Booked! 15th anniversary and mixing it up a bit

Travel discussion for St. John
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PA Girl
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Booked! 15th anniversary and mixing it up a bit

Post by PA Girl »

I just got off the phone from booking our late June/early July trip. As I posted before, this trip was on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again, on-again for the past couple months.

We are doing something different this time, spending the day and evening before on STT to visit Blackbeard's Castle (or whatever it is) and taking the afternoon ferry (next day) over to Caneel.

This is our 1st time back at Caneel since 2002. We honeymooned there in 1995. Since then, we have stayed in villas. As some moms are sure to understand, I can very much looking forward to a vacation where I don't need to worry about feeding the family and washing beach towels.

No jeep this trip, just the beach. We spent so much time running during our February trip we felt like we missed out on doing so many things with our son. We will pick up a jeep for one day to visit the ruins.

Our son (4 yo) just started with the basics of snorkelling in Feburary so we hope he will be able to go out with us this trip.

57 days and counting!
mindehankins
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Post by mindehankins »

Can't wait to hear of all the fun you'll have with your little boy! Congrats on your bookings!
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mbw1024
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Post by mbw1024 »

ummmmmmmmmmmmmm
SO JEALOUS!
thank you and good bye! :cry:
PA Girl
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Post by PA Girl »

mbw1024 wrote:ummmmmmmmmmmmmm
SO JEALOUS!
thank you and good bye! :cry:
I will be sure to drink champagne while in the water and think of you!
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toni
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Post by toni »

Congrats on the plans!

How'd you end up on your airfare -I remember that was an issue. Was there a good deal that you found?
PA Girl
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Post by PA Girl »

99% sure I will book with Delta this morning. Must get off the forum and do payroll and monthly reports first.

No, not a good deal. We will probably be spending $600 a ticket but the times work for us and we are flying out of our home airport versus driving to Philly. We are locked into our dates so the cost is what it is.

When I was talking to the Rosewood reservation lady (who was in Dallas) she told me everyone she know, friends, families and co-workers, are all complaining about the lack of decent summer airfares. She said she is hearing the same from Rosewood customers also.
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LMG
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Post by LMG »

Years ago someone told me that they only way they'd come to STJ when they had kids was to book at Caneel where they knew they wouldn't have to do any work for the vacation. I always thought that sounded like a brilliant idea. :)
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Gromit
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Post by Gromit »

Yeah fares are going up! On a whim I booked our air for December over the week-end (using points so I really didn't care much as long as our points would cover the cost) and it's already started climbing again.

I swear airfares these days are a crapshoot.

Don't forget to check Kayak, orbitz, expedia and travelocity. Esp with expedia and travelocity sometimes they have some better fares b/c they will buy blocks of tix for promos. I shop everyone to compare.

Also BEST day to check for fares are Tuesdays.

John Morrey, vice president of retail air at Expedia agrees. In his opinion, booking on Tuesday evenings is ideal. He notes that airlines tend to release fare sales on Tuesday mornings, and if other carriers match, they usually do so by the evening. Fare sales generally end on Fridays, and Morrey says, "In addition, when airlines raise fares, they tend to do this on a weekend, so Saturdays and Sundays [are] less attractive."

For the full article: http://www.smartertravel.com/travel-adv ... id=1290508
*Another fine scatterbrained production
PA Girl
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Post by PA Girl »

LMG wrote:Years ago someone told me that they only way they'd come to STJ when they had kids was to book at Caneel where they knew they wouldn't have to do any work for the vacation. I always thought that sounded like a brilliant idea. :)
I never, never, never thought I would feel that going on vacation was work but at this point in my life, I now feel differently.

Really silly stuff got to me this last trip. Like trying to reuse bath and beach towels. Impossible because the house didn't have a line and just two small, worthless towel bars in the bathroom. So towels had to be washed and dryed each day.

So I will be enjoying my not-washed-by-me towels very, very much come June 29.
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liamsaunt
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Post by liamsaunt »

Congrats on booking! I think Caneel is great for kids. Did you get the Escape rate? They released it for the summer about 10 days ago.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
PA Girl
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Post by PA Girl »

Yes we did. The reservation agent mentioned the occupancy for the summer was expected to be rather high.
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Tracy in WI
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Post by Tracy in WI »

Congratulations on booking your trip! I will be there at the same time, but unfortunately, I will be washing my own towels....

Still looking to book the airfare, but like you, my dates are set and it is what it is!
Tracy, Seaside Properties at Grande Bay
PA Girl
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Post by PA Girl »

Just booked the airfare, $568 on Delta.

I was waffling, thinking should I gamble and wait?

But then I checked the seats and was surprised to see that both legs, each direction, were rather sold out, more than 60% I estimated.

Like Gromit mentioned, the points take the bite out of it but still, I have consistantly paid less than that for direct (PHL) during high season. Go figure!

Now, who knows anything about the Delta SkyLounges at Atlanta?
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Gromit
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Post by Gromit »

@PAGirl-- we have used the skylounges in ATL (in fact we checked out four of them in one layover (bastards kept changing our gate!!). Some are more impressive than others. Obviously, which one you use depends on where your gate is - for convenience.

Avoid the Chilis Too -- got food poisoning there in December.

After our last crappy experience with Delta I vowed never to use them again. Everything from the flight, the lounges and the personnel was awful. The only leg that was decent was from ATL to STT. Every other leg was miserable for a variety of reasons.

On the other hand we prefer AA thru MIA -- the lounges there are AWESOME!! We spoiled FLip Flip and family BAD on our June trip.
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PA Girl
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Post by PA Girl »

It has been a while since we flew Delta, our son was about a year old so 3 years or so. Will check out the lounges and definately will avoid the Chilis

I am waiting to hear back from the Green Iguana people then we will be all set.
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