i noticed all the honeymoon threads seemed to be a few years old so anyways.

got married on may 8th. we didn't take an immediate honeymoon because of a couple things (1 - money, 2 - my job). we stayed at the beach for a couple days after the wedding but we are planning to take a honeymoon sometime this fall. we'd like to maybe do a cruise, or go to hawaii, or go to jamaica, or something similar to those sorta things.

any suggestions? would like to keep it relatively cheap and go sometime in october. maybe 4-5 nights. we've heard a lot of good things about two places in particular... Kaui (sp?) Hawaii and the Sandals Resort in Jamaica.

thanks.

5/17/2010 12:59:54 PM

sandals in bahamas was fun...plus it's a direct flight from charlotte to nassau (save you $$)

5/17/2010 1:04:32 PM

We did Puerto Rico for our one year anniversary, 4 nights at a nice resort, airfare, food, rental car, etc. all said and done <$1500.

5/17/2010 1:13:41 PM

Sandals in Negril was really good, no complaints. I think it was something like $1200 for round trip airfare and 5 nights

5/17/2010 1:18:47 PM

doing Puerta Plata at the end of this month

again less than $1500 gets you 5 days, 4 nights all inclusive including airfare

5/17/2010 1:20:43 PM

DISNEY WORLD! You can get a room at the Pop Century I believe for $70 a night (or around there).


My uncle and aunt went to Sandals... looked kinda lame imo too many things with other couples.

5/17/2010 1:48:23 PM

costa rica! or somewhere in central america. you can go for cheap!

5/17/2010 2:05:06 PM

^my wife and I did nothing w/ other couples except for eating at the japanese restaurant on the resort...but you do that at any japanese restaurant

[Edited on May 17, 2010 at 2:11 PM. Reason : ]

5/17/2010 2:11:34 PM

You need to post a budget, hombre

5/17/2010 2:15:19 PM

panama, Ecuador, Guatemala, costa rica

5/17/2010 2:41:34 PM

Quote :

" ASK YOUR WIFE"

5/17/2010 2:41:36 PM

we did kauai, hawaii for our honeymoon for a week and loved it - it's the most non-commercialized island by far but we still had plenty to do to fill the week with some relaxing pool/beach time in there as well

5/17/2010 3:18:50 PM

In October, you have to be careful about the Carribean, obviously, but you can get some really good deals then. A cruise is always a good option if you go on a good boat and get a not too small room.

I would suggest a Mediterranean cruise, especially now with the Euro falling.

5/17/2010 3:58:01 PM

Cruises fucking suck. I end up daydreaming about chartering or borrowing a yacht to do the same trip.

[Edited on May 17, 2010 at 4:19 PM. Reason : i]

5/17/2010 4:12:34 PM

you apparently haven't been on the right cruise line

5/17/2010 4:44:41 PM

cruises are ok. i wouldn't do one for a honeymoon (no offense). it just seems kinda...not as special. i'd rather do some place in central america (if i'm on a budget - or not, cause i'd go there regardless). but i'd want to do something special. a cruise doesn't seem that special to me

but yes heed the advice re: october. hurricane season

my parents did a cruise in oct though and got a SUPER good deal on an amazing room (with a butler, etc). of course it rained the whole time and the seas were really rough. but i mean - its what you make of it right?

5/17/2010 4:46:58 PM

apparently i have a fucking maritime captain's license...

[Edited on May 17, 2010 at 4:51 PM. Reason : and get wood from wind and ocean]

5/17/2010 4:47:01 PM

Quote :

"I would suggest a Mediterranean cruise, especially now with the Euro falling."

This is what I would like to do for my honeymoon. I mean, you get to see various places and the price includes your meals and accommodations. My fiance really wants to travel Italy so maybe we'll be able to do both. Our budget hasn't been determined so who knows.

As for a cheaper honeymoon, my friend went to Key West and had a blast. I also have another friend who went to the Dominican Republic. Apparently it's pretty cheap, too.

5/17/2010 4:58:03 PM

Did the Sandals Grande Antigua, was very impressed with the service and food/activities available while still a pretty compact resort that didn't feel crowded. It was very nice having it all-inclusive, and the couple only atmosphere was a nice vibe as well (particularly for a honeymoon). Was also nice going somewhere neither of us had been.

