5/1-5/8 CSA review (another)

[AlmostMrsC]

This has taken me some time, but things have been crazy since we returned home.

We flew threw O'Hare direct to MOB, and decided to do the "Park n' Fly" at Holiday Inn the night before. We got 14days of parking, a $50 giftcard to Harry Caray's, and a nice room for around $140. This also made it really easy to get to our flight on time in the morning. We flew American, and they hung my dress in the first class closet. There were I believe 5 brides on our flight. Once we arrived in MOB we made it through security, had someone help us with our bags, and then to Couples. This area of the airport reminded me of Disney World, with all the resorts. Once at Couples someone was assigned to JUST holding my dress, while someone else sat with our bags. I know these aren't Couples employees, but WOW. We checked in, and they already had us ready to go on a bus. So they told us to get some Red Stripes to go, and off we went! We were the only ones for CSA on our bus.

By the time we got to the resort it was around 3pm. Thats where the magic started, kinda like Ratland, but MUCH better. We had cold towels and champagne waiting for us. We quickly got signed in, and were given a packet which contained when we were to meet with the wedding coordinator. A bag boy helped bring us to our GHVS room. My fiancé, at that time, helped him lug all our bags up to our room.

Our room- GHVS
Was wonderful! Yes the hallway did have a strange odor. While it wasn't fancy, it was perfect. We had a view of the ocean, had a wonderful mini bar, and the tv. Yes, the TV was important to the husband. We were in love with the room, until we had several nights where it was VERY noisey outside of our room. Once the Aura night club was LOUD, but not too bad in our room. However, the people talking LOUDLY outside of the room would wake us up. We would still consider this room again if it was the only thing available though. However, we LOVED having restaurants in our building, we didn't have to go out in the rain. However, Couples did supply umbrellas which came in handy.

The Food -
Feathers was AMAZING. The night we went the menu was so good. I honestly wasn't expecting it to be that amazing after reading some reviews. We both loved the entire menu. I wish the portions were bigger, but by the end of the meal I was full. The beef tenderloin was fork tender. The shrimp bisque was out of this world. The staff here was wonderful.
Lemon Grass was also very good, but not quite as good. I didn't care for the soup, but I loved the beef satay appetizer. I had the snapper pan fried, with the stir fry sauce. My husband had the beef with red curry. Our waitress was super here.
Patois was one of our favorite places go without reservations. Breakfast was amazing. We loved the banana stuffed french toast, griddle cakes, and breakfast pizza. I couldn't decide between griddle cakes or the pizza, so our waitress brought us both. The black birds that would fly by freaked me out. I have a fear of birds, and they were to close for comfort. Once our waitress noticed that every time the birds would fly by I would freak out, so they started covering up the food cleared from tables. We only ate lunch here once or twice, but it was very good. I wouldn't recommend the jerk chicken pasta though. Dinner here was also good, their pizzas were incredible. The staff was always wonderful here.
The Palms was very good for breakfast, okay for lunch, and just ehh for dinner. I am not a buffet person, at all, but I loved the breakfast. Getting an omelet and fried plantains is my dream breakfast. Lunch was always luke warm and not that good. I would recommend the mac'n'cheese though. This is the one restaurant that ALWAYS had employees that seemed like they hated their jobs. I am not sure if its just that they disliked working at that restaurant or what.
The Cabana Grill was one of our favorite places to go. The traditional jerk chicken was good, but the jerk chicken sandwich was even better. The chicken was SUPER tender, and the bun was SO soft and fresh. We also loved the self serve nachos. After we tried our first jerk chicken sandwich we literally ordered another one.
Sea Grapes was good, but we only ate here once. The fish tacos were outstanding, even if we did have to shovel them down in 2minutes because we were going on the catamaran cruise. I was bummed that we didn't get another chance to go back for these fish tacos.

The Bars
Sunset Bar was our favorite. My husband started off our trip with doing three Bob Marleys here. We became really good friends with Horatio and Bobbygay. Horatio was a character and we hope hes there the next time we go back. Horatio has a wonderful quote "Its nice to be important but its more important to be nice."
Swim up bar was our other bar. This one was amazing because half the seats were in the water. They made some great drinks here for us. Edwardo was very funny at this bar.

Activities
This trip we didn't do much, but plan to do even more the next time. We went on the glass bottom boat and Marlin told us about MJB island. This was a very cool boat ride. We learned about the other resorts, which only made us more sure that CSA was right for us. We also did the catamaran boat. This one is not run by Couples, so you can tip them, as well as buy stuff on board. It rained from CSA to Rick's and we got soaked. We saw the jumpers at Rick's and then took off for the caves. They let you go off the slide and swim into the caves. The rum punch was more rum then punch.

