AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye Captain Morgan's timeshares

Hi, wondering if anyone has any info about the Captain Morgan resort and its timeshares? Have the opportunity to buy one at a good deal but wondered if it was in a good location, etc. Any feedback from locals on the ground greatly appreciated.

Captain Morgan's roaming timeshare touts have been obnoxious to me and my family on several occasions. They're bums, as far as I'm concerned.

Years ago, before it went timeshare I used to enjoy staying at Captain Morgan's.

A good deal on a timeshare is as rare as a cold day in June, but I guess such a thing exists.

--Lan Sluder

We have been staying at CM's since 2002 and have nothing but praise for the place and the staff. They go out of the way to make our stay a great one. Like any resort north of the cut, if you want to live the night life you will need to use the water taxi but that is a great way to start and finish a night anyway. We are already booked for next year and can't wait.

Captain Morgan's is one of the nicest resorts on the island and your can ask any one that visits. Please visit the resort before you make such a decision and get a personal feel of the place.

Lan probably doesn't get any free nights at the place thus there is his comment/s.

Let the good times roll...

I too vouch for Captain Morgans. As a matter of fact, its a brotherhood of owners when we are there. Dan and Jan being one of them. See you guys if Feb.

I agree - the resort is immaculate and they take good care of their guests. We live nearby and often run into customers who are very pleased with CM (never had anyone say anything negative). They do a fun Belizean night on Tuesdays, which is open to everyone on the island.

My husband and I went through the sales pitch with friends a couple of years ago and it was amazingly not high pressure. We actually considered purchasing, which is amazing since we are not timeshare fans

Have owned there since 2003. We always stay for 2 weeks and have a blast. The resort is clean and safe. The staff, especially Shabah, our bartender and cook treat us like royalty. The same people usually go at the same time every year so it is always like a reunion! Unfortunately wont be there this year because 1st grandchild being born in February! We will definetely be back gain in 2011! Great place, lots of fun. You can walk to several restaurants from there also.

I'm sure it a great resort, and i really mean that. Lan is probably commenting on the over aggressive timeshare sales people that have negatively accosted the community to the point where the town board had to make rulings to control them.
It a wonderful resort full of happy people, just a bit of overboard aggression on the part of the sales staff.Its been quiet lately but hea, its been the slow season.

ELBERT YOU HAVE SUCH GOOD KARMA..AND SUCH A PLEASANT WAY WITH WORDS YOU ARE A FIRST CLASS GUY .

TO CANUCK GIRL THE FACT IS THE TIME SHARE PEOPLE IN TOWN HAVE BEEN JUST VERY AGGRESSIVE AND ANNOYING TO TOURISTS ,NOT COOL AS THIS IS A WONDERFUL PLACE TO VIST AND ENJOY .I DO NOT WANT TO HIGHJACK THE TOPIC AS IT ASKED ABOUT ABOUT CAPT MORGANS AND IT IS A NICE PLACE .. BUT THE FACT IS TIME SHARE IS JUST NOT A GOOD VALUE OR A GOOD DEAL DO THE MATH AND ASK YOUR ACCOUNTANT .AND IF YOU DRANK THE COOL AID ALREADY SORRY TO BUST YOUR BUBBLE .THERE ARE SOME GREAT PLACES TO STAY ON THE ISLAND AT SUPER DUPER RATES ..SO ENJOY AND LIVE THE DREAM ...

I had a buddy buy a timeshare at one south of town. He likes the resort, but really regrets the timeshare. Going along with what Capt. Jeff says, there may be better deals out there if you've not bought a timeshare yet. One is to go to the timeshare re-sell/re-rental websites online (just Google it). I found some great deals for good weeks in good units on the island for $400-$500. If you can "sublease" a timeshare in a good resort for a week for that much, it's hard to beat in my book.

Well I think it is a matter of different strokes for different folks. I have owned timeshares for the past 10 years and have traded and rented them out and more than made my initial investment. It is all about your comfort level.

They give you the freedom to go anywhere in the world and not be tied to just one location.

Just my personal opinion.

Um, so does not having a time-share give you the freedom to go anywhere in the world and not be tied to just one location.

