Here is our trip report from Day 1 through Day 5, when things went downhill (as previously explained)
We left from EWR, on time – everything was fine. We actually arrived fairly early into SXM. About 11:45. Breezed thru Immigration – picked up bags – George went to rest room and by time he returned; I had bags and we were off. Unity met us outside and we got there by about 12:20. We picked up cell phone from Sharon and were actually at Port de Plaisance by 12:45. So one hour from landing to car rental pick-up/cell pick-up – truly amazing…
We got a one bedroom unit this time overlooking Simpson Bay. The resort is definitely in some need of fixing up!! They have one unit that they are completely remodeling. By the end of our stay; they were putting up glass walls around the lanai and what appeared to be a hot tub. We met with the Customer Rep (Ami Bora) and she told us we could walk thru the new unit, but we never got around to it. How many timeshares update one unit in their entire inventory??? It’s probably going to be used by the owner’s family or friends!! I figure we were probably better off not touring it; as then everything else would REALLY look bad in comparison.
We unpacked and headed off to Mooi for lunch. George had a ceasar salad and I had a tuna sandwich on a baguette. Both were good. We had 3 glasses of wine and the bill was $43 w/tip. A little pricey. They invited us to come back in the evening for the Mall’s grand opening. One of the workers there actually stepped out into the middle of the road and stopped traffic, so I could pull out of our parking spot. Only in the Caribbean…
We stopped at Grand Marche for some water and other snacks. It was close to 5 at this point, so we just hung out for awhile, reading and resting. Dinner was at Peg Leg Pub, and Shawn greeted us. There was entertainment this night, which was fun. There was a large group there apparently off a ship and they were having a great time. I had shrimp kabob, which was so good and George had Mahi Mahi, which was the special fish and it too was really good. They brought us a bill and apparently gave us the wrong one, as it was for $79 and when they brought back another one with our change, it was for $87. Shawn said I must have looked at the Euro’s, but I looked at both and they were completely different. We still left our usual 20% tip, as the service was very good.
The next morning we got our fix of pastries from Zee Best. George had a cherry Danish, which he swore was the best he ever had, so proceeded to get that every day. We had brought our favorite coffee, which I made each morning. I was on the 3rd cup, which we were enjoying out on the lanai, when I closed the sliding doors behind me and heard an ominous “click”. Yep, locked us out. Boy, did I feel dumb. Now, you have to understand that PDP is pretty much deserted and I’m thinking am I going to have to shimmy down the drainpipe (we were on the 3rd floor) and figured I’d probably not look too good splattered on the pavement below. I heard voices and realized that our neighbors were out on their lanai too. This is a family from Germany who visit every other year for a 2 week stay. I was glad this was their “on” year. I called over to them and told them we were locked out and they called down to have maintenance come out and “free” us. They were laughing as they had done the same thing the week prior.
Once we were released, we got changed and headed over to Friar’s. Kalli’s was $16 for 2 chairs and an umbrella. We snagged one of their palapas (for additional shade). The beach was great and the water wonderful (as usual).
Dinner this night was at The Stone. I called and made a reservation for 7:30pm and they confirmed it – that’s George at 7:30 for 2 – yes, that’s correct. Well, when we got there they didn’t have a reservation for us, so we had to eat inside. It was probably better anyway, as it was kind of hot that day and night, with no air moving at all. We split a salad. I had a rib eye and George had the filet. We got the 5 additional sauces and I realized that we actually had 2 of them with our meal (the veal and the mushroom sauces). Oddly, enough those were the 2 I liked the best (with exception of peppercorn sauce). The other one was a satay (which George couldn’t eat due to allergies) and a curry, which was ok. I think the bill was around $106 with tip.
Next day, Mother’s Day – more of the same – pastries & Kalli’s
We stopped by Cappucino’s for some lunch. Nothing on the menu appealed to us, as we wanted something light, because we had planned our dinner for Antoine’s. As we were leaving; I asked the waitress if it was possible to just get a couple of omelets (they stopped serving breakfast at 11 a.m.) I guess I was thinking “diner” and breakfast 24/7. She asked the chef and they said they could give us a couple of omelets. They were good and hit the spot.
Dinner at Antoines – valet parking – dinner was fabulous!
I had a lobster cocktail – delicious, and George had a ceasar salad (which was very good) George had grouper with a lemon/butter sauce (he asked them to put capers on it) and I had the veal muniere. We ordered the grand marnier soufflé in the beginning of the meal. All I can say is everything was great – even the wine was the best I had! Bill was about $144 with the tip.
Monday – more of the same… again to Kalli’s. “Our” palapa was being used, so we opted for the 2 chairs with umbrella. I like the palapa because it provides additional shade. Kalli’s used to have a bunch of them up and down the beach, but there are only 2 there now.
We had a lunch at Peg Leg Pub, I had half a roast beef sandwich and ceasar salad and George had a burger. They were ok – nothing great…
Dinner this night was going to be at Piazza Pascal, but unfortunately, when I tried to find it; I couldn’t locate it. I went around the block several times and just gave up.
We skipped lunch today, as we stayed longer on the beach. We generally go to the beach around 10:30 and stay til around 3:30, but this day we stayed til 4:30.
Dinner was at 3 Palms. We split a ceasar salad. I had lobster and George had the filet. My lobster was a little bit fishy tasting. George’s filet was very good. The tuna and olive tapenade spreads they provide are excellent. When they brought out the ceasar salad; they had put shrimp on it. We let them know that George “might” have shrimp allergies, so they brought us another one. The waitress assured us that she had them make up a completely new salad, which I really appreciated. The service was excellent. In fact, I rate the service this night the best we had all week. The salad was absolutely the best we had anywhere this week. Can’t recall what the cost was here.
Tuesday – more of the same…
When we went to Friar’s and asked for the palapa, the beach attendant said that’ll be $20. I told him we’d been paying $16 all week and he said ok. That bothered me a bit… I always gave them $20 anyway, with the tip.
Lunch was at BBB. We both had burgers – very good. With a couple glasses of wine, the bill was $28, not including tip.
We wanted to try Izi, but I had talked to my sister in law before we left and they had stayed at Pelican marina last year and she said you have to try Caio – they have the best pizza and eggplant. Well, unfortunately, we didn’t order either one of those.
I had a veal dish and George had Mahi Mahi. Both were Bleh!! The ceasar salad was just ok. The food was not the worst part of our meal. We had 2 guys, who arrived after us, and sat right next to us and the younger of the 2 took out his laptop and proceeded to go over all his business of the day. There were 2 ladies sitting at another table across from them and the younger guy started talking (or yelling to them) about his business and how he is making so much money, and it’s a great opportunity and his girlfriend was working at WalMart, but now she works for him and she makes this money and she’s buying X car. He then proceeds to tell them that he’s netting $8500 a month and even bought a timeshare that day. It reminded me of an Amway presentation. I couldn’t wait to leave.
Wednesday, more of the same…
We hung around the room for awhile and it was getting later, so we decided to go to the pool. We ordered lunch from Zee Best and that’s where the trip took a turn for the worse.
George had an allergic reaction to something he ate – we still don’t know what – but long story short – we took a wild ride in an ambulance to the hospital. I detailed this in another thread, so I won’t bore you all with the details.
All in all, it was a great trip up to Wednesday afternoon…
Hopefully, we’ll be back next year. I still want to try Izi and Piazza Pascal.