Need help for upcoming honeymoon at Cap!
 

We are planning our upcoming honeymoon at Cap Juluca and have a lot of questions! HELP! We'll be there beginning of June.

1. We've heard the island has GREAT food, but very $$$$. That's great for some meals, but...any suggestions for some good cheaper meals?

2. What about renting a car? Necessary? For the whole vacation or just part?

3. We're booking the superior room I think. Is the luxury room worth the extra $? What are the chances of an upgrade once we get there? (I've heard some resorts are nice with upgrading honeymooners)

4. Last question, I promise! Flights to Anguilla right now seem awfully pricey (about $900 a person) Do they tend to go down as the date gets closer, or is this pretty average?

Any help on any of these questions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!!

To answer your questions:

1. There are several places where you can dine for reasonable prices - try Tasty's, Uncle Earnies, Ripples, English Rose (I'm a bit hazy on ths name but it's in The Valley) and Johnnos to name a few. The concierge at CJ will gladly point you to other places. There are over 80 restaurants to choose from. Use the search feature above and you'll find lots of posts talking about the restaurants on Anguilla.

2. Unless you are planning to stay on the resort you really should consider renting a car. Everything is pretty spread out on the island so you will need transportation if you want to visit many of the wonderful beaches.. Taxis will get expensive - take 2 round trips in a day in a taxi and you've more than paid for the rental car.

3. CJ is usually fully booed so there's very little chance of getting an upgrade, in fact CJ will not even guarantee repeat guests a particular room. As to whether the luxury room is "worth it" only you can say. Get the room that fits your budget - you won't be spending too much time in the room anyway and youll get the same "resort ameities" regardless of which room you are in.

4. Can't help you on the cost of airfare as you don't say where you are coming from (I assume somewhere in the US) - but from certain parts of the country (northwest, west coast or southwest) $900 R/T P.P. is a reasonable price but from other parts of the country (from say Miami or perhaps NYC) it seems a bit high.

Hi--I replied to your other post but after reading more of what you're looking for--quintessential Caribbean beaches--I think you'll be happier on Anguilla than St. John.

Check out deals at Cuisinart and Frangipani and compare them to Cap. I've not stayed there myself, but I know from reading online here that it is frequently fully booked or close to capacity. You may in fact prefer a place where there are fewer people staying, though to be fair, the beach there stretches for quite a ways and wouldn't feel crowded.

With your budget, you might also want to consider a staffed private villa--can't get better service than that. I agree that it would be best to rent a car, at least for a few days in the middle of your stay, so you can get around and try all of the wonderful restaurants.

You might also want to consider staying on Provo in the Turks & Caicos. Grace Bay Beach there stretches for many miles and would also be along the lines of what you're looking for. Many accommodations there are condo-style, but in the case of Coral Gardens, for example, that just means you could get a fabulous penthouse for around the same price as one of the lower category rooms at Cap. The restaurant on site there gets great reviews, and things like massages could be easily arranged. Just another direction for you to consider.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding and you have picked a beautiful resort for your honeymoon. I think you will be happy in whichever room you are in.

It is true, Anguilla has 80+ restaurants, in all price brackets. I disagree with the other poster, the CJ concierge will not always point you in the right directions.

For the "top notch" I will recommend Hibernia, but it is in Island Harbour, which is quite a distance from CJ. Another one we always enjoy is Pimms, the waterfront tables are so romantic.

Others we like, but is not a necessity is Cedar Grove, Mango, Altamer, Olivers.

Good "mid-range" meals, I will recommend Roy's Place in Crocus Bay, Roy's Bayside Grill in Sandy Ground, Ripples, Bistro Phil, Zara's at Shoal Bay East, Ripples, E's Oven and Tasty.

Good "cheap" meals,
Johnnos, limbo dance and music on Wednesday, and Mussington Brothers until late on Friday.
Pumphouse, great bar and good food, music until late, not open every night.

Have also head that Picante, A Mexican restaurant close to CJ is very good value for money.

Yes, definately have a car, it will cost you around $40 per day, plus a temporary licence of $20. You will miss out so much on the real island if you do not venture out of the cocoon of CJ. Explore the beaches, have lunch at Palm Grove, Smitty's and Ernies or just stop at any of the local roadside BBQ's.

I live in Europe so can not advise you on price of airtickets. I just booked our trip for Christmas, Economy fare is around $3200 each, and there is 4 of us!

You will also get a lot of information on the caribbean-on-line.com, anguillaforum.com and news.ai websites.

Hope this is of some help.

I think you've gotten some good advice regarding Cap Juluca and restaurants, so I won't add to the confusion there. I can tell you more about airfares, however. And this depends a great deal on where you are coming from. Look for flights into St. Maarten and consider taking a ferry to Anguilla for less than $20 from Marigot on the French side. You can get a nonstop to St. Maarten from several U.S. airports, and from JFK, for example, you can often get airfare for under $500 in the summer. While Anguilla does have an airport, you certainly pay through the nose for the privilege and convenience. However, only you can decide if you can deal with dealing with your luggage in a taxi and ferry to save $$$ per person on travel. Me ... I'd put the $400 I save onto better meals and activities.

(how could I!) Forgot one - Trattoria Tramonte, Close to CJ, Italian, on the beach, small and intimate. Midrange to expensive. Wonderful atmosphere.

(Signed Brad and Jen photo in the bar, one of their favourites, they were there on their last day before the split)

Thanks for all the great advice everyone! As far as flights, I'll be leaving either from Columbus, OH or Detroit, MI.

I really enjoyed Blanchards and Olivers and also Trattoria Tramonte.....I stayed at Cap....enjoyed lunch at Pimms,Georges....but chose to eat dinner elsewhere.....beautiful restaurant!!!


Picantes was great for a casual Mexican
meal!!!!
We got airfare out of Philadelphia for under 500 pp rt.....this was in high season....there has to be a cheaper fare out there for you!!!!

We got a car thru Avis (booked before we left) for $215/week. Philly has non-stops to St. Martin (USAirways & American) and don't forget to look at Delta which has non-stops from Atlanta on certain days -- both Philly and Atlanta are easy hops from Columbus.