A time share allows you to stay at nicer (usually) places at a lesser cost. Even including the yearly maint. fee.

Time Share may be the best thing since sliced bread, I think you guys are missing the point, Its the marketing techniques that stink!
The sales people are pests to put it nicely.They are overly aggressive obnoxious pestilence that accosts people visiting the island to the degree that the community had to make laws to protect the public from them.

Not that those laws are enforced...

Champion i hear what you have to say ,but you are off base On WHAT YOUR FACTS ARE .#1 most time share resorts are not the best places ,in fact most are just ok or not nice at all .Do the research .I know as i have lots of knowledge on this as i have had my own large travel agency for many years .I do not want to debate this here as the post was on capt morgans..and if time share was so good why do they have to lock you in a room and sell you with pressure and not want you to think about it ?????

We visited Captain Morgans a few years back and again last year and the very first thing we noticed:
1. It is nice, clean, seems safe, grounds are immaculate.
2. There is no one there.. I mean we were there in March, height of the season and the place was a ghost town - both times!
3. Seemed like its kinda boring, I mean we love to lay around and relax, but there is so much more to do in SP.
4. Did the sales pitch thing - as if the recruiters in town aren't pressure enough, wait till you get the pitch from the owner/manager guy, forget his name, but he was actually pissed off when I said I wasn't interested, I thought he was going to throw us off the property. I mentioned we are more interested in building or buying a lot, he told me that's very hard to do and that I probably couldn't do it.

Time shares are just not my thing, you pay a lot and get a little, tho you do get to come back over and over again (another boring thing for me). Maybe we are just more adventurous than most. Everyone is different, we spend very little time at any one place, prefer to use our time to see it all.

Princess Hotel Belize City - not a time share

2010 Rack Rates
Room/Suites Single Double
Standard Rooms $130 US $140 US
Suites $150 US $150 US
Junior Suites $300 US $300 US
Presidental Suites $500 US $500 US

My timeshare has a full kitchen, living room and just steps from the water. Free use of all aminities on site.
Granted I had to make an initial purchase and I have yearly fees of $840.00. At 3 weeks per stay it's $40.00 a night. Have you ever stayed at the Princess Hotel?
QUOTE .#1 most time share resorts are not the best places ,in fact most are just ok or not nice at all .Do the research .

I'm not sure what the poor old Princess Hotel in Belize City has to do with anything.

--Lan Sluder

I know the princess hotel in belize city the place is a 2 maybe 3 star place ..i have stayed there for free , one night tru there casino ..and left after one day had business in belize city for three days moved over to the radision and paid for the room .not much better And who pays rack rates for rooms ??????? you make me laugh with that Do the research i know shit from shinola ,if you bought a time share at that place then you did drink the cool aid ...Good luck to you LOL LOL LOL.

Thanks for the info, everyone. Haven't made my mind up yet. The maintenance fees are $600 per year (and it is an every other year usage) for a 2 bedroom unit, which seemed like a pretty good deal for such a large unit, works out to less than $100 a night for what sounds like a decent place that can easily accommodate 4 to 6 people. I have not bought a timeshare before but have friends who swear by it so mulling it over. But really appreciate everyone's input.

Keep in mind. Lan has a agenda.

So, E............are you advocating TS purchases now???? Did gold drop today?

So, Eanie B, what's my agenda?

Do you know me? Have you met me over the 20 years or so I've been banging around Belize? Have you read my books on Belize? My magazine and newspaper articles? My website?

Sorry, but I don't have a clue who you are. In fact, I don't even know what your real name is.

--Lan Sluder

canuckgirl, do some checking. If your time share is an everyother year, so should the maintence fee be. We own there and started with an everyother year and that is the way the fee was for us.

canukgirl, so maintenance fees are $600 per year (or every other year, whatever). How much is the buy-in price? What week(s) do you get?

Let's for argument's sake say that the buy-in is $10,000 for 20 years of week 14 (you wish), now add that to (20 X $600 = $12,000 + $10,000 = $22,000) divided by the 20 years = $1100 per year divided by 7 days = $157+/- per night, and you are stuck with it.

