candhmama

The sunset sail was great! very pretty and relaxing, they had chicken wings, carrot and celery sticks and ranch dressing. The rum punch was great, it is the first trip like this we have done that had a cash bar though so that was a little different. At CI$9 it added up so didn't have too many (that was part of the reason we had initially decided to do the Jolly Roger sunset sail) Otherwise though it was very well done, they have a friday happy hour sunset sail and the drinks may be cheaper on that one, not positive though. The bar tab sheet had a section for happy hour rum punch which is why I was thinking that. We probably would have done that one if we had planned better in advance :)

we have hardly used taxis at all, the buses have worked really well for us. There are over 14,000 cruise passengers in today, 5 ships and we haven't even noticed since we haven't been into georgetown today, we are doing a sunset sail tonight with red sail sports, they usually leave from the Westin but tonight leaving from a different dock tonight. We were going to do a cocktail cruise with Jolly Roger last night but got cancelled because not enough people booked.

We just discovered another reasonable place to eat as long as you get the special. In Georgetown facing the water is Guy Harvey's restaurant and they have a daily special for 9.99, you can check them out online so you know ahead of time. Tuesday's were crab cakes and dh had them last night and said they were great. The rest of the menu is more expensive though and you can only get the special upstairs. They also do half price drinks from 5-7 but you have to be in one of the bar areas (either upstairs or downstairs) and not out on the deck in order to get the half price drinks. So if you want the special and the happy hour you have to be upstairs and inside but it makes for a tasty reasonable evening

I don't know for sure if the bus is running to the East End, one of the booklets we were given about the island has the bus info in it and the only route they said was unreliable was the South Sound route. So according to that everything else was reliable. Calico Jacks looks like it is a little more than 1.5 miles away. I have read on here a lot of people like to go to Royal Palms to rent chairs/umbrellas/ cabanas. We were walking near there yesterday so went in to have a look, seemed like a nice spot and open to people renting stuff from them. We have only eaten at Sunshine Grill twice but will probably be there more now that my husband can't walk as much the next few days. It has been fairly full but we have been able to get a seat at the bar both times without waiting. They also serve at the tables by the pool.

We are staying on the island this week and are doing their sunset cocktail cruise tomorrow night, I'm sure it will not be the same experience but can let you know how the staff is anyway. We did the day trip and snorkeling on the Jolly Roger in Barbados years ago, I think your kids would love it if it is anything like that one was.

The weather has warmed up, only 2 cooler days :) So far the bus has been super easy, we have gone to and toward Georgetown, back to the hotel, and last night up to west bay. The bus driver even took us to the restaurant that was not on the bus route and only charged us $1 extra each, cost us CI$6 instead of CI$4. A taxi would have cost us $24 and he gave us his card and said to call him and he would come back and get us. When he dropped us off told us if we wanted any driving tours or anything to give him a call. We were impressed.

We went to the beach at Westin yesterday, there are trees and umbrellas however I am not sure if they let you rent from them or if you are just not supposed to use them at all. Sunshine Suites has chairs you can carry over (folding beach chairs) and the sign by the chairs said that the beaches are public but ocean front property owned by hotel so sit within 20 feet of the water and don't use the hotels chairs. I know Westin had Cabanas to rent and they may let other people rent those, seems like they would rather make money than leave them empty.

We have tried Eats Cafe/Legends and it is good and probably the most reasonably priced place close by the cheapest drinks we have seen anywhere. They are in the strip mall just in front of Sunshine Suites along the main road. We walked down the road to Overtime on the recommendation of a local for breakfast. The service wasn't the best but the food was good and they had lots of options. I think it is fairly new. It is less than a mile away, they don't seem to have a website but they do have a facebook page and you can see the menu there. We walked back one night for dessert too and it was really really good and the service was great that night. We tried Lonestar on a recommendation, they had really good BBQ but the service was bad, bad enough that I wouldn't go back. There is an area here called Camana Bay, lots of stores and restaurants, newer higher end area, really pretty. We went over there for breakfast yesterday to the Waterfront Urban Diner, the cinnamon bun french toast was absolutely amazing and we sat outside right by the water. I think the breakfast prices were pretty comparable to most of the places we have been to. Last night was our splurge dinner at a nicer place and we went to Calypso Grill in West Bay, it was spendy so if you are looking for reasonable prices this is not the place to go, but the food was really really good and felt it was worth the extra cost. Not something we would do every day but decided to have one night of finer dining on our trip. We were glad that the bus driver drove us all the way to the restaurant, if he had dropped us off on the bus route we would have had quite a walk and not much of a shoulder on the road. In the future we would probably take a taxi because I don't think the bus drivers are usually that accommodating.

