CouponClippr

It looks like I'll be taking my honeymoon at a Sandals in St Lucia. Anyone ever been to a Sandals Resort? If so, where and how was your experience? Recommend anything specific to do?

Tempus

Was at Sandals Whitehouse (Jamaica) just two months ago. What would you like to know?

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-- Suits are what you wear when doing things you shouldn’t want to do anyway.

FROM THE TACTICAL GAMER PRIMER.
3) Support game play in a near-simulation environment. Where the focus of play would not be solely on doing what it takes to win, but doing so utilizing real-world combat strategy and tactics rather than leveraging exploits provided to players by the design of the game engine.

kilevvri1

And you never came to say hello, you SOB /joking

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Ferris Bueller

Sandals is a great resort. They offer everything from golfing to massage, scuba/snorkeling, beaches, pools, live music, food and drink till you're a shade rounder than you were when you arrived. They dont get a 5 star rating for nothing. Very nice places to visit.

However, I personally never favored all-inclusive resorts because they tend to be extremely pricey.

I recently took a cruise to the Bahamas and did some digging so I could plan for future vacations. I talked to some travel agents and locals and got some really good tips. Now, if you've already booked your stay, you're probably locked in, so it wont really apply to you, but it might help out some other people.

-Stay at a hotel or Locally owned bed and breakfast or something along those lines, but dont buy into any "packages" they offer. Often times, especially for caribbean vacations, you can find things like scuba/snorkeling tours, beach getaways, sightseeing tours, museum tours and other attractions for a fraction of what a package would cost you. A great example is the Pirate Museum in Nassau (bahamas). Carnival offered a tour package for the museum for 45 dollars a person, which included transportation to the museum, a tour (self-guided) and lunch. Well, I went to the museum on my own and found that I did the same thing much cheaper: the museum was only 4 blocks away from the ship (less than 1/2 mile), admission was 12 dollars and my lunch at the restaurant attached to the museum only cost me 16 dollars (including two import beers at 4.50 each). So I spent 28 dollars to the "package" deal of 45 for the exact same thing.

-Private beaches are not always as nice as public beaches. When I was in Nassau, Atlantis, the multi-billion dollar resort there has their own private beach. If you're not staying there, you can pay to use it, but theres no point. It's extremely crowded and crawling with kids, not to mention it's only about 1/2 mile long. However, the public beach, located right next door (literally only separated from the private beach by wooden signs and some rope and a few "attendants") was much much less crowded and spanned over 3 miles. Needless to say that if you and your sweetie wanted to find a nice quiet spot, there are much more options.

-Dont shop on the main drag in town. They gear this specifically for tourists. Everything costs way more than it should (who buys a conch shell for 35 bucks?) and you get hassled by locals trying to make a quick buck. Not to mention pickpockets...they love tourists for good reason: theyre easy marks. Find the little nook-and-cranny shops out in town where you can find amazing deals and local fare at much more equitable prices.

-Locals can be your friends. Every time i've gone to anywhere in the caribbean, the locals have been extremely friendly. Its not like it is in the states where someone might mace you for asking them directions. I've been invited over to people's houses for dinner before when we struck up a conversation started by me asking directions. But you have to talk to the right people. If you talk to people in the tourist section of town, you're going to get ignored or blown off because they'd rather have your money than help.

-Explore. 90% of the mistakes people make on vacation is sticking to the advertised hoopla. If you dig around, youre likely to find really cool stuff that you never would have found otherwise. Local newspapers are a great source of information on these kinds of things.

So, I hope that helps a bit. Congrats on getting married and enjoy your honeymoon!

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|TG-6th|Ferris Bueller

CouponClippr

How was your experience? Pros/cons?


Thanks for the info, Ferris. I'll be at the Grande. It's supposed to have the best beach from the three Sandals on St. Lucia. Adult couples only, so I don't have to worry about kids...a relief.

Tempus

I loved the experience. At least at the Whitehouse, it was a very relaxing atmosphere. All you can drink and eat, plenty of swimming and other watersports, and lots of just lazing around.

Lots of good reading can be found here about your particular resort. Remember to take these reviews with a grain of salt -- the places are never as bad as the bad reviews say, and are never as good as the good ones say.

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Battlefield 2/2142 Game Officer
Contact me with server/player/admin issues.




-- Suits are what you wear when doing things you shouldn’t want to do anyway.

FROM THE TACTICAL GAMER PRIMER.
3) Support game play in a near-simulation environment. Where the focus of play would not be solely on doing what it takes to win, but doing so utilizing real-world combat strategy and tactics rather than leveraging exploits provided to players by the design of the game engine.

CouponClippr

Thanks, Tempus.

Hambergler

How about a TG cruise with a big lan party.

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Betterdeadthanred

Going on a cruise to play at your computer? That's about as nerdy as it gets folks.

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