nauifins73
August 3rd, 2005, 11:16 PM
I am going to be as lady like as possible about the Trip from Hell.
Leave KCI (actually MCI & I don't know why) Fri morning heading for paradise with hubby, 23 yr twins and son-in-law. Meet up with the group and we are ready to go. Get to San Juan PR on time and then we sit - finally the flight is cancelled - ok it happens. The American Eagle counter clerk contact the Best Western hotel to sit us up with a room for the night. I ask for one with 2 dbl beds and another one for our daughter and her hubby I'm told no worries. We have to wait about 2 hrs for the luggage to come back in then we head to the hotel right in the Airport so handy. When it's my turn to sign in only room left is 1 with a queen. My son is 6 ft and a big guy, Terry (hubby) is good size and so am I - this ain't going to work. We play musical rooms and we finally get one with dbls. Ok little glitch no worries.
Leave San Juan Sat morning headed for St Lucia. We get to the airport at Castries - part of the luggage is missing. Thank goodness there is another flight coming in in 20 min. It's on it yeah - lets head for the Resort. It takes us 90 minutes to go 25 miles. Quite a few got car sick We get to the Hotel and can't believe what we see. No air conditioning, and 300 stair step to get from our room to the beach!! And this is a 5 Star Resort??? I am not going to get into the food - lets just say not my kind of eating
The rooms are of all different shapes and sizes. Ours has screens on the windows but Jerred's (son) did not and friend's (I hope they still are) "living room" has only 3 sides - one side is completely open. Beautiful but!
We were 15 degrees north of equator - temp is 90 but the humidity is 90% also. I have never taken so many cold baths and used so much deodorant, and I still was dripping wet most of the time. It truly was miserable - take us out of the AC and drop us into a tropical rain forest and then throw 300 steps it was tough. By the end of the week we were all on our last leg. I even passed on the dives on Fri - just couldn't face those stairs at 7:30 am. And that killed me - I never pass on a dive (unless it is a night dive).
The diving was only so so. We had 2 am dives a day scheduled all led by a DM and we had a limit of 60 ft on the 1st one and 50 on the 2nd one and a limit of 40 minutes - we stretched a couple to 42 min with a saftey stop. The reef is only about 150 ft wide and then it drops off into the abyss. I only saw 1 med size turtle and 1 angel fish (they are always in pairs) - nothing to brag about
Sat at 4 pm I am checking out (taking care of the bar tab) and one of managers comes up and has bad news our Sun 6 am flight has already been cancelled. Ok Terry takes over and starts calling airlines we are getting out of here - is his creed. Finally Sun morning the Hotel Manager steps in after a lot of miscommunication and helps us get on a Delta flight on Mon at 3:20 pm. American agrees to voucher us over to Delta. OK we head for Vieux Fort and the Hewanorra Airport it is only an hour drive and probably 15 miles away. Reservations are made for 6 rooms at Juliet's Lodge when we get there there are only 4 rooms available - pull out the roll aways.
Around 11:30 am we head to the airport - of course the Delta ticket window is not open but will be soon - remember Island time and NEVER be the 1st in line to check in. That is when the bags get search each and everything in them. We have a connecting flight from Atlanta on Tues morning. We find out there is a 10:50 pm flight from Atlanta to KCI - so the gal leading the group gets us on it or so we think! We get to Atlanta and guess what no reservations. There are only 4 seats left on that flight and 8 of us BUT there is an 8:20 flight and it is 8 pm. Terry and the kids run through the airport and just make it - they are head home. I am still in Atlanta with the bags hoping I will get on the 10:50 flight. Success I make it out but it is 11:30 - no worries I'm headed home!
The thread through out this long and drawn out report is check and double check the hotel for what it has and doesn't have. Don't depend on anyone to tell you! Don't fly into San Juan if you can keep from it and don't stay at Anse Chapmyass or I mean Anse Chastanet.
Of course this is just my 2 cents
Leave KCI (actually MCI & I don't know why) Fri morning heading for paradise with hubby, 23 yr twins and son-in-law. Meet up with the group and we are ready to go. Get to San Juan PR on time and then we sit - finally the flight is cancelled - ok it happens. The American Eagle counter clerk contact the Best Western hotel to sit us up with a room for the night. I ask for one with 2 dbl beds and another one for our daughter and her hubby I'm told no worries. We have to wait about 2 hrs for the luggage to come back in then we head to the hotel right in the Airport so handy. When it's my turn to sign in only room left is 1 with a queen. My son is 6 ft and a big guy, Terry (hubby) is good size and so am I - this ain't going to work. We play musical rooms and we finally get one with dbls. Ok little glitch no worries.
Leave San Juan Sat morning headed for St Lucia. We get to the airport at Castries - part of the luggage is missing. Thank goodness there is another flight coming in in 20 min. It's on it yeah - lets head for the Resort. It takes us 90 minutes to go 25 miles. Quite a few got car sick We get to the Hotel and can't believe what we see. No air conditioning, and 300 stair step to get from our room to the beach!! And this is a 5 Star Resort??? I am not going to get into the food - lets just say not my kind of eating
The rooms are of all different shapes and sizes. Ours has screens on the windows but Jerred's (son) did not and friend's (I hope they still are) "living room" has only 3 sides - one side is completely open. Beautiful but!
We were 15 degrees north of equator - temp is 90 but the humidity is 90% also. I have never taken so many cold baths and used so much deodorant, and I still was dripping wet most of the time. It truly was miserable - take us out of the AC and drop us into a tropical rain forest and then throw 300 steps it was tough. By the end of the week we were all on our last leg. I even passed on the dives on Fri - just couldn't face those stairs at 7:30 am. And that killed me - I never pass on a dive (unless it is a night dive).
The diving was only so so. We had 2 am dives a day scheduled all led by a DM and we had a limit of 60 ft on the 1st one and 50 on the 2nd one and a limit of 40 minutes - we stretched a couple to 42 min with a saftey stop. The reef is only about 150 ft wide and then it drops off into the abyss. I only saw 1 med size turtle and 1 angel fish (they are always in pairs) - nothing to brag about
Sat at 4 pm I am checking out (taking care of the bar tab) and one of managers comes up and has bad news our Sun 6 am flight has already been cancelled. Ok Terry takes over and starts calling airlines we are getting out of here - is his creed. Finally Sun morning the Hotel Manager steps in after a lot of miscommunication and helps us get on a Delta flight on Mon at 3:20 pm. American agrees to voucher us over to Delta. OK we head for Vieux Fort and the Hewanorra Airport it is only an hour drive and probably 15 miles away. Reservations are made for 6 rooms at Juliet's Lodge when we get there there are only 4 rooms available - pull out the roll aways.
Around 11:30 am we head to the airport - of course the Delta ticket window is not open but will be soon - remember Island time and NEVER be the 1st in line to check in. That is when the bags get search each and everything in them. We have a connecting flight from Atlanta on Tues morning. We find out there is a 10:50 pm flight from Atlanta to KCI - so the gal leading the group gets us on it or so we think! We get to Atlanta and guess what no reservations. There are only 4 seats left on that flight and 8 of us BUT there is an 8:20 flight and it is 8 pm. Terry and the kids run through the airport and just make it - they are head home. I am still in Atlanta with the bags hoping I will get on the 10:50 flight. Success I make it out but it is 11:30 - no worries I'm headed home!
The thread through out this long and drawn out report is check and double check the hotel for what it has and doesn't have. Don't depend on anyone to tell you! Don't fly into San Juan if you can keep from it and don't stay at Anse Chapmyass or I mean Anse Chastanet.
Of course this is just my 2 cents