TRINI JUNGLE JUICE: ARRIVALS, THE AFTERMATH

This has been year number two of me attending ARRIVALS and oh what a difference one year has made!

I can not say that I didn't enjoy myself because I absolutely did!  It just felt as though I wasn't given the opportunity to enjoy the fete as much as I could have.  

It wasn't the staff of Trini Jungle Juice NOR the other event planners who were handling the "security" or the lines.  It was the staff of The Mayfair Hotel that made things borderline unbearable.  

We got to the venue at or about 8pm which seemed like the perfect time as that's when familiar faces were arriving as well.  The 'security' of the hotel just wasn't ready.  They had no idea how to deal with the crowd of such a magnitude.  Not prepared on how to combat the attitudes of Caribbean people who were obviously ready to party nor ready to deal with such outspoken individuals especially of some with an already slight head.  The 'security' guard that controlled the amount of people who entered the elevator to the roof was a prude that never once cracked a smile and looked as if he regretted coming in to work for the day.  The elevator could comfortably hold 10-12 people seeing as he was not entering, yet this man only allowed 5-6 people at a time which held up the line. Although the wait wasn't too long, it could have gone faster.

Once on the rooftop, walking in was great but once we got into the swing of things and actually IN the party, it was very crowded.  A little overcrowded and not at all what I was expecting.  Unless you were in what we called the 'smoking' section, there wasn't much space to move.  Nothing any party pyoung couldn't handle but again, not what I was expecting.

The only solid complaint that I along with many others had was the price of drinks.  Thank God I'm no big drinker especially because of the sized cups given at the door but one drink averaging $20 was ridiculous!! I was taken so far back that I saved my $62 bill for the three drinks I purchased to include in this blog but eventually lost it.

(one of these was enough for me)

ARRIVALS is now, hands down, one of the most anticipated events for Miami Carnival and yes, I would definitely do it again however, I would suggest a different venue as ARRIVALS has quickly outgrown the rooftop of The Mayfair Hotel and their staff.  Hopefully a new venue is sought out and there, the pricing on alcohol can be better controlled.