Some questions for any CTI veterans

**christy** · August 19th, 2010, 12:07 PM

My fiance and I are headed to CTI in October and have never done the "all-inlcusive" trip before. Have a couple of questions for anyone who has been to CTI.

*I have read on other sites to bring a large insulated cup for fewer trips to the bar. Is this allowed?

*How long does the excursion to Dunns River Falls take?

*What different restaurants are there and what types of food is offered? This is the only resort web site that does not go into detail about the cuisine.

*Also wondering about Dolphin Cove? How long is that excursion and how much does it cost?

*How long is the horseback riding that is complimentary.

We are only there for 4 days and want to make the most of our time so trying to plan ahead by finding out how long to budget for the excursions. Any input is greatly appreciated!

**Pamela** · August 19th, 2010, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by christy

. . . . *What different restaurants are there and what types of food is offered? This is the only resort web site that does not go into detail about the cuisine . . . .

Perhaps you need to review this web site a bit more thoroughly. Click on the tab for CTI above, then click on the "Dining & Restaurants" link on the left-hand side of the page. That will open up a page that provides information on the resort's restaurants and includes sample menus.

**suzancr** · August 19th, 2010, 04:11 PM

My husband and I have been there 5 times and we're booked again for next year.
*I can't imagine them saying bringing your own cup is not allowed, although I've never had a problem with having to go to the bar that much. There are several bars so they're always close and the drinks are always so strong you don't need very many.
*Dunns river, 2-3 hours?? We did it our first trip. It's something you have to do once but after that . . .
*All the food is very good! They change the menus once or twice during the week. There is a variety from thai/asian, american, carribean, veggiterian. Make sure to have some jerk chicken at the grill.
*We've never done Dolphin cove, no info. Sorry.
*The horseback riding is about 1 hour long, 1.5 - 2 in total. Unfortunately last I heard it was not being offered until the plantation can ensure better security. If it's offered, do it! It's the one excursion we do every time.
*4 days is not enough to do everything. That's how long our first trip was and we had difficulty doing all the things we wanted and still fitting in relaxing time. Other things to put on your list is snorkling and visit the "island" (do it the first day as you may regret waiting until the last day)!

**25th@CTI** · August 19th, 2010, 04:56 PM

Originally Posted by christy

My fiance and I are headed to CTI in October and have never done the "all-inlcusive" trip before. Have a couple of questions for anyone who has been to CTI.

*I have read on other sites to bring a large insulated cup for fewer trips to the bar. Is this allowed?

*How long does the excursion to Dunns River Falls take?

*What different restaurants are there and what types of food is offered? This is the only resort web site that does not go into detail about the cuisine.

*Also wondering about Dolphin Cove? How long is that excursion and how much does it cost?

*How long is the horseback riding that is complimentary.

We are only there for 4 days and want to make the most of our time so trying to plan ahead by finding out how long to budget for the excursions. Any input is greatly appreciated!

I don't know about the insulated cup. I don't drink enough to be concerned about being able to walk to the bar! I wouldn't worry, because the bar tenders are not stingy.

Dunns River Falls takes a few hours. You will leave in the morning and be back in time for lunch.

The food is phenominal. Bayside (our favorite) is Asian (Chinese, Thai, Indian) inspired.

Eight Rivers is Caribbean Fusion fine dining. It would be our favorite if we didn't like Bayside so much!

The Verandah is continental (also good!)

The patio is a buffet with lots of variety, fresh fruit, desserts, etc. We were never disappointed.

The grill has hamburgers, jerk chicken/pork, etc. Had jerk chicken there once as a snack (the other restaurants were just too good!) We also got soft serve ice cream a few times.

The Veggie grill is one that we will try next time.

In the Logo Shop, there is a coffee bar, where you can get Americano, esspress, capuccino or lattes.

There are sample menus at:

http://www.couples.com/11or/14diningOcho.htm
I don't know about the Dolphin Cove. Here's a thought though: you can swim with the dolphins at Sea World, so you might not want to cram your stay with a bunch of activities that you can do else where My wife and I had the philosophy that if we would leave Jamaica with regrets because we did not do something, we would do it. Otherwise, we decided to do it the next time we go.

I believe that the horseback riding is all morning. We were going to do this, but it fell under the "next time we go" category.

For four days, there is enough offered at the resort to keep you going. As an engineer, I understand wanting to maximize the fun per minute. I got to CTI and I was no longer an engineer, I was my wife's companion, and there's no excursion that can top that!

**POPO** · August 19th, 2010, 05:20 PM

You can take a large insulated cup but the bar WILL NOT fill it..

**Coloradojuli** · August 19th, 2010, 06:37 PM

It is not necessary to bring insulated mugs, plus the bartenders are not allowed to fill them up.

If you will go to the CTI tab and on the lower left hand side there is a link to the restaurant menus, there you can see what each of the restaurants serve. These are sample menus.

Dunn's River takes about 3 hours.

**scottnkim** · August 20th, 2010, 08:46 AM

Couples stand on cups is that they are not allowed. I beleive 99% of the excursions will take up half of the day. My wife and I have been to CTI 10x. If you are only going for 4 days be sure to make reservations for Bay Side and Eight rivers as soon as you get there. We love Bay Side. the Pad Thai is awesome and very authentic. one year we went to Dolphin Cove and my friends wife did the dolphin thing... she said it was cool but it was pretty expensive i think they have several different programs but I think to swim cost about 180 bucks.... try not to stretch yourself to thin and enjoy the resort... there is a lot of things to explore and experiance right on the property. Good luck

**scf8914** · August 20th, 2010, 09:20 AM

I've seen some messages about the coffee bar but was wondering if it was part of the all-inclusive deal.

**25th@CTI** · August 20th, 2010, 12:41 PM

Originally Posted by scf8914

I've seen some messages about the coffee bar but was wondering if it was part of the all-inclusive deal.

Absolutely! Say hello to Nico while you're there!

**jayrayuf** · August 20th, 2010, 04:11 PM

We went to CTI for 5 nights on our honeymoon and even that felt like it was not enough time. Dunn's River Falls and the horseback riding both seemed to last til about 12 by the time we got back to the resort. We managed to do most of the excursions on our trip - the horseback riding, falls, catamaran cruise, and snorkeling - but it felt like every day we had something "scheduled" so it wasn't as relaxing as we would have liked.

If I had to do it over again, I would have done the catamaran cruise and one off-resort trip so we could have more leisure time just relaxing and enjoying the resort itself.

**jesters** · August 22nd, 2010, 07:36 AM

We were at CTI in November got married there and for my wife's birthday I took her to Dolphin Cove it is about 3 hours and was $75 for me to just go and $175 for her swim experience....there are also more expensive options as well. She loved it and don't forget your cash for pictures as you will never get close enough to get any good ones! Hope that helped.....I'm sure you will have a great time at CTI!!