The Pool & Beach
They were outstanding. I can't put into words how beautiful the beach is. Sadly we didn't get to enjoy it nearly as much as we wanted. The first half of our trip I was avoiding getting sunburned as we got married towards the end of our trip. Also, the sand fleas LOVED me for some reason, and it didn't seem like it was after a rain or in the morning. After that anytime I went near the sand I used lots of bug spray. We never tried out the flag service, but we will next time. We only used the pool by the Great House building, and loved every minute of it. We made great friends here.

Our Wedding
Our wedding was even better then we ever imagined. We met with Tamika(sp) on Monday. She helped me pick out the most beautiful bouquet. Since we didn't have a witness, and the resort was going to provide one, we requested Horatio! Horatio was the bar tender from the Sunset Bar, that doubled as my husbands best man, my maid of honor, the ring barer, and marriage counselor. Apparently, we were the first to request him for our wedding. My husband was originally going to wear a black suit for our wedding, but after being in Jamaica a few days we decided to go for the linen pants & shirt. I had my hair and makeup done by the spa, they did a wonderful job. They raked the beach fresh for it, and we chose right against the water to get married. My husband walked down to the beach about 15minutes before our ceremony started. Tamika came to my room and helped me get dressed. We had the CSA photographer and videographer, and they did a wonderful job. I didn't think we would get such great pictures. They automatically booked us for Feathers that night. I wouldn't have changed a thing about planning our wedding.

If ya'll have any questions I would be more then happy to answer them. This is a link to our wedding album. http://s891.photobucket.com/albums/a...can%20Wedding/

We are planning another trip already back to CSA. We are debating this August, or next year at some point. I now know why so many of you call it your home away from home.

The Now Mrs.C

[ElaineChick]

We're leaving quite soon on our 5th visit to CSA, and we're glad to hear it's as we remembered.

Quick question about the sand fleas. In prior years, they've been bad at night, but (and maybe I'm reading your review wrong) it sounds like they're bad during the day now as well. Is that the case?

[AlmostMrsC]

We're leaving quite soon on our 5th visit to CSA, and we're glad to hear it's as we remembered.

Quick question about the sand fleas. In prior years, they've been bad at night, but (and maybe I'm reading your review wrong) it sounds like they're bad during the day now as well. Is that the case?

That was the case for us. Other people had not a single bite on them, so I guess the sand fleas pick their victim. It was about 2pm I think when I was attacked by the sand fleas.

[ShanDean76]

AlmostMrsC

Your pictures were great and the two of you make a lovely couple. I especially liked your choice of shoes!! The black suit would not have improved the wedding at all...good decision!! Best Wishes to both of you.

[wen774]

Wow...you are right...the bouquet was beautiful. Congrats!

[Margi]

Congrats. The pictures were great! CSA Rocks.

[beacher5778]

congratulations on your wedding...!!...i have a question for you though....i see you were there over may 1st-8th...my fiance and i were at csa 1 1/2 years ago over christmas thru new years...the weather was gorgeous...not one drop of rain or cloud in the sky...perfect and middle 80's all week long.....we have our wedding booked for may 7th 2011, and will be at csa april 29th - may 9th....i see you got some rain....can you tell me about the type of wather you had so i can maybe get an idea as to what to expect for this time of the year....we have about 25 guests and i really hope the weather is as great as it was last time we were there.....
thank you so much....
ann & kurt

[AlmostMrsC]

congratulations on your wedding...!!...i have a question for you though....i see you were there over may 1st-8th...my fiance and i were at csa 1 1/2 years ago over christmas thru new years...the weather was gorgeous...not one drop of rain or cloud in the sky...perfect and middle 80's all week long.....we have our wedding booked for may 7th 2011, and will be at csa april 29th - may 9th....i see you got some rain....can you tell me about the type of wather you had so i can maybe get an idea as to what to expect for this time of the year....we have about 25 guests and i really hope the weather is as great as it was last time we were there.....
thank you so much....
ann & kurt

No worries mon! Almost every day we got rain in the afternoon for about 20 - 30 minutes and then it would stop. The sun would come out and all would be well. I would recommend a morning wedding for that time of year. We got in all our pictures, and the wedding, without any rain. But we were rained on as we got back to our room to change. Congrats and good luck with your wedding! I also highly recommend the salon for hair and makeup. It was VERY nice not bringing much makeup with me.

[angienkevin]

Beautiful pictures! I just sent your link to my stepson and his fiance who are trying to decide if they want a tropical wedding. Congrats and hope to hear that you book your next trip soon. We head back to CSA this Dec.

Angie

[spice505]

Congratulations on your recent wedding. I am glad that u both had an amazing time. I also live in Chicago. We r planning on leaving through Midway though. How was it leaving through O'Hare?

[relaxedbride2011]

Wow!! Your pictures were beautiful! I loved the bouquet. It looked like you two had a wonderful time. I'm happy to see that the resort seems to do a great job with their pictures. Is there any way that you could post your wedding video or email it to me? I'm getting married May 2011 @CSA and was interested in the resort videographer. We've already decided to use the resort photographer. My email address is tbagsby0709@gmail.com.