All inclusive carribian vacation

woodmoose

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Staff member
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or steer clear from


St Vincent,,,,,,,,

at least from back in 1983-84 timeframe,,,

spent 6 months on that island (chain),,,, only tourists that went there then was a Soviet cruise ship that docked once a month,,,, 1/2 the tourists were retired Party officials,,, the other 1/2,,, well let's just say we watched them and they watched us,,,,,,,

it was an excellent experience,,, I learned a lot and had fun,,, came back my skin was the color of a dark mahogany desk (was I then a "Person of Color"???),,,, worked 4-6 hours a day training indig,,, then made commo,,, snorkeled / spear fished,,, hung out with locals,,,, and drank rum,,,

I'm sure it's changed since then,,,,
 

HotSoup

Old Mossy Horns
St Vincent,,,,,,,,

at least from back in 1983-84 timeframe,,,

spent 6 months on that island (chain),,,, only tourists that went there then was a Soviet cruise ship that docked once a month,,,, 1/2 the tourists were retired Party officials,,, the other 1/2,,, well let's just say we watched them and they watched us,,,,,,,

it was an excellent experience,,, I learned a lot and had fun,,, came back my skin was the color of a dark mahogany desk (was I then a "Person of Color"???),,,, worked 4-6 hours a day training indig,,, then made commo,,, snorkeled / spear fished,,, hung out with locals,,,, and drank rum,,,

I'm sure it's changed since then,,,,

You should write a book.....scratch that. Tell the stories and have Aaron write them down.
 

Firedog

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
When you going? I just found out we will be going to Anguilla in July, can let you know after on that about how the Four Seasons there is. Have been to Grand Cayman and that was nice. Heard great things about St. Maarten
 

woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
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I've been to,,, in order and all from Oct 1983 to May 1984,,,,,,

Bermuda,,,, one day
Grenada - three days,,,
St Vincent and the Grenadines - 6 months (ish),,,
St Lucia - 10 days,,,

carribean is nice,,, but them "all inclusive" places make you not "feel" the island as much,,,, get ya a room in a local hotel,,, eat where the locals eat,,, and ride the "bus" anywhere you want to go on the island,,,
 

Bean

Eight Pointer
I’m leaving for the Dominican next Saturday for a week I will report back how our stay was. We’re going to a new resort that hasn’t been open long. Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana
 

dobber

Old Mossy Horns
I didn't really like my trips to the Dominican, the resorts were way too close, but was cheap enough. Cuba has always been our go to spot, which likely isn't an option for you folks.
I agree that some of the best days/memories have been off the resort - take a cab and go check things out, they are always working on making a few extra $$. Best meal we ever had was in someones dining room in some small town, chicken, pork and more lobster than i could eat, and i tried to eat a lot
 

woodmoose

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which likely isn't an option for you folks.


funny thing,,, right after Cuba "opened" for us Gringos my middle daughter won a grant to do an overseas trip - could basically pick ANY country in the world,,, she picked Cuba against my sage advise (based on her, not cuba,,, certain countries need a certain experience level),,,

it was a nightmare for her,,, and I had to coordinate an extraction,,,

bad part - her trip wasn't the fun thing she thought it would be,,
good part - I got to exercise some short notice planning and execution skills (y) :cool: :taz:
 

richard corn

Ten Pointer
Lots of trouble in today"s world but traveling abroad is on my bucket list. I still can't fathom all the great places here that need visited with trouble no less likely. Visiting Boston in Fall and wanting to take my big Irish ass to Hell's Kitchen. Maybe even a follow up on Whitey Bulger. Can't carry in Ma though
 

golfer

Four Pointer
Sandals St. Lucian Grande - LOVED it. Beautiful place. Only down side is it is about 1.5 hours from the airport.
Sandals Antigua - Beautiful as well. Some complain about the beach vendors but a polite " no, thank you" usually moves them along. Nice and calm beach. Large catamaran leaves from right down the beach and sails around the whole island with lunch and a snorkel stop. Takes around 6 hours.

I cannot say good enough stuff about Sandals resorts. Going to Sandals South Coast Jamaica in a couple weeks.

