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Jan&Mike's Trip Report - Part ONE
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Jan&MikeVa
- Posts: 1084
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 5:32 pm
- Location: The Chesapeake Bay
Jan&Mike's Trip Report - Part ONE
Just back from 8 glorious days on STJ, Mike & I had a blast! We so badly needed time alone together, and despite some “calamity” of errors, we are well rested, relaxed, and rejuvenated! A little background: In our 31 years of marriage and a lot of traveling I always do the planning, and 99% of the time I’m right on. Mike is so trusting of me, even with the villa choices. This vacation proved a little different.
My reports are always a little on the long side, no apologies, just letting you know up front.
Saturday 11/25:
Our flight is early Sunday out of D.C. so we decided to make the 3-hour drive up on Saturday evening, stay right at the airport………it’ll all be good. Thank goodness I didn’t make hotel reservations. We had a leisurely day getting ready, no rush, no deadlines; we leave the house about 5pm. Our plan is to grab a bite to eat on the road and hit the hotel no later than 9pm. FIVE hours later; we are barely 2-1/2 hours into the trip. SOMEONE forgot that it was Thanksgiving weekend,
and I-95 between Richmond and D.C. is a PARKING LOT. We tried some alternative routes and finally gave up. Found a Hampton Inn with a “Chili’s” right down the street. Decide to do take out from Chili’s, looked them up in the little phone book and I placed the order. Hubby runs out, comes back ONE HOUR later with dinner (I’m ready to call the police). Turns out there are actually 2 Chili’s in this little town, and hubby was running all over, and of course without the cel phone. Turns out that the Chili’s by the hotel was too new to be in the book. So now it’s 11pm we’re STARVING, and Mike is wondering if taking me along on his vacation was a good idea. 
Thankfully we got some food and about 4 hours of sleep. Up and out at 5am, and YES folks I-95 is still crowded on a Sunday morning! I’m not off to a good start gang, WHAT WAS I thinking??
We connect through Philly to STT on USAir. We’re at the gate wondering why hardly anyone is going to STT; the waiting area is fairly deserted. Mike thinks that we’re at the wrong gate, no, no I say, see right here B17, whoops its “D” 17, uh oh. Well we were not at the wrong gate, just the wrong CONCOURSE!
Now we’re running and well you’ve heard of closing the bar down, they closed the door behind us. I NEED A VACATION (from myself)! GREAT flights, no problems (things are looking up)! Luggage is slow coming off so I go ahead and call Caribbean Villas to let them know 4pm CA ferry. Get a weird answering machine message that goes right to someone’s mailbox, leave a message, but feel funny about this. Luggage retrieved, clothes changed, call Caribbean villas again, get the same message. Now I’m bugged and say so on the machine. Decide to call Donald Schnell to let him know which ferry we’ll be on so no one has to wait for us too late for the jeep rental.
Beautiful ferry ride to STJ, the Island looks so pretty coming around the corner, ooooh NOW we are excited, the warm air and sunshine feels SO GOOD!!
Grab luggage and head down the dock to wave at the Web cam. Just get started to wave and here comes BillinVa (hereinafter referred to as just Bill) to pick up their houseguests. Lots of hugs and hellos, and waving at the web cam, 
and WHERE is Caribbean Villa’s Rep?? Ruth comes out and wants to know who are these crazy people waving at her store, introductions and promises to stop by Monday. So now it’s going on 5pm, we’ve been there about 20 minutes and we’re starting to get a little worried. We’ve only used Caribbean Villas in the past (3 previous visits) and they are always right there. We figure it’s a busy weekend, maybe a lot of folks checking in. We’re trying to be on Island Time, have patience. Now I’m calling from my cel phone and getting a totally different message.
I’ll get to the point; we got stranded at the dock.
