I've got to find my way back, back to summer paradise - Nov 2011 Trip Report

Getting home from Negril last year was a bit of a shock to the system. We woke up that Sunday with snow outside and the dawning realization that there was in fact only one full weekend left until Christmas, which we were hosting. There was not a single decoration hung and not a meal planned. So we got up, put on our winter gear and made our annual Christmas tree pilgrimage.

It was February before I recovered from the season. I had one big thing on my mind and that was getting back to Negril. The boards at this point where starting to light up with talk of April gatherings. There was bash, a magic bus and a flop off. I really wanted to join in the festivities, so I set to planning our return. It wouldn't be April, but it could be November.

I was excited to discover that Westjet had their early winter schedule out and they appeared to be adding a second direct flight on Wednesdays. That opened up the possibility of a 10 or 11 day trip. We had gotten an early booking bonus from Westjet, which got us a 25% off promo code. It was ironic, because the bonus was for booking our winter vacation before December 15. We were already home from our trip at that point. I'll still take it.

I started in on Sunshine to get his vacation approved early, because when I saw a fare in our price window, I wanted to jump on it. Basically at the same time as he got his vacation approved, Westjet revamped their schedule - no more Wednesday direct flight. We talked about it and decided that Negril was more than worth a connecting flight. We would travel down through Toronto but we could still take advantage of the direct flight home.

If you are really paying attention to flights for a particular set of days, it is amazing how much the fares can fluctuate. It is crazy even how much two flights from the same airline on the same day can have differences in the hundreds of dollars. Westjet seemed to be using fares to push people onto a flight that didn't get into MoBay until 7pm. I wanted to be there for sunset, but I wasn't willing to pay an extra $500 to do it.

At least 2 people suggested on the board watching one way flights on multiple airlines. They were so right.

One Friday afternoon mid-August I was at my desk trying to kill time for before the weekend. My work neighbor started talking about booking flights for her vacation and I popped onto Air Canada's site. Their roundtrip was no deal, but the trip down was cheaper than any I had seen and it is scheduled to arrive with plenty of time to sunset. Westjet actually had a seat sale on the trip home, which with the addition of our 25% off code put the whole trip into our fare window.

So I pushed the button and it was good.

The plot actually thickens a little bit. Not only do I want a good deal, I want to know if I could have gotten a better deal, so when I have of minute, I will check back. Within a month of our booking, Air Canada changed their schedule, moving up the Toronto flight by 30 minutes. Not a big deal, except we didn't have much of a connection time to begin with. In fact, you couldn't book the flight combo we were rolling with anymore.

I didn't tell Sunshine. No need for both of us to worry about it. I figured these things had a way of working themselves out.

So this morning my cell phone rings and who is on the other end? Air Canada customer service, informing me that their schedule has changed and they have rebooked us on the Winnipeg-Toronto flight the night before and they will be putting us up in a hotel overnight in Toronto.

I know for some people this could be a real issue with shuffling kids and jobs and pets. For Sunshine and I this is big woo-hoo moment. I don't get to Negril any sooner, but my vacation starts when I get to the airport, so I just got an extra day of vacation on someone else's dime. :cool:

Thanks Cherry! I was sad that the trip report was done, but happy now that we get the lead up report!! So wish we could meet you, it's too bad you'll be gone by the time we get there :(. I love WestJet, they've been good to us...

Great report Cherry! Have fun on the cliffs. Go see Sexy Rexy, eat at LTU and drink a few stripes at Whoopie's.

Hey Cherry - Sounds like my scenario with my flights. Hubby is always anxious to get us booked and then a better deal comes along. I end up spending over an hour on the phone to cancel the booking, getting my $$$ back into my West Jet account, losing $ 50.00 each on the deal but still end of saving money by re-booking when the price drops. See you on the 1st for Luciano - maybe I should hold a table if I can, for 6 peeps - Mamade included? Only 8 more working days - Yah Mon!

Cherry - we leave the night before this year due to being able to use miles. I like the idea of splitting the travel day and staying in Florida for the night. Getting up in the morning and getting to JA in a couple of hours is exciting! Irie - if you can save a table we are in :)

Mamade - I agree, I think splitting the trip up is great. It also means that we don't have to catch a cab at 4:00 am. I don't expect to have a great nights sleep in Toronto, but it will be better than if I had been at home.

Irie, please do save us a seat :) It is nice to know there will be some friendly faces there! Are you staying at Seastar?

Is it weird that I find myself getting just as excited when OTHER PEOPLE are going as I do when I am going?!?!?!