Like was said by a previous person we didn't do much with other couples (ate dinner at our own table, other than the Japanese steakhouse) and a couple excursions. People are friendly enough to strike up conversations with, but most likely unless you travel there with another couple you know you are there to be with your partner. You are going to interact with other couple because it is a public place, but other people are there to be with their partner as well more so than to meet people (it is couple only after all). I'd say 75% of the people there (May) were honeymooners, with the balance being older couples there celebrating anniversaries, etc.

Most importantly do what fits your own interests/tastes out of the trip. Also depending on where you are going, October could be prime hurricane season.

5/17/2010 5:25:15 PM

Honestly, if you are only doing 4-5 nights you should either:

1) Travel to a city in the continental US, maybe the Caribbean
2) Go on a cruise that leaves from and returns to the continental US

If you only have 4-5 nights available, any long international air travel will both eat up too much time and be subject to too many possible delays or cancellations.

5/17/2010 5:48:57 PM

Carribean is plenty close for 4-5 nights, especially if you can get a direct flight and/or one short layover.

5/17/2010 5:54:19 PM

5/17/2010 6:13:05 PM

My sister gets married at the end of the month....

She went to Vacationstogo.com to the 90 day ticker and just picked a cheap cruise. She ended up booking it at the same price through the cruise line. She is leaving Puerto Rico and doing the S. Caribbean.

I went on 10 day southern Caribbean last Dec. from Miami (Dominican Republic, Virgin Isles, Antigua, St. Kitts, St. Lucia) for 429. Right before the cruise we called and upgraded to a balcony for 100 a person. My husband loves them and we would be doing a Mediterranean cruise this fall if I wasn't pregnant. For our honeymoon, we got ours at Vacationstogo.com rt from LA to Cabo and Puerta Vallarta. There were 34 other honeymooning couples and they had events that you could just kinda of show up if you wanted.


[Edited on May 17, 2010 at 7:08 PM. Reason : ]

5/17/2010 7:06:43 PM

AHA, there's like little hints of douchiness all throughout this thread, and then arcgreek takes the cake with his "fucking maritime captain's license." He'll sail boats all over your face!!!


And totally not joking, those British Columbia ads during the Olympics made the region look pretty cool. If you could squeeze the trip back in to mid-September, the weather would probably be awesome.

I know you're looking to go a wee bit closer to the equator, but I just had the best/dumbest idea ever if other people are reading this and interested in heading north. You could special order some tropical fruits and shit and make your own rum punch! That would be awesome.

5/17/2010 7:08:24 PM

Aruba
stay at the occidental grand aruba

awesome place

5/17/2010 7:55:51 PM

5/17/2010 9:02:35 PM

Quote :

"Honestly, if you are only doing 4-5 nights you should either: 1) Travel to a city in the continental US, maybe the Caribbean 2) Go on a cruise that leaves from and returns to the continental US If you only have 4-5 nights available, any long international air travel will both eat up too much time and be subject to too many possible delays or cancellations."

Yep. Going to Hawaii is something like a 9 hour trip and airfare alone will cost you around $800.

5/17/2010 9:06:50 PM

we were in Montego Bay, Jamaica at the beginning of April. seven days all inclusive at the Holiday Inn Sunspree.
We had a great time, I just wish we'd stayed at an adults only resort.

We mainly hung out by the (adult) pool and (adult) beaches as the other areas of the resort were crawling with kids. I love kids (I have one) but it was overkill. We got a good deal so can't complain. The food was good and there were plenty of activities and entertainment.

Did two excursions: Chucka horseback riding (2 hr trail ride through the countryside and then a 30 min ride in the ocean) and ziplining. Both were fantastic and affordable. We wanted to go scuba diving in Negril. Don't bother going to the Margaritaville in Montego Bay at night (reminded me of a trashy Myrtle Beach spring break).


I heard from a lot of people that Negril is nicer than Montego Bay. shrug.

October could be risky. How about an Alaskan cruise? Or California wine country?



We're planning on a Eastern or Southern Caribbean cruise for next spring with a bunch of other couples. We also want to save up and go to Hawaii for our 5th weddng anniversary.

