If you have taken even one cruise, it is likely (at least the statistics say so) that you will take another one. Oddly, when we asked out 22-year-old son a few months ago about his vacation preferences, even he said that his very favorite vacations were cruises. So, evidently cruises are not just for the boomer-and-beyond crowd! So, as you contemplate booking that next cruise – whether you’ve been on one or ten – with respect, please permit us to give you a wee piece of advice.
If you are thinking of upgrading to a larger, nicer, better-located-and-with-more-amenities stateroom, consider the answer to this question before you do: Are you prepared to book this level of stateroom (or above) and pay the price for every cruise you will take in the future? If the answer is no, then step away from the upgrade. The fact is this: once you upgrade, you will never go back!
We know this because on our 20th wedding anniversary five years ago we decided to book a Royal Suite on a Celebrity ship to travel the Mediterranean for the first time. Since then, we have been on half a dozen cruises and we have never been able to convince ourselves that we’d enjoy anything less. Ouch, that can be expensive – but oh how you will enjoy your cruise! From the perspective of the discerning traveler who is judicious about that luxury spending, it his worth every penny. In our opinion, as we’ve mentioned before, bigger is not better when it comes to cruise ships – unless you’re referring to your suite!
Before we cruised only in suites, we didn’t know what we were missing. That was just fine. But we find now that the lines are using photos of their suites in much of their advertising. If you’re a bit curious about what a suite is really like, come inside our suite on a recent cruise aboard the Celebrity Century. In later posts we’ll take you aboard Regent and Silversea. Promise! Click on the photo to take you to the tour…
Pura vida! That’s Costa Rica’s tag line and it truly does give you a taste of a pure life. With its myriad outdoor sights and adventures, we thought that we’d have to spend another post on the delights that it holds.
At this very moment, we’re in Hawaii which is giving us many wonderful memories to share with you on our return. In the meantime, we have a new YouTube channel [but don’t tell anyone! We’ll launch on our return!]. On that channel we’ve begun to create videos for a more on-the-scene kind of information for those who are sharing these experiences with us.
So, until we return home full of stories about the Hawaiian Islands for you, welcome to La Mansion Inn in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica!
It was 2005 and we were on our way to Antigua for a week of relaxation at the St. James’s Club. Who knew that even in the early 21st century the airport on this beautiful Caribbean island didn’t have a landing guidance system that would safely land an aircraft in the fog? In fact, who knew that Caribbean islands had fog?
After the third attempt and pull-up, it was clear to us that there was a problem. The first stop after that was the island of Guadeloupe for fuel. Sitting at the front of the aircraft, we got as far as the top of the steps to look out the open door and breathe in the warm, tropical air – and then we were off to Antigua again. But to no avail. The weather was just too bad so we would have to spend the night in Barbados. We could hear the groans all around us. Well, we thought, an adventure.
It was a credit to Air Canada that they were able to find overnight accommodation for everyone on a Saturday night in February within an hour or two. We were among the lucky – or at least we chose to think that!
We were taken to The Crane, a residential (read: condo) resort on the rugged east coast of the island. Since it was so late, the restaurant was closed – but the manager on duty roused the cook who got out of his bed and came to make hamburgers for the dozen or so of us who hadn’t eaten in so long we couldn’t quite remember at that point. In the dark it was difficult to tell what the resort was like – but the next morning, it was clear that this was a place we would want to return to at some later date. We made a promise to ourselves and kept it.
Overlooking the rugged Atlantic
Last winter’s cold temperatures here on the east coast of Canada sent us fleeing once again to a Caribbean cruise, and this time it was one that would leave from Bridgetown, Barbados. So, before we boarded the Silver Cloud, we spent three days exploring The Crane.
Built on a rugged bluff above an extraordinary white sand beach, The Crane is billed as the oldest resort in the Caribbean. Don’t be fooled, though. The old mansion that was expanded into a hotel that opened in 1887 is still part of its charm and houses the spa and a few rooms. But the rest of the place is a series of charming new buildings housing extraordinary suites/apartments – just the kind of place discerning travelers would love.
We booked ourselves into a one-bedroom suite because we had remembered the junior suite we had been housed in that fateful night years before. And the rooms were just as lovely as we remembered with their four-poster mahogany beds, breathtakingly spacious bathrooms, breezy white cotton-covered sofas, dining room, kitchen, laundry and the list goes on.
Grand Jetee
The property itself has several wonderful pools. The oldest pool overlooks the beach and is just the kind of place where, if you squint just a little, you can picture early 20th century guests sitting about with parasols, fanning themselves daintily. Throughout the property there are several wonderful pieces of sculpture. One is a life-size bronze statue called Grande Jetee and if you know anything about ballet, you’ll recognize the form. As parents of a son who is a ballet dancer, we were quite taken with it the first time we saw it and even more so the second time around.
There is a series of little shops and restaurants around a kind of town square within the complex and it houses, among other boutiques, a convenience shop. We noted that many of the guests seemed to be buying stapes no doubt to use for their own meals in their residences. As a result, the restaurants were practically empty most of the time.
One of the restaurants on the property, Zen, offers a Japanese-Thai menu and was the #1 Zagat-rated restaurant in Barbados in 2009 and 2010. Its setting overlooking the Crane Beach, often counted among the world’s most beautiful, is something not to be missed. But don’t forget the pizzeria onsite as well!
