Honeymoon Question

[so cal girl]

Well, my wedding is about 7 months out, so we are seriously starting to consider our honeymoon options. I''d really like to go to Greece, but it is way out of budget. FI likes Tahiti, but that is probably also out of budget. We were thinking we would like to spend around $5K. That is not a number set in stone, but a general area we would like to be around. FI went to the travel agent at AAA, and she told him that for that amount we could do Mexico, Hawaii, or a cruise. None of these seem particularly appealing to me. Living in southern California, I feel like both Mexico and Hawaii are things that we could do any time, and I''d like to do something that we would probably never splurge on except for a honeymoon.

So, here comes the real question. Has anyone honeymooned at a Sandals resort? Sandals is having some pretty awesome deals right now, so it seems feasible that we could get something for about $5K. But there are a lot of options when it comes to Sandals, and I was hoping people could help me out.

If you went to a Sandals:
1) At which resort did you stay?
2) What level of room did you get?
3) How would you rate your experience?
4) Did you buy airfaire through them or on your own?

Okay, that should be a good jumping off point. Feel free to throw any other information my way as well. Thanks!

 

[Independent Gal]

This may sound nutty to you, but if you''re keen on Greece, have you considered Turkey? It''s right next door but Turkey is seriously less expensive than Greece, but has some similar landscapes and WAY BETTER FOOD! It''s a spectacular country with amazing beaches, heart stopping ancient ruins, the nicest people in the world, and beautiful resorts on the south coast.

Only possible issue might be that the euro is the ''standard foreign currency'', and the US dollar ain''t doing so hot at the moment.

If you say airfare will be about 1K each from the US, on $3000 of spending money, I bet you could go luxluxlux for a couple of weeks and have an amazing and unique honeymoon.

Another idea: the super lux resorts and beaches in the north of Malaysia, or on Bali.

 

[mimzy]

Date: 11/2/2007 12:15:41 PM
Author: Independent Gal
This may sound nutty to you, but if you're keen on Greece, have you considered Turkey? It's right next door but Turkey is seriously less expensive than Greece, but has some similar landscapes and WAY BETTER FOOD! It's a spectacular country with amazing beaches, heart stopping ancient ruins, the nicest people in the world, and beautiful resorts on the south coast.


Only possible issue might be that the euro is the 'standard foreign currency', and the US dollar ain't doing so hot at the moment.


If you say airfare will be about 1K each from the US, on $3000 of spending money, I bet you could go luxluxlux for a couple of weeks and have an amazing and unique honeymoon.


Another idea: the super lux resorts and beaches in the north of Malaysia, or on Bali.

as a greek, i took the liberty of revising IndyGal's comment.

but i agree you could do better for your money if the idea of something standard like hawaii or mexico doesn't thrill you. you just need to get creative! have you tried googling "best budget honeymoons" or something like that? i bet you could get some great ideas.

(i just really enjoy that face)

sorry that had nothing to do with Sandles.

 

[Independent Gal]

Hahaha! No offence Mimzy!

 

[mimzy]

none taken!

 

[Pandora II]

We're going to Sri Lanka, which is seriously good value - and is the Island of Gems

Amazing food, great culture, baby elephant orphanage, tea plantations in the hills and fantastic beaches.

My sister spent a few weeks there when she was living in Bangladesh and said it was truly gorgeous and her favourite place that she visited. She and her DH spent a week at the beach eating lobsters at $5 a head.

It's just along from the Maldives, but without the $$$ pricetag.

 

[sap483]

I agree with all of the other suggestions, you should definitely look into places off the beaten path. For something closer to home, there''s a small island off of Puerto Rico called Vieques. It''s absolutely gorgeous. It has pristine beaches and a laid back small island vibe. Until recently it was inhabited by the marines so it didn''t have any tourism. They left a few years ago and since then it''s slowly becoming more and more popular. FI and I went there for our first vacation together 3 years ago. It was amazing- we rented a jeep and off-roaded to all of these secluded beaches. We were able to lay out on powder sand beaches with nobody else there and swim in crystal clear waters with fish all around us. It didn''t feel like we were in the carribean to be honest. The best part about it was that it was so affordable. We went for a full week and spent under 2k for EVERYTHING including our flights, and a private charter plane to the island from San Juan, lodging in an oceanfront suite at the Wydham (it has since closed and is being turned into the "W"), food, etc.

