CSA Review (Long) April 2010

[tharris]

Wonderful review....thanks for sharing it. I'm headed back to CSA for my second visit on tomorrow, 04/17/10. I can hardly contain my excitement!!! I was there for the first time in Nov. of 2009, returned home, and booked my second trip less than a week later. This place just does/did something to me and I can't seem to "shake" it; I've been consumed with thoughts of returning since I was there in Nov. This time tomorrow I'll be on my way!!!

[razzldazzlme]

Am sorry we missed meeting you Gopanthers. We were there April 1 - the 8th. Our days were spentmainly on the beach down by the Sunset Bar. We had a fabulous time, as always! Razzl

[Merzescorner]

Awesome review! How long before your scheduled flight did you have to leave CSA? Trying to decide on TimAir or not. They would have us leave the airstrip 2 and a half hours prior to our flight. Sounds pretty good.

[rjammin]

Awesome review! How long before your scheduled flight did you have to leave CSA? Trying to decide on TimAir or not. They would have us leave the airstrip 2 and a half hours prior to our flight. Sounds pretty good.

We were at CSA from 4/1 to 4/9. Our flight out of MBJ was scheduled to leave at 4:55 PM (it eventually left at 6:15). This was the last flight for Air Jamaica to & from Chicago
I let them know at the Couples check in that we would be flying TimAir and that we would need a ride to the Negril airport at 1:45 for a 2:00 PM flight. That would get us to MBJ about 2 1/2 hours before our flight. Well, there was some confusion because Couples left us a note on our last night requesting that we leave for MBJ at 9:30 in the morning. I have know idea why so early other than it was going to be more convenient for them to take us with other guest who were leaving on earlier flights. This would have got us to the airport by around 11:30 AM for a 4:55 flight. 5 1/2 hours in an airport would have been torture, especially since our flight was delayed. Fortunately I straightened this out right away with the front desk and we were able to enjoy our last morning in paradise with another great breakfast and a final walk around beautiful CSA. For $214 it's definitely worth it. Curtis is a great pilot and tour guide. It's a wonderful way to see the beauty of Jamaica and you get to stay at the resort a little longer.

[gopanthers]

They leave 4 hours prior to your return flight. I thought that was reasonable considering the 1 1/2 hour bus ride and arriving "2 hours early for int'l flights" as recommended. Now the 2 hours early rule is somewhat ridiculous in my opinion, as that allowed way too much leeway, but that's what all the airlines recommend now. CSA let us know when we checked in that pickup would be about 4 hours prior top the return flight.

[Merzescorner]

I received a response from CSA customer service that departure would be 5 hours prior. I guess it will depend on how they can best fill the shuttle bus.

Rjammin, was there any issue w/ the amount of luggage or weight of your luggage w/ TimAir. We're going to book with them. Looking forward to it.

[Chris]

Whenever anyone posts a new picture of my frien' RastaRalphie, I MUST smile! I'm so happy to see he's still up and at 'em on the boat.

Thanks for the post and pic!

[rjammin]

Merzescorner,
There wasn't a problem with the weight of our luggage with TimAir but we did have a problem with Air Jamaica with my lovely wife's check in bag. We were overweight by 10 pounds and had to pay $50. In 7 trips to Jamaica, I have begged her not to over pack to no avail. Half of what she brings every year she doesn't wear. But I digress.
The Cessna we took with Curtis is a 6 seater and there were 2 other passengers on it, a man and his little daughter. We has 2 large bags and 2 carry on and the guy had a full size bag and his daughter a small bag about the size of a carry on. They got it all on and had us sit in specific seats to evenly distribute the weight. I'm about 240, my wife about 140, the guy looked like he was about 6'7 and about 225 and the little girl about 50 pounds. Take off & landing was as smooth as could be. I did give Curtis a $20 tip which he gladly took BTW but it's not like he gives you any indication that he expects one.
Have a great time and enjoy Couples and TimAir, they're both well worth the money.

[gopanthers]

Someone asked me to post a few more pictures. Not sure why the others showed up as so small but here goes