You'll have to excuse me, canukgirl and any others, I've only been to a few presentations over the years and none for quite a while, so my example numbers are probably out to lunch. Be that as it may, at the time that I did almost drink the kool-ade a time or two, a good calculator coupled with my desire to have options outweighed any slight perceived value.

But to each their own...some people have a cabin on the lake . . and are perfectly happy all their lives, going for a couple of weeks to that cabin on the lake.

Here is my two cents worth. I inherited a time share when my mother died. I always thought they were really awful deals but I didn't have any choice it was mine. Now that I have had the experience of owning one I can confirm that at least based on my experience it is very bad deal indeed. I am not saying that Captain Morgan's is not nice and I have no dog in this fight. I will tell you that financially speaking I don't think it works out too well for the owners. However, I also get the impression that a lot of people that own time shares get some psychic returns from their ownership interest. I guess it would be nice to say at a cocktail party that I have a great two weeks every year in place A plus I can usually trade those weeks for places B-Z. Financially it simply doesn't make sense but not all decisions are made on what is best financially. So, if this is your cup of tea enjoy it and if not then "live and let live".

It just seems to me that for the cost of one of those condos, you could buy a piece of land and build a house way cheaper. That's what we did anyway. (not on AC, but down on Maya Beach) I don't understand why someone would "buy" a condo. Or however they do it.

Recalculate the 20 years with 99 years and see what you get. This price stays more constant vs. the natual tendancies of costs rising yearly when you rent a room. Whats the cost of a rental 10 years out.

Seems to me that a potential buyers age should be factored into the formula somehow. I'm not really interested in a timeshare. However at my age i would be lucky to enjoy such a move for another 10-12 years at best, let alone 99!
Just sayin...

Factor in the yearly cost of repair and maint. on the home and the cost of some one to watch the place when gone. Factor in the cost of household goods after the purchase of the home. The timeshare is turn key, walk in then walk out.
And no, I am not a timeshare salesperson.

Geez people if you don't like timeshares don't buy one. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. No one is right or wrong. Why does everything on this board turn into a sniping match!

because there are plenty of snipes

I think then we should organize a snipe hunt!!!

Ya won't have to wait til dark, they are out in broad open daylight !

Snips or Snipes

Both

well gosh Champion, then why don't just get a hotel?

Wonderful to have all these choices to suit every wish.

I have been going to Capt Morgans for years now and love it. I recently purchased land on the island and want to sell the timeshare if anyone is interested.

Time shares....Love them or leave them.

Some people are paying you to take over their timeshares and others are going for just about nothing to escape the annual maintenance fees. Check out redweek.com

Tis the season
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa3/elbertgreer/timesharebygolfcartonbeach.jpg
this morning

Did a quick visit to see the Timeshares back in November. Since our husbands were back in the states, we were basically told that we had no rights in touring, or buying a timeshare. Even though we were independently wealthy from husbands.

Very insulting not to mention was wondering what year we were in ...guess women have no rights when buying property at Capt Morgans! Needless to say, I will never stay there or support that place in anyway!

Susan B Anthony must be turning over in her grave!

I usually just rent Cap'n. Jeff's place for $25BZ per night, including all the One Barrel and Belikin I can drink, which is a lot.

Jeff, 'ol buddy, that deal's good for anybody on the message board, right?

Do you think Captain Morgan's will give tours to two men traveling together, not with their wives? I'd be curious.

I know it shut the timeshare guy up this morning when I mentioned that I heard they wouldn't sell to single women.....

The timeshare people from CM and Reef (OPCs - can't recall what this stands for, but these are the people in the booths that try to get you to go on the tours and get the prizes / incentives - the get $$$ for each person), the resorts use statistics to screen potential buyers. One of the criteria they use here is that you must be a couple, having lived together for >2 yrs. You must have a job and they also might exclude those with family here on the island.

Wonder if single men (or your husbands) would be approved to go on the tour either? Or perhaps they have just learned that women are too smart to fall for the sales pitch? LOL...