Do you have any frequent flyer miles or hotel points that you can cash in? If so, that can significantly reduce your costs. I travel a lot for work, so we''re cashing in miles and going to Tahiti and Bora Bora for 3 weeks and only paying for our food and other incidentals while we''re there. I don''t have any experience with Sandals, but I did go to a really nice all inclusive in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico called Royal Hideaway. It''s a gorgeous resort with a beautiful beach, and amazing food (no buffets!). I''m sure you could go there for 2 weeks for around 5k. Good luck!

 

[eks6426]

What type of things do you like to do on vacation? Are you lay around the beach types or more active?

 

[so cal girl]

I''m really looking for something easy. We mostly would just like to relax the entire week and be able to enjoy things at the property we are staying at. I would like for there to be things to do nearby if we decide we would like to get out, but I don''t want to feel pressured to be doing something every single day, which is why I am staying away from cruises. I think we are definitely in the beach frame of mind, which is funny because we live right next to the beach, and you''d think we''d be tried of it by now! But I guess that is just the atmosphere we are drawn to, so I think we''d really like something on the ocean.

 

[Aloros]

I''d recommend Thailand. Flights can be expensive, but once you get there, everything is cheap cheap cheap! The beaches are amazing, the food is heavenly, and the people are very friendly.

I''ve been recommending it to everyone since I and my SO went. All those who I''ve recommended it to have also LOVED it! For a little over two weeks, we each spent about $600. The only place we really cut costs was on accommodations - both of us sort of liked the rustic feel of staying in a little hut right on the water. The snorkeling/scuba diving is great, and if you stay on the beach, jungle trekking and elephant rides are usually only a short jaunt away.

We splurged on everything else...did I mention the FOOD?

Best vacation I''ve ever had.

 

[Pandora II]

I love Thailand. Gorgeous. And Thai Air is the BEST airline.

The only reason we''re not going there is we wanted to go somewhere neither of us had been.

 

[cellososweet]

ok. . i travel a lot! I hope this doesn''t sound like an advert, I just really love a cheap deal and have gotten so many!. . . my biggest go-to for cheap air is www.airfarewatchdog.com they are awesome, especially out of LAX. If you sign up for their emails, they''ll send There was a great deal on round trip from LAX to frankfurt, london (heathrow) or munich for around $575 a person. They are usually listings that go quick, but can be a great bargain. Once you are in the country, ryanair is awesome for intereuro travel They are really cheap too, but they usually only fly out of bigger airports. So, go to airfarewatchdog and try to get a cheap ticket to a bigger airport and then go to ryanair and see if you can fly out of there to greece. I know a flight from LAX to Dublin was $550 a week ago through watchdog and a flight from Dublin to berlin was $200 round trip on ryanair. So, $750 a person to go to Berlin. Check it out. Anything can be done with careful planning.

 

[Fancy605]

Date: 11/2/2007 6:13:44 PM
Author: so cal girl
I''m really looking for something easy. We mostly would just like to relax the entire week and be able to enjoy things at the property we are staying at. I would like for there to be things to do nearby if we decide we would like to get out, but I don''t want to feel pressured to be doing something every single day, which is why I am staying away from cruises. I think we are definitely in the beach frame of mind, which is funny because we live right next to the beach, and you''d think we''d be tried of it by now! But I guess that is just the atmosphere we are drawn to, so I think we''d really like something on the ocean.

Have you ever considered Provo in Turks and Caicos? It''s a beautiful Caribbean island That is where my husband and I went on our honeymoon, and it sounds very much like you are looking for the same things that we wanted.

