Next Time Do's & Don'ts

[flip-flop]

I guess I must have missed a trip report
somewhere about Caneel.

When do they have the buffet and what is the
cost? We are going over on july 29th for
a week and I would like to go!

I have no idea what it costs, but VickiH talked about it in her trip report from May. See here: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=12612

[flip-flop]

Flipper, I'm sorry about your bad experience at Shipwreck, though I'm not totally shocked. Now to clarify: Shipwreck is one of my favorite places on the planet to spend an adult evening at the bar. That said, I have seen servers at Shipwreck, Skinny's, Blues, and Aqua Bistro have an unwarranted crappy attitude towards families with kids. It not the house, but the server. 'nuff said.
JT

I've been to Shipwreck just about every trip we've been down there. I am used to the sloooooowness of the experience. As a matter of fact, my daughter then 3 fell asleep there on one of the benches when we were waiting for our guys to return from a night dive to join us. They never did show up! That's a whole other story.

I have to say I've had great luck with most establishments with the kids. Sometimes they even seem nicer to us! Quite the opposite of what we typically experience anywhere else. But you are right it could have been that. Who knows.

My personal gut feeling is that the planets were alligning against us. 1) Pat was off island (we heard this later) 2) we were not imbibing (a rarity for us) and though we each ordered entrees - including 5 over $30 specials - the waitress thought we were not worth going the extra mile for. Like Julia Roberts says in Pretty Woman ... BIG Mistake .. Big HUGE! LOL. So realizing she was giving us crappy service and was probably going to get a crappy tip she added a 20% grat to the tab! If we all hadn't been so shocked I think we would have just paid cash and refused to leave the "autotip"!

To be clear, I have NO ISSUE with an auto gratuity for larger parties (but remember two in our party were under 7, 5 adults) IF IF the service is decent.

When Gromit called her on it, she basically didn't state it was Shipwreck policy just that she was adding it because, "we pool tips and if I do a bad job I don't want the rest of the staff punished."

Uh. SAY WHAT? It sounds even crazier now when I look back on it.

That said, I have had MANY better than average meals at Shipwreck. I love the location and the vibe. My friends a couple of trips back went there repeatedly for lunch and raved about it. My one bad experience won't cause me to lead a anti-Shipwreck campaign, but it did sour me and I'll probably skip it for a trip or two.

[cypressgirl]

I love Shipwreck. It's my favorite place on island for "vibe", food, and drinks. I have never traveled with babies or young kids, so I don't know about that. I've never had a bad experience in about 22 (or so) visits. I'll keep going back as long as it's good.

[suzanna945]

This trip we showed up at ZoZo's and The Fish Trap on nights they were closed. I guess one thing we'll do differently next time around is make sure we know which nights particular restaurants are actually open before heading out for dinner.

Still haven't been to Vie's yet and would really like to go next trip.

Still need to see Salomon, Jumby, and Salt Pond beaches. Can't believe we've never made it to them so far.

Jost. We were going to go this past trip but it never happened.

[flip-flop]

Shipwreck has always been a favorite of our whole crew, a MUST for every trip. That is why it was so disappointing and surreal for us. There is another thread (DJMoms) talking about a autogratuity being added for a table of 4. VERY suspicious to me. In probably 6-8 trips for us, usually groups of 4-6, with and without kids, we'd never had that happen.

I find it very hard to believe it's Shipwreck's policy but more likely a bad apple on staff.

Time will tell. Like I said, I am soured a little, but not boycotting! Well at least not forever, but I think its only fair to give it to folks straight so they can decide for themselves OR be on the lookout for fishy business.

[flip-flop]

Haven't done/seen but have on list for Feb. trip -

Trinidad Charlies

Trinidad Charlies - What's that? Never heard of it. What am I missing!?!?!?!

[DELETED]

DELETED

[flip-flop]

I enjoyed your reports Flip.

I would never, under any known circumstance, pay a suggested or added on tip unless the policy was clearly stated before I ordered. If it were clearly stated, except for the exception of party size, I would walk out shortly after reading such a policy.

