24 in our party to St John

This is a follow-up to an earlier post. My sister and I put together a trip for 24 people. We rented 2 houses through "CateredTo". Very happy with the houses and their prompt answers to our questions. We rented 5 cars ( 2 rental companies). Mr Piper's was preferred. Met us at ferry. I brought 3 meals. Froze them about 2 weeks ahead. Put in old soft sided cooler then in suitcase with rollers. Checked as extra luggage. Left suitcases in rental house. My sister also brought 3 meals frozen. Highly recommend.

If possible please do a trip report. (Please)

I cannot imagine getting that large of group from point a to point b.

Very curious - what two villas you used? Catered To has always treated us well, and I will definitely agree with you on Piper.

Hope there is more to come!

Wow 24!! and I thought our 16 in 2 villas was big! I would be interested in knowing which villas you chose as well. Any photo's? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

We did a Gang of 24 in 2006. Actually, 23 went down and 24 came back. STJ baby!

Beerman has seen this before, my rules for traveling with a group:

1. Don't invite anyone who is a whiner. Don't invite anyone that you would not spend a week with 1-on-1.

2. I pick the villa and the week and people get to decide if they want to come. It's okay if no one wants to come with me.

3. You get to pick your room in the order that you pay. I've already paid the deposit, so I go first. This deals with the equal rooms problem and #1 deals with whiners.

4. One vehicle per 2 couples with at least one person from each couple on the contract for each car. Expect there to be an early group and a late group each morning. This is not a problem. I get my own vehicle. I'm in the early group and my lover is in the late group.

5. Pick a beach each day that you want to visit; 11AM is a good rendezvous time. The late group can usually make it and the early group will have done a hike and another beach already. It's okay if no one meets me at the beach.

6. Do some happy hours at the villa. It's cheap and 6-8 people is a party. Bring Twister.

7. Dinner out for 6-8 is a pain in the a$$. Do some dinners at the villa and do some date nights. Meet for drinks before and after dinner. There's always room at the Beach Bar, Quiet Mon and Joe's Rum Hut. Banana Deck has done some large groups very nicely - they like it when you call ahead.

8. Expect to spend a day without leaving the villa. Make sure that there is not a mid-week maid visit scheduled that day. Start the blender at 10AM, but put sunscreen on all exposed skin first.

9. Put $100 per person in a food/drink kitty for villa provisions. If someone is concerned that they won't spend that much and want differential treatment, that breaks rule #1 - they don't get to come. $800 will cover food and booze at the villa for 8 adults for a week. Dinner for 8 at Zozo's is $680 (2005, haven't been back).

Lessons learned:
- If someone whines at home, they will whine more on STJ.
- If someone pitches in at home they will pitch in more on STJ.
- 10 people feels much bigger than 8 people - 60% bigger: c=(n^2-n)/2 (geek out!)
- The herd moves at the speed of the slowest beast.
- Don't be afraid to say "I'm heading out. I'll be back for sunset."
- Newbies will assume the villa is on the beach, even if you tell them otherwise and show them pictures. If they can't get over this, they stay at the Westin.
- #1 takes care of almost every possible problem.

Cheers, RickG

Great post! ...and those rules are some of the reasons why we almost never go on vacation with anyone else!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" />

Rick your rules are right on! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

Great rules RickG.



We had an issue with this one. He was fine at Sandcastle on JVD, but bitched about being up on the hill on STJ. We use to travel with his family each year. Haven't done so now in four years and our wives are still best friends.

This is my first experience with traveltalk. How do I fill out a trip report? We stayed in Villa Panache and Le Virage. We knew ahead but only the bedrooms at Le Virage are air-conditioned. We weren't there during the day. The 2 villas are close but walking was straight up. Glad not to have to drive on main road at night to travel between houses. We were all related to either myself or my sister. Our spouses, children, their spouses and our grandchildren.

Sheila,

There is no real format for a trip report. Just tell your story. The funny things, lessons learned, what went right and what went wrong. Shout outs to those people or business that went out of there way and raspberry for those that did not. If you look around on the board you will find all sorts of trip reports to use as an example. Most importantly just tell your story. Thanks

Sheila, I write trip reports in a word document first then open a new post and cut/paste it here. If you try to type it directly into TTOL you probably will time out and possibly lose all that you wrote. Look forward to reading yours! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Cheers.gif" alt="" />

Great post, Rick - spot on! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

Love the rules!

I won't go so far as to say any of the newbies that travelled with us outright complained but a number have said STJ required too much driving and they wouldn't return because "in Myrtle/Virginia Beach/Hilton Head, we can stay in a condo ON the beach" The idea that any of those destinations would be a suitable alternative to STJ boggles my mind but to each their own.

We spoiled my mother with back to back trips above Gibney and one to Peter Bay. When staying at Chocolate Hole, she sighed and said she preferred staying within walking distance. They decamped for Mexico after that.

We have complainers in our "home" group of friends and so far, we have avoided a STJ trip with them. I tell them straight out that they would hate it but they don't believe me.

We took our son and his fiance this past April for the first time. The fell in LOVE and really enjoyed all aspects of ST. John. As a matter of fact, we are going back in May 2016. The only thing my son did not like was Cruz Bay! We stayed on Bordeaux Mountain and hung out a lot in Coral Bay. Made a trip to Cruz Bay one evening and everybody was ready to get the heck out of there! One of their favorite things was Angel Rest out at Hanson Bay. I am so glad they GOT IT, some don't.

Several years ago we introduced a couple of friends to STJ and we told them all the things that are involved like you have to drive to the beach, no super nice grocery stores, it's not ocean front etc. They DID NOT get STJ. Oh the whining we heard. We are no longer friends with them. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />Can't stand a bunch of complainers.

We have another set of friends we travel with that love STJ as much as my husband and I do. We visit STJ yearly with them and have a really good time.

Either you get STJ or you don't.