Yazmon live @ CSA

[yazmon]

Hi all-- What a day of travel. Up at 2:30 am, off to the airport at 3:30, flight at 6. Our buddy Tim had Mimossa's for us at the airport. The bar doesn't open until 6 am!! We had a Bloody May on the way to Atlanta, and then a few more drinks on the way to MoBay. We landed about 12:30. The line at Immigration was brutal. It took us an hour and ten minutes!! It makes you mad--they know how many planes are landing. They didn't have all of the boxes staffed. There are 30 staitions and I counted at least 4 of them empty. At least by the time we got thru our luggage was waiting for us. Off to the lounge for a couple of beers and then we bought 12 Red Stripes to go at Margarittaville ($60 ouch!!) but we're on vacation. 1 1/2 hours to CSA. Checked in and off to the Cabana Grill for snacks in the rain. A few more drinks and we went to Patois Patio for Dan's birthday dinner and a birthday cake. Fell into bed--very trashed!!!

Today was beautiful. Sunny skys. Lunch at Seagrapes. Saw Navina. She had already heard that we were in town. The Coconut Telegraph is a alive and well!!! I pass out Snickers bars. It was great to be back. Time to jump in the shower and head off to the Martini Bar. Dinner at Patois.

More tomorrow.

Yaz

[Northern gal]

Thanks for the update! Have a wonderful time. 17 more days for us!

[blondie56]

Glad to hear you arrived safe and sound!? Relax and enjoy! Was just wondering if nature has returned CSA's beach to better thanit was this past December when you could see the roots of the trees coming out of the sane at the base of the palms at sea edge! We return at Christmas this year and hope we have beach to relax on and drink our Mojitos!!
Thanks! Have fun!

[cplwholovesjamaica]

Yazmon - how is the beach and the talent on the beach? ;-)

[Spiff542]

Wish we were there with you! HAVE FUN!!

[yazmon]

Hi guys-- the beach is coming back. It's still a good 10 feet short of a couple of years ago. At the guard stand, in the middle of the property, is where the beach is the narrowest. They are building 3 new palapas (?) They have a new volleyball net, with padded poles. Thanks to all of us from the US that need someone else to protect us (sorry - my son-in-law is an attorney).

We spend our days on the beach, catching some sun, drinking, and going to lunch. We alternate between Cabana grill and Seagrapes. I will usually go into the Palms and see what is on the Jamaican end of the food line. Yesterday I had the stewed oxtail and rice. Interesting. I'm still waiting for the curried goat.

Last night we ate at Feathers. It was wonderful as always. I had the filet with coconut shrimp. I did try my wife's Lion fish. It is wonderful. The service is always top notch. The A/C was just right. Not too cold. As always we were in bed by 9 pm.

Sorry for any mis-spellings. I don't have spell check working.

I just got back from the fitnes center. What a wonderful place. If you haven't been across the street to and check it out.
We are going to the Manager's welcome party and then we are skipping the Repeater's Dinner. It tends to be too long and too noisy, for us old folks!!!

We have declared today Jamaican Drinking Day. Our group of 6 are only allowed Jamaican drinks. Red Stripe & rum drinks all around.

[MikeMonica]

Have a great time and give Navina a hug from M&M.

Counting down from the upper 200's, but we are counting!!!!!

[BarDar]

Hey Yaz, just wondering what the situation with the dive boat is. Are they running one with air tank holders on the sides or not. This past Dec. they had to use a boat for the diving that was not the usual boat. Not sure if you can answer this or not. Thanks.

[schdyny]

I am so looking forward to this vacation!! CSA - 37 days to go!

[yazmon]

I just ran down and spoke with Shaggy. He says that they are currently using the glass bottom boat. The 36 ft. boat hit a rock and sank. They have a brand new boat that is being built in New Orleans. It's 46 ft. and should be here sometime in April. Shaggy says hi.

We've been having strange weather. It was cloudy with choppy seas on Tuesday morning. The sun did come out, but they around 1:30 more rain. My wife and I ran over to the spa for a 50 minute massage. They really worked out the kinks. We ended up sitting on our patio and having a few drinks. We went down to Patois for dinner. Another great meal. I had the steak with goat cheese potatos.

This morning it's again cloudy with off and on sprinkles. It's vendor day and the poor people are up and down covering their products. Off to Lemongrass again tonight.

[brennie]

Just arrived home last night and have to say that was some of the strangest weather we have had. In our 10 evenings we saw one respectable sunset. Oh well at least we were in one of our fav places. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

[The DudeMon]

Yazmon --when I read the Yaz Live feeds I know I am really close to coming home. We take off tommorow night and just like that show up at CSA the next afternoon! So a couple of days and we will all toast at the Martini Bar!

[yazmon]

Hi Craig--It's getting close!! They still have a little Grey Goose left!!!

