Were booked 95 Sleeps to go

theshopper3 · Post by **theshopper3** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 10:12 am

Well we got it all finalized last night with the help of a few Caribe

.
Actually found a great priced flight out of Detroit that makes it worth the 3 1/2 hr drive, but much cheaper than out of Canada.

Can anyone advise on Spirit Airlines??? that is who we will be flying with.

We are bringing some friends with us that do not travel much & it will be a test to keep them on the ground for the 95 days, but we have assured them that they will be in heaven when they arrive on St John.

We would like to bring some meat with us, for those that do bring meat how do you do it IE: frozen in a cooler, are the airlines OK with this???
Once again thanks for all the information & help.

Tom the pictures helped alot in making our decission. Although we have decided to go with the Soleil, we could easly see where we will be staying.

We are planning on doing our trip report from our Nov trip today & will get it posted.

The Shopper 3

Splasher54 · Post by **Splasher54** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 1:17 pm

Both years we have emptied the freezer, turned it as low as it would go, put the steaks etc. on press-n-seal and left to freeze for approximately 12 hours. We then remove from freezer, completely seal in press-n-seal and then place in zip lock bag. Return to freezer and keep there until you are leaving. We pack the cooler tightly and we're off. This year we even had the cooler in the hotel room the night before (we had an early flight) and everything was still frozen when we arrived (24 hours) Hope this helps

theshopper3 · Post by **theshopper3** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 1:46 pm

Splasher54,

Thanks for the info. Do you use ice or gel packs in the cooler & check it thru??? Our food will probably be out of a freezer for about 18hours.

We will have a 4 hr drive to the Detroit then a night in the hotel & 6 hours of travel time.

If the food was to thaw, it would be OK as long as it stayed cold until we could get it to the villa.

Ruth

swoodbridge · Post by **swoodbridge** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 2:03 pm

We had a very good experience with Spirit airlines going to the Bahamas through Ft Lauderdale. The planes were clean and on time. The one problem was security at Ft Lauderdale-it took almost 60 minutes to get through on our return(Spirit held our flight to Chicago though!). So even if you are hungry on the way down(there are no restaurants at the gate) I wouldn't leave the gate area without checking the security situation first. Sharon

KPlumm · Post by **KPlumm** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 2:21 pm

Theshopper3, we're from the Hamilton area where are you? Are you planning on buying your meat in Canada and taking it over the border? If so, I didn't know that you could do that.

We are using Spirit airlines from Ft Lauderdale, for the last leg of our trip. Never flown them before. Have you ever looked at US Air out of Buffalo?

theshopper3 · Post by **theshopper3** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 4:44 pm

Hi Kplumm,
We are from Kitchener, so we are not far from you's.
As for the meat, yes I was planning on taking it from Canada. We are going to fly out of Detroit, so will just have the cooler in the car when we cross at the border & not tell them we have it....
I did look into USair out of Buffalo, but then you had 2 stops & the price was higher. We did USair out of TO in Nov when we went, but the price is really high. Didn't want to take the chance with the weather at that time of year. When are you heading down??

Swoodbridge,
Thanks for the info. Why did you have to go thru security??? We didn't have to go thru security when we changed planes in Charlotte or Pittsburg in Nov. Although our flights were both late getting in & we had to run like the devil to make our connections so there was no time to get anything to eat.
Does Spirit give you any food on the plane??? What about drinks???

Ruth

KPlumm · Post by **KPlumm** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 5:43 pm

theshopper3, we will just miss you unfortunately. We arrive May 7th. Good luck with the meat. I'd be nervous that they'd want to inspect the cooler. Several years ago we took the family down (actually my step-sons live in Kitchener) and called customs about the rules for bringing food. I was told that if food was in a package stating the food originated from either the US or Canada, it was OK. I wouldn't mind bringing down some nice steaks, if they weren't confiscated.

Swoodbridge, I also would like to know why you had to go through security. We are flying into Ft Lauderdale on Spirit and then Air Canada to Toronto. I am now nervous that we won't have enough time between flights.

swoodbridge · Post by **swoodbridge** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 5:50 pm

We had to go through security because we were coming from the Bahamas and they make you go through after customs. You won't have to do that. I was just warning so that the lines could be very bad in case you want to go out of the secure area to the restaurants. You cannot see the lines until it is too late to turn back. Sharon

Splasher54 · Post by **Splasher54** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 7:52 pm

We threw a sheet of those gel ice square things on top of the meat in the cooler, but we really didn't need to. My husband has had several knee surgeries and uses these ice packs to ice his knees. We figured it would come in handy. And our cooler was packed for 24 hours and still frozen.

theshopper3 · Post by **theshopper3** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 12:48 pm

Hi Swoodbridge,

Do they feed you on Spirit???? If we don't have time to grab something we just might be very hungry by the time we land in St Thomas. Our flight leaves Detroit at 6:45 AM.
Are there movies on the Plane???

KPlumm,
I doubt if you will have to hit security. In Nov when we transfered in Charlotte & Philly we did not have to go thru security. I must say that we had very very close flights both ways. Not sure when your flight is scheduled to leave TO, but if it is before 7:00 AM it will not leave on time. Apparently there is a law that the flights can't take off before 6:30 & then they are all backed up.

Going in Nov we were scheduled with an hour stop over & arrived 15 min before our connecting flight.
On the way home our luggage didn't make the connection & there we were in TO with no coats & miss 5 deg. For the first time we packed them in our luggage to help protect the liqour.

Ruth

Tracy in WI · Post by **Tracy in WI** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:25 am

Hi Shopper - We just returned from STJ and flew on Spirit to Chicago with a connection in Ft. Lauderdale.

There are a few different snack type items you can purchase on the plane, but otherwise no food service. So, if you have time, try to grab something in the airport or pack something to eat.

They also do not offer music or movies on flight (at least not the ones we were on!) so bring an ipod or lots of reading materials!

They did offer us flights that were on time though! And that was much more important! Have a great trip!

Tracy

theshopper3 · Post by **theshopper3** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 10:29 am

Thanks Tracy for the Info. Do you think they would let you thru with a muffin????

Tracy, I heard you stayed at Cielomar, how was it???? We are going the end of April with friends & that was our first choice, just didn't feel it would offer enough privacy for each couple.

We chose to rent Seilomar so is is in the same complex, how was the area.

Thanks Ruth

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