TravelTalkOnline Forums Thread Like Summary - 2025 trip so far

Day 1 - Saturday – Left Miami on AA2440. Flight landed early. About 1 hour from the plane door to the airport exit. Immigration took about 20 minutes. The rest of the time was waiting for our checked bags. Lesley and his wife Shirley were waiting with our car & we were off to Royal Palm. 4 p.m. is supposed to be check in time but our room was not ready. Finally got into the room about 5:30 p.m. Dinner @ La Patrona – marvelous. Back to the room and early to bed as we were tired from a long travel day.

Day 2 - Sunday – Still worn out from travel. Obviously not as resilient as we were 10-15 trips ago. We are in our 70"s. Cancelled plans for the day. Had wanted to go to the Jazz afternoon @ Puerto Cupecoy. Decided on a pool day, groceries @ Market Garden, and then dinner out. Skipjacks across the road did not disappoint. Early to bed.

Day 3 - Monday – More energy today. Spent a few hours @ D’s Beach Bar. $10 for an umbrella and chairs were free. We were the only ones on the beach from 10 am to 1 pm. A few guests in the restaurant. Beautiful. Stayed for lunch and the management waived the umbrella fee. Service was quite attentive but a bit slow. Giant hamburger for me & fish for Cindy. Spent the rest of a rainy afternoon @ RP pool. Roma for dinner. Pappardelle Bolognese for me and Gorgonzola Gnocci for Cindy. A little unsuccessful gambling @ Casino Royale.

Day 4 – Tuesday – Shopping in Phillipsburg. Visited Kay’s to buy a small gift for our cat sitter. She will not take cash so we’ll try some bling instead. Wound up getting a gold bracelet for my wife Cindy as an early anniversary present. Tried to shop @ Gulmohar’s but they were closed. We were told they had a death in the family & closed up for a few days. Lunch @ RP pool bar. Dinner @ Sal e Pepe. Marvelous as always. Short trip to Hollywood casino. Profitable evening!! Up $400.

Day 5 – Wednesday – Laundry. Poor facilities here @ RP. 4 washers & 4 dryers. Free. 2 dryers not working. Took 3.5 hours to do 2 loads as I had to wait for a dryer. I’d rather pay & have working equipment. Lunch in the room. Tried Catch 21 @ Port de Plaisance. Good choice. New place for us. Created by Roma, Jax, etc. I had a pizza and Cindy had lobster mac & cheese. Both were excellent. Casino was empty and not user friendly. Will probably never go back except to eat.

Day 6 – Thursday – RP pool closed for at least the next 4 days. Bummer. Leftovers lunch in the room. Shuttle to Flamingo to use their pool. 2 for 1 drinks until 3 p.m. Dinner @ Bovin. Wife had steak & scallops & I had just a steak. Excellent. Sad that we have walked by this place for years & did not take advantage. Only complaint was that the mashed potatoes could have been hotter. Back to Hollywood. I lost a bit but Cindy won $100 playing Blackjack. She started with $10. We are still on the plus side. LOL

Catch 21 Menu

Menu - link

Day 7 – Friday – Bad tummy today. Not sure of reason. Lunch @ D’s again. Decided to try Pineapple Pete for Dinner. Great music. Have not been there for years. Stuffed shrimp for me w/rice & peas. Side salad. Fish & chips for Cindy. Food was good and served quicker than I remember. Back to Hollywood. Cindy did it again. Turned $60 into $180. I did OK and made $250. Lots of fun. Back to the room.

Day 8 – Saturday - Homeward Bound. Packed & out the door @ 10. Express check out & key drop. Gassed up the car & met Lesley at the airport. No issues other than the airport does have a food problem. Too few places to eat and SLOW. People were waiting an hour for Wendy’s. Plane left early & landed in MIA early. Took longer to get to immigration than it did to get passport checked. One hour wait for Embassy Suites shuttle. Arrived home at 11 p.m. Another great trip.