O.T. need vacation advice
 

need vacation advice
was considering Atlantis. have been to bahamas, not so great service, but beautiful. we do like to gamble a little, and went to Vegas last year.

what's opinions of Atlantis besides expensive food....

our benchmark is our best vacation ever at the Marriott in Maui. about 200-225 per night is worth having my wife/ myself impressed with a location and not upset with it's cleanliness/etc.

how about others in carribean, been on a cruise and St. Thomas/Johns looked nice? not St Maartin

anything nice in Jamaica?

how about all inclusives, any nice ones, not run down, feel like a good deal, etc?

what about Cancun?

Avoid Cancun like the plague.

Places around it - yes. Cancun - no.:cool:

Hers a few ideas depending upon your budget.

Great place in the keys http://www.hawkscay.com

Great all inclusive. We went to Antigua and had a great time.
http://www2.sandals.com/

Take your pick http://www.gobeach.com/

This is the nicest place I've ever been to www.peterisland.com/

This is the place I want to go to. www.fourseasons.com/nevis/index.html

The Caynan Islands are great

Tortola also a killer place to stay.

Jon

PS. If you want warm/hot weather and gambling. Go to Aruba.

I'd have to go to the Caymans, anywhere on 7 mile beach. Just went there this summer for my first vaca in about 4 years, and damn if that didnt recharge me. Go here for a few pics from the islands. http://mcgary.home.infi.net/caymans/cayman.html

have a blast, wherever you end up.

Been to St Croix. It was OK, but I was not overly impressed. Biggest of the 3 USVI's and has 2 cities on it. It was very scenic, but just not a lot to do or places to go. Had to drive at least 30 mins to get anywhere. Nightlife was next to nothin. Beaches were ok, but as soon as you got into the water it was all rocks. Snorkling was some of the best I've done and its supposed to be one of the great diver spots.

Been to Cancun several times and own timeshare there. Its a fun place and has a variety of things to do. Nightlife is outstanding. It does get pretty crowded though and is definately "touristy" It helps if you know when and where to go when you're there. Don't go all inclusive in Cancun. Too many good places to go out. Its pretty much a 24hr city. Biggest negatives are that its somewhat crowded and the damn timeshare salesmen hassling you on the street all the time.
Took a day trip to Cozumel from Playa del Carmen(40 miles S of Cancun) once. Playa del Carmen was very nice and not as touristy. A lot more like you would picture Mexico. Cozumel seemed to be about half way in between both. Had a lot of the same stuff as Cancun, but not as crowded and not as big.

Antigua, a resort called Pinapple Beach. We went all inclusive, and it was great. We stayed in one of the rooms right on the beach. Walk out our front door 25' and you were standing in the Caribbean Sea. You have to request these rooms way in advance because there are only a few. If you go to St Johns, (the capital city I think) there is a small casino. There is alot to see in Antigua.

Here is the Pineapple Beach site; http://www.allegroantigua.com/

The best part of Antigua is the BEER. They have a local brew called Wadadli. We have tried to get it in the states, but can't find it. We are going back just for the beer. Antigua also has what the locals call bars on every street corner. Its a roof over a couple of bar stools, a cooler. and a sign that say COLD BEER.
They also have good rum.

A site worth checking out is; http://applevacations.com
Click on a destination, then click on "Sizzlin Specials" and sometimes you can find a really good deal. Sometimes dirt cheap. You have to check it often, as it changes almost daily. We didn't book our Pinapple Beach trip through Apple Vacations though.

Atlantis was alot of fun, but we went in the fall and it was there rainy season. The beach is small and the water gets deep quick, but plenty of pools . We had a room looking over the harbour and could see the cruise ships dock and the sea planes land. The aquriam is worth the visit. We will go back in a couple of years.

Tortola, tortola, tortola!!! And the surrounding islands, we bareboated a 32' (uh-oh) sailboat and went all over the place. It's beautiful. You can shoot to Virgin Gorda to the baths for the day, snorkle in state parks, there are a ton of bars only accessible by water. Billy Bones, Soggy Dollar, Foxy's.

Try Hedo 2 or Hedo 3, in Jamacia;) :D A very relaxing vacation

I agree with Becca -- my best vacation was a bareboat trip around the BVIs (St. John, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke, etc.). Typically, you spend 2-3 hours in the late morning sailing to another island and then drop anchor, make boat drinks and explore. St. John and Virginia Gorda are lovely.

I've also been to St. Thomas and St. Croix, but I wasn't impressed.

If you're looking to stick to one spot, I recommend the French side of St. Martin (nice beaches, good food, nightlife and shopping for the ladies) Orient Beach is the only place to be -- lots of water sports and plenty of sights -- it's very European (i.e. topless) and one end of the beach is clothing optional. I'm spending a week there in February before going to the Miami boat show.

I've been to the smaller West Indian islands too: Nevis, Anquilla, Antiqua, St. Barts (very expensive) and Saba. They are all nice and have good beaches, but I would only recommend them if you're looking to relax, drink rum punch and spend quality time with your spouse -- there's not a lot of nightlife.