Flat out stranded, we could have spent the night there for all Caribbean Villas knew and or cared. So now I’m calling everyone, Bill, Donald Schnell, Ruth is trying to find someone for me. Donald Schnell is not answering the phone, and we do not know where his rental car place is. So we're asking everyone (yes even the police) where “Bougainvillea” car rental is and no one has heard of it. WHY oh WHY didn’t I think to ask where Donald Schnell’s STUIDO was (car rentals are out of his studio), everyone knows where that is. Well finally Bill gets hold of Donald who is patiently waiting for us to pick up our rental jeep. Mike goes up there to get the jeep comes back and we load up. Have I mentioned that it’s very hot, and I’m feeling very angry? This is not good. Donald insisted that we wait at his studio and he is trying very hard to get someone for us (he knows a lot of folk). At this point I’m starting to feel like a “redheaded stepchild” (I’m a redhead), and now I’m second-guessing ALL my planning. Donald finally gets hold of someone and Shaun from Caribbean Villas picks us up at 6:30pm. Two hours of waiting and not being able to get a hold of anyone is not fun, very unsettling, and a downright scary. Ruth offered her living room to us, Bill and Sandie were ready to put us up for the night, and Donald would not leave his studio late on a Sunday evening until we were straight. 
These folks were ready to take our frozen meats for us. So yes, a very bad experience turned out wonderful because of these folks, what gracious and considerate people we had around us. JUST NO VILLA REP! We follow Shaun out to Coral Bay and up the steep hill to One Particular Harbor, the view is nice……….but it’s dark. We are tired, angry, hungry, sweaty, confused, and feeling bad for putting so many people to such trouble just to help us.
Oh, you too would be interested in WHY THIS HAPPENED???? Although I haven't yet gotten a straight answer from them, it sounds like a lack of communication. Caribbean Villas has a form that we fill out with flight info arrival time that we fax to Maine. On Wednesday they called here to the house and I spoke to them reconfirming flights and arrival times. According to Shaun he knew we were arriving on Sunday, but he didn’t know what time. Evidently Maine didn’t communicate with STJ, ugh!! There was also a problem with the answering machine on Island and he didn’t get ANY of my messages. I will say though that after about 6 calls to the number the answering machine changed again and if I had listened all the way through it would have given me an emergency number and even a mailbox for arriving guests. At that point I guess I was so upset I wasn’t thinking clear. So now along with all the other emotions, I’m feeling embarrassed.
Trying to get settled, we unpacked the cooler (the meat barely made it – didn’t like sitting on the ferry dock), took showers and had my homemade chili (I brought) in Paradise. OPH is a very nice villa and we settled in for the night. Sleep DID NOT come easy however to me. Barely 24 hours into vacation and this is turning into a comedy of errors. Hubby started calling me “Calamity Jan”.
It’s an interesting and dark trip up to the villa and I’m thinking that Mike might just “take me for a ride” or abandon me at this point. Instead he just holds me while the tears finally came.
Next installment, OPH starts falling apart (not literally) around us.
Jan (akaCharlie)
My reports are always a little on the long side, no apologies, just letting you know up front.
Saturday 11/25:
Our flight is early Sunday out of D.C. so we decided to make the 3-hour drive up on Saturday evening, stay right at the airport………it’ll all be good. Thank goodness I didn’t make hotel reservations. We had a leisurely day getting ready, no rush, no deadlines; we leave the house about 5pm. Our plan is to grab a bite to eat on the road and hit the hotel no later than 9pm. FIVE hours later; we are barely 2-1/2 hours into the trip. SOMEONE forgot that it was Thanksgiving weekend,
and I-95 between Richmond and D.C. is a PARKING LOT. We tried some alternative routes and finally gave up. Found a Hampton Inn with a “Chili’s” right down the street. Decide to do take out from Chili’s, looked them up in the little phone book and I placed the order. Hubby runs out, comes back ONE HOUR later with dinner (I’m ready to call the police). Turns out there are actually 2 Chili’s in this little town, and hubby was running all over, and of course without the cel phone. Turns out that the Chili’s by the hotel was too new to be in the book. So now it’s 11pm we’re STARVING, and Mike is wondering if taking me along on his vacation was a good idea. Thankfully we got some food and about 4 hours of sleep. Up and out at 5am, and YES folks I-95 is still crowded on a Sunday morning! I’m not off to a good start gang, WHAT WAS I thinking??We connect through Philly to STT on USAir. We’re at the gate wondering why hardly anyone is going to STT; the waiting area is fairly deserted. Mike thinks that we’re at the wrong gate, no, no I say, see right here B17, whoops its “D” 17, uh oh. Well we were not at the wrong gate, just the wrong CONCOURSE!
