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2019 April 5-12 Couples San Souci Jamaica

We left STL on AA to Dallas at 8:30 am, thirty minutes late. We then flew to Montego Bay. Immigration was different this year. There were many kiosks and the line to get one was quite long… But within 45 minutes…we picked up our luggage and checked in at the couples’ desk. Steve got our margarita for the two-hour drive. We were on the road quickly. The drive to CSS is always long and boring, especially after a long day of travel. We stopped for a 10-minute break…which we never understand. We got to the resort about 6 pm and were assigned room A09. The check in went smoothly. A9 is an adequate room on the first floor with an obstructed view of the water. We requested third floor, so I was a bit disappointed. We unpacked and went to the starlight gala to grab a plate of food to eat on our patio.

On Saturday morning…we went to the beach and got our chairs. The beach was in great shape and there seemed to be additional chairs than in the past. There were plenty of empty chairs around the pool all week. We ordered room service for breakfast, but it never arrived, so we went to Palazzina. We got a call about 8:30 apologizing for the delay of breakfast. We had lunch on the beach. They have added some tables and chairs which was nice…however, they now do the grilling away from the “kitchen” area. It makes it quite awkward getting food. As we were walking past room A12, we smelled fire. Sure enough, there was an electrical fire in the room. They worked on it for several days. We went to the martini bar. We had dinner at Palazzina and bought a bottle of wine. We waited at least 20 minutes for it to arrive. At one point, the waiter told us they had lost the key to the wine closet. REALLY?

On Sunday…we got our chairs at the beach and went to breakfast at Palazzina. We had lunch at the beach. We went to the martini bar. We had dinner at Bella vista.

On Monday…our 47th anniversary…we had breakfast at Palazzina and lunch on the beach. We attended the managers wine and cheese party by the main pool. We had martinis at the martini bar and dinner at Casanova. I had the duck and steve had lamb chops and snapper. We bought a bottle of wine. The waitress dropped the wine bottle and spilled the wine. Dinner was once again a great disappointment.

On Tuesday, we had breakfast at Palazzina, lunch at the beach and dinner at Jamaican night. We got our new date put on the rock and had it touched up. It was raining so we put it on our patio to dry over night before putting it back on the beach.

On Wednesday, we had breakfast at Palazzina, lunch at Bella vista and dinner at the repeater party. We had beef and lobster. We asked for wine for over an hour before we finally got some. We had already eaten several courses. This is unacceptable.

On Thursday, we had breakfast at Palazzina, lunch at the beach and ordered club sandwiches from room service for dinner. It rained off and on all day…which was sad since it was our last full day.

On Friday, we had breakfast at Palazzina. We had to put the bags out at 9:30, check out at 10 and board the bus at 10:30. The day went off without a hitch. We got home at 1:00 am.

This was our fifth time to CSS. It is such a beautiful resort and we do enjoy it. However, this year, there were several things that were disappointing. The views and grounds at this resort are simply amazing…and there were certainly workers maintaining the vegetation and beach and pools… But things are looking tired. There is peeling paint, and gutters in disrepair, busted concrete, and foul odors. The buildings are covered in moss and look dirty. What could be beautifully pristine looks like it requires way too much manpower and money to keep it up.

There were many workers we did not recognize. We were told many had left for greener pastures. It was obvious the staff seemed short handed and those working, either did not know their jobs well or simply did not care.

The quality of the food left a lot to be desired. The food is not terrible…but it isn’t good. Most “all inclusive” food leaves a lot to be desired…but this year it seemed to be lacking more so than in years past.

It was a good vacation…not a great one.

Cathy--definitely didn't sound great, at all. Hope you at least enjoyed yourselves.

We always have a good time. It is such a beautiful resort...i think it is going through some "growing pains"...or maybe my expectations have changed? We probably won't go back in the near future...we have too many other things we want to do. 23 trips to Jamaica may be enough...but who knows...I have learned to never say never.

It is nice to be able to travel a lot, but sometimes one needs to move on to something different.

Carol...i think as much as we love Jamaica..it is time to move on. That does not mean we don't still love it there...we will always love it. But time and money are limited...and we have so many other places we want to see. I could say the same about SXM. We love it there...but after the hurricane we were forced to look at other options. Nothing will ever replace club orient in our hearts...or Grand Lido Braco...and we have those memories forever. But we are making new memories and checking off new places on our bucket list.