Sigh.....I have it bad
LOL

Traveling solo.....can I join your table at Seastar for Luciano???

I think this is a more the merrier kind of party Delcey - Irie, can we make that a table for 7? :)

Marley - I know exactly what you mean. It is how I felt when you were all getting ready to go in April!

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Is it weird that I find myself getting just as excited when OTHER PEOPLE are going as I do when I am going?!?!?!

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Not weird at all, Marley, joy shared is a joy made double....and I'm pretty sure CherryShine will double down on several fronts in Negril, then they'll share.

Long before we purchased our flights, I was making plans for where we were going to stay. I really had two criteria, Sunshine needed AC and I needed at least a queen size bed. Of course, it also needed to be awesome, but there seems to be a lot of that in Negril. :)

I am a big believer that moving around a little bit during a vacation makes the whole things seem much longer. If you change the view every couple of days, home seems longer and further away each time. I had originally though a straight cliff/beach split would be the plan, but I was having a hard time narrowing to just one of each. I have no idea how many times I said to myself, 'That is it, this is the final plan,' but it seemed I was changing my mind every week. With each positive trip report, the possibilities got more endless.

As last winter's trip reports unfolded, it was hard not to notice that there was a lot of love on this board for Catcha Falling Star. I was trying to stretch my dollars to 10 days though, so most of the rooms at Catcha were just a bit out of reach. Pisces looked great (it is my sign) and I loved the patio, but I just couldn't talk myself into the double bed. Little Capricorn didn't have a patio and I wanted our own outside space. Gatehouse had the bigger bed, but I was worried about being near the road.

Lucky for me at the end of April Sweetness was staying in the Gatehouse and she was reporting live. She answered a number of questions for me and urged me to get on booking. Though we didn't actually have the vacation approved and hadn't settled for sure on the length of our stay, before the boardie bash was done, we had booked 3 nights in the Gatehouse. It will be stop #2 on this year's adventure.

So where to start things off? Right where we found our groove last time, at Blue Cave Castle. Sunshine was excited enough about returning that he actually sat down with me and we went through all the air conditioned rooms on the BCC website to pick the one we wanted. Our first choice wasn't available, but there was a close second. Before I pushed the button, I thought I would show him the Penthouse. It took him about 12 seconds to decide that AC was actually not that important to him. It was available, so we will be playing King of the Castle in the penthouse for our first 3 nights in Negril.

Our last 4 nights, we are headed down to the beach. I had narrowed our choices down to Nirvana on the Beach and Idle Awhile. It was a really tough choice. Having had fun picking the penthouse, Sunshine was keen to weigh in on this choice, so we looked at pictures and videos from all over the place. Ultimately, Idle Awhile was the winner. Of course, after all that, they didn't have any room at the inn.

I think it was fate though, as Idle Awhile was stretching the budget. For some reason I hadn't thought to check on what was on sale at Negril One Stop. They had their winter sale for CocoLaPalm, which had always been a real contender. It was going to cost of half of what Idle Awhile would have and it is right next door to Idle Awhile. I have certainly viewed their webcams enough time. I would have liked a junior suite, but they didn't have any available for our dates. I am sure the superior room will do the trick nicely. Besides, I am going to be on the beach most of the time anyway. :cool:

Does deciding where to stay get any easier the more often you go? LOL I think you've chosen well, you're down to a week!! Lucky girl!

Cherry absolutely loved the report, you're a GREAT writer and I felt like I was on the journey with you and Sunshine the entire time. Have fun on this next trip and I can't wait for the next journey (trip report) you take us on!

OMG, yay!
You are going to LOVE the Penthouse, nice work!
That room is so cool with all the different levels and views of the west end.....and if you enjoyed watching the (*DAISY ALERT! DAISY ALERT! DO NOT READ THIS NEXT PART* ) bats just wait until you sit out on that porch area at penthouse (across the bridge right on the water) at night the sky is soooooo clear and you can lay there and watch the millions of stars twinkling along with the millions of bats flying around. It's really cool, you are going to love it!

Great choices, I am super excited for the next installment! :)

okay - I'll get a table for 8 people that way we have extra space or room for 1 more!

