Caribbean Travel Dreams Blog

Have you ever been ripped off or scammed on holiday? The London Times highlights some of the most popular ways.

  * The phone rings and an electronic voice tells you to hit the number 9 to claim your prize, a holiday to the Sunshine State of Florida – at which point a salesperson comes on the line and explains that you have, in fact, won only most of a holiday. To seal the deal, you are typically told it will cost between £500 and £700 for a supposed £2,000 luxury trip, usually to Orlando and the Bahamas. If you try to get the money back, the delays begin, with calls going unanswered, packages not arriving, and staff often verbally abusing customers. And your credit-card company doesn’t have to refund you – because you read out those numbers.

* This internet scam, known as “card milling”, is on the increase. Greedy travelers are told that by spending up to £260 on a travel-agent ID card, they will become eligible for industry-insider rates, meaning huge discounts on flights, hotels and, most commonly, cruises. You cough up the credit-card details, your ID card arrives – and the first time you slap it down on a reception desk, you’re laughed out of the lobby.

* The most costly scam in the UK is the oldest one in the book – companies taking travelers’ cash, and then shutting down their businesses without delivering what they promised.

* Secreting away a traveler’s credit-card information is also quite popular. Common tricks include capturing all the details when you hand the card over for a meal or some petrol – but one ingenious new tactic, first reported in Shanghai, has been to call hotel rooms late at night, pretending to be from reception.

* There will always be occasions when you need to change cash but there’s no bank about, so more informal converters come into play. Most are perfectly legitimate, but signs that all is not well include: the teller shuffling and counting out bills in absurdly small denominations, which makes keeping score a chore; a disturbance or argument that conveniently flares up just as you’re trying to count your cash; and anything involving opaque envelopes, which will probably turn out to contain newspaper clippings.

* Many of us have been caught in the “nice” version of this scam – a friendly stranger takes you drinking in a foreign land, pays a fraction of what it’s costing you for the same round of drinks, then takes a backhander from the bar-owner at closing time for hauling your well-fleeced backsides into the establishment.

* You’re tired, there’s a queue at the taxi stand, so you accept the cheery offer of an unofficial taxi. From this point on, a good outcome is that you’ll be overcharged, or forced to stop off at the driver’s brother’s souvenir shop on the way to your hotel.

* You put your belongings on the conveyor belt at the airport, but a man bustles past you in a desperate hurry. He then gets himself held up at the detector, emptying his pockets of innumerable coins, keys and collectables. While you wait patiently, the guy who was in the queue in front of you – Mr. Metal’s accomplice – waits for your bag, then nicks

Never hurts to be on your toes!

Pattie Mitchell, ACC
Travel Dreams
www.traveldreams.us
E-mail: traveldreams10@yahoo.com
Facebook Group: Travel Dreams ... selling travel, making dreams

My next adventure ... South Africa in March! We're flying from JFK to Johannesburg via South African Airways, spending 5 nights in Sun City (2 hours outside of Johannesburg), and then 3 days at a lodge in the Madikwe Game Reserve in the North West Province. Our plans include at least 4 safari game drives, where we hope to spot the "Big 5" (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and rhinocerous). I plan to take loads of pictures & hopefully some great videos to upload ... and of course I'll post a trip report of our adventures.

There's a whole world of travel dreams out there waiting to become lasting memories ... may all your Travel Dreams come true ...

Pattie Mitchell, ACC
Travel Dreams
www.traveldreams.us
Facebook members ... join our group "Travel Dreams ... selling travel, making memories" and share your travel experiences, ask questions about a destination, etc.

 

Mystic Mountain Bobsled & Zipline - What Fun!!   During a stay at Breezes Runaway Bay in January 2008, we decided to try something new (and by new I mean less than a year old new).  Mystic Mountain is a multi-million dollar project, very ecologically conscious using minimum impact on the environment during construction.  Just down the road from the famous tourist spot, Dunn's River Falls, is new hot spot with over 3000 feet of track where you can speed through the woods in Ocho Rios in bobsled  a la "Cool Runnings". 

Our adventure started with with a 15 minute Sky Explorer chairlift ride 700' up the hillside with a beautiful view of downtown Ocho Rios.  On this day, there were two cruise ships in port and my guess is the cruisers haven't quite discovered Mystic Mountain (not yet anyway).  Now, I have a fear of heights and the chairlift ride was what I dreaded most, but my fears were gone within minutes of this relaxing, steady ride to the adventures awaiting me up the mountainside.

Once you arrive at the summit via Sky Explorer, there is an open-air pavillion with an exhibit of Jamaican history and culture, a gift shop, infinity pool, lookout tower. and an open air restaurant overlooking Ocho Rios.  This area is the central point where guests can then ride the bobsled and do the zipline tour.  Options at Mystic Mountain include:  1) ride the Sky Explorer chairlift to the summit and just have lunch, swim in the pool, and check out the exhibits; 2) Sky Explorer and bobsled; 3) Sky Explorer and zipline; or 4) what we chose to do - the "tranopy", which included both the bobsled and zipline.

We headed to the bobsled first.  The bobsled are decorated in the black, gold & green colors of Jamaica, very sleek.  Once you're buckled in (one person per car, but I did see them attach two cars together), gravity sets you on you're on your way down through about 300' of  hairpin turns, through, around and above the forest ...  but you are in charge of your speed via levers on the side of the cars .  At the end of the hill, your bobsled is gently hoisted back up a series of inclines to the start of the track.  I realized when I reached this point that I had an involuntary huge smile on my face the entire ride ... captured for prosperity via the photo taken by Mystic Mountain (for purchase in the gift shop).  What fun!

Before heading to the zipline, we opted for a 5 minute chair massage, being offered in the pavillion by a sweet Jamaican girl for $1/minute.  Work out a little kinks and then off to zip through the forest.

The zipline does not involve intense hiking at all.  Since this is a new facility, the equipment and platforms were very new.  There are five traverses, enjoyable, fun, professional staff making those nervous feel at ease.  All in all, a great ending to our "tranopy" adventure ... well ... except for the Sky Explorer chairlift ride back down the hill!

Costa Rica Adventures with Travel Dreams - 11/2 to 11/8/08

Our six night adventure only hit a fraction of wha tCosta Rica has to offer. We visited the Central Valley (San Jose, La Paz Waterfall Gardens, La Fortuna/Arenal), and then headed down to the South Pacific Coast of Quepos/Manuel Antonio, staying at Peace Lodge, Mountain Paradise and Hotel Parador along the way. Tours included Sky Tram/Sky Trek in Arenal; guided tour of Arenal National Park; an evening at Eco Termales in Arenal; guided tour of Manuel Antonio National Park; Titi Canopy tour in Manuel Antonio; Mangrove Boat Tour in Quepos. I've documented our Costa Ricanjourney in this blog entry, but also composed a mini-website that journals each adventure along with photos at www.traveldreamscostaricanovember08.shutterfly.com

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Couples Negril, Jamaica - July 28 to August 1, 2008

My husband and I spent 4 nights at Couples Negril with another couple for a quick getaway in July 2008

Upon arrival in Montego Bay's airport, after collecting your bags and going through customs & immigration, you are met by employees who are stationed strategically to lead arriving guests to their respective check-in desks/arrivals lounge. Couples arrivals lounge in MBJ was comfortable, complimentary Red Stripe beer & Ting (Jamaican grapefruit-like soda).

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