I bought as a single man in 2000

Jazziet - actually you were pretty lucky that they didn't make you sit through their presentation. As I understand it, if you are married and sign a contract your husband has the right to rescind it. Many moons ago, in Hawaii, before any of us had heard the word "Time Share" I got caught up in a locked room presentation just to get a free jeep for the afternoon. They took me in alone as I was a single woman.
I got burned twice on that - LOL - Jeep had no roof and it rained all afternoon. I've never again been trapped.

I have had twol time shares over the years and they have both been horrors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I truly mean that.

What made them horrors Freezer?

I have been through the pitch at CM and it was very low pressure (I was prepared for battle after having experienced a few of these in Cancun) - we (2 couples) stayed for dinner and had a great time with the staff and guests.

>Do you think Captain Morgan's will give tours to two men traveling together, not with their wives?

LOL...well to be honest I'd say yes. While we were being informed why we weren't eligible, we brought up some of the various scenarios. We were told, if we were gay we could buy, if we were widows we could buy, if we were men we could buy, if divorced we could buy....but NOT if we were married women without husbands with us!

The sad thing is, Capt Morgan's I was told, was owned by Tombstone Pizza. An American company adding insult to injury! Not to mention...wondering now if married women also need their husband's with them at the food stores

To each their own when buying timeshares ...but if you're a married women, I'd think twice about supporting this place. JMHO

Being single, I would still think twice... But thanks for the advice on how to get them off my trail. "I am sorry but my husband says no." Brilliant strategy.

My wife and I went to a US Ford car dealer about 10 years ago to buy her a car, with HER MONEY. I went to the restroom for a minute, my wife asked the salesman a question. he said we must "wait until your husband returns"

Toyota got that sale. Dumb salesperson

The principle owner did in fact start and own that pizza but has long since sold it to Kraft foods. He does still have a skybox at Greenbay.

I was PROMISSED that we could book anywhere anytime when we purchased the time share. In 11 years of owning a time share I have not once been able to book at my first, socond, or third choice. I have tried for the last 6 years to book into Banyan bay and have never succeded. This is all with a, supposedly, premier excange location in Maui.

I was even told at one point during the presentation of the time share that the "free/bonus" exchanges we recieved as a signing bonus would be good for anything anywhere. They even told us that we could book in New Orleans anytime as long as it was not during Mardi Gras. Well...after having no success booking ANYTHiNG with the bonus weeks I tried New Orleans. No chance anytime anywhere wit bonus weeks.

This is only the first week that we purchased, we have two more weeks that were inherited. I cannot GIVE them away, literally.

I have a ton more stories about time shares that should disuade anyone, anywhere from buying. Including a promise of the fees never going over $100 and after 2 years thee fees are $547. This is not an exhaguration.

I tried at one pint to book our "normal" on Maui. I started with the attempt 18 months prior to going. When we finally got a week there it was 7 bloks off the beach and did not even have a balcony.

The first year after p;urchasing a time share in Maui we decided to go back to Hawaii, the form that you fill out tol tell the exchange company what you want inluded questions of your preference. I made only 2 requests: 1 we have aview of the ocean, and 2 that we have a balcony. Pretty simple. I was pretty naive at this time and when the RCI (time share company) called and said they had a place I assumed that it would meet my request. When We got there we were 2 blocks off of the beach and had no balcony!!!!

You want more????? PM me.

No, you have said enough. I can feel your pain. I personally have never tried to use the timeshare exchange program, only to say with I.I. they have what is called getaways (timeshare units at a bargin) which I have used with great success. When I bought at Morgans, I never wanted to go anywhere else (country wise). I think a lot of it has to do with where you purchase. Some places Are more desirable thus harder to get to as opposed to say, S. Flordia and the like. I would bet that if you tried to get a unit in Phoenix (not that anybody would want to) it would be a snap.

We have owned at Captain Morgans for 6 years. During that time we have traded various weeks for St. Maarten, Aruba, Cayman, Sedona etc. We have received bonus weeks each time and just gave one of them to our daughter and her husband. They just came back from St. Maarten. RCi and Interval are two different animals. I have heard many bad things about trying to trade RCI. We have never had a problem exchanging or using bonus weekds. Their getaways are great too, just like Champion said.