This should have been titled Negril Trip Report but things changed a bit. So here it is, the good, bad, and ugly.
First, want to thank everyone on the forum for all advise given. Every bit was appreciated. My husband Gary and I would like to personally thank CaribbeanSoul, who off the forum gave us some great information and advised us of the perfect room to suit our needs.

Trip down was uneventful and we arrived to our hotel approx 4pm after a stop at the grocery store. Shelves were pretty empty post Dennis but that was fine. DH was sick with a "bug" that I passed on to him so this day was pretty low key. We stayed at CoCoLaPalm and loved the property. The grounds and beach are kept immaculate, raked at least daily. The beach is like a giant bathtub. Luckily the water was still clear after Dennis. The hot tub is also great. Very clean and secluded by lots of tropical foilage. My husband called CocoLaPalm and especially our room "a diamond in the rough". We had room 729 and it truly is a beachfront room. Down the flight of stairs and you are on the beach. We love listening to the waves at night and watching all of the activity on Negril Beach, not to mention the beautiful sunsets right from our balcony.

Next day, we walked pretty much the entire beach just to have a look at everything. This is the kind of beach that you can walk endlessly on. That evening we went to the complimentary Managers Party at the bar and it was a nice way to meet some of the other guests. Dinner at Norma's at Seasplash since it was our anniversary. Very good food in a nice beachfront atmosphere. Would like to mention here that mosquitos and the no see ums can be a pretty big problem at night, so we always had some bug spray on. I used the Avon Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus Expedition. Liked it alot. It sprays on mildly oily and rubs in to be a nice moisturizer and is unscented.My husband even liked it.

The next day, more walking on the beach and we met a couple from Trip Advisor Forum from NYC who were staying at Idle Awhile. They had e-mailed pictures and I saw them on the beach right from our balcony. She asked if I would like to see IA's property, which I did. It was very nice and their standard room for $115 a night was nicely appointed. There "living room" area was actually a porch with a roof over it outside of the bedroom with a couch etc. Only downside, no pool or hot tub. We did not use CCLP's pool, but did like the hot tub. Dinner that night was at 3 Dives where we introduced ourselves to Lloydie. I am a huge Amazing Race fan and he shared his pictures with us. The food was excellent. Lots of lobster and jerk chicken for about $30 USD. The sides are excellent, rice and peas and calaloo, very tasty. I really recommend this place. There were only 2 other tables with people eating and both had bottles of bug spray sitting on their tables like it was a condiment if that says anything.

The next day, we decided to try one of the jet skis. We were a good ways out near the snorkle boats when suddenly I saw a FIN. I'm thinking Oh God, a shhhaaaark, when suddenly I see another large dark shape in the water. DH is now standing on our stopped jet ski to look, how smart is that? Suddenly, up out of the water jumps... a dolphin. Turns out that the 2 of them were just playing. It was so cool to see them in their NATURAL environment. After that, patties on the beach from "Indian". He has got to be the only guy selling stuff on the beach that actually has people flock to him!! They were delicious. Later that evening, back to 3 Dives. Lloydie got a huge smile on his face when he saw us and said that he just loves to see repeat customers. He was much more talkative the 2nd time we met. Told him that DH was going fishing in the morning. He told us that if he caught a fish, to bring it and he would cook it for us.

No luck fishing the next day, not even a little one. I wisely slept in. No wake up call as requested either. Apparently they turf this job to the night shift security staff, so for those of you who may stay here, don't rely on them to wake you up. Today, we split and order of jerk chicken from Best in the West and headed to Chances for a decent pizza for dinner. Now word is heating up about hurricane Emily.

Made an attempt to leave Jamaica a day early to miss the storm, but no luck. Lunched at Margarittaville, our second time there. Decent, but overpriced food. Loved the Jimmy Buffet videos playing. Dinner at Gambino's for some excellent pasta dishes. We couldn't believe how calm it still was. News was now that the airport was closing at midnight so we weren't going to go home as planned the next day.

We awoke to steady rain but nothing horrendous. Rained all day, we still went in the hottub. We are now being told that we will not be able to get a flight out til Wednesday, (it is Saturday). Got a hold of our Apple Vacations rep who booked us on a flight out Wednesday. Low key night with room service.

Next day at breakfast, we are feeling mildly gloomy as we need to get home and back to work. I know, it's paradise, but life still has responsibilities. Suddenly a call from the Apple Rep!! She has us on a 3pm flight out. We are very happy! Pack quickly and go to the airport only to find that that flight was actually 2pm ish and we are too late to get on it. Wait on standy-by for another flight with a bunch of sweaty vultures only to not make that flight either. BTW, since I don't have anything nice to say about Sangster Intl Airport, I won't say anything more other than it is a hot sweaty pit. Before we left, I managed to book another flight for Tuesday, but we were still skeptical given what we had already witnessed. They were trying to get all of us displaced people on flights that were already nearly booked. You can imagine what the mood was like in there. Now what to do? We decide not to go all the way back to Negril and opt to find a place in Montego Bay. BTW, I don't blame the Apple rep as we met 2 other couples in front of us trying to get on that first flight and they were given the wrong info a well about the flight being at 3pm and it wasn't from an Apple Rep. Just a bunch of confusion. So, off we go in a taxi, stop at The Holiday Inn, booked. Then off to The Wyndham, Rose Hall. We got a standard room there for 2 nights. This resort was OK in a pinch, but very family oriented and lots of kids. The beach was poor. Very murky, brown water and warnings of rocks in the water and to wear shoes. We didn't bother with the beach. We decided not to fret and make the most of it and met some fun people there. Also encountered many people in the same situation as us and even leaving later than our Tuesday.

