When is your stocking fully stuffed?

Ever wonder how "stockings" made it's way into the American Christmas tradition? When waking up to a sock full of baseball cards, candy, and anything else Mom could shove into it during my childhood, I always wondered who decided to hang some tube socks above the fire. We've probably all heard the poem "Twas the Night before Christmas", where it is said, "All the stockings were hung on the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nick would soon be there." While kids today may think St. Nick will be slimed by one of his pals on Nickelodeon TV, the truth is the current tradition of Santa (according to Wikipedia which knows everything) may have actually begun with this 1820s classic. His physical appearance, the night of his visit, his mode of transportation, the number and names of his reindeer, and the tradition that he brings toys to children all are considered derived from the Clement Clarke Moore poem.

As for stockings and why Saint Nick stuffs them, like many things we have the European's to thank for this story. A poor family's daughters came into some money the night Saint Nicolas filled their stockings with gold enough for all three to be married. Not sure if it was enough for a Vegas wedding or one on the beaches of Barbuda, but anywhow you get the idea.

So, to celelbrate our 9 year anniversary of CheapCaribbean.com today (was it that long ago I had enough beer on Dawn Beach in St. Maarten to think up this crazy idea?), we offer you up our best holiday deals so you can see Santa himself in the white sand of the Caribbean and Mexico. I never dreamed when I wrote the name "CheapCaribbean.com" on a napkin that day we would serve 250,000 customers a year, have nearly 200 employees, and be the largest website in the world dedicated to Caribbean and Mexico travel. Then again, with prices starting as low as $69 per person all inclusive, it all starts to make some sense. Why not hang your stockings on the mini bar not only in hopes it will be filled the next morning, but that you remembered hanging them as well...all without the hangover!

Have a happy holiday season and hope to see you on the beach soon!

Click Here to see all our up to 60% Off Holiday Savings!

More CheapCaribbean.com Customers for Life!

One of my favorite all time movies is "Pulp Fiction". Harvey Keitel's character was one that really hit home with me. "The Wolf" helped fix a tough situation Samuel Jackson and John Travolta found themselves in. Now, in the 9 years since I started CheapCaribbean.com, while I haven't encountered such a "messy" situation as in the movie, I have put out plenty of fires to ensure our customers are treated with the same Wolf-like effectiveness and efficiency!

So, with the current economic slowdown, I guess I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was when a couple of months ago, at 12:30pm on a Saturday, I received a call on my cell phone letting me know Sun Village Beach Resort & Spa in the Dominican Republic was shutting its doors effective immediately. Hmm, not so cool. In fact, with over 200 customers of CheapCaribbean.com at the resort, and another 60 passengers arriving over the weekend, I quickly realized the severity of the situation. My first thought was how to move our customers quickly and easily to a nearby resort. My second thought was, "When is the next flight out to Puerto Plata"?!

Fortunately, the Lifestyle Tropical Beach Resort is next door to Sun Village and we quickly reserved the necessary rooms to protect our customers. I found a flight out of JFK on Sunday morning on Jet Blue and off I went to make the situation right. "Pretty please, with sugar on top, fix this situation" was running through my head :) Well as you will read below, Caribbean Jim's Wolf mentality fortunately resonated with our customers and we now have more customers for life than ever! Hopefully Harvey would be proud!

Click here to read first-hand accounts from interviews of customers who were there when the resort closed