visit regrets and $ ramblings

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Originally Posted by Drifter141

Honest question: where in Negril do you have to pay in $US, and they don't accept $JA?

Are you speaking specifically about having to book your hotel in $US? If so, it's more about the fact that the American dollar is stable right now, while Jamaican dollar is not. If they listed in $JA they would have to adjust the prices like every week. Plus it makes it easier for prospective customers to know how much it's gonna cost to stay there.

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Why? Easy for an American to say.. Please explain why a small hotel operator must charge in US bucks. The US dollar is not stable, far from it. It has been increasing against virtually all currencies. Not great for US exporters. Not great for people other than Americans who visit Negril. But it is great for hoteliers. They get a raise in margins every time the US buck goes up because most of their expenses are in JMD.
Anyhow, like I said, it is what it is and let the consequences sort themselves out.
For me, I'll spend less time.

I have not brought a U.S. dollar to Negril in about the last two years! Why would I pay percentage in a double exchange? The bank rate for Canadian to Ja. Dollars is 85 today. I pay and negotiate everything in Ja. With the exception of rooms! This is a rip off to some one without US dollars, which is one of the reasons my last three trips I stayed at an AI booked with transfers from Canada. Some of the smaller hotels with lower occupancy rates would be genius to offer a Canadian dollar rate! Leaving for a non AI trip in two weeks and am in the process of negotiating transfers in Ja. Right now, I am not bring US and am only going to have Ja. This has been how I roll for a while.

Big Frank, I feel your pain. I can certainly see how hotel pricing in USD can affect your budget, especially if your paying with a Canadian credit card.

We were in Negril last week, as well. In my experience, it was mostly the larger restaurants that charged in USD. Places like Charela (Le Venedome) and Ciao Jamaica gave us a bill in USD and I asked them to convert it to Jamaican, as that is what I was carrying. To be honest, I didn't take note of the exchange rate. Smaller restaurants like Shark's, Quality's, Chicken Lavish, Mango Tree and Sun Beach presented the bill in JMD. In addition, a few vendors gave me a price in USD, probably because they thought it would be convenient for me. When I asked for the price in JMD, they used a conversion rate 1:100 which was in my favor. No problem with that.

The strong US dollar is bound to have a negative effect on tourism as well from Americans. I'll use my example to demonstrate. Last month I spent some time in Europe due to the strength of our dollar. The dollars vs the Euro has improved roughly 30% from a few years ago, therefore I figured now was a great time to go. Normally I would have just made my way to Jamaica.

first, i don't see how being called tight is an insult.....lol

i shop at walmart, if i knew what maritimes was, i'd prob go there too...i eat off the dollar menu for lunch when at home, i eat box lunch in jamaica....nothing wrong with stretching your money, even on vacation...it can turn a one trip a year budget into a two (or three) trip a year budget...lol...

but seriously, i spend everything in JA....we carry 100 ones for tipping and quick change for places who claim not to have any....everything else is spent with ja dollars....if pricing is in US, i"ll take a cheap item off the menu, do a quick conversion in my head, and i'll know the diff before i order...alot of those same big name resturants charging in us dollars are also adding the gratuity in with the bill......i wonder how much, if any, the workers get of this.....

one thing to remember, if u are frustrated with a bill or something.....it is not the servers/workers fault, they just work there, usually have nothing to do with the pricing....i saw a tourist get all over a server this last trip about something she couldn't control....

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Originally Posted by booger

I feel bad for my neighbors up north and the decline of the dollar. According to this article that is 6 months old, it is attributed to oil. Same excuse on why our stock market tanked over the past couple of weeks.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cana...2004-1.3163316

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This is 100% the reason why. Oil.

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Originally Posted by groove16

first, i don't see how being called tight is an insult.....lol

i shop at walmart, if i knew what maritimes was, i'd prob go there too...i eat off the dollar menu for lunch when at home, i eat box lunch in jamaica....nothing wrong with stretching your money, even on vacation...it can turn a one trip a year budget into a two (or three) trip a year budget...lol...

but seriously, i spend everything in JA....we carry 100 ones for tipping and quick change for places who claim not to have any....everything else is spent with ja dollars....if pricing is in US, i"ll take a cheap item off the menu, do a quick conversion in my head, and i'll know the diff before i order...alot of those same big name resturants charging in us dollars are also adding the gratuity in with the bill......i wonder how much, if any, the workers get of this.....

one thing to remember, if u are frustrated with a bill or something.....it is not the servers/workers fault, they just work there, usually have nothing to do with the pricing....i saw a tourist get all over a server this last trip about something she couldn't control....

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LOL I think a few of my fellow Canucks were insulted because the entire nation was painted with one brush. Not true of course. I am a "thrifty" Canadian (Scottish heritage) and I eat box lunch in Jamaica too... it's how we afford more than one vacation from our miserable winters each year.
As for your query on Maritimes, Google is your friend :)
"The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island."

Did Newfoundland just fall off the map?

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Originally Posted by Stoners6

Did Newfoundland just fall off the map?

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No. ;)
But, apparently Newfoundland is not considered a Maritime province.

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Originally Posted by Corso

You want to capitalize when its in your favor and a discount when it isn't? Lol Ive never met a Canadian that wasn't tight!

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Guess you haven't met many. Kind of like me saying I haven't meant any Americans that weren't ignorant.