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It took almost 2 years, but I finally got to check into my very first timeshare exchange, Morritt's Grand. I have a beautifully large, Oceanfront unit on the 4th floor that has vaulted ceilings, Corian countertops, large jucuzzi and a magnificent view of the lagoon.
I made the exchange on August 20, 2004 as a 44,000 point crossover trade between RCI Points and RCI weeks. Based on how nice this resort is, it would have been worth twice that. After 2 years of reflecting upon Carolinian's assertions regarding the unfair crossover grid, I have determine that he was half right. He was right that it was set at an unfair level. But, he wasn't right about that low level enabling the demise of timesharing. In the 2 years it took me to actually use this exchange, I have had a lifetime of experiences in timesharing. So, even if the crossover grid remained the same, it would probably take 20 years to be impacted by much if I had to wait 2 years for every exchange.
Getting here wasn't easy. We got fairly cheap tickets on Spirit Airlines from Fort Lauderdale and the flight time was supposed to be 66 minutes. So, it seemed like it would be easier to get here than going to Atlanta....wrong.
It took 1.5 hours to go from the check in line to being seated on the plane. And, when we arrived, they lost a piece of our luggage, so we ended up staying extra time at the airport. Oh well, such is life. I just hope they are able to deliver that bag to us today since it has all of our masks, fins and snorkles in it. We'll find out in a couple of hours.
The nicest thing about being here is the people. At the recommendation of a TS4M poster who I don't remember, I booked a car rental from McCurley's. Beth Ann McCurley picked us up from the airport and drove us to the Morritt's. She was really nice, told us all the must do activities and restaurants and was simply pleasant over all. She took us by her house and offered to sell us some oceanfront property for $750k. Well, she was joking since she had already sold it to a group of 10 people for that much. They plan on building a 4000 sq ft house on that 200 feet of oceanfront property on the east end and split the usage amongst them. $1.5M for an oceanfront property seems like a great deal to me.
Then, when we got to the Morritt's, BA (short for Beth Ann) told us how to use the car and the rules of the road and told us that the best burgers on the island were at the Reef. Since we had some time before checking into our unit, we decided to go there for lunch. What a spectular outdoor bar. We had a very nice cool ocean breeze cooling us off from what is clearly a hot and humid day even for a Floridian. We were worried about all the reports of high prices for food, so we were surprised that 4 of us were able to eat for $47 USD. A bit high, but not exhorbitant compared to say Tahiti. The burger was average at about a 6, but the chicken and cheese quesadillas were great.
The person checking us in was the most pleasant person I've ever encountered in timesharing. We had a lot of bags, and they delivered them to our room. That was great.
We are all very relaxed now and we are going out to explore. Can't wait to get some diving in. We will probably do that later in the week.
Oh yeah, at the strong recommendation from other timesharers, we brough a cooler with a lot of our own food. Mostly meats since we knew we could get package goods here. The recommendations worked fabulously as we didn't have any issues getting through customs. Thanks guys.
More later as it happens.
P.S. my wife loves the kitchen. She rates timeshares primarily on the quality of the kitchen. She said to mention that they have OXO kitchen utensils. I have no idea what that means, but she said it was important.
I made the exchange on August 20, 2004 as a 44,000 point crossover trade between RCI Points and RCI weeks. Based on how nice this resort is, it would have been worth twice that. After 2 years of reflecting upon Carolinian's assertions regarding the unfair crossover grid, I have determine that he was half right. He was right that it was set at an unfair level. But, he wasn't right about that low level enabling the demise of timesharing. In the 2 years it took me to actually use this exchange, I have had a lifetime of experiences in timesharing. So, even if the crossover grid remained the same, it would probably take 20 years to be impacted by much if I had to wait 2 years for every exchange.
Getting here wasn't easy. We got fairly cheap tickets on Spirit Airlines from Fort Lauderdale and the flight time was supposed to be 66 minutes. So, it seemed like it would be easier to get here than going to Atlanta....wrong.
It took 1.5 hours to go from the check in line to being seated on the plane. And, when we arrived, they lost a piece of our luggage, so we ended up staying extra time at the airport. Oh well, such is life. I just hope they are able to deliver that bag to us today since it has all of our masks, fins and snorkles in it. We'll find out in a couple of hours.
The nicest thing about being here is the people. At the recommendation of a TS4M poster who I don't remember, I booked a car rental from McCurley's. Beth Ann McCurley picked us up from the airport and drove us to the Morritt's. She was really nice, told us all the must do activities and restaurants and was simply pleasant over all. She took us by her house and offered to sell us some oceanfront property for $750k. Well, she was joking since she had already sold it to a group of 10 people for that much. They plan on building a 4000 sq ft house on that 200 feet of oceanfront property on the east end and split the usage amongst them. $1.5M for an oceanfront property seems like a great deal to me.
Then, when we got to the Morritt's, BA (short for Beth Ann) told us how to use the car and the rules of the road and told us that the best burgers on the island were at the Reef. Since we had some time before checking into our unit, we decided to go there for lunch. What a spectular outdoor bar. We had a very nice cool ocean breeze cooling us off from what is clearly a hot and humid day even for a Floridian. We were worried about all the reports of high prices for food, so we were surprised that 4 of us were able to eat for $47 USD. A bit high, but not exhorbitant compared to say Tahiti. The burger was average at about a 6, but the chicken and cheese quesadillas were great.
The person checking us in was the most pleasant person I've ever encountered in timesharing. We had a lot of bags, and they delivered them to our room. That was great.
We are all very relaxed now and we are going out to explore. Can't wait to get some diving in. We will probably do that later in the week.
Oh yeah, at the strong recommendation from other timesharers, we brough a cooler with a lot of our own food. Mostly meats since we knew we could get package goods here. The recommendations worked fabulously as we didn't have any issues getting through customs. Thanks guys.
More later as it happens.
P.S. my wife loves the kitchen. She rates timeshares primarily on the quality of the kitchen. She said to mention that they have OXO kitchen utensils. I have no idea what that means, but she said it was important.
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