5/17/2010 9:08:06 PM

My fiance and I are going to Secrets Maroma in 5 weeks. It is an all inclusive that caters towards couples/adults only, as only 18+ are allowed. I have been to Sandals three times, Sol Melia (Dominican Republic) the last 4 years and have been on 12+ cruises. All inclusives are the way to go, so you know what you are paying and don't get nickeled and dimed to death. With that said, summer honeymoons are peak season, so these resorts that cater towards honeymooners won't offer summer discounts. Ours honeymoon is expensive, but will be well worth it. Secrets Maroma on Moroma Beach (Riviera Maya Region) is rated one of the top 10 beaches in the world by discovery and travel channel. After airfare for 2, roundtrip vouchers, resort and cancel for any reason insurance, it runs $4,000.

5/17/2010 10:37:16 PM

arcgreek
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edit post

Cruises fucking suck. I end up daydreaming about chartering or borrowing a yacht to do the same trip.

[Edited on May 17, 2010 at 4:19 PM. Reason : i]

EPIC FAIL! That being said cruises are great with friends or a girlfriend. I just went on my 9th. BUT for a honeymoon I want to go to Fiji, Aruba, somewhere romantic in the Caribbean where you can just be pampered and enjoy each other. My sister is getting married July 31st and they are doing Hawaii. I guess it is all your budget. I have always believed the grooms parents pay for the honey moon and rehearsal dinner while the brides parents pay for the wedding and reception. That being said I am going to save my own so I can have the wedding and reception and honeymoon I want. It's all how you handle the situation.

5/18/2010 2:40:07 AM

Quote :

" I have always believed the grooms parents pay for the honey moon and rehearsal dinner while the brides parents pay for the wedding and reception."

Yeaaaaaaaah, that rarely happens these days

5/18/2010 3:17:23 AM

I have to say that all inclusives where you mainly stay on a resort property when you are out of the country never really appealed to me. I can understand that some people want to be pampered like that and would enjoy it for something like a honeymoon, but I loved what we did. We went to Costa Rica. We spent a handful of days on some awesome beaches in national parks (better than about any resort we could have gone to) and still got to explore a bunch of other stuff in a foreign country.

I have a few friends who have "been out of the country" 5 or 6 times but they have only done cruises or stayed at a closed off resort in another country. Always seemed crazy to me to spend thousands of dollars to just go sit on a beach in a different country for a whole week. /shrug

5/18/2010 7:34:51 AM

We kinda got the best of both worlds:

went to Egypt/Turkey for 3 weeks but stayed at an all-inclusive in Egypt for 1 week (in Sharm-El-Sheikh, on the Red Sea). It was awesome.

[Edited on May 18, 2010 at 9:27 AM. Reason : 2]

5/18/2010 9:26:56 AM

yea that sounds awesome

5/18/2010 9:42:54 AM

I came here to post:

Quote :

" ASK YOUR WIFE"

srsly

5/18/2010 9:49:04 AM

the original poster has 'we' prefaced to everything he asks. I'm pretty fucking sure they are both interested in suggestions and they've discussed this together already.

5/18/2010 10:24:32 AM

Quote :

"DISNEY WORLD!"

no. how old are you? i like disney world, and have been 7 times and want to go again, but that is the last place i'd want to go on a honeymoon. dead last. "hey honey, let's go stand around with tons of screaming kids for our first week as husband and wife!!!"

5/18/2010 10:25:34 AM

We went to Maui for 10 days on our honeymoon. Plenty to do. I went to Hawaii not really looking forward to it (I had my hopes set on Bora Bora- but costs were just too high to stomach), and ended up loving it and missing it.

5/18/2010 12:20:34 PM

^^ Firstly, if you go to Disney on your honeymoon you get to line jump in all the rides (super bonus).


Secondly, the OP needs to ask his wife where she wants to go. She has something mind, she just doesn't want to tell you what it is because she doesn't think you have the $$ to cover it

[Edited on May 18, 2010 at 1:19 PM. Reason : Thirdly, I'd honeymoon ON THE MOON]

5/18/2010 1:18:49 PM

the fact that you get to cut in line does not eliminate the thousands of screaming children.

5/18/2010 2:06:40 PM

Convinces them to not have kids?

