Queequeg
Contributor
Am I posting this in the right place? Sorry..if I'm not.
My observations, opinions based on my experience;
Air Jamaica: Flew out..oh..wait a minute..scratch that...Was suppose to fly out Saturday May 20 from Baltimore MD. Informed on arrival that there was a crew scheduling problem and flight would be delayed 1 hour. No worry...connecting flight would wait for us in Montego Bay. One hour later...informed that our flight was canceled due to mechanical problems.
They rushed us over to Delta Airlines to reroute us via Atlanta....then American Airlines to Miami... Curacao, then Bonaire. They assured us our luggage was being transferred as we speak and would follow us. Some passengers could not get onto the American flight, so they got there luggage and were put into a taxi and rushed to Ronald Reagan National in DC and put onto an AMerican airlines flight to Miami, they literally stepped onto the plane as it was preparing to leave.
We made Atlanta...changed flights..arrived in Miami. The FUN Begins!
Told by American that all flights were canceled to Bonaire, Aruba, Caracao due to Montserrat volcano spewing ash. We asked about flights being recheduled....This is exactly what we were told by American " You are Air Jamaica's responsibility, there is nothing we can do for you..I suggest you go to thier desk"
Okay..good enough...we arrive at Air Jamaica's desk, with 18 others. A group from Chicago also had their flight canceled cause of crew problems....then mechanical and were rerouted similarly via American all of us meeting up in Miami. Hmmm...derive your own conclusions about that.
Oh yeah...the luggage...........what luggage? No one, not Delta, American or even Air Jamaica knew where our luggage was; not ours, nor the people from Chicago. 18 pasengers from different flights originating with Air Jamaica..all in Miami...without luggage.
Air Jamaica blamed the weather (the Volcano) and was doing nothing for us. The next flights were scheduled out on Tuesday.
4 hours later...the crowd wore them down...what we got was ...Rerouted to San Juan the next morning for a connecting flight to Bonaire( only 8 of us got this.) ;a very nice overnight stay at the Marriot....very nice! And $10 for dinner and $5.50 for breakfast. Uhm....Dinner..a very modest dinner..cost us $47.00. A bagel and coffee cost about $7.00. Ah... the next morning....its behind us.... we were in good spirits anyway. Oh yeah.....I did mention no luggage right? keep this in mind!
We arrive in San Juan. Flight to Bonaire is canceled! AHHHHHH!:jpshakehe
Next flight out is Wednesday! Okay..for those that left the gate..thats what they believed. Another flight was scheduled about 2 hours later that left Monday 7:00 Am.
Got hotel in San Juan at our expense this time.
Wrapping it up...we arived in Boniare about 11:00 Monday....HOORAY!!!!:lol:
No Luggage! It showed up Tuesday about 6:00PM
No problems on return trip...went as scheduled.
Buddy Dive: Rooms were okay. Scale of 1-10....6. Nice view, rust in the bath tub. Hole in the ceiling, very noisy A/C in the bedroom. Ahhh..but no big deal really.
Maid service was adequate..a bit late..like 4:00Pm sometimes..but it was sufficient.
Staff was very friendly and accomodating. Loaned us rental gear till our dive gear showed up. Very Nice of them!
Bella Vista Bar....Food was good. BAr tenders a bit sloooooowwwwww!!!!!! They will wash glasses, total checks, fold napkins, swat at flys, anything but come over and get your drink order! If you use the pool bar..which is great...just dont count on getting a drink for a very long time. And even longer to check out! Discouraged us from using the pool bar.
Lions Den restaurant: Possibly the worst...rudest waiter I've ever met in my life! Ate their once...didnt go back for fear of getting him again and not having the patience to be polite! I left holding my tongue but rewarded him with a 30 cent tip as he stood looking over my shoulder.
Dining: We ate at Capriccios, Awesome, the freshest Italian I've ever had! Lovers Ice Cream
We never had a problem; nor did we hear of anyone else having any problems.
Summary/Conclusion: In spite of our problems with Air Jamaica..I'd give them another shot. It was a culmination of some problems with the volcano being the worst of it....which affected every airline. Had it not been for that..I believe we would have arrived in Bonaire on Saturday via American. Yeah...there was the inconvenience of our missing luggage and changing flights/'airlines due to the mechanical failure in Baltimore....BUT..I'm willing to accept this as not being the norm. The volcano? Ah..makes for an interesting tale....but not AJ's fault.
If I stayed at Buddy's again..I'd choose the Lions Den/Bella Vista side. Rooms or at least the outside, looked more updated, possibly newer? I dunno? However.....When we go back..and we will...we will stay at the BELMAR! It looked VERY nice.
