2nutz in Negril - our December 2012 trip report

[nutz4travel]

Everyone starts their trip report with their "story", so this is ours...

My first trip to Jamaica was 1986 and I instantly fell in love with the place. Took a "booze cruise" out of Mo Bay to Negril. One engine died, a lot of people sick, myself included. The boat pulled into a bay (near Lucea maybe??) and a catamaran came and "rescued" those of us that were sick. I was amazed at how friendly everyone was and how well they treated us! That was my first experience with a roadside hut that will sell you anything and everything.

One of the boat crew who came with us flagged down every bus on the road trying to get us a ride to Negril and finally one agreed to come back for us. We stopped somewhere on Negril beach before heading to Rick's to meet up with the rest of the gang from the boat. It was love at first sight...

As much as I wanted to go back, I just couldn't afford it. Then in 2002 I got a great deal on a cruise leaving from Mo Bay. Watched the Canada US Olympic gold medal hockey game from a beach bar before sailing, one of the best days of the entire trip! A few hours in Jamaica just wasn't enough and left me wanting more.

Fast forward to 2008... After many trips to Mexico, Cuba & DR, I finally made it back to Jamaica with the love of my life, we'll call him Mr. Nutz, and was hoping he'd love it as much as I do. He's had to listen to me going on and on about how special it is and I'm afraid I've raised his expectations too high. No need to worry, it didn't take long to realise he loves it as much as I do! So much so that we were married on the beach in front of Our Past Time the following year. We love to travel and try to see a little bit of the world, so sometimes it takes us a while to get back to Jamaica. Our last trip was last November to the Jewel Ocho Rios. We loved it, but I really missed the activity on the beach. Starting thinking about a trip to Negril before we even returned home...

It started out innocently enough, my birthday is in December and I like to go away somewhere to "celebrate", even if it's just going away for a couple of days. Well, since this year was a big one, I thought it would be nice to spend it in Jamaica. I figured out the dates we could go, cleared it with my boss, convinced the hubby that we should try non-AI and that Negril is THE place to do that! Originally, the plan was to return to the Jewel for 5 nights and then hit the beach at Negril for 5 nights and try a non AI property for the first time. I found a good price on direct flights and booked them, now to find a place on the beach. After a lot of reading, research and stupid questions, I decided on Country Country. Feeling brave from all my research and reading, a new plan started to hatch in my little brain. What if, I said to Mr. Nutz, we stay on the cliffs instead of going all the way to Ochi? I'd found this little place that gets great reviews and looks absolutely beautiful. The rest, as they say, is history. It didn't take a lot of convincing, and Catcha was booked and the 8 month wait began!

About 3 weeks after booking, Mr. Nutz was diagnosed with brain cancer. Surgery and radiation done, chemo ongoing... We had to cancel our September trip to Italy, and for a long time, I thought we'd have to cancel this trip as well. Up against the cancellation deadline, the doctor gives him the green light to travel. This is great news!! He's feeling really good right now and I couldn't think of anywhere better to heal our spirit and celebrate life than Jamaica. We were both so ready for this trip!

[bjritz]

Wow, nice beginning. So sorry about Mr. Nutz illness, hope he's improving. I have a feeling Negril will help.

[original spanky]

G-d bless both of you

[Lady Jane]

Loving your story. Hoping Mr Nutz is recovering well.

[Saskgirl]

What a great story .... wishing you much Rest & Retreat in Negril

[Islander]

hoping Mr. Nutz is doing better. Great report..........looking forward to more.

[Melody]

So good to get to know you better. I've been following your plans for this trip for quite a while via TA. Of course, no idea of what you and your love have been battling until now. I DO hope the trip was wonderful and helped heal and fill up your cups and that it is truly all uphill from now on.

I'm so looking forward to the rest of your report.

Belated happy birthday girl!!

[nutz4travel]

Thanks everyone! Mr. Nutz is doing very well, he's handling his chemo like a rockstar and generally feels pretty good. The biggest issue is a lack of stamina/energy. The trip to Negril did us both a lot of good, I just wish we were still there! Thanks Melody for the birthday wishes!

Now that the snowblowing (yuck) and errands are done, Day 1 is coming up shortly...

[TizzyATX]

Thanks everyone! Mr. Nutz is doing very well, he's handling his chemo like a rockstar and generally feels pretty good. The biggest issue is a lack of stamina/energy. The trip to Negril did us both a lot of good, I just wish we were still there! Thanks Melody for the birthday wishes!

Now that the snowblowing (yuck) and errands are done, Day 1 is coming up shortly...

That is so great to hear 2nutz, Truly hope things continue to go smoothly and successfully with Mr Nutz. treatments. Can only imagine how much this trip meant to y'all and I've been real xcited to hear about it!!!

Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

[nutz4travel]

We had a 7am flight to Toronto, so we set the alarm for 4:40 AM. The radio came on and "Me and Bob Marley" was playing. This was played a lot in the summer, but I hadn't heard it in months. I knew instantly this was going to be a good trip.

A short hop to Toronto and our flight to MoBay was on time We landed a little early, at 2 PM. After a short wait for a plane to come out of the back of the terminal, we pulled in to our gate and stepped off the plane at 2:15 PM. There is nothing like that first blast of warm Jamaican air... As we were getting off the plane, I realized I had Mr. Nutz sign his customs form on the wrong line, OOPS! After quickly filling out a new form, we got in the line for immigration which wasn't too bad. The immigration hall was maybe 1/2 full and 2/3 of the counters were open. Within about 5 minutes, the line was up the ramp; for once our timing was good LOL. Next thing we know, they're opening the remaining booths and start a new line, ushering us to the new line. WOW! We grabbed our luggage, which was already waiting when we got through, cleared customs and were standing outside the airport at 3 PM!



We booked Rocky for our transfers this trip, and he was there waiting for us. He handed us a couple of Red Stripes and headed off for the vehicle. The airport was very busy that day, it was absolute chaos. We just stood there, drank our beer and took it all in. We were finally back in Jamaica!

We made a quick stop at the Mega Mart for a few things and off to Negril. I really do love that drive; it went quickly and we arrived at Catcha just after sunset. I didn't get any pictures of the sunset that night, and it was probably the nicest one we saw this trip.

We had originally booked Virgo, but had changed to Coral as soon as they'd posted pictures. All I can say is WOW!




I quickly unpacked and we headed to Ivan's for some drinks and dinner. Keneisha & Kevin were working the bar that night, so we ate dinner at the bar. We shared the plantain wrapped shrimp (yummy) and a lobster pasta which was really tasty, but the lobster was a little tough. We were both tired, it had been a long day, so we headed back to the room to make it an early night. Well, that didn't happen, the porch got us We decided to have a night cap , which turned into several and, before we knew it, it was 11:30. Gotta love that porch!