Cherry - we are moving to Coco after our first two nights also! We will be in Pisces - I was debating that bed also...but I think we will survive - they we move to the king at Coco lol I'll swap you peeks if you don't mind - I'm dying to see inside Gatehouse :) Blue Cave Castle has always had me interested.
Irie - thanks! We will see you at Seastar! getting very excited!
Marley - I always get excited reading everyone's before and after trip reports! Your not that far behind us :)

small bed = cuddles people! I think you can handle it! :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by mamade11

Cherry - we are moving to Coco after our first two nights also! We will be in Pisces - I was debating that bed also...but I think we will survive - they we move to the king at Coco lol I'll swap you peeks if you don't mind - I'm dying to see inside Gatehouse :) Blue Cave Castle has always had me interested.
Irie - thanks! We will see you at Seastar! getting very excited!
Marley - I always get excited reading everyone's before and after trip reports! Your not that far behind us :)

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For sure I want to sneak a peek! So funny you are moving down to Coco too, reminds me of something about great minds and thinking a like, right? It has been snowing all day here, the countdown can't go fast enough!

And thanks Irie, it should be a great evening!

OMG, I am glad that I finished on last year's part of this report when I did or I would have left the ending just dangling. I can't believe how busy I have been getting ready for this trip and getting organized for Christmas when we get home. I hardly missed a day on the board for what seemed like months and now I haven't logged in since last week! The good news is it looks like there are lots of updates, which will be good reading at the airport. Only an hour left until I pull the pin on my work day.

I just got my email confirmation from Kingsley that he will be there to pick us up in MoBay TOMORROW. When I put the counter on my phone I had 223 days to go, now it is at 1. Yippee!

The only computer tech I am travelling with is my smartphone and I haven't ever actually made a post on the board from it. I have visions of a posting a bit of a picture story as we go along, but I don't know how the reality will turn out. :confused:

Soon come Negril!

OMG!
Awesome

Have a blast!

YAY!!! See you there! :)

Rooms on the Beach

It is a great location, especially if you want to be able to walk to places like Alfred's, the Jungle and Roots Bamboo. There was music in the air every night. Sunnyside is right next door on the beach.

I liked having the beach wall and there was nice shade to be found and it seemed enough to go around. At high season, you might have a harder time.

There are lots of great restaurants within an easy walk.

I am a big fan of the second floor rooms, because the balconies are more private and you get this beautiful ceiling.

http://i1327.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMG_1219.jpg

The closet was big enough and had a safe in it that had a 'set your own' combination lock. I like not worrying about keys.

http://i1327.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMG_1221.jpg

If you are a bit particular about your bathrooms, this would probably get a passing grade. No tub, but the shower has a nice shower head and a second, hand-held one that is great for washing feet. Granite (or granite like) counters and everything was really clean. Felt like you could be in any reasonably nice hotel anywhere in the western world.

http://i1327.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMG_1217.jpg

I never manage to take a picture of the room when the bed is made and our stuff isn't spread everywhere.

http://i1327.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMG_1218.jpg

I always felt safe in the room and at the resort. There were a lot of vendors, but they didn't really intrude on the trip, and they provided our breakfast and lunch on a couple of occasions.

There are no cushions on the chairs on the balcony and to be comfortable, they desperately need them. We sat on pillows and towels when we were out there. Speaking of pillows, Rooms had the saddest, flattest pillows I have seen in a long time. The room came with three; we needed six to get comfortable, which the cleaning staff did provide. Neck pain suffers beware.

The toe stubbing step was as you came into the room, not on the way to the bathroom. Still managed to stub it, but the number of times was reduced.

The air conditioning worked great, as long as we didn't push any buttons. Maintenance had to come twice to fix it, as it totally froze over. Both times, though he never said it, I would guess if we hadn't touched it, we would have been fine. We stopped playing with the controls and the room was comfortable the whole time.

I wish there had been fridges, but I have heard you can rent them. We never inquired.

We never had any food on the resort. Drinks were good at happy hour, but otherwise Sunnyside next door is the better bet.

The verdict on Rooms? I would absolutely stay there again, but with so many places to try in Negril, it may be a while. I think it is listed as a three star resort. I think that is fair. The room is probably more like 4 star, but there aren't many amenities on the resort, so that holds the rating down.

Thanks Marley! See you soon, Iowagirl!

Have a blast! You have fast become a favorite poster here, so I hope you can figure out how to post from the phone.
Just a small request, any chance we could have a few great Sunshine quotes? I just bet he's a pistol!

Cherry - safe travels and we will see you Saturday! It is sooo cold and damp here I cannot wait until Saturday - at least we didn't get snow.....

Cherry & Sunshine - have a great trip! I look forward to your trip reports, so I hope you get the phone figured out!

just re-read the whole thing --- it was just as sweet as the first time