Jamaica Trip Recap-do’s, don’ts and tips.

So I’ve had a while to think  of the blunders and lack of common sense things I may have encountered or done when I was traveling to Jamaica. This being said I decided I would share some of the do’s, the don’ts, the tips and maybe ways for you to save some cash or get a good deal while taking a trip to Jamaica.Pre Trip- Booking and deals

When you book with Spirit Airlines, okay don’t book with Spirit Airlines. Alright (bitching aside) Spirit does have cheaper rates than some of the other airlines that go to jamaica, but if you’ve read my posts about my trip then you know there is an aggravation factor (more than usual with airline travel) with Spirit. They changed our flight without any real notification. And if they did notify us we had soooooo many emails from them that had no relevance, you stop reading them after a while. Then they gave us no time upon return to realistically make it from our jamaica flight to our flight to Tampa. It also seemed no one cared about our plight of missing our flight. However Shauna does admit that even  though she has  heard complaints before this is the first time she was victim of said issues. Bad customer service aside, we took off, we landed and didn’t end up in the Hudson ( props to the air crew on that plane; everyone lived) so no worries I guess, service with a smile is gone these days.

Make it a point to check your flight status periodically. We tend to get so many emails from service oriented sites that we can miss or ignore what’s important. Also if you are basically dealing with a Travel service i.e hotel, airline, car rental PRINT OUT your emails. You never know when they’ll come at you with a you were suppose to this or you didn’t pay for this service. Better safe than sorry especially when dealing with foreign travel.

The Airport and Travel

Now this next part is really self serving but it’s also common sense. When traveling through the airport its a great idea to really travel light. I tend to travel with one carry on and very comfortable and loose clothing. Now I know a lot of people travel on business where they are going straight into a meeting or something so this doesn’t really apply to them. However for all other people lets try and make the transition through security and the pre flight seating easier especially for me. Thank you, moving on.

When you leave the country and are landing in Jamaica you’ll be asked to fill out some pre-landing paperwork. If you’re like me and don’t take the time to read the info before you write, you’ll be asking for several new slips. be sure to ask even if the question seems dumb and when filling out the date look at the format its not 12/29/2008 the format they want is different. UGH.

When coming back be sure to a) make time for your travel back to the airport and 2)pack what ever booze you bought in town in your checked luggage. Better to do it now instead of at the airport. And if you buy some in the airport after security be prepared to stow it in your checked luggage after you get through customs (well only if you have another leg to your trip), 

Vacationing in Jamaica

Since this is about Jamaica travel mainly, if you need someone to help transport you from the airport in Jamaica, I suggest using Chicken and his magic bus. He’s a really stand up kinda guy and he’ll treat you right. Now some people down there will tell ya different but one of the worse exchange rates you’ll get is right in the airport when you land. If you must, just exchange as little as possible and then make your way to the bank where you can and exchange there with higher rates. Now if you didn’t know December to about April is the busy season for Jamaica so you’ll find that is much busier around this time. You also might find cheaper rates to Jamaica for the May to Nov time frame.

No question about it you have to at least visit the cliffs of Negril while you are there if you’re not staying there. And if you are staying there try and get out to see YS Falls.

So if you are in Negril, Xtabi is a wonderful place to stay, but there are a number of beautiful establishments right on the cliffside that you can stay at. If you are at Xtabi or if you just pass by, stop in and get a Dirty Banana from Donavon. Tell him Shauna and Raul said hi. Also you have to check out Rick’s Cafe and at least eat at or see the Rock House.

Well let me wrap this up by saying I had a great time on my trip to Jamaica and if you ever have any questions about staying there feel free to ask.