Definitely agree! Especially for a group not of 6 or more. I have NEVER even heard of such a thing!

Even on a party of 6 or more it annoys me but if its clearly stated up front IN PRINT on the menu and I get good service, I am fine with it. Usually, in our case, a great server loses out because the auto tip is typically 18% and we are consistent 20% tippers for great service. But if you add it, no I am not going to up it.

I worked in the restaurant biz from 14 all the way through college, and know how hard the work can be and thus always tip generously when it is deserved!

[djmom]

I really enjoyed your trip reports; nice family and friends.

Something I did some years ago that helped me regarding overpacking for trips: as soon as I get home, I make a list of what I brought, and what I actually wore/used. I make the list right when the unworn stuff is still there in the suitcase!

I've now gotten to the point where I pack very lightly.

I always say that and I never do it. It is a great idea and you have inspired me to sit down and do that now! It won't be perfect, but better than waiting a year or whatever!

[DELETED]

DELETED

[djmom]

I just remember when we got that bill and the tip was added thinking I was glad, because we always tip 20 percent (or will round even higher)- and that I was not going to have to feel one bit conflicted since she made our mind up for us. Totally unacceptable business practice though...

[Pete (Mr. Marcia)]

We stopped in Shipwreck once. The waitress was such a (add expletive) that we paid for our drinks and decided to go elsewhere for food.

We are pretty mellow folks. We just got a really bad vibe so we moved on.

[TravelinTexasGal]

OMG that really drives me NUTS Flip! We own a restaurant in Texas and I absolutely hate the idea of auto gratuity! I want our servers to do their absolute best for our customers and not think that they are entitled to have a good tip or any tip at all if they perform insufficently. Good service, happy smiling faces along with our great food will make our girls good money without ever automatically adding a tip! Most of ours average over 20% per ticket.

Actually, if one of our servers does add grat (its allowed on parties of 12 or more, but highly discouraged!), I wonder how they treated our guests and always ask the party just to be sure! I never in my life heard of it being added to a check with such a small party. Pretty sure we'll skip Shipwreck this trip out of solidarity with you!

[Marcia (Mrs. Pete)]

I didn't read all of the posts before so I'm sorry if this is redundant or not following a tangent. Anyway, here are my next time to do's and don'ts:

Do:
~ Take more videos of our daily routines. The one we have (a drive back from Starfish to the villa) is a hoot and takes me back to the moment every time I watch it.
~ Try ZoZo's. We had such a horrid experience when it was Ellingtons that we have never been over there again. Maybe we need to put that behind us and give ZoZo's a shot.
~ Check out the Tourist Trap. We are not usually on the Coral Bay side but maybe we should give it a whirl.
~ Rent a dinghy for a day or half day again. We did that years ago. It's cool. I think I could brave it.
~ Finally go and see the Anneburg (sp?) Plantation. Sheesh, we've been to this island how many times and we haven't seen this?
~ Pack ponchos and real umbrellas. And really big garbage bags to cover your luggage. If you arrive or leave on monsoon days, you will really appreciate these things.

Don'ts:
~ Bring the laptop. Learned that the hard way two years ago. So this is kind of a "do." (Do, what you did last year) Do not bring the lap top because we end up spending way too much time in parallel play verus, well, let's just say parallel play.
~ Get a massage. Somehow, that just ends up not being all that it needs to be and is kind of a waste of money.
~ Buy the chicken at Starfish and try to grill it. Bleeeeeeeuch. (Sorry Starfish but man, that chicken took 5 hours to thaw and it still was gross).
~ Buy an inflatable float at Chelsea Pharmacy. They don't last more than a day.


For now, that's it. There are TONS of "to do's" that we have done which we will do again but that's not what this is about, right?

[linne]

All this with 20% tipping is so strange for me, because we don't use tipping so much in Denmark (or Spain), and if so it's normally about 10% or less.
I think the staff have a better salary.

But why do you tip more, if it's a bigger party?
I cannot find the explanation for that.

Linne