5/18/2010 2:41:34 PM

Headed to St. Martin/Sint Maarten in a couple weeks. I'll try to remember to post about it when I get back, but direct flights from Charlotte weren't too bad and not losing a whole day or two due to travel made us want to head here instead of somewhere in the Pacific. Not all inclusive though, so we're probably going to be spending a bit of coin on our food and drinks, but in theory, you only do this once, right?

5/18/2010 4:46:34 PM

Quote :

"no. how old are you? i like disney world, and have been 7 times and want to go again, but that is the last place i'd want to go on a honeymoon. dead last. "hey honey, let's go stand around with tons of screaming kids for our first week as husband and wife!!!""

Um, yes, and I'm 23... Will be 24 or 25 by the time honeymoon rolls around. I know that Disney is one of the few places I will be able to go to in the future just as a couple without dragging any youngins along. Not to mention, it's not constantly full of "screaming children." There are times during the year when less people are there and there are areas that you're far less likely to bump into a child.

The way I see it, I'm from the beach so going somewhere tropical isn't as exciting to me as others... I'm sorry if that's too immature of an answer for you, but hey - different strokes for different folks.

5/18/2010 4:53:52 PM

i don't hate disney, it's just not where i want to go on a honeymoon, which is supposed to be kinda romantic and stuff. cartoons and kids don't get me in the mood.

i do hate laying on the beach & cruises. i would definitely not pick an all-inclusive caribbean resort type trip either. i like to get out and do stuff. we went to glacier national park and hiked for 4-5 days (not camping though). i know that's not everyone else's cup of tea either, i just don't think disney world is appropriate as a honeymoon location. "A honeymoon is the traditional holiday taken by newlyweds (or between two people in an early harmonious period in a relationship) to celebrate their marriage in intimacy and seclusion."

to each his own...

[Edited on May 18, 2010 at 5:21 PM. Reason : ]

5/18/2010 5:19:41 PM

We went to Aruba.

It was fucking awesome. And generally a lot safer than most of the other islands.

5/18/2010 5:24:50 PM

Tell me more about Egypt and Turkey.

was it safe? how was the food? etc.

we were going to Thailand, but that is kinda looking like it might not happen.

5/18/2010 6:12:17 PM

Koh Phangan in the Gulf of Thailand

5/19/2010 1:13:52 AM

^^ What, you don't want to hang out with a bunch of guys shooting each other?

5/19/2010 1:27:49 AM

Quote :

"Tell me more about Egypt and Turkey. was it safe? how was the food? etc. we were going to Thailand, but that is kinda looking like it might not happen. "

Totally safe. Sharm-El-Sheikh is a very touristy area, just a bunch of hotels/resorts/restaurants/dive shops setup in the middle of the desert. It's about 1 hr flight from Cairo. We spent a few days in Cairo, and it was the dirtiest city I've ever seen in my life. Still, worth it for the pyramids and Cairo museum alone. But now that I've seen it, no interest in going back.

If I were to do the Egypt portion over again, I would def take a Nile cruise. IIRC, it takes about 7 days to get between Alexandria (on the Mediterranean) and Luxor (basically the length of the Nile), longer if you stop at notable spots along the way. IMO, 2 days is about all you need in Cairo and you could schedule that as part of your trip. Luxor has most of the really cool stuff like the Valley of Kings, King Tut's tomb, etc. Really regret not going there.

We spent most of our time in Turkey in Istanbul, which felt very safe and was really enjoyable. Definitely stay in the area near the Blue Mosque / Aya Sophia. Turkey is mostly Islamic but feels very European. Tons of things to see in the city, also did a cruise up the Bosphorus (sp?) river to the Black Sea, which was nice. We also visited the Aegean coast (town called Kusadasi). It was basically a ghost town since we went in November, but it's beautiful and probably kicks ass in the summer. From there you can take day trips to Ephesus, Troy, etc. Turkey has a great (cheap) bus system (I think it cost us $20 for the overnight bus b/w Istanbul and Kusadasi).

Coming from a semi-picky eater, the food was awesome. Pretty typical Mediterranean fare. Actually, it was pretty similar in Egypt and Turkey. I could go on for days about the trip, but I'll stop here.

[Edited on May 19, 2010 at 10:07 AM. Reason : f]

5/19/2010 10:05:39 AM