Where in the Caribbean would you return for a Land-only vacation?

[wowzz]

I know that this is not helpful to the American posters, but, if you can, go to Sri Lanka.  The island has everything - beaches, history, culture, cuisine,  lovely people,  and they play cricket and grow tea!  And ( without wanting to be parochial) everyone speaks English. 

Probably the most perfect island in the world.

[fox02554]

Bonaire

[iancal]

On 7/29/2020 at 4:38 PM, wowzz said:

I know that this is not helpful to the American posters, but, if you can, go to Sri Lanka.  The island has everything - beaches, history, culture, cuisine,  lovely people,  and they play cricket and grow tea!  And ( without wanting to be parochial) everyone speaks English. 

Probably the most perfect island in the world.

It is near the top of our bucket list for our next post covid winter sojurn to SE Asia.  Assuming of course that the Sri Lanka travel advisories are clear by that time.

Edited July 31, 2020 by iancal

[simplelife]

Aruba or St. Maartin

[wowzz]

7 hours ago, simplelife said:

Aruba or St. Maartin

St Maartin I can understand, still fail to see what makes Aruba superior to islands such as Antigua or St Lucia.

[mom says]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

St Maartin I can understand, still fail to see what makes Aruba superior to islands such as Antigua or St Lucia.

I've noticed that you have criticized other posters choices on more than one occasion on this thread. These are opinions, preferences, personal choices. You think Sri Lanka is the be all and end all. I think it's one of the last places I'd ever want to revisit. Personal opinion. Neither of us is wrong. Neither are those who choose Aruba. But disagreeing doesn't give one the right to criticize. Or does it?

[wowzz]

15 minutes ago, mom says said:

I've noticed that you have criticized other posters choices on more than one occasion on this thread. These are opinions, preferences, personal choices. You think Sri Lanka is the be all and end all. I think it's one of the last places I'd ever want to revisit. Personal opinion. Neither of us is wrong. Neither are those who choose Aruba. But disagreeing doesn't give one the right to criticize. Or does it?

I'm not criticising per se. I'm just interested to find out what I have missed when visiting Aruba. It's a nice enough island,  I'm just wanting to know what makes it better than all the other islands. 

In the end, it is obviously just personal choice.

And you should go to Sri Lanka - the curries are fantastic!

[wowzz]

5 hours ago, Dwight1 said:

Land only- St Lucia, Grenada at one of Sandals resorts and the French side of St Martin at the Esplanade hotel (been there ).


Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Is going to a Sandals resort really a way to experience a destination? Nothing wrong with Sandals,  but you could be on any island when  you stay with them.  Sun, sea, beach and good service - lovely.   However,  you will be a tourist, not a traveller.  

[ldubs]

Aruba, Jamaica, Oh I want to take ya

Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama

Key Largo, Montego, baby why don't we go . . . 

 

 

[navybankerteacher]

5 hours ago, Dwight1 said:

Land only- St Lucia, Grenada at one of Sandals resorts and the French side of St Martin at the Esplanade hotel (been there ).


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I stayed at the Esplanade on my first land visit to St. Martin.  Nice enough place (but very expensive), over-rated and close to the far end of nowhere —-  and their pictures approached fraud, as they made it look as though they had (or were at least near) a beach.    There are lots of less pretentious places - at lower prices, with immediate beach access.

Edited August 1, 2020 by navybankerteacher

[wowzz]

37 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

I stayed at the Esplanade on my first land visit to St. Martin.  Nice enough place (but very expensive), over-rated and close to the far end of nowhere —-  and their pictures approached fraud, as they made it look as though they had (or were at least near) a beach.    There are lots of less pretentious places - at lower prices, with immediate beach access.

Why not go self catering in the Dominican Republic?  Everyone goes AI, but you can find great accomodation,  eating out is cheap, and the locals love you when they see you are not wearing those awful plastic wrist bands!  

[navybankerteacher]

25 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Why not go self catering in the Dominican Republic?  Everyone goes AI, but you can find great accomodation,  eating out is cheap, and the locals love you when they see you are not wearing those awful plastic wrist bands!  

Never could see the attraction of AI’s.  We regularly go to Oyster Bay Beach Resort on Dawn Beach on Dutch St. Maarten.  We rent a studio with stove, refirigerator and dishwasher.  We stop at Grande Marche supermarket on the way from the airport to stock up on groceries and wine.  Cook most of our meals, and enjoy the occasional restaurant meal - likely up at Grande Case on the French side.  Beautiful beach right there - looking across to St. Barth’s , with a continual cooling breeze off the water which keeps all flying insects away.   The only downside is having to know when there are heavy cruise ship days - five or six ships dumping 20,000 or so to clog the islands roads — then we know to shelter in place on the property between 10:00 AM and 4:30 PM .

