we have just as many memories of dinner and staying the night up in the hills with our friends as we do on 7 mile beach

Sweet transition fi sure!! We started our Jamaica adventures in an AI. But, after 3 times, we found ourselves venturing out to eat, drink and be merry. That was when it hit us....this is crazy, we have free (well, definitely not free) food and drink at the resort and we are enjoying it much more outside of the resort. From that time on, we haven't looked back. There is so much more to enjoy and you will find that you get to know sooo many locals that you quickly feel like family yourself!!

Glad to see you are going to hit the West End this time. Another side of Negril that I have totally fallen in love with!! Warning...........the cliffs are truly addicting!!!:) Enjoy to the max!

Being a Negril baby with one trip under my belt, I went straight for the formula, and didn't even get on the tit.

The people I know who love AIs think Jamaica is about sitting in a pool bar and drinking from 10 AM to 10 PM then closing out the disco at 3 AM. That just didn't appeal to me at all. After finding out from this forum and TA that there were better alternatives for price and food choices, I went straight to that. I'm sure there is great benefit to those who prefer the AI or like to switch back n forth, however, I'm so glad I foraged and set it all up on my own.

Lisapat, way to go! So glad you had a great time.

Hey wait a minute bjritz. I have foraged at the Seastar swimup all day long. Can I still be a Negril baby? Lol

bjritz, you said it in a nutshell...that was us,trying to get the most from the $$ we spent, drinking and eating to excess, and making a point to stay up for eve. entertainment, disco, etc...you wonder why they say "vacation from the vacation"..and the thought of "leaving the walls" was tempting..but so wasteful since we "paid for this, let's use it"...MoFromMonroe...we also miss the staff and fun of CN did it 5X before coming to our senses..maybe we will revisit again for a special anniversary or something, but for a short stay,then again, maybe not...not very cost effective..

Our first and only trip so far was to RIU. We spent only time we slept on the resort. Nice place, but it wasn't for us.