Thread: Help in choosing CTI or CSS

My wife and I are thinking about going to a couples resort in Feb. We have going to Sandals Royal the past couple of years but there prices are getting to high. Which resort is better for privacy when it comes to tanning in the buff. My wife is still uncomfortable socializing when naked. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give us.

CTI has the private island that if you turn right off the boat you will be alone. The bathroom is in the tower that splits the island. Left is the pool and bar, right is private.

CSS is more open, you could go to the left to be alone, but if you need to go to the bathroom you need to go by the pool and bar.

Both places are nice, but we like CTI better.

We went to Sandals Royal a couple of years ago, and didn't like it at all, and said we'd never go to another Sandals again. We went to CSS in Feb and fell in love with it. We went to CTI for a day on that trip, but only stayed a couple of hours, for us, it just didn't have any charm at all. We spent a couple of hours on the island, but it was a windy day, and out there, the winds were gale force. We loved CSS so much that we went back the first week of April. Sunset beach is so much better for someone who is a little hesitant about trying au naturel. There's lots of room on the beach to be by yourself, even when the resort is at full capacity. AND, CSS is a stunningly beautiful resort, with the best staff we've ever encountered anywhere in the Caribbean! If you want any other information about CSS, or pictures, just e-mail us at pellis4@cogeco.ca
We love talking about this beautiful place!!

Karen and Paul

thanks for the advice i am leaning toward CSS, we don't enjoy wind to much. We enjoyed sandals because it is a small resort and we had good privacy which is important for my wife.

Karl

thanks

did you have a problem with the wind at CTI?

Thanks.

CTI was our first AN experience. The island was the perfect setting for my wife to try it out. Most people tend to go to the right(away from the bar/pool) their first time but the day we went the entire island was packed. We were lucky to find a spot to put a towel. It actually helped cause after 5 minutes without a drink we just dove right in so to speak. Thank goodness we tried it our second day there, we spent everyday on the island with the exception of the day we went to CSS.

Sunset beach is very nice. First off its much bigger. The beach and the pool. There is also food there so you never have to leave if you don't want to. The staff come over and start up pool games. Again after about five minutes of everyone spreading out all over the place the bar area becomes the hot spot.

As you might already know you meet the nicest people on the AN beach.

karlkathy - Sunset Beach is so much nicer than the island at S Royal. The Riu wasn't built when we were there, but I expect that cuts down on the privacy even more. The other disadvantage of CTI is that you have to go back and forth on the boat, whereas at CSS, you just have to walk over, and a beautiful walk over it is! You pass by the lovely pond at the end of A block, with a fountain, an amazing cotton tree that you'll want to get your picture taking beside, and all kinds of pretty waterbirds to watch. It's only about a 5 minute walk, but usually takes longer because there's so much to stop and look at. SSB is by far the most private, and most relaxing of the A/N spots that Couples offers, and far better than the one at S. You will never have a problem getting a spot all to yourself, and there's also lots of shade if you want it.

My wife and i did CTI AN for the first time we just got back and we loved it. In my opinion CTI has a European flair to it while CSS has more of the Caribean style to it ( we did the day trip to CSS). Both are nice but we liked the island at CTI the best. We went to the island the first day we were there and we were hooked for the remainder of our vacation. We also met a lot of great people on the island who were also first timers and we are now in contact with each other by Facebook an email. My advice...try it on the first day you wont regret it.

P.S. When you see Rohan at the Island Bar tell him I said Hi and ask for a pencil mender... that will get rid of the nervousness!

The AN Beach at CSS is located at the mouth of the White River. There are fishermen coming in and out and their is a public beach across from the river. On the day we were at SSB, there were families there and this made me uncomfortable. Also the watersports team was bringing people over from the main beach for watersports. So we had lunch, visited the mineral pool and headed back to CTI and our favorite the island.

Hi. I just returned from CTI and we visited CSS for one day Both resorts are unique in their own wonderful way. However, if your wife is still uncomfortable in that environment, there are two things to be aware of. At CSS, in order to go to the bathroom, you have no choice but to walk by the pool where everyone can see you (but no one looks). Also, the beach is open to the fishermen and a nearby beach that is pretty much empty except for one or two gaukers on occasion but you could turn your lounge chair in such a way so that no one can see you. However, the bathroom location would be the problem I think. At CTI, you can go to the right at the end and have privacy but again, in order to go to the bathroom, you would have to walk where people could see you but it's more private than at CSS. If you went to CSS and only lounged for say 2 hours at a time and didn't drink too much water, you could get dressed and leave to go to the bathroom by the other pool around the corner from SSB and then come back. The walk from the non-nude pool to SSB is about 2 - 3 minutes at the most. CSS may be the better choice because it is so spread out. Hope this helps.

Vickyj there is not much you can do about the fishermen nor the adjacent beach, the resort does not own the water. I am curious what you mean by watersports team bring over people over from the main beach. You are saying clothed people (guests) were being directed by the resort to SSB? I have been to SSB three times and have never seen this. If I did I would bring this up with management.

My wife and I have been to CTI and SSB we like SSB the people are friendly and the people who work there are great. We don't worry about the fishermen cause we are there to have fun and be naked. I guess you can't be fussy about who see's you naked if that's what your there for. Nudity is not evil it is natural fun and yes sexy. We love SSB and everything about it.