A series of connected pools
The pool area was practically deserted – many of the ground floor suites have their own plunge pools and it seemed that many guests simply stayed on their own lovely lanais. We had a sense of privacy and luxury everywhere we looked.
We truly enjoyed our three days at The Crane, but did think that a longer visit would be a bit too laid back for us. The resort isn’t within walking distance of anything and we do get a bit bored sitting around a pool all day! That said we could use a few pool days right about now and certainly would go back to the Crane if we ever take another cruise out of Barbados. We kept our promise to return – and The Crane kept its promise – the promise it offered on one brief encounter.
Crane Beach from the resort above (there is an elevator and a staircase leading down — an up!)
Some photos of our suite…
Part of the wonderful bathroom in the suiteThe bedroom of our suite at The Crane, Barbados
The serenity of the yoga pavilion at La Source, Grenada
In the mid-1990’s Herman Wouk wrote a novel (which subsequently became a Jimmy Buffet musical) called Don’t Stop the Carnival about a displaced advertising exec who finds himself on a Caribbean Island managing a beachfront hotel. If you ever thought that you’d just like to escape the northern climes to move permanently to the tropics, and perhaps manage a little hotel, you need to read this novel first as a bit of a cautionary tale – or so said one of the managers of the spa-hotel La Source who recommended the book to us when we spent an eventful week on the idyllic island of Grenada.
A few years ago, we decided that we wanted to experience a spa vacation of sorts. We had never been to the Caribbean island of Grenada, and it looked like a place we might really enjoy. So, on closer inspection, we noticed that the hotel La Source billed itself as a place where those spa-like activities were all part of the package. The place looked like exactly the sort of place a discerning traveler might spend a relaxing week being pampered in gloriously tropical surroundings. So, with the full knowledge that the property was just re-opening a month before our arrival after having been closed for a couple of years (it was hard-hit by hurricane Ivan), we set out for a week of relaxation and spa treatments.
When we arrived, everything looked wonderful – the newly planted vegetation in the central courtyard was just starting to take root, and our beachfront room with its mahogany four-poster bed and high-pitched ceiling was lovely.
Our accommodation at La Source from the beach
We did note, however, that the building directly behind ours was not quite renovated. The pool looked inviting and the beach dazzling. The resort’s two boats (one to take us water-skiing or biscuiting, and one to take us on dives) were moored in the cove. But where were the people? Well, they were there – all 50 or so of them, but the place seemed deserted. Being lovers of seclusion, we thought that was just fine.
The first evening there we happened to meet a member of the management team over drinks in the bar. This was just as we were listening to other guests regale us with their stories of what had occurred the week prior to our arrival. Their two-week sojourn had begun with a week where the pool was empty as a result of lack of water on the premises and – you guessed it – no water for several days in the rooms. We were appalled! During the week that we were there, we had only one day when there was no hot water, but at least there was water. This all sparked off the conversation with the manager who told us that running a high-end spa in the Caribbean, especially one that had been devastated by a hurricane, was not for the faint of heart.
There had been personnel issues, construction woes, water difficulties, materials deficiencies – just the sort of story that Wouk’s book detailed. But that had been fiction.
Patty with the aquatics director facing her fear!
We had been well aware that the place had just reopened. We went with our eyes wide open, which is more than can be said for some of the people we met that week. However, most seemed to take it all in stride. We found the people who worked at the property all polite and personable in a reticent kind of way. It’s part of the culture, and as slightly reserved Canadians, we understood this kind of cultural approach. We enjoyed the lack of people and wondered what it would be like with 200 – the capacity – rather than the 50 or so who were there the week we were.
Art looks out over St. George's from the fort.
We both wonder now if Patty would have been as inclined to go in a biscuit with Stanley, the head of water sports (since she has a fear of the water) if there had been more people around. And we wonder if Art would have been inclined to make his way to the spa for his daily treatments wearing a spa robe, as everyone did. Neither activity is within our individual personalities – but La Source just seemed to bring it out in us!
The view from the Ocean Grill in Grenada
We happened to be in Grenada again last winter during a day trip when we were cruising the Caribbean. We got off the ship and hired a taxi to take us back to La Source. When we arrived we found an amenable front-office staff person who gladly took us onto the property (after assuring herself that we were presentable and would not accost the guests) so that we could see the finished renovations. What had been newly planted gardens were now lush and full, and there was a new boutique in the spot where an empty building had stood. It still seemed to us that there were few people around, although she assured us that the resort was full. Ahhh, we thought. It would still be a great place to take a spa vacation week. We then headed back into St. George’s for a beer at our favorite water-front bar, The Ocean Grill.
After our week in Grenada the first time, we did read Don’t Stop the Carnivaland it was as if we were on holiday again. Bottom line: if you’re planning a winter escape this year and are looking for a great beach read, this is it. Bon voyage!
The Ocean Grill -- the perfect place for a cold beer!
If you have taken even one cruise, it is likely (at least the statistics say so) that you will take another one. Oddly, when we asked out 22-year-old son a few months ago about his vacation preferences, even he said that his very favorite vacations were cruises. So, evidently cruises are not just for the boomer-and-beyond crowd! So, as you contemplate booking that next cruise – whether you’ve been on one or ten – with respect, please permit us to give you a wee piece of advice.
The Discerning Travelers 
You must be logged in to post a comment.