Yesterday was very strange. Overcast all day. Finally around 4 the sun broke through. Today it's back to normal. Bright and sunny. The water sports guys say that there is a front hanging over Cuba that is causing all of the strange weather.

We ate a Lemongrass, again, last night. I spoke with the Chef about lamb chops. He said that we need to request them through the head chef and maybe if enough of us do it they will put them back on the menu. I think it was two years ago that we had them at Lemongrass. It was one of our best meals ever.

We are trying to spend all of our resort money. I'm going for a manicure today!!!

Look for the Illinios 6 down by the Wedding gazebo. See ya soon--Yaz

[BarDar]

Yaz,Thanks for the info. Hope it gets there early in April.

[zach&crystal]

Oh my...I'm sitting here at work glued to your Live Feed. Reading these threads are the only thing getting us through. 44 more days till CSS! Thanks for the Live Feeds!

[yazmon]

Hi all-- Very sunny this morning. Back to normal weather. I did get my MANicure today. I was the only guy in the place. It was fun, but I did have to duck out in the middle of it and grab another Red Stripe. I bet that's the first time that has ever happened.

We had lunch down at the Cabana Grille again today. Boy the jerk chcken is hard to beat. We also had the onion rings-yum!!!

Tonight we are off to Patois for dinner. Craig and Kim are due in tomorrow. It's the first time that I have met them--in person. Robin and Joe are good and we all plan to meet up at the Martini Bar on Friday, if not on the beach before hand.

Friday is our last full day. The good bye bus comes on Saturday morning about 11 am. We did purchase our Club MoBay tickets at CSA as Saturday is always crazy at the airport.

The AirLink plane has been buzzing the beach. It's about 50 feet off the deck!! I am not sure if that is advertising for just for fun, but it sure is impressive!!!

[yazmon]

Hi all-- Very sunny this morning. Back to normal weather. I did get my MANicure today. I was the only guy in the place. It was fun, but I did have to duck out in the middle of it and grab another Red Stripe. I bet that's the first time that has ever happened.

We had lunch down at the Cabana Grille again today. Boy the jerk chcken is hard to beat. We also had the onion rings-yum!!!

Tonight we are off to Patois for dinner. Craig and Kim are due in tomorrow. It's the first time that I have met them--in person. Robin and Joe are good and we all plan to meet up at the Martini Bar on Friday, if not on the beach before hand.

Friday is our last full day. The good bye bus comes on Saturday morning about 11 am. We did purchase our Club MoBay tickets at CSA as Saturday is always crazy at the airport.

The AirLink plane has been buzzing the beach. It's about 50 feet off the deck!! I am not sure if that is advertising for just for fun, but it sure is impressive!!!

I'm not sure if this posted so here it is again. The Wifi here is a little spotty!!!

[Spiff542]

I did get my MANicure today. I was the only guy in the place. It was fun, but I did have to duck out in the middle of it and grab another Red Stripe. I bet that's the first time that has ever happened.

I am afraid not my friend. Afraid not. I was <ahem> around when it.....ummm..... happened once before.

[yazmon]

Hi all-- This is the last post, from the beach. The good bye bus comes for us at 11 am. My wife is out on the beach. For those of you who don't know her, or me, she's about 10 shades darker than I am.

A couple from Wisconsin got married, on the beach, yesterday. They had about 24 people. As soon as the main wedding was over the sky opened up for about 10 minutes. It then cleared off and they had a reception on the beach. Very cool. Then, as I was walking back down the beach, after Feathers, they lit off these mini hot air balloons. This was about 9 pm. These things were awesome!!! They were about one foot in diameter and about three feet tall. You light them and as they begin to burn they fill a paper balloon with hot air. They rise up and are lit up. They sent off about 20 of them.

I finally met Dudemon and Blonde Hawaian in person. They got to CSA about 4 pm. I ran into them at the Bamboo Bar and then again at the Martini Bar. Great couple. They are here with their two daugthers and spouses.

Yesterday was finally back to Jamaican weather. Sunny all day, clouds about 4, a quick rain shower at 4:30, sun the rest of the day. Today is again sunny and warm. I wish it was raining. It makes it a little easier to get on the bus.

We never did spend our entire $500 in resorts credits. Last year we bought just about one of every thing in the gift shop. So, this year we really don't need much. A few cigars, some sandles, another pair of swim trunks. We did buy a couple of carvings from Mountain Man (Junior). A monkey and a big wooden bowl. My wife has always wanted a monkey, she grew up on a farm!!!

Time to put the bags out and jump in the shower My wife will be on the beach until the last possible second. We have our Club MoBay passes purchased. I will let you all know how that works out. Until tomorrow--Yaz

Jeff-really I never knew!!! So, there at least two of us.