Now we’re running and well you’ve heard of closing the bar down, they closed the door behind us. I NEED A VACATION (from myself)! GREAT flights, no problems (things are looking up)! Luggage is slow coming off so I go ahead and call Caribbean Villas to let them know 4pm CA ferry. Get a weird answering machine message that goes right to someone’s mailbox, leave a message, but feel funny about this. Luggage retrieved, clothes changed, call Caribbean villas again, get the same message. Now I’m bugged and say so on the machine. Decide to call Donald Schnell to let him know which ferry we’ll be on so no one has to wait for us too late for the jeep rental.Beautiful ferry ride to STJ, the Island looks so pretty coming around the corner, ooooh NOW we are excited, the warm air and sunshine feels SO GOOD!!
Grab luggage and head down the dock to wave at the Web cam. Just get started to wave and here comes BillinVa (hereinafter referred to as just Bill) to pick up their houseguests. Lots of hugs and hellos, and waving at the web cam, and WHERE is Caribbean Villa’s Rep?? Ruth comes out and wants to know who are these crazy people waving at her store, introductions and promises to stop by Monday. So now it’s going on 5pm, we’ve been there about 20 minutes and we’re starting to get a little worried. We’ve only used Caribbean Villas in the past (3 previous visits) and they are always right there. We figure it’s a busy weekend, maybe a lot of folks checking in. We’re trying to be on Island Time, have patience. Now I’m calling from my cel phone and getting a totally different message. I’ll get to the point; we got stranded at the dock.
Flat out stranded, we could have spent the night there for all Caribbean Villas knew and or cared. So now I’m calling everyone, Bill, Donald Schnell, Ruth is trying to find someone for me. Donald Schnell is not answering the phone, and we do not know where his rental car place is. So we're asking everyone (yes even the police) where “Bougainvillea” car rental is and no one has heard of it. WHY oh WHY didn’t I think to ask where Donald Schnell’s STUIDO was (car rentals are out of his studio), everyone knows where that is. Well finally Bill gets hold of Donald who is patiently waiting for us to pick up our rental jeep. Mike goes up there to get the jeep comes back and we load up. Have I mentioned that it’s very hot, and I’m feeling very angry? This is not good. Donald insisted that we wait at his studio and he is trying very hard to get someone for us (he knows a lot of folk). At this point I’m starting to feel like a “redheaded stepchild” (I’m a redhead), and now I’m second-guessing ALL my planning. Donald finally gets hold of someone and Shaun from Caribbean Villas picks us up at 6:30pm. Two hours of waiting and not being able to get a hold of anyone is not fun, very unsettling, and a downright scary. Ruth offered her living room to us, Bill and Sandie were ready to put us up for the night, and Donald would not leave his studio late on a Sunday evening until we were straight. These folks were ready to take our frozen meats for us. So yes, a very bad experience turned out wonderful because of these folks, what gracious and considerate people we had around us. JUST NO VILLA REP! We follow Shaun out to Coral Bay and up the steep hill to One Particular Harbor, the view is nice……….but it’s dark. We are tired, angry, hungry, sweaty, confused, and feeling bad for putting so many people to such trouble just to help us. Oh, you too would be interested in WHY THIS HAPPENED???? Although I haven't yet gotten a straight answer from them,
it sounds like a lack of communication. Caribbean Villas has a form that we fill out with flight info arrival time that we fax to Maine. On Wednesday they called here to the house and I spoke to them reconfirming flights and arrival times. According to Shaun he knew we were arriving on Sunday, but he didn’t know what time. Evidently Maine didn’t communicate with STJ, ugh!! There was also a problem with the answering machine on Island and he didn’t get ANY of my messages. I will say though that after about 6 calls to the number the answering machine changed again and if I had listened all the way through it would have given me an emergency number and even a mailbox for arriving guests. At that point I guess I was so upset I wasn’t thinking clear. So now along with all the other emotions, I’m feeling embarrassed. Trying to get settled, we unpacked the cooler (the meat barely made it – didn’t like sitting on the ferry dock), took showers and had my homemade chili (I brought) in Paradise. OPH is a very nice villa and we settled in for the night. Sleep DID NOT come easy however to me. Barely 24 hours into vacation and this is turning into a comedy of errors. Hubby started calling me “Calamity Jan”.
