TRIPS FOR COUPLE NEW TO CTI - Oct. 11th - 16th 2012

[Chi-Visit]

Hey everyone -

Is anyone visiting Oct. 11th - 16th? We will be at CTI. We would love any tips that returning travelers could give us. We are a mid 30"s Couple just coming down to relax and have a good time. Enjoy all that Jamaica and CTI has to offer.

- Cortne & Charlie

[rcgoofy68]

Chi-visit,
We will be there from Oct 11-16 also. We have done all the couples resort, this time we wanted to go back to the beginning where it all started for us. You need to do the Dunn river falls, you will need a water proof camera and water shoes. At Dunn rivers fall the rock are something very sharp. You also should do the shopping tour in town these trip is part of you package. When u get to the airport in Jamaica report to the lounge at will say couples. There you will drink some red strip beers and wait for the bus ride to CTI. Don't forget to use the bathroom when leaving, it's about a 2 hour ride to CTI. When you travel to Jamaica you need a lot of small bills. Make sure when you check in you make dinner reservation to all the restaurants ASAP. When it comes to the money we take about 100.00 in 1's, 100.00 in 5's, 100.00 in 10's and 100.00 in 20's, the reason for this is when you go shopping they never have change. Its better to buy stuff in one store cause you will be able to work the price down. We are planning to do the bob Marley tour at 9 miles. We are planning to get a private van when we get there its about 180.00 per couple. We will use the same person that we used before. People say it's a must thing to do. Make sure you bring your sun tan lotion, we bring the low number and the 50 to get protected when get burn! lol. When it come to packing my wife packs about 3 bathing suit with 2 wraps. I bring 3 swim shorts, must of the time on the day you will be in the water. For this time frame you will need 5 night dresses and some shorts. Don't over pack we learn this from the past. Well hope to see in at the piano bar that night.

[Chi-Visit]

Thank you for the advice rcgoofy68 -

, Also how is the dress code for Guys. My boyfriend is a low key guy, never wears a jacket, always wears tennis shoes. I hear make sure we have dress shoes or another form of closed toe shoes from him for Dinner in the restaurants. True? Also collared shirts are a must? Will a collared Polo work or does it need to be a dress shirt? He never wears jeans to no problem there all of this pants are black or dress pants. I know weird combo. I think anything I have will be fine you know how guys like their confort expecially on vacation. You mentioned being lots of small bills do you mean US Dollars or JMD? What do the locals prefer? USD or JMD?

Again any hints or tips are welcome. THANK YOU !!!!!

[Inthesun]

I don't want to denigrate what rcgoofy has to say, and my wife and I are going to CTI for the first time next spring, but we have been to CN/CSA 5 times and we never take this much cash with us. True, we're more interested in relaxing than shopping, but we take less than $100 total for a weeks stay. You'll need to tip the bus driver both ways and you'll need to tip at the spa, but other than that there is nothing you'll need cash for. Unless you go shopping a hundred should be more than enough.

[TandT]

My only advice is don't overpack - and go to the island the first day... try it for 20/30 min early in the morning, if you don't like it, no harm / no foul - just head back over to the textile side.... however if you wait until the last day and then realize that you DO like it, you're going to be kicking yourself that waited so long....

My wife and I would have never in a million years ever think we would try something like that, let alone actually LIKE it... needless to say, someone suggested the same thing to us (go the first day) and I'm glad we listened - we ended up staying there the whole day and never even stepped foot on the textile beach for the rest of our trip!!

Once you go...... You'll know....

[AAS]

Yes your BF will need dress shoes not athletic shoes for dinner - polos are fine. We also only take about $100 in cash in small bills but once we get there we don't leave the resort (except on the dive boat) so we only need cash for the bus driver and spa personnell.

[rcgoofy68]

When I go i bring about 3 pairs of pants with a collar polo shirts. I'm the same I don't wear a jacket, but people do wear them if you want too. Sorry about the money I meant U.S. money. They like the U.S. money.