Originally Posted by ddc

Vickyj there is not much you can do about the fishermen nor the adjacent beach, the resort does not own the water. I am curious what you mean by watersports team bring over people over from the main beach. You are saying clothed people (guests) were being directed by the resort to SSB? I have been to SSB three times and have never seen this. If I did I would bring this up with management.

Sorry, I missed this, but yes. I do mean they brought the guests over from the main beach for skiing. We were only there for the trading spaces day or I would have said something. There was only us and another couple from CTI then another from CSS, but they stayed at the pool. We found service at SSB to lacking. We ended up leaving.

Vickyj - Wow, you must have been at SSB on a very unusual day. We spent 9 days there in Feb, and another 9 days there in April, and thought the atmosphere was perfect, quiet and very private. The 2 or 3 fishing boats that go up the river a day was certainly no problem at all. As far as service is concerned, Jheanal is an excellent bar tender, with a fantastic personality, and is very good at making sure everyone gets there drink orders as fast as she possibly can, and always with that wonderful smile of hers! Each and every day there we thought the service was excellent!

We also did a trading spaces day last July. We went to CTI from CSS. As it happened that day, while we were on the island, the number of couples was small. Nobody socialized, but it really was a beautiful place to be. We chatted with Sheldon (great bartender) and sat alone at the swim-up bar for a good part of the day. When we got back to SSB, our newly made SSB friends cheered the fact that we were back. They told us that a relatively rowdy group from CTI had shown up at SSB for the day. Everyone had fun, but the two of us were wondering where all the fun lovers were when we were at CTI! Timing is everything, I guess....

Bilkat

Wow Vicky that isn't what we experienced at all. The service was fabulous for both drinks and food at SSB, plus the entertainment staff coming over twice a day to play games was a nice touch. We were at CTI during a busy time on the Island and didn't particularly care for it. If you weren't over there by 9am, you didn't get a chair. We liked how spread out SSB is and the beach is fabulous. We missed having a beach on the island. We did go into the water frequently by the dock, but it just wasn't the same.
yes, there are the fishermen near SSB, but it is very easy to be away from them, plus they are mainly there in the morning coming in from their early fishing trips. I also found the restrooms at CTI crowded since both men & women use the bathroom. It was nice to have separate bathrooms at CSS. We have stayed at both CTI & CSS for extended amounts of time (not just Trading Places) so we feel like we have a pretty good grasp of both the Island and SSB.

That's odd. Not my experience, but sounds like a valid compaint!

They have always done the watersking in front of CSS, but trust me those of you on the beach have a far better view of the skiers than the skiers have of you. I always go for a early morning ski while my wife sets up our things on SSB. You only start off and stop your run in front of the beach the rest of the time you are heading down the coast towards Ocho Rios, you really don't have much of a view of SSB or the people on the beach.

What was more bothersome for us was went the other resorts along the coast would come by with their glass bottom boat tours and park of the beach, but I did not see much of that last time we were at CSS.

Both of these things happen at CTI as well, you are not that far off shore that people on the main beach cannot recognize you, and the Cat Cruise goes right past the island as well. As long as you are on a beach by the ocean there will always be some boat traffic, so if you are looking for total privacy while you are nude best stay in your rooms.

Not so worried about the fishermen nor even the water sports guests, more concerned about the children playing on the public beach across the way.

Originally Posted by Happy_in_the_sun

They have always done the watersking in front of CSS,

Can you waterski AN?

My wife and I are in the process of selecting CTI or CSS, too. We have an RCI timeshare that we were hoping we could trade into an all inclusive with an AN beach, but we're not finding anything that compares well with Couples. I think we'll just rent out the timeshare and use the money for Couples.

Originally Posted by jasenj1

Can you waterski AN?

We have an RCI timeshare that we were hoping we could trade into an all inclusive with an AN beach, but we're not finding anything that compares well with Couples. I think we'll just rent out the timeshare and use the money for Couples.

I have an Interval International time share and have ran into the same problem. Almost all of them are family resorts also and very few are all inclusive.

Can you waterski AN?

At CTI on 02-17 is INWSD (International Naked Water Skiing Day).
Hope that answers your question.

Originally Posted by kevinm

Can you waterski AN?

At CTI on 02-17 is INWSD (International Naked Water Skiing Day).
Hope that answers your question.

Someone also water skied naked while we were at CTI during the first week of July 2010.

We tried CSS again for Trading Spaces. Not sure if it was the Tattoo on our foreheads that said CTI that caused us to not get service even with 6 of standing at the bar or what. We also didn't like the jet ski that kept riding the beach/water line. So I guess it's safe to say that we have found our place and that is CTI.

Oh and July 2009, we were not the rowdy group at SSB. There were only 4 of us and we left early.

Hi karlkathy,
We have been to S's Royal a number of time and spent most of the time on the island before we discovered Couples. While the set up was nice, it was clothing optional and most people remained textile which caused my spouse to be very uncomfortable. Once you have experienced the AN areas of Couples, you will find that you have as much true privacy or have the option to interact with other couples -- all dressed (actually undressed) as you are. We now always select Couples... CTI, or CSS, or CN for AN -- you can not make a wrong choice. Go, enjoy as you will find what you most enjoy and feel comfortable.

WE will be at CSS in 114 days (Nov 19th...)