posted 05-22-2005 14:02               

I'm glad to hear it. I felt guilty sending you there!!! It was also nice meeting you and your family. Glad you enjoyed your trip.

posted 05-22-2005 14:29               

We didn't utilize any of the pools or beach while there but they sure seemed packed. Tons of college kids it looked like on some type of break.

We also ate at Zio Grigos in Hurricane Hole. It was pretty good and the price was right. We really liked The Green Parrot in Hurrican Hole also. Great Conch Fritters and Buffalo Wings. Last but not least, the Poop Deck was great as always.

We got in at 10:30am last Saturday morning and they had our room waiting. Didn't have the guts to ask for an upgrade at that hour of the morning. We had a great first floor unit with a view over the harbor looking at the East Wing of the Royal Towers. Absolutely perfect location as far as we were concerned. I can see now why they had the bulk bank when they did. Getting ready to open up three more buildings shortly and looking for some buyers. Just my opinion but I think you're going to have to be real careful exchanging into here in the future as far as room assignments go. There are some terrible locations in the new sections opening, i.e., over looking the ferry boat station and their diesel fumes, frontage on the bridge road and all it's traffic, etc., etc. But then again, it's still Harborside. Glade everyone had a good trip.

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EVR-Maui Pictures
MAO & Aruba Grand pictures

posted 05-22-2005 16:52            

We thought Harboside was wonderful. They allowed us to check in early and gave us a higher floor 3738 from 1738 which directly faced the pool and harbor. I thought the room and resort color scheme were beautiful and the 1 bd premium was more than enough room for the two of us.
Everyone we met was helpful and polite from resort staff to bus/taxi drivers. No issues with crowds or pool chairs. Beach vendors and straw market vendors were not pushy like Mexico at all.a polite no thank you was fine. The Front desk stated April was another story,people everywhere, no room to move. We also realised we didn't need the mealplan and we were sorry we lugged some meals from the states because they were awful. There are inexpensive restaurants in Hurricane Hole,Atlantis and elsewhere to suit all budgets. Quiznos subs are 9.99 for an exlarge. We ate at Marketplace buffet 44.00pp,Murrays,Atlas Grill,The Point,Poop Deck I,Choosy's and News Cafe and Quiznos. There were other places we checked out but did not visit like Green Parrot and Anthony's which was just as costly as Atlantis for a 30-35 steak and 20.00 for chicken.
We sat with Dani in the Comedy Club which was 20.00 pp. Sadly my husband was very ill from food poisoning the last day so after all that we did we never got to do the Mayan slide or the lazyriver. I got sunpoisoning after three hours on day 2 with 30SPF and had quite the case of cankles and swollen eyes. Ice bags were my best friend for 4 days.
Altantis was 100% occupancy and Harborside was 90%. I didn't think it was crowded at all. Water was prettier than Cancun and we liked it better. Can't beat Royal Mayan or the employees but Bahamas for us was a better vacation,more expensive but better.
3bd units with Plasma TVs and granite counters are 55k,2bd are 40-44k. You cannot pick the building you will be in unless you buy a fixed week 7etc and the price is much more than I quoted. No incentives for a 20 minute tour at all. Atlantis guests receive $75.00. I personally would not want to pay 40-55k for units with no room location guarantee. This was our first Starwood exchange and I was very impressed with the quality of the resort.

The Cable Beach area will be upgraded in the near future and it sure needs it. Very outdated area compared to Paradise Island. I was disappointed in the beach there. Nassau lost a lot of sand due to the hurricanes.

The 15minute Dolphin Encounter was awesome at $85pp. It's $165pp for the 30minute swim with the foot push. George and his wife were on the same boat as us. Powerboat Adventure boat ride is NOT for the faint of heart, I was bounced around pretty bad to the point where I couldn't endure much more. We sat in the front which is a harder ride. Middle and back seats you get soaked more but bounced less. It felt like the boat was airborne and landed on cement every 5 minutes for 1 hour each way. Seas were rough. I have been on cigarette speedboats before but this was pretty hard on my back,neck and hips. I am 5ft tall and couldn't touch the floor of the boat. It was a wonder the hull didn't crack. Having said that the rest of the adventure was wonderful and I am glad we saw all we did. I am adventurous by nature and love these kinds of things. I don't want to spoil all the details of this adventure for those who have not taken it but I will tell you to book online beacuse it was 315- for two of us rather than 380.00 and I booked after the increase posted.

If you prearrange a return pickup to the airport call the driver the night before because our 6am promised pickup never called us to let us know his taxi was in repair. If we hadn't called him at 5:45 am we would have missed our 8:30 am flight to FT Lauderdale.
Ft Lauderdale Airport now has a central terminal for all agencies with shuttle transport. We used Enterprise and the service was A1.
Spent our last 2.5 days in Sheraton Yankee Trader Beachfront and also had a ball. Ocean temps were much warmer than the chilly 60 degree Nassau water. Did Las Olas via water taxi. Highly recommend the Blue Moon Cafe off Commercial at the 2 for 1 fabulous lunch,appetizer,drink and dessert on the intercoastal. We ate last night atthe historic River House on the RiverWalk for our 30th anniversary. Service there was very,very slow but the atmosphere was wonderful even with the torrential downpours from Tropical Storm Adrian. Both were recommended by the Sheraton Concierge. I much preferred the Blue Moon.

Real Estate in FT Lauderdale is out of site just as we found in Sarasota area last fall. Trump and St Regis prices are 600k to 3million. 1 bd condos not waterfront are 315-359.