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, Dwight1 said:

I have been there three times and feel you couldn’t be more wrong. On TripAdvisor it’s consistently rated the top hotel on the French side. It’s got great rooms overlooking Grand Case with some of the best restaurants in the Caribbean a 10 minute walk down the hill along with a nice beach right next to the Grand Case Beach Club just s short walk. It’s got a wonderful pool there. It’s rates are in the $300’s , not expensive in my book for  the Caribbean at a nice place. It’s a short ride to many other beaches and Pinel Island. Everyone rents a car and they have free parking. Now we do not cook our own meals , we on vacation not at home and trying to save a few bucks. Why miss the gourmet food at Grand Case to schlemp our own Meals? The Dutch side- over crowded with tourist and cruise people. Ugh!l

I prefer not having to drive to the beach , and that one at Grand Case is kind of narrow and crowded-- sure, you can walk down the hill fairly easily, but the walk back up is a *****.  I also prefer not having to go out for every meal.  But to each his own -- I prefer a more casual, comfortable and convenient place - with ALL the comforts of home for at least $50 per day less than L'Esplanade -- since we usually are on the island for three weeks - that $1,200 saved by staying in a place we prefer just makes sense.  I like my own views better than TripAdvisor's -  and suggest that you think about checking other places out.

[Aquahound]

3 hours ago, ldubs said:

Aruba, Jamaica, Oh I want to take ya

Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama

Key Largo, Montego, baby why don't we go . . . 

 

 

Thank you for not mentioning that imaginary place down in the Florida Keys. 😜

[2chiefs]

8 hours ago, Aquahound said:

 

Thank you for not mentioning that imaginary place down in the Florida Keys. 😜

Imaginary places are fun too. Especially now since we are stuck at home!! 😀

[George C]

Just priced a sandals in Jamaica 8 days leaving after thanksgiving suite with butler including first class air 3k , not bad considering , price is per person.

Edited August 2, 2020 by George C

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, George C said:

Just priced a sandals in Jamaica 8 days leaving after thanksgiving suite with butler including first class air 3k , not bad considering , price is per person.

When you say "first class air" do you mean a small cabin with 8 or 10 pax, seats that convert into beds and a dedicated cabin crew with inflight cuisine cooked to order ?

[George C]

4 minutes ago, wowzz said:

When you say "first class air" do you mean a small cabin with 8 or 10 pax, seats that convert into beds and a dedicated cabin crew with inflight cuisine cooked to order ?

I am talking about normal first class air on American Airlines, sometimes the flights have chairs that you can sleep in. Are you familiar with first class?

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, George C said:

I am talking about normal first class air on American Airlines, sometimes the flights have chairs that you can sleep in. Are you familiar with first class?

Yes, on BA, VS, Delta, Emirates etc. So, limousine pick up, first class lounge, dedicated cabin crew, individual seat pods, personalised meals cooked to order etc.  Is that what you mean?

[George C]

22 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Yes, on BA, VS, Delta, Emirates etc. So, limousine pick up, first class lounge, dedicated cabin crew, individual seat pods, personalised meals cooked to order etc.  Is that what you mean?

What first they offer is the normal first which you pick when booking a flight , I think limousine service is offered at a extra price. Again sometimes these first class offers seat pods sometimes it doesn’t. We always fly first but are not familiar with personalized meals cooked to order on Delta or American which is what we normally fly. Flight for us are not that long might have different options from Europe 

[George C]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

Yes, on BA, VS, Delta, Emirates etc. So, limousine pick up, first class lounge, dedicated cabin crew, individual seat pods, personalised meals cooked to order etc.  Is that what you mean?

None of that is common in first from the USA , pods as I sad before depends on what model of plane you are flying, I know they are more common on international flights , but most people understand what normal first class means.

[billyu]

Had a port stop in Curaçao.  We returned 18 months later to stay for a week. 

[sverigecruiser]

6 hours ago, George C said:

None of that is common in first from the USA , pods as I sad before depends on what model of plane you are flying, I know they are more common on international flights , but most people understand what normal first class means.

 

I think the question really is if it's domestic or international first. I know that the US to Jamaica is an international flight but is it still domestic first you are talking about? Is international first available on flights from the US to Jamaica?

 

Most people probably understand what normal first class means but there is a BIG difference between domestic first in the US, which in most places should be called business class and not first  class, and international first.

[2chiefs]

3 hours ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

I think the question really is if it's domestic or international first. I know that the US to Jamaica is an international flight but is it still domestic first you are talking about? Is international first available on flights from the US to Jamaica?

 

Most people probably understand what normal first class means but there is a BIG difference between domestic first in the US, which in most places should be called business class and not first  class, and international first.

I think this is accurate. It's probably more dependent on the length of flight more than whether it's domestic or not. I've flown to Europe on United Business Class and it had pods for business class. I've flown first class here in the US for a 3 or 4 hour flight and it's simply a larger seat with a little better service. Flying international for short flights is probably similar. 

 

So I suppose the best answer is that it "depends".

Factors:

1. Airline

2. Length of flight

3. Size of aircraft

4. Domestic or international

[sverigecruiser]

1 hour ago, 2chiefs said:

I think this is accurate. It's probably more dependent on the length of flight more than whether it's domestic or not. I've flown to Europe on United Business Class and it had pods for business class. I've flown first class here in the US for a 3 or 4 hour flight and it's simply a larger seat with a little better service. Flying international for short flights is probably similar. 

 

So I suppose the best answer is that it "depends".

Factors:

1. Airline

2. Length of flight

3. Size of aircraft

4. Domestic or international

 

George gave an example and it's very relevant to know which kind of first it is if we shall know how good the price is. Is it domestic first or is it international first on a plane where they also have business class? The experience, and probably also the cost, is very different.