Tuesday finally arrives. We get to the airport more than 3 hours early as we know what a mess it was before. Have butterflies in our stomachs until we know that we are going to really get on the flight. We ran into so many of the same people trying to leave that were there 2 days before. Some didn't make it out again. We finally do leave. After arriving in Philly, we get on our plane only to sit on the runway for almost 2 hours due to "rush hour" and some runways being closed for construction. This is longer than the actual flight. After arriving at MBJ at 9am, we finally arrive in Detroit at 1030pm, exhausted, more mentally than physically. Now for the ugly and literally the icing on the cake to a truly crappy, hot, sticky day. US Airways lost my large luggage bag. I had 2 checked in. Several people were missing there bags and were all irate. The US Airways employee handling the claims was a real jackass to boot. I thought it was called customer service? We were assured that our bags would all be delivered to our homes today. I rushed the heck out of there as we had already called my in-laws for a ride home, not to mention that the thought of being in an airport for another minute was nauseating. It had pretty much been a 14 hour day since we arrived at MBJ. As of today, my bag has not yet been located and I have my doubts as to whether or not I will actually get it back. We had the bags in Philly, so it was lost at that point, not in Jamaica.

In summary, in spite of my whining, we had a really nice time, we just didn't want to be there that long. I had wanted a quick, reasonably inexpensive trip. I do have trip insurance and filed my claim with them today so that will help with some of the costs. Unfortunately, my husband is now completely turned off about Caribbean travel during hurricane season. He missed 3 days work and I, 1 day. We were also committed to having a pool party for my FIL, which will now be postponed for 2 weeks because of time constarints. It is not so much that we are worried about experiencing the weather (although we would rather not), it is the difficulty and frustration that we experienced getting off the island. Guess I better not bring up the St John plans for a while. Hee Hee.

Sorry you had problems but isn't Negril great?? 3 Dives is the best & I loved the lobster dinner when we went. We took pictures & no one can believe what we got for $20. The sunset is incredible from there. Have you seen the live webcast from there?

I will have to remember Coco for our next trip. We had gotten info from them but wound up at Beaches Negril because of the kids. It really was not worth it. But I would got back to Negril again just to recharge my "batteries" & get more of the wonderful spirit of the people there.

Dear Brenandg, Your trip report was of great interest to me because our family of 10 is staying at CLP at Christmas. We didn't have much choice of rooms even though I booked over a month ago. We are staying in rooms numbered in the 300's. They said they are quite rooms as we are early to bed and early to get up and walk the beach.

Is Avon Skin So Soft Bug Guard plus Expedition two products or the complete name of an Avon product?

Would Norma's, 3 Dives, Gambinos be suitable for a family ages 11-65? Who is "Indian" and what patties does he serve? Are all near CLP?

Thanks for the report and any help you can give me on the questions I have asked. Owa

I am soooo glad you enjoyed at least part of your trip! I knew Emily was going to throw a real wrench into your travel plans as I know the islands well, mon. The infrastructure is not quite what it is here in the US. I am glad I was of some assistance. Negril is a very special place to me and our home away from home. My father introduced me to Negril in 1985 and it is my goal to join him and my mother there with our son someday soon. I thank him for many things, but the introduction to Negril is right up there near the top. I want people to enjoy everything Negril and Jamaica have to offer….it is such a beautiful island with so much culture and color. So it is important for me to take the time to give accurate and complete information so that people, such and you and DH, have a good place to at least start your vacation. The rest is up to you! Indian has the best patties on the beach! Our next trip we are going to leave him our cooler so that he has a new one to place upon his bike. If he is still using the one he had last year….that thing was shot. He made my parents an anniversary cake last year during their trip to Idle Awhile. He didn’t want anything. Of course my parents took care of him….and the cake was excellent. For OWA: He pushes a red bike up and down the beach with a cardboard box full of beef, chicken and veggie patties with cold drinks in the cooler. A very nice guy. Brenda, I am glad the room suited your “needs”….I knew it would…I am happy it all worked out for you.

OWA,
Gambino's, 3 Dives and Norma's would all be suitable for the ages you asked about. Nothing is really "fancy" there. I was pleasantly surprised at how good Gambino's was as I thought Italian food would not be that great in Jamaica. 3 Dives requires a cab to the cliffs for about $20 round trip. It is worth the $ to go at least once. We called our driver when we were ready to leave. He tried to pin us down to a time and I didn't want to do that. I will not be on a schedule in the Caribbean. Gambino's and Norma's are within our definition of walking distance from CLP, Norma's being a bit further.

The bug spray comes in a green aerosol spray can and the name I mentioned is one product. It is supposed to last for 8 hours. It is the one that is called Expedition. I am making no claims that this is the best product to use, but we liked it. I still had a few pink bite marks, but no itching. I think the no see ums are the culprits.

Brett- I think Indian still has his old cooler. I didn't really check it out but I don't remember seeing anything that looked like it was new. DH and I wondered how many of those patties he sells a day. Very popular guy. We didn't see him every day, although I am sure that he was there. Think he sells out relatively quick. The price is right and they are very tasty to grab for a quick munchie. We tried the beef and it was very spicy, which we like.

Benj, think you would be very content with your kids at CLP. The beach area is very nice with shaded areas. I will have to check out that 3 Dives webcam! And yes, Negril is great.

I am extremely happy to report that I just got my luggage back this morning!!!! Feeling a lot more positive now.

Great trip report. I have never considered Jamaica due to mixed reviews about safety and poverty. It sounds like you were very comfortable leaving the resort to explore, which is a must in my book. Thanks for taking the time to report. Yeah for the luggage!!