We had a budget of about $5000. We wanted a beach. We wanted to be able to get out and do things if we wanted too, but we mainly wanted to be able to relax around the resort and chill out. And, that''s exactly what we got. We stayed at a hotel on Grace Bay Beach called The Palms, and it was GORGEOUS. We had a special "romance" package deal that included breakfast every day, 2 dinners at their on site restaurant (which is ridiculously nice), and a couples massage. Everything was great. I have never been so relaxed/pampered in my life. The staff took such good care of us. Anything we asked for, we had within minutes. The room was amazingly comfortable, the grounds were beautiful, the pool was fantastic, and the beach was gorgeous. We were able to take a quick taxi ride to dine at several other resorts or to go shopping if we wanted. We could usually ride to the restaurant or whatever when it was still hot outside, and then walk back to our hotel at sunset/in the evening along the beach (because everything was w/i a mile of our place. We were also able to do things like snorkeling and horse back riding. The best part was it was safe to walk anywhere on the island. There''s poverty like in a lot of places in the Caribbean, but no one ever approached us to sell us things/ask for money except one person who asked for a tip after he helped us with our bags at the airport.

Plus, there are some AWESOME deals on hotels for summer. It''s low season in Turks and Caicos in summer.

 

[zoebartlett]

What about Ireland or Portugal? Some may not think of Ireland as a honeymoon destination but it's so beautiful. I'd go back in a heartbeat. My FI and I are going to the Azores for our honeymoon, and although we've never been, it seems like a good place to see the sights but also relax.

ETA: I just reread your initial post and realized that you had asked specifically about Sandals. I'm sorry but I don't have experience with them.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

Ireland is where I got engaged. It is beautiful and extremely expensive.
What about eastern europe? You can play in old castles for far less than western europe.
Southern China has some nice beaches and is tropical you can do very well for the cost. Some of the most beautiful places in the world are there and I ate some of the best meals of my life for under $5.
St Lucia is probably the cheapest of the major carabean areas except for Cuba.
India is also fairly cheap and it really is increadible.

 

[bee*]

Ireland is great (I was born here and still live here),but it is pricey! Although definitely something to think about as you can get to all the other European cities in a few hours. What about going to the South of France or Lisbon. If you go to some of the smaller cities in France, it''s such good value-a jug of wine was €0.75 which is just over a dollar. You can''t go wrong with that

 

[ktkakes]

i agree with the two comments above me . we are going to ireland for our honeymoon spending 3 days in dublin then going on a tour of the southern part of ireland and we got it total for a little under 4 grand i cant wait . whats nice is we have a few days before our tour to spend it the two of us, while during the tour we get to see all the magnificat places there is to see.
we went with CIE tours they also do tours to italy..

hope that helps a little... is there a way u can save money on something else and splurge on your honeymoon and go to greece like you wanted? just another suggestion

 

[sunnygirl]

Hi So Cal Girl,

My fiance and I went to Greece earlier this year and it really wasn''t too expensive. I dont know exactly how much we spent there because we went to Italy too and I don''t how much was spent in each country. I did a lot of research on TripAdvisor first before I booked the hotel rooms and and I found great places to stay for not too much. Also, the hotels and restaurants in Greece are way less expensive than they are in other European countries like Italy and France. And the food is absolutely to die for. I am reminiscing/salivating just writing about it. We had an amazing time! The hotel we stayed in on Santorini was called Ira Hotel and it was wonderful, reasonably priced, and the view from our room was absolutely gorgeous. We would come home from exploring the island and sit on our balcony overlooking the water, drink wine, and watch the famous sunset. I want to go back for sure!

 

[bee*]

Date: 11/5/2007 10:44:29 AM
Author: ktkakes
i agree with the two comments above me . we are going to ireland for our honeymoon spending 3 days in dublin then going on a tour of the southern part of ireland and we got it total for a little under 4 grand i cant wait . whats nice is we have a few days before our tour to spend it the two of us, while during the tour we get to see all the magnificat places there is to see.

we went with CIE tours they also do tours to italy..


hope that helps a little... is there a way u can save money on something else and splurge on your honeymoon and go to greece like you wanted? just another suggestion

When are you heading over here? If you need a hand with anything just give me a shout!

 

[eks6426]

Aloro---I''m not honeymoon planning but vacation planning. I''d love to learn more about the Thailand options. Especially the bit more rustic hut options. Please tell.