The diving was good...not the best I've done...but worth going back for. The island was freindly, easy to get around, layed back, easy to settle in to, cant get lost! If you do.... just relax and enjoy the ride..you'll eventually end up back to where you recognize things and in the mean time you'll see the rest of this charming island. In fact, I highly recommend drving around the island, but let it be said...Bonaire looks pretty harsh on the other side to say the least.
The BUZZ: There was a rumor...well..it wasnt a rumor...that there was a hammerhead lurking at one of the sites. I only found out about him on our flight back to Montego Bay. He was repeatedly seen over a few days. I saw a picture of it taken by a diver,who specifaclly went there with the chance that she;d be able to photograph him..and She DID! What Luck! She took some GREAT pictures. So if you are going like....this week...ask around. I'd tell you which site it was but I dont know for sure...so I dont want to mislead you. All I remember is it was near some marina? Or harbor? at a site that really isnt normally a site worth diving. I'm thinking it was near the Plaza or the Harbour village she said. So ask around when you get there. I'm sure he is the talk amongst the local divemasters....I would think.
Thats it...Its long..I apologize. In all....I'm tired...salty...ears still adjusting...sunburned...great trip....glad to be back home and see my pets!
My observations, opinions based on my experience;
Air Jamaica: Flew out..oh..wait a minute..scratch that...Was suppose to fly out Saturday May 20 from Baltimore MD. Informed on arrival that there was a crew scheduling problem and flight would be delayed 1 hour. No worry...connecting flight would wait for us in Montego Bay. One hour later...informed that our flight was canceled due to mechanical problems.
They rushed us over to Delta Airlines to reroute us via Atlanta....then American Airlines to Miami... Curacao, then Bonaire. They assured us our luggage was being transferred as we speak and would follow us. Some passengers could not get onto the American flight, so they got there luggage and were put into a taxi and rushed to Ronald Reagan National in DC and put onto an AMerican airlines flight to Miami, they literally stepped onto the plane as it was preparing to leave.
We made Atlanta...changed flights..arrived in Miami. The FUN Begins!
Told by American that all flights were canceled to Bonaire, Aruba, Caracao due to Montserrat volcano spewing ash. We asked about flights being recheduled....This is exactly what we were told by American " You are Air Jamaica's responsibility, there is nothing we can do for you..I suggest you go to thier desk"
Okay..good enough...we arrive at Air Jamaica's desk, with 18 others. A group from Chicago also had their flight canceled cause of crew problems....then mechanical and were rerouted similarly via American all of us meeting up in Miami. Hmmm...derive your own conclusions about that.
Oh yeah...the luggage...........what luggage? No one, not Delta, American or even Air Jamaica knew where our luggage was; not ours, nor the people from Chicago. 18 pasengers from different flights originating with Air Jamaica..all in Miami...without luggage.
Air Jamaica blamed the weather (the Volcano) and was doing nothing for us. The next flights were scheduled out on Tuesday.
4 hours later...the crowd wore them down...what we got was ...Rerouted to San Juan the next morning for a connecting flight to Bonaire( only 8 of us got this.) ;a very nice overnight stay at the Marriot....very nice! And $10 for dinner and $5.50 for breakfast. Uhm....Dinner..a very modest dinner..cost us $47.00. A bagel and coffee cost about $7.00. Ah... the next morning....its behind us.... we were in good spirits anyway. Oh yeah.....I did mention no luggage right? keep this in mind!
We arrive in San Juan. Flight to Bonaire is canceled! AHHHHHH!:jpshakehe
Next flight out is Wednesday! Okay..for those that left the gate..thats what they believed. Another flight was scheduled about 2 hours later that left Monday 7:00 Am.
Got hotel in San Juan at our expense this time.
Wrapping it up...we arived in Boniare about 11:00 Monday....HOORAY!!!!:lol:
No Luggage! It showed up Tuesday about 6:00PM
No problems on return trip...went as scheduled.
Buddy Dive: Rooms were okay. Scale of 1-10....6. Nice view, rust in the bath tub. Hole in the ceiling, very noisy A/C in the bedroom. Ahhh..but no big deal really.
Maid service was adequate..a bit late..like 4:00Pm sometimes..but it was sufficient.
Staff was very friendly and accomodating. Loaned us rental gear till our dive gear showed up. Very Nice of them!
Bella Vista Bar....Food was good. BAr tenders a bit sloooooowwwwww!!!!!! They will wash glasses, total checks, fold napkins, swat at flys, anything but come over and get your drink order! If you use the pool bar..which is great...just dont count on getting a drink for a very long time. And even longer to check out! Discouraged us from using the pool bar.
Lions Den restaurant: Possibly the worst...rudest waiter I've ever met in my life! Ate their once...didnt go back for fear of getting him again and not having the patience to be polite! I left holding my tongue but rewarded him with a 30 cent tip as he stood looking over my shoulder.
Dining: We ate at Capriccios, Awesome, the freshest Italian I've ever had! Lovers Ice Cream
