1st Trip, First Trip Report

Ok so I have never done a trip report for any of our trips but this one was so awesome I thought I tried. We stayed at Treehouse for 9 nights.

Sun 1/3
Left Milwaukee on Southwest and had no delays or flight problems. My biggest problem with the flight is we purchased early bird check-in right when fares released and people who bought tickets and early bird check-in a week prior to flight had lower number then we did. I just thought earlier bird check-in was based on who purchased first.

We arrived at MBJ at 1235 and had purchased Club Mobay as it was our first trip and did not know what to expect. Well, we really didn’t need it but as we needed to wait 40 min. for our ride it was nice to have a place to sit. Not sure I would purchase it again.
We had transportation with our hotel stay that was supposed to be shared but we were the only ones. Nelson from Kenny’s Tours was I driver and he was awesome. Very safe and stopped for us to pick up some supplies. We arrived at Treehouse Resort about 3:30. What a lovely resort. Nothing fancy but everyone was so nice and rooms clean what more can you ask for. Our room was towards the back which was fine with us. Our room has a comfortable king bed, bathroom, some dressers and refig. As requested and was clean. What more can you ask for. I unpacked and off we went to explore.

I knew I wanted to head to yellowbird (2:1 dirty bananas) and Drifters for music so off we went. Was great to not have to wear shoes and had great weather. Yellowbird had awesome dirty bananas and Drifters was fun. Great music and so social.
After a few we headed back to Treehouse and just had dinner there as we were hungry and tired. My husband had the pork chop special but the pork was mostly fat. This was the theme with the pork we had and we stopped ordering pork. I had the grilled lobster and it was EXCELLENT. Of course we are on vacation and I needed dessert. The caramel cake is to die for. If you are at the Treehouse and it available order it. The price for the meal was average for what we paid the rest of the trip but the drinks I thought were really expensive. Most of the time it wasn’t the actually drink price but the tax and service charge that is tacked on. Our bill had 10% gratuity listed but I just never know if the serve actually gets that so we tip more. I guess I need to ask.

Couple of tips from the first day: Have Jamaican and US money on you because some place do a 1:100 conversion rate and others price in American and do a higher conversion rate. One place was 1:125 and we paid in American then. If you don’t like the smell of weed don’t go to Jamaica as it is everywhere. We had no problem with that. All in all our first day was a great start to the trip.

Mon 1/4
Up early and off to do 30 min on the treadmill. This only lasted 4 days and then I said forget it. After treadmill was time for shower and breakfast. Breakfast at the Treehouse was included in our room rate and today was good as it had bacon but the other days was usually fish and after while it was enough with the fish. The nice thing is that they had someone making eggs anyway you wanted them so I knew I could always have toast and eggs in the morning with some fruit. It was a simple breakfast but a good start for the day.

After breakfast we started out walking the beach. This was the way that every morning was spent. Long walks on the beach. After that we would lounge around the beach. What an absolute beautiful beach and miles to walk. Loved it. Every day I had my 10,000 steps in by noon. The water was calm and so glad I brought a floaty.

We had lunch with the singer chief/movie star chief and he was awesome. The best thing about him was everyday he was there he made sure he was out in the morning greeting people and talking to them. Making them feel like family. I thought he was a great ambassador for the hotel. I know everyone says Gail is always around but, I never saw her. I even brought a bag of ambulance supplies and never got a response or thank you. Maybe she was gone. But, singer chief was great and food was really good except this was the 2nd and last time we had pork as it was fatty. The plates are so big that my husband and I would share and had more than enough to get thru until dinner.

Not sure what we did the rest of the day but we cleaned up and walked out to the road to take a walk. We ended up at a roadside bar called and owned by Roger and what an awesome little place and Roger was wonderful. I asked him about a cab to the West End and that our hotel charged $16-18 one way. He found us a nice driver that only charged $10 and off to Murphy’s we went. We got to Murphy’s about 5:30 and were the only ones there. We both had grilled lobster and tried the festivals which were very good. The lobsters where cooked to perfection and so yummy. Well worth the cab fare. We headed back and had a nightcap and off to bed. I think we went to our room by 10 every night.

Another couple was suppose to meet us today but there flight was cancelled and rescheduled for the next day.

Tip from day 2: Don’t go to restaurants hungry as you don’t get your food quick in Jamaica.

Good stuff!

Please keep posting!

VVHT

Enjoying the report & love the red tips

Tuesday 1/5
Another day in paradise. We were disappointed that our family didn’t make it in the day before but, took advantage of the day alone and went to Half Moon Bay. The driver that took us to dinner the night before arrived right on time at 1200 to transport us. Not sure what the round trip rate should be but paid $40. What an absolute gorgeous place. They have a wonder bar, beach and boat to go to Calico Jacks. They also have a few cabins that can be rented. Not sure I could stay for a week as it is secluded but maybe for a few day. The one thing I couldn’t figure out is if the cabins had air conditioning. That might be a deal breaker for us if they don’t. We did take the boat to Calico Jacks and it is such a cute little place and the best snorkeling around. The biggest problem is the water is really swallow and I got pushed against the reef and scratched my leg. It bleed and bleed but they do have a first aid kit on the island and the owner patched me up. We stayed out there longer than expected and never got to eat so not sure how the food is but the drinks were awesome. I had told the driver to return at 3:00 as I wasn’t sure how the day would be and think the next time would ask someone to call. I just didn’t know how it all worked yet but will next time.

We got a little snack when we got back to the room and hung out on the nice porch swing/chair until our family arrived. Once they arrived and unpacked we headed a couple doors down to Sunset Beach. No problems walking there at night. We walked the beach at night down a couple hotels and had no problem. The one thing I noticed was a lot of lights went out around 10 so we tried to be back by then. I also never walked alone and would not recommend it. I want to say that this was one of the best meals but all meals except one were beyond our expectation. We had fried fish, lobster pasta, curried chicken and Jamaican chicken. Everyone was impressed with the food and would defiantly recommend the food. I had the fish and it rivalled a good Friday Night fish fry in WI. Again, don’t go hungry has it took over 1 hour just to get our food. Our family went back their last night but we went somewhere else as I refuse to eat at the same restaurant twice on vacation unless we have eaten almost everywhere already. That’s going to take a while in Negril and many more trips (hint, hint)
Back to the bar at Treehouse for a night cap and to bed we went.

Tip Day 3- Don’t fly out of a small airport in the winter chances to high your flight will be cancelled and you will miss a day of vacation. Reef scratches can really tear you up and rum works good as an antiseptic. Next trip I will make sure I bring antibiotic ointment.

^^ Or just more rum for the antiseptic. lol

Or just drink more rum and you won't feel the scratches!

So true about the small airport!! We got stuck on the wayback in San Fran.. Let me tell you, maybe not as bad as losing a day of vacation, but being stuck in an airport for over 24 hours is not fun!! Especially tired and broke from your vacation.. Airlines would not give us any kind of vouchers for food or hotels.. Just a little blue blanket and a spot in the corner to sleep on the floor!! Well I have insomnia as it is, it is seriously impossible for me to sleep in an airport or on airplanes for that matter!! I was pretty cranky

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mjc12771

Tip Day 3- Reef scratches can really tear you up and rum works good as an antiseptic.

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Is that applied externally, internally or both? :cool:

~Moose

Great report.....our first trip to Negril, we learned to always have a snack before going out to dinner....everything is Soon Come

Love it! Can't wait to read more!