Author: mmm112482 (---.bsfllp.com)
Date: 08-15-06 13:50
Trip Review: Part II – Club Seabourne Arrival & Thrifty Car Rental
Upon arriving at the dock, the scene was much like that of an arrival terminal at an airport. Car rental companies held up signs for shuttle buses, private vans to flamenco beach were quickly filled, as were the publicos, also headed towards flamenco. They might as well build a dock for the ferry on Flamenco, because I think 95% of all its passengers just go straight from the ferry to Flamenco.
We on the other hand, were searching in vein for our Thrifty car rental transportation. Because I am only 23, I was only able to rent from Thrifty. We saw Carlo’s jeeps vans and rentals all over the place. Without a car, we were stranded in the dock area, trying to figure out what to do. Numerous phone calls to Thrifty’s office….ringing and ringing…was anyone there? Are they even open? I called Club Seabourne and asked if they had a contact number for Thrifty, they did not. Instead, they told me to wait in front of the bank and a CS van would pick us up. 20 minutes, 30 minutes…no VAN. Finally, my girlfriend spots a yellow Thrifty rental jeep. A couple was dropping off their family at the ferry dock with their luggage, and then headed to the Thrifty office to return the Jeep, so I caught a ride with them back to Thrifty (so nice of them to offer!!), while my girlfriend had to wait alone in front of the bank with all of our luggage.
Arrived at Thrifty. Very nice and polite so I really didn’t feel like getting into with them about the phones etc at this time. I just wanted my damn Jeep at this point. We go through all the paperwork, and then find out there is only one Jeep left in the fleet and it has less than a ¼ tank of gas, and that there is no more gas on the island! Thrifty has no gas reserves. I was told that gas *may* arrive on Monday or Wednesday. Worried about having enough gas to enjoy our trip, I was quite upset. Luckily, gas was available at the Gulf station on Monday, but at the time of renting on Sunday, there was no guarantee, so I was still upset.
Taking it with a grain of salt, I made friends with the Thrifty staff, and just tried to relax. While I was doing the paperwork for the rental, the Club Seabourne van FINALLY decided to show up to the dock where my girlfriend was. At this point, I was just about done at Thrifty, so I told my girlfriend to ignore the van. We waited over an hour for them, so I didn’t feel bad at all!
So I get the Jeep and directions to CS, so we decided to drive around for a few, then head to Seabourne to check-in. At this point, it was around 1:30. We arrive at Seabourne (see my general CS review in upcoming part III) and were given an extremely cold and impolite greeting. They were probably pissed off because we dodged the van. The guy just told me that I couldn’t check in until 3. I asked about a place to get lunch and he sent me to the Dinghy dock. I left CS with an unpleasant taste in my mouth, and wondered that if they were this rude and ungracious when we first arrived, what am I in store for for the next four nights? Strike one for CS. Finally absorbed the bay views on the drive to Dinghy. Score ten for Culebra.
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¡Versión en Español!
