Question for "Sandyfeet" and "Penny"
 

Hi Sandyfeet and Penny,
I have been surfing the boards and noticed that you both post a lot regarding properties I am interested in, so I thought I would ask you a few questions (if you don't mind)...

We are planning a honeymoon for August 2004, we are both new to the Caribbean. We have narrowed down our choices to Cap J, Jumby Bay, Peter Island, Biras Creek, and St. Barts. I thought I read somewhere that Penny split a trip one time between Cap J and Jumby Bay...I was wondering if that was correct, and if so what that experience was like for you?

Also, any advice/recommendations you both have I would really appreciate.

Sandyfeet...I think I read somewhere that you are a travel agent? If that is true, is there a way to contact you for your services?

Thank you both for your time...I really appreciate it! :)

Cindy

Sandyfeet: if you are a travel agent, I am also interested in these multiple island vacations for a honeymoon trip..does Continental fly there?

Penny is on her way to Anguilla and Antigua today so doubt if she saw your e-mail. She's staying at Cap and Jumby Bay and will be nack on 23 Oct. I will e-mail her and let you know about this post. If you go the first week in August you will be there for Carnival which is fun. I know Penny flies from NY to St Martin on Continental and takes the fery to Anguilla. Then continental to Antigua and back to NY

There have been some nice detailed reviews of these places with comparisons.
Here are a few:

Jumby/Cap:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...amp;dirtyBit=1

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...amp;dirtyBit=1

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...amp;dirtyBit=1

Peter Island:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...amp;dirtyBit=1

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...amp;dirtyBit=1

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...amp;dirtyBit=1

Biras:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...amp;dirtyBit=1

Hi Howard,

Do you mean that Penny will be back on November 23? Aren't you going to Cap for Thanksgiving?

Yes Penny will be back in the US on 23 Nov. Yes we are going to Anguilla on 25 Nov, staying at Frangipani, for 8 days. Thanksgiving is 27 Nov. Think she'a staying 5 days at Cap and 4 at Jumby Bay. Got the Jumby Bay part at an auction on luxury link. oops just read my post. Sorry for the typos

Thanks for all the information and links, Ted! I hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving this week in the Caribbean!

Just back from CJ and Jumby. Love them both, but each one is very different. Cap and Anguilla is wonderful. The hotel is larger, but the dining on Anguilla is the fun. Also the best beaches.

Jumby is like a private club, smaller
and more itimate than CJ. Its all inclusive, you do not have to sign for a thing. We spoke with a couple who love Biras, they told us its a bit more relaxed, but the food was not as good.


We fly Continential out of Newark, flight 871. Its the same flight in and on the return. It stops at SXM, then goes on to Antigua. Its non stop from
Antigua to Newark.
Actually this trip the flight attendants were surprised you could just get on in SXM to ANU. I had to ask them for a immigration form! Its been that way for years. The only problem with the flight is the schedule. During high season, to late spring it goes everyday. In the fall,
on our recent trip it goes Wed, Sat and Sunday.

As far as your honeymoon choice, all the plays you list sound wonderful. If you are new to the caribbean, each island is so different. We have been to many islands-our personal favorites are Bermuda, Virgin Gorda, St. John,
Anguilla, and the private Jumby island.
We also like Barbados, glad we saw ST. Lucia but not for us.

Thanks so much for the details, Penny. Do you mind me asking how you book your vacations (by yourself or travel agent?) I think I remember Ted saying you won the Jumby part on luxury link.

I was also curious, what you would recommend if we were spliting 7-8 between the two (Cap J and Jumby)...how many days to stay each place. Also, if you had any room recommendations?

Thanks so much for all your help! Sorry to "bug" you with so many questions! :)

No you are not bugging me at all. I always book my own vacations, just got use to it. There are quite a few good agents,deals thru caribbean classics etc. We are frequent flyers so I use our miles to upgrade.

I chose Anguilla in the early 90's as it had nice beachs,and quite a few restaurant choices. We got use to dining all over Bermuda. I was looking for the same criteria. When we arrived on the arid, scub island, my husband was wondering where I was taking him. Then he saw the view into
Cap, and we feel in love. The best part is going outside the hotel. Fun little restaurants all over the island!

How to split your time, its really hard to advise as Anguilla has so much to offer, it really depends on what you are looking for! Jumby is a bit more formal, but we enjoy it. The food has really gotten outstanding at this hotel.