We have a EXCELLENT travel agent out of Asheboro, NC if you need a recommendation.
 

timekiller13

Old Mossy Horns
I’ve been to St Lucia, Barbados, Antigua. Stayed at sandals resort at 2 of them. I can’t remember the the name of the other place I stayed. The sandals are awesome IMO. Eat, drink and play to your hearts content. You can usually find some good deals at the Sandals. We got a free upgrade when we went to St Lucia. Got there and they said “Oh, the side where your room is is having some upgrades done. Would you like a free upgrade to a 3 room suite with a swim up balcony?” Yes please!!!

I liked the all inclusive thing. I locked my wallet in the safe when we got there and never took it out. We ate way too much food. Breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon snack, supper, late night room service every day. All the booze you could drink. Nice restaurants on the resort and free shuttle to other sandals on the island to try their restaurants.
 
Gonna second that sandals in St Lucia, I went there a few years ago and had a great time. There's three sandals on the island and you can hop between em, but the grand had the nicest beach and a great lookout you could hike up. Sandals does a great job making the trip awesome.

We actually just got back from a Beaches in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. It's the kid friendly version of Sandals. It was fun but not as great as St Lucia.
 

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
The only place I've been is Punta Cana. My nephew got married there. It was a fun trip. It is good that it's all-inclusive because it is pretty dreary outside of the resort. I got to see a lot of how the poor were living when we took an incursion inland to go ziplining.
 

brownisdown

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
for best bang for your buck Punta Cana, DR can't be beat in my opinion. I've been to Mexico, Dominican, Jamaica and Great Exuma in the bahamas. Jamaica is the only place I wouldn't pay to go back. We had fun but it's not worth the price IMO. If you want exclusive laid back adults only bluest water you'll find then Great Exuma is fantastic. For an all inclusive regardless of price Secrets Maroma Beach was exceptional.
 

beavercleaver

Twelve Pointer
When you going? I just found out we will be going to Anguilla in July, can let you know after on that about how the Four Seasons there is. Have been to Grand Cayman and that was nice. Heard great things about St. Maarten
Next winter don't trust summer,too many hurricanes
 

beavercleaver

Twelve Pointer
At Christmas we went to st john my buddy rented a house and said all we had to do was get there and pay for our food and drinks,,1000 each for airfair,, and with food and alcohol ended up over 6000 spent,,all inclusive would have been under 4000 for the three of us,,,,and rather than a private beach there would have been many scantily clad women to look at with my mirror lense glasses tight to my face
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Antiga and Barbados....I’d say no to those.

st barts if you have the funds.....but that’s a ritzy place.
 

Dead Eye-NC

Eight Pointer
Turks n Caicos. Been to Club Med and also Beaches there. Wld highly recommend either. Both are on Grace Bay which is usually voted as one of the best beaches in Caribbean. Best deals are usually late summer. If you go in fall it’s hurricane season.
 

ibgreen

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Antiguans just are not friendly people. The first friendly person I met I asked them where they were from and of course they said Jamaica.
 

Bean

Eight Pointer
Spending my last night in Punta Cana as I type this. We have been at Dreams resort on Macao Beach and this has been the absolute best vacation I’ve ever been on. The resort is absolutely fabulous the food is great and the wait staff is on point. I will say our butler has sucked we’ve rarely heard from him or seen him but the rest of the staff have taken care of us. We left the resort one day to go on a dune buggy tour. They picked us up at 7:30 we got back to the resort at 6:00. Covered 120 miles on the dune buggy. Rode through the mountains in the Dominican and also on the edge of the beaches and through town. I will definitely be back.
 

Mike Noles aka conman

Administrator
Staff member
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Jamaica, Mo Bay, Hyatt Ziva. Outstanding! Been there twice. St. Lucia, best of the eastern Caribbean with Barbados being a close second.
 

Nana

Big Ole Nanny
Contributor
Aruba. Stay in a small resort away from the strip. Eat where the locals eat. Rent a jeep. Half the island is tropical, the other half desert. We had a great time exploring.
 
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