Cancun is for spring breakers... There's a lot of activity (bars, watersports, shopping) but the place has no real charm -- it's just too commercial for my liking. The street vendors and beggars are very persistent too.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll have a great time wherever you end up because it will definitely be warmer than Michigan in the winter!
Lia

Caribbean Reef Club
 

If you are looking for an adults-only, all-inclusive...

Then check out--> Caribbean Reef Club

While I have never been there, it looks wonderful. You fly into Cancun airport and take the shuttle to a beach south of the Cancun Hotel strip.

It looks like a fun place! :D

Rob, you need heat in your garage, a new sled, new rims for your truck, more power in the boat and you want to waste money on your back in the sun? Let me tell you the Holiday Inn has a nice pool and you can turn the heat up as much as you want. :D Lets ride this weekend. Call me Wed, I am out of the office today in meetings:mad: Thanks.

Thanks Mitch, you are ALWAYS so full of ?????? um.......wisdom

I bought a heater, bought an air compressor, bought some air tools, spent $300 on my $2300 snowmobile, and already have 33"'s on the factory rims.

If I want to spend one more penny on me... I'm gonna need to take her somewhere warm........

You have to admit Mitch. Hawaii was awesome. (although the plane ride killed ya, I know... whine, whine)


some GREAT advice here. spend the last hour looking at all the recommendations.

was at St. MAarten, St. Thomas, St. Croix already.
not sure about Bahamas now, been there too and remember the service. got spoiled by the great service on a cruise and in Hawaii.

Antiqua looks awesome as well as all the Sandals resorts, and the many other suggestions. looked at them all today

keep em coming. I knew I would get good experience from fellow fair weather fans.....

Came back form Cancun yesterday! Weather was Great. I had not been there before, we stayed at Cancun Palace, all Inclusive. I wouldn't do all inclusive again, I like to go out, the night life there is good, lots of places to eat. The food they served at our resort was OK, drinks and beer were bathtub variety. I just thought it would have been money better spent to do it as I pleased. The one thing that gets tiring in a place like that is all of the side street vending and scaming. I'm on vacation and I just got tired of saying no! My parents have traveled quite exstensively through all the tropical hot spots, and my Dad says the US Virgin Islands is the way to go. That is where I will be looking for our next trip. Cancun is nice, but it is still Mexico.

And for those who have serious girlfriends or are married, a trip will make your girl very happy. A good trip costs allot of money, but so does the boat. Midnight

Cancun is great for a cheap quick all inclusive see my pics on the Baja Board

Been to all those places, Aruba gets my vote !

Bo

There are two places I think make great vacations spots. Aruba is one and Cabo San Lucas is the other. I caught a Marlin in Cabo, that is an experience. Went snokeling both places, crystal clear water, a lttle cooler in cabo. Went for Pirate ship rides both places (snorkeling, then drinking). Lots of shipwreks both places if you like to scuba.

In Cabo we stayed at the Westin Regina........Fabulous.

Don't know what kind of musinc you like but Sammy Hagar has a place in Cabo called Cabo Wabo that he frequently plays at.

Check out the Marriot in Aruba. Great place, nice water, steaks and not too turisty like Cancun. They do have great turist attractions. I went on a safari where you rent 4X4 Land Rovers and follow on a tour of "Beat the Rover" driving around with other maniacs on a guided tour.

Definitely a fun place.

Been around the Caribbean. Just returned from my honeymoon in Aruba. I'd highly recommend the Hyatt. Top shelf resort and a great location on Palm beach. Aruba has plenty to do, places to eat, guranteed sunshine but not the post card scenery of the USVI's or lower Antilles. Cayman's is also a good choice with great diving if you're into that.

ARUBA!!! I got stuck there during the 9/11 crisis couldnt get back in the country for 14 days:D :D trip was only for 6 days It was terrible:cool: :cool: I dont think I could have been stuck better

I have been to the Cayman Islands and Turks n Cacos sp? and it was awesome.

Very private, safe, relaxing, great snorkling.

what is this??
 

We are trying (cheap) Punta Cana, Dominican Rep all
inclusive resort, Fiesta Bavaro, 5 star. Thirty friends
surrounding Baltimore are going for their mid-
winter break, we are joining from Maimi. Did I
mention "cheap"!! We have always tried somplace
new, Jamacia, Cruises and different spots in the Keys.
Another note, we are going back to Taos New Mexico
to ski, great food, great service, pampering, but a little strenuous unless you feel energetic. Love those massages!!

..................so where are you going??

talked about it to my wife while Christmas shopping. ( she always wondered what i do spending hrs on OSO?)

her ears perked up about Antiqua, Aruba, and/or the Sandals resorts.

i am pretty anal about vacation planning, spend more time planning that experiencing. so I will probably narrow it down to the top 30 suggestions and then do more research on those .:rolleyes:

but as mentioned above, these are three promising ideas so far


I did have to tiptoe on one topic ( so... honey... um ... this vacation is just us right, not the kids......)


YES!!!!!! disney can wait another year!!!!!! ....been there too BTW

or, maybe back to Hawaii, because this will be a good year for tax return (lots of interest from new home, finally taking losses on two stocks this year, and a small company startup all to write off).

keep the testimonials coming. gotta have DATA!!!

thanks for all the replies.