At Cap any of the rooms work, the most popular is the junior suite, but the luxury rooms are not much different.

We like the courtyard suites at Jumby,
as they have the outdoor shower. The Pond House has nice rooms too!

We tried Jumby for 2 nights, then incresed it on our next trip to 3, then 4. Now we do a week in Janurary! This past trip I bought on luxury link in April, as it was for the courtyard suites, our favorite room. A nice surprise! BTW-that particular package has not come up again.

Hope this helps! Yes you can still ask me questions.

Thanks again, Penny! It helped a LOT! Enjoy your next trip in January!

Hi Penny,

I assume you had an excellent time at Cap and Jumby. How was the A/C at Jumby and did you have a chance to visit Carlise Bay? Thanks!

Once again we had a wonderful time!
Cap was perfect-except we had some rain,
but not as bad as the prior week. I really felt badly for everyone! Did not leave the west end of Anguilla, so I have no idea how The Valley was affected. I might add that Mangos, and Trattoria had wonderful rain flaps! we
had a view, and did not get wet!
Pimms could not serve on the upper level as it got wave action. Kemia became Pimms for 2 nights. So when the sun came out, it made a big difference!

As we flew into Antigua, it was full of
new little ponds. In fact Jumby had 3 jumby lakes, they looked nice, but were slowly disappearing when we left. Mosquitos were not a problem, yet, and both hotels did spray!

The a/c was fine in the bedroom area, not the cold room you can get at Cap. The weather was not too humid.

We did not get to Carlise Bay. I did call, the manager called me back late in the day, and said we could come over. By that time we were settled in,
and felt we would book 2 nights in January, and then go back to Jumby.

We met a very nice travel agent who told
us it might be the place to see, and be seen! Not my style, but we never go to that side of the island, and they have a/c. I really want to see the beach there, maybe visit Curtain Bluff! I also understand there is a lovely spot for a long afternoon lunch called
Harmony Hall! So before it gets to chi
chi, I will check it out!

Thanks Penny for always being so willing to answer questions! I was just wondering about the logistics in spilting time between Cap and Jumby...sounds like you flew into Antigua first from earlier post...then did you fly to Anguilla and then back to Antigua to head home? We have discussed splitting our time between the two, and are just curious how to make it work.

Thanks again for all your help!!

Sorry about my confusing plane post.
Continential has flight #871. We take that flight to St. Martin, stay on Anguilla for 5-6 nights, back to St. Martin, catch #871 to Antigua, stay 4 nights then home on #871 non stop to Newark. Honestly the flight number is the same as it is one flight! we do Anguilla first. Confusing huh!
Anyhow you can take caribbean star from Anguilla to Antigua, or Liat. It is much easier then slepping back to St. Martin, but I am a flying chicken, I prefer the bigger planes. I must say during the bad weather in the islands, it was a good choice. One of these days!!
Just a bit curious, you said my posts helped a lot, what was most important to you?

I think what helped me the most in narrowing down my choices was some of your earlier posts on the board that I found while surfing. There was some dialogue between you and Sandyfeet on a Cap post that really helped (and made me decide to direct my question to you both, as you seemed very knowledgable about the islands!).
We had discussed wanting to split our time between two resorts, in order to make our first trip to the Caribbean a little diverse (not counting a Bahamas cruise years ago that was not very exciting)...so your information on how to logistically make that happen (with the flights) really helped! I think we were afraid we would spend too much time traveling by spliting up our time...but it sounds like Anguilla/Antigua hopping isn't too involved!
Thanks again so much!! As we continue to research, I may be picking your brain some more periodically. As a new traveler I really appreciate all the help! :)

p.s. I am also interested to hear what you think about Carlisle Bay after your trip in January!

Just wondering if you have ever experienced extreme windy conditions at Cap Juluca?
My husband and I had the pleasure of staying in one thier private pool villas. (villa #17/3) TO DIE FOR!!!!!
It was so windy on the beach, but really didn't notice it on higher ground. We were there in early July...maybe it was just the time of the year. What have your experiences been?

The far west end of Maundays Bay, the pool villas etc. do get more wind. The water at that far end is more choppy too. We had a pool villa one May, we enjoyed it, but did not like the upstairs bedroom as the seagulls, sun etc. woke us up. We always book a lower floor room, as we love the beach access. I cannot say we ever had extreme wind conditions at CJ. We did
have stinging sand at CusinArt one April, as Rendezvous is a much larger spanse of water, and the hotel is on the extreme west end.