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.

It's not "stepping down" it's Stepping Out!

Now you know!

Haven't ever stayed at an AI before, but heard enough... nothing about it appeals to me, personally. To each their own. Happy to hear of your new experience :)

I kind of felt silly walking around with a wristband on. Everyone would comment "Oh Staying at Riu".

The first time my wife and I went to Negril was to get married at CSA. The A/I aspect does make one a bit apprehensive to leave the resort since it's all been paid for and you feel as if you're just throwing away money by "leaving it on the table," so to speak. We're a wee bit more adventurous then that though so we did spend a couple of days off resort to explore.
Since then, we've been splitting our stays between Seastar, Catcha and CSA for some variety. Since CSA was our first experience, we find it hard to let go completely but we're considering the possibility of Idle or GP in the future.
Does anyone have any cold, hard numbers as to how much $ a person saves by NOT going the A/I route?

Clownshoes,
I just went to Beaches Negril and ran the numbers for my 9 night stay = $4,004.07 incl airfare (I had to run numbers for 2013)
$1,800 - 1,900 for Grand Pineapple incl air

My 9 night stay at Xtabi incl airfare, food, drinks, transport, tips et al = $2,336.23 (May 17 - 26 '12)

Wow. totally not worth the extra money, if you plan on spending even a little bit of time and $$ off resort.

I watched the numbers closely the first time non all inclusive. Prior to going I priced Couples and priced Coco for 10 days. Also keep in mind I priced the standard room at Couples but got the Jr. Suite at Coco. Our room at Coco was much much nicer than Couples. Kept track of the money we spent for meals and drinks. We had nice dinners every night, drank as much as we wanted and went out to lunch most days too. A few days we ate patties or jerked pork on the beach. A continental breakfast was included which we upgraded to a full breakfast. I figured we saved at least $1500. Now if you scuba, snorkel, ski etc it may be worth the extra cost for Couples. We didn't do any of the water sports. Second time non all inclusive we probably saved even more money because we got better at knowing where to go, having our own drinks in our room, etc. Now we can go for two weeks next time.

Clownshoes, bjritz...I can tell you that we travel in March(not the cheapest season for JA), and have to connect from a regional airport due to where we live(very costly)...but we will spend $3,400 for the best accomodations these properties offer, and air for a 10 day stay VS. $5,400 in the past for 9 days at CN(garden view)w/air....I know we can do better, but, like I said....in steps

I still have a lot of trouble putting my arms around an AI Vacation. Maybe it is because I have never even tried it or maybe it is because I am so damned cheap! :p

I was lucky enough to be so naive in 1983 when I landed in Kingston thinking I could just backpack my way around Jamaica like I used to do in Hawaii every year. I was fortunate enough to meet a Jamaican Adventure Traveler like myself and he set me off to do the off the beaten path thing.

I love to stay in places like Seastar, Catcha, Whisltling Bird etc. but only do so for short periods between staying in smaller, less famous places or in private homes. My goal is to keep myself within a $1,000 US dollar a month budget and I am able to do that most of the time. Now that I live in the mountains, it is even easier to accomplish.

I personally think that the de-evolution of going from an AI to living in a private home is a worthwhile as well as an economical necessity if you decide to make Jamaica your "favorite spot" to vacation. It just gets to be too hard to pay off all the Credit Card bills that staying AI usually involves.

I suppose it is nice to have someone do everything for you during a vacation but that just costs too much money in my opinion. Jamaicans are so accommodating of people that you can get most of those things for much less by bargaining for them yourself. Living and playing in Jamaica is a delicate balancing act between feeling safe and feeling free to do what you want.


A favorite saying is "Tourists want everything the same or better than what they have at home and an Adventure Traveler wants to make the best out of what they choose" Personally, I make the best out of what I choose.

Attachment 15894

Peace and Guidance

I wish I could be like you Accompong but I don't consider myself a "traveler". To me a traveler goes to new and different places all the time and adapts to the area. We have found our comfort zone in Negril and keep going back. Before every visit we say we will get out and sight see more but it takes time away from the beach. We always say "maybe next time".We strayed once from Negril in 6 years to Mexico and had the worst vacation of our lives. Now that is not to say we have never been to other countries; we have been to a few and gone to quite a few places in the good ole USA too but Negril is what we love. We don't have credit card bills either. If we can't pay we don't play!

Well....it looks like our plans will change...with the GP closing next month..Wish I had waited 1 more week to book it. Now have to see what Sandals will do for us.....the thought of staying at a "Sandals" or "Beaches" REALLY makes me cringe...We're used to Couples Negril as far as High End AI's go...heard Sandals doesn't compare, with their "class" system, and every extra ..."coin operated" like a cruise ship...bottom line is, they got my deposit (for GP)..gotta see what happens..

I'm sorry to hear that you got done like that, and really hope you are able to make other arrangements to your satisfaction.

We've stayed at Couples too (primarily Couples Negril). For our next trip I want to do non-AI but the huz is nervous. We may split time between an AI and a non-AI as a compromise, or maybe I'll get my way and we'll spend it all at Catcha!

Catcha! Catcha! Catcha!

:)

Starting to lean towards CocoLaPalm....or maybe Negril Tree House..CCLP looks like a deeper shadier beach,where NTH has the nice breakfasts....hmmmm