Hope this info helps some, let me know if you have any questions.

I am at Sunshine Suites right now. The weather has been a little cool and windy the last couple of days so today is our first day of warmer weather. We haven't done too much yet and we are here because my husband is having a knee procedure done so not our typical vacation. The restaurant here is really good, we had dinner here the first night and breakfast here yesterday. Very good. They also have a free grab and go breakfast, there is a cabana like building that has fruit, yogurt, oatmeal, cereal, pastries, coffee and juice that you can have for free in the morning so that is always an option. We have gone over there and had coffee before going to breakfast. The little strip mall that was previously mentioned does have a few places, eats cafe is cheaper for drinks but we haven't eaten there yet, just looked at the menu. Westin is just across the street, the beach is very nice, but we just walked over to see it didn't stay because it was chilly. (I know sounds funny since it is warmer than home but one person told us it was the coldest day they could remember for the last year here) There are quite a few restaurants along the main road back towards Georgetown and you can walk to them, it just depends how far you want to walk. We took the bus to one last night and then walked back. The bus is very easy to use and they will pick you up and drop you off anywhere along the route.

If you have any other questions about the resort I would be happy to answer what I can. We have only been here 2 nights and haven't gotten chance to do too much yet but by the time we leave I should have a little more to share. :-)

We are just back from our cruise and did a tour with Sonny. We thought it was great! We stopped at a rock and walked stairs up to the top (I'm sorry i don't remember the name), we drove out the the natural bridge, saw the baby bridge and the big one that collapsed, we stopped at a church and went to the California light house. Saw lots of the island and learned lots. He stopped at a local grocery store so people could buy the local beer (or any thing else they wanted) since it was cheaper there than anywhere else. Some of the people wanted to go to the beach so he dropped them off and told them how to get back to the ship by bus or taxi and then took us back to the ship. He had another tour that afternoon (a ship came in later that day) so he had to get us back. It was a great tour and would recommend it.

binns.tours@yahoo.com This is the address I have used

Sitting in the airport, flight delayed, and thought I would quickly post.

 

We did go to Cafe Mallorca and it was fabulous!! I had the ham n cheese Mallorca and coffee with milk. My friend had the Mallorca with butter n coffee with milk. Oh my it was so yummy!! I will have pictures later.

 

We did walk down the street and found La Bombonera. Still all boarded up. No one was working on it but it defiantly was under construction. Not open.

Thanks for the info! We will be there in December and are really hoping it is open by then. But...it is nice to know there is another great option if it isn't :)

no, sorry, i only know the length of the lounge chair i'm lying on and the feel of the ice cold drink in my hand :D:D:D

LOL, sounds like my idea of cruising.:D:D

We are going in May on the Freedom of the Seas for my dd's Make-A-Wish cruise and I was planning on doing some sort of door decoration. I enjoyed seeing what all of you have done, now I just need to figure out what to do for her.

I'm very glad to have found this thread. I hope to be cruising on FOS in May, we should find out this week and I am anxious to see what kind of room we will get. This is for my 11 yo dd's Make-A-Wish trip, and that is why I am unsure of the details. I've been reading all the info I can find on this ship and we are very excited to be going. DH and I cruised on the Empress a few years ago and it was our favorite cruise.

I got the Sheraton for $100 plus tax on 1/28/06 on Priceline. I have been trying for 2 mths so was very excited to get it.

I have been trying priceline to get a hotel in San Juan pre-cruise in Jan. I have not used it before and noticed a lot of you mentioning bidding up. Are you able to do this right away or waiting until the next day. When I bid and it is not accepted it says I have to wait 24 hrs to bid again unless I change something.

thanks for your help, I guess I should have been trying in mid-Oct. when everyone was getting such great deals.