It’s an interesting and dark trip up to the villa and I’m thinking that Mike might just “take me for a ride” or abandon me at this point. Instead he just holds me while the tears finally came. Next installment, OPH starts falling apart (not literally) around us.
Jan (akaCharlie)
trip report
WOW!
I hope the rest of your trip was better!
I hope the rest of your trip was better!
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silverheels
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- Location: The Nutmeg State
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California Girl
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Berkfamily
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Tracy in WI
- Posts: 1624
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:39 am
- Location: Wisconsin
Thanks Jan! I am enjoying your report - even though it isn't going well now, I know from your last report that things ended up okay! Hard to have a poor time while on St. John!
P.S. (For those of you heading out soon - I have used Caribbean Villas in the past with no problems!)
P.S. (For those of you heading out soon - I have used Caribbean Villas in the past with no problems!)
Tracy, Seaside Properties at Grande Bay
Jan, I had to go wipe my eyes and blow my nose after reading Part 1!!. No kidding! I'm the travel 'coordinator' in our family too so I feel your pain, believe me!! This is exactly why I never rent from anyone but the island agent who handles the house. We rented a house on Tortola this spring through an agency that was not on-island and I'll NEVER EVER do that again. I hardly slept the first night there either I was so upset. My DH had to hold me through the tears that night too.
Don't keep us waiting too long for the next installment. I just know things will get better.
Don't keep us waiting too long for the next installment. I just know things will get better.
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Jan&MikeVa
- Posts: 1084
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 5:32 pm
- Location: The Chesapeake Bay
In the end Caribbean Villas did right by us. I think. But it took some arm twisting and firm perseverance. Will we use them again? Probably, but I learned some things and will ALWAYS talk directly with the people on Island first. I'm also hoping to get some good feedback from all of you about this. Once I get the whole story out there I'll be anxious to hear all of your thoughts.
However, I agree with a lot of posters, and I have heard this before.........rent with people that are ALL on Island. Getting stranded at the dock threw a reality check into my itinerary. If we hadn't known the folks that helped us I don't know what we would have done. We were both thinking about taxi drivers, police department, someone would know someone that worked for Caribbean Villas. It's a small island and I knew they were around, just had to find them.
Thanks for all your thoughts so far.
Jan (akaCharlie)
However, I agree with a lot of posters, and I have heard this before.........rent with people that are ALL on Island. Getting stranded at the dock threw a reality check into my itinerary. If we hadn't known the folks that helped us I don't know what we would have done. We were both thinking about taxi drivers, police department, someone would know someone that worked for Caribbean Villas. It's a small island and I knew they were around, just had to find them.
Thanks for all your thoughts so far.
Jan (akaCharlie)
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Bob & Anita
- Posts: 611
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 11:20 pm
- Location: Charlotte, NC
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NoWorriesMom
- Posts: 150
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 4:45 pm
- Location: Boulder, Colorado
Hey Jan!
Hi Jan!
We used to live in Falls Church, we know I-95, and I'm SO feeling your traffic pain! Loving to read your report, thanks, and keep em coming Please!!!! Hope your trip got a lot more relaxing for you!!!!!
We used to live in Falls Church, we know I-95, and I'm SO feeling your traffic pain! Loving to read your report, thanks, and keep em coming Please!!!! Hope your trip got a lot more relaxing for you!!!!!