[newtnugget]

How did you get $500 in resort credits???? Loved reading your posts BTW

[MeandT]

Hey there. Sorry to have missed you all "live and in person" but likely saw you all in passing. We tended to be at tennis when you had your usual 6-ish martini bar meetup. Scrambled to get showered/dressed for 8:30 dinners. We *loved* CSA, and will be back! Met a couple early in our stay who had been there for 5 weeks {sigh} - must be nice to be retired and well-enough funded for that kind of trip. Two weeks was waaay too short for us. Safe travels and if you're still there, look out for Morissa from the Entertainment team. She is new to the resort, and the poor girl was all teary when hugging us goodbye as we left Sat on 4pm shuttle.

[yazmon]

Well--I'm back in Illinois. We hung out on the beach until 10 am. The bus came at 11, at the airport at 12:30. The check in line for Delta was down the hall. My wife and I were flying 1st class, so we only had a line of about 15 people to drop out bags. We had the club MoBay VIP tickets. The VIP line was about 10 people long. There were several people in wheel chairs that they allow to cut the line, so what should have been a 5 minute wait took 10. The standard line was about a 20-30 minute wait. The airport was a lot less crowded than when we flew out last year (a Saturday, too). My wife and I headed to the Club Mobay lounge and had drinks and snacks. The snacks were assorted things on crackers (tuna, humas, cheese) the mini sandwiches were meat, cheese, etc... Not bad. Our friends were flying Delta coach and had a 45 minute wait just to drop their bags. I think Delta has 3 flights going out at the same time. They got down to the lounge just in time to have one drink. Off to Atlanta. Immigration was a breeze. Not a soul in line. We had to wait for our bags, thru security again, but in Atlanta you are in terminal E and it goes really quick as it's only connecting passengers. We made it home by 11 pm, we played with our two dogs, had a few beers and then off to bed. Not a good day to travel, with the Day Light Savings time change.

We had booked during last year's early booking special, so we had a $300 resort credit for that and then we had an additional $200 resort credit for repeaters. I think that we spent about $300. We upgraded our couples massage to 50 minutes, bought a few things at the gift shop and a birthday cake for Dan.

It was a fun trip. The weather could have been better, but CSA is always a fun place.

To get rid of a few rumors/reports---

There are plenty of chairs. The resort was at 100%. You might have to walk down the beach to find one, but there were many available. The water sports guys are always willing to help. They built at least 2 new palapas while we were there. There is plenty of shade as they continue to plant more palm trees along the beach, too.

Even though a few of the long time staff members have left, the quality of service is still top notch!! They now move people around and I think that a few of the staff members don't like that, so they have moved on.

Big Chris, who was a waiter at Feathers for years, and then the last couple of years ran the breakfast shift at the Palms is no longer there. Someone had told us that he had moved back to Feathers, as the manager, and did not see eye to eye with his boss, so he left. Too bad, I missed his smiling face.

The food is top notch. Very well prepared. We had lobster at Lemongrass, which was a first for us. The steak at Feathers is still "cut it with your fork" tender. The steak at Patois is still a little tough. I can't complain about the food, but I am also easy to please. The drinks are strong, if you want them to be. The beer is now cold. They ice down Miller Lite, in cans, and the draft Red Stripe and RS Light is also colder than it used to be. Even the self serve tap at Seagrapes now has cold beer.

The Beachfront Suite is worth the money. I enjoy waking up to that wonderful view. We sit on the patio and enjoy our morning coffee and watch the resort come to life. Our friends had the Atrium right out side the Palms. It was a little to loud as we all go to bed between 9 & 10 pm. They were moved the next day to an Atrium that had a beach view.

The housekeepers are wonderful. They cleaned our room every day between 9 am and 11 am. Sometimes you wonder if they are hiding in the bushes. You leave the room for an hour and you come back and they are finished. Towel art every day and fresh flowers above our toliet. I left my laptop out, our iPad and many other items, things were never touched.

The Wifi works great. It is only active for 7 days, so if you stay longer you have to go to the front desk and get a new code. A few times it gets a little slow, but hey you're in Jamaica, doing email in your shorts with a drink in your hand!!!

I hope you enjoyed my random thoughts--until next year Yaz.

[smroot]

Read your reports and looked forward to them. Will be there in 225 days for the first time, but our 5th trip to Jamaica and a Couples, we always have gone to Couples Negril. We were there on a trading places last month, and I too observed there were plenty of chairs. We did not hit the beach till after 10, and really had no trouble fine chairs or shade.

[schdyny]

Great reviews - only 31 days to go!!

[lalaillinois]

Yazmon,
I wanted to thank you for your reports. Two years ago, before our first trip to Jamaica, after I started researching where we might like to go, I found this board including a trip report from you. I thoroughly enjoy reading what you write so I hope you keep it up. Based on the great information on this site and others, we booked our first trip to CSA two years ago. We are the types who don't like to return to the same place. But like so many others have said before us, once you go, you know. We now have a Jamaica fund that we use so we can return yearly. Getting ready for trip #3 in 9 days. So excited. Anyway, I really just wanted to say thank you for your posts. We're from Illinois too so maybe some day we'll meet up there! Cheers!