Thank you for the advice rcgoofy68 -

, Also how is the dress code for Guys. My boyfriend is a low key guy, never wears a jacket, always wears tennis shoes. I hear make sure we have dress shoes or another form of closed toe shoes from him for Dinner in the restaurants. True? Also collared shirts are a must? Will a collared Polo work or does it need to be a dress shirt? He never wears jeans to no problem there all of this pants are black or dress pants. I know weird combo. I think anything I have will be fine you know how guys like their confort expecially on vacation. You mentioned being lots of small bills do you mean US Dollars or JMD? What do the locals prefer? USD or JMD?

Again any hints or tips are welcome. THANK YOU !!!!!

[drbcwp]

We have been to Jamaica about (15) times. This will be our 4th Couples Visit.

You do not need a lot of cash, they prefer US $, take small bills for tipping outside the resort. You give the resort a cc once you get there and charge everything there, no cash at the resort. If you go shopping, all of the stores take visa/mc. The vendors on the beach mostly take only cash but we do not buy that stuff any longer after all of the trips.

It is still pretty casual, shorts and a polo shirt are fine for most every evening. I wear sandals most evenings. Some of the restaurants do ask that you wear closed toe shoes but I have seen people in the restaurant w/o them.

[Vickyj]

Thank you for the advice rcgoofy68 -

, Also how is the dress code for Guys. My boyfriend is a low key guy, never wears a jacket, always wears tennis shoes. I hear make sure we have dress shoes or another form of closed toe shoes from him for Dinner in the restaurants. True? Yes, you will need a closed shoe for 8 Rivers. Athletic shoes will be turned away. Your bf can wear a pair of Topsiders/Boat Shoes. I just picked up a new pair for my hubby at Kohl's for $24. Also collared shirts are a must? Yes, a collared shirt is again needed for 8 Rivers, but a nice polo will work. He does not need a dress shirt. Kohl's has these for $9.99 in solid colors and some nice tropical shirts also. (no, I don't work there, just shop there)Will a collared Polo work or does it need to be a dress shirt? He never wears jeans to no problem there all of this pants are black or dress pants. I know weird combo. I think anything I have will be fine you know how guys like their confort expecially on vacation. You mentioned being lots of small bills do you mean US Dollars or JMD? What do the locals prefer? USD or JMD? USD is accepted in most areas. If you go up to 9 Mile, there may be some places that want Jamaican, but I don't know. We have always used USD in MoBay at the airport and in OR when shopping at the stores and at the flea market. Carry small bills as in the smaller shops/flea markets, you will find no one can make change. We don't take as most as rcgoofy68. Hubby brought $300 last year and came home with about $250. Yes we did shop, but had resort credit. I have $50 in ones, $50 in tens, $100 in fives. That's it for me. I came home with all but $60 and some change last year and the $60 was for the MoBay Lounge tickets. We may or may not do that again this year.



Again any hints or tips are welcome. THANK YOU !!!!!

Have a great time! We arrive for trip #6 on Saturday. Finishing last minute stuff today!

[rcgoofy68]

You will need money if you go to the dunn river falls. The driver has a tip jar, the guys that help you go up the rocks and the person that will take nice pic of you and your couple. It's nice to tip them. They will ask if you want to bye any drinks and for that you will need money. I always like to have extra cause in the past i would say "nah i don't want that and when I get home i say i should of got it".

[Chi-Visit]

Thank you everyone for the help. I look forward to seeing all of you who will be there when we are Oct. 11th
- 18th. I cannot wait.

I already had two emails from the staff to help with a couple minor questions I had. The staff has already been so helpful and I am not even there yet.

[daffers]

Hey everyone -

Is anyone visiting Oct. 11th - 16th? We will be at CTI. We would love any tips that returning travelers could give us. We are a mid 30"s Couple just coming down to relax and have a good time. Enjoy all that Jamaica and CTI has to offer.

- Cortne & Charlie

Hi

We are at CTI from 3rd - 17th October for our second trip. Sooo looking forward to it. There is a thread called "October 2012" in the Meet Up area. Look in on it and join in, there is whole bunch of us on the list now. Some of us know each other some dont. Come on in and perhaps we will see you there

Daf and Phil

[Me&Tee]

Hey Chi-Visit,
We'll be overlapping your visit by a few days! Best advice someone gave us on our first trip: do active things early in the day. We had one of those "duh" moments when we heard this - it is the Carribean after all and it gets hot in the afternoon!