^^ I stayed at Maho Bay last August before school started. It was awesome, as was St. John in general. Awesome except for the mosquitoes. We ended up moving into Tamarind Court for the last few nights. Some of the other guests who said they visited every summer said that the mosquitoes had never been that bad, though.

If you do go to Maho for a honeymoon (and I'd recommend it), don't stay at the Maho Bay Camps. It'd be difficult to be 'honeymoon intimate' there.

6/15/2007 9:11:26 PM

For those who posted Costa Rica, we've been there, a few times. Will be going back, but not for this trip.

posted for Lutra

6/15/2007 9:24:24 PM

If we had the money - we'd go to St. Thomas, Hawaii, or Italy. those were our top 3.
I've been all over England (3 trips) and France (3 trips).
I love France. I've been to Paris of course, Lyon, Normandy, Riveria, Marseille, Miramas, Provence, and a few other regions. I have family there and went on a foreign exchange trip while in H.S.

I really want to see Italy and that was our top honeymoon choice.



we're getting married 2 weeks from today
in Rochester NY

we're on a very tight budget but are going to Niagra Falls for a few days and then staying in a secluded cabin on a huge lake in Canada (10000 lakes i think?). My fiances grandfather owns hundreds of acres up there so it's not costing us a cent. Then we're stopping on the way down where his parents are staying on thier boat and going out on it for a few days.

We just don't have the money right now between the wedding, buying a house, and having a baby in 5 months.

So we're going to go on a cruise next summer. and drop the kid off at Grandmas.
I think we'll appreciate it more then.

6/16/2007 4:27:26 PM

My father and stepmother got married in Rochester, NY. Gorgeous catholic Chapel downtown.

6/16/2007 4:35:22 PM

We're getting married at St. Andrews
it's downtown and it's old and catholic. I wouldn't say gothic though

6/16/2007 10:27:22 PM

Is it huge with lots of dark wooden fixtures in it?

6/16/2007 11:30:19 PM

My wife and I stayed at the Grand Bahamian Sandals Resort in Cable Beach, which is just outside Nassau, and loved it. Contrary to other Sandals, no kids are allowed at this one and it's only for straight couples (not saying that as anti-gay, that's their actual policy). So, everyone there is either on their honeymoon or a big anniversary. IIRC, the entire 6-day trip was about $5K for the both of us, which didn't include shopping and extra excursions, but it's all-inclusive so you can just stay at the resort, get plastered, and do what honeymooners do all day long.

6/17/2007 10:42:53 AM

Quote :

"we're getting married 2 weeks from today"

how big of a loan did you take out to cover everything?

6/17/2007 5:47:36 PM

[Edited on June 17, 2007 at 6:20 PM. Reason : b]

6/17/2007 5:59:31 PM

Quote :

"for the people that have done the all inclusive deal - did you feel like you were locked into eating/drinking at the hotel and it made you stay near the hotel more? i've never done one and would possibly consider one in the future but when i'm on vacation (unless the intent is to just to the beach) i rarely like to stay near the hotel except after being out all day and going to the pool to relax - i'd rather go out and explore the area and do some tours/excursions - especially in some of the places listed "

grand lido braco in jamaica has 4 or 5 different places to eat in the resort, including i think the only 5 star restaurant on the island. they also offer access to excursions, scuba, free golf at the resort, nude side (if you're into that), 24 hour room service thats included in the price

6/17/2007 11:04:39 PM

Quote :

"Contrary to other Sandals, no kids are allowed "

No kids are allowed at any Sandals resorts anywhere. They are all couples only. Although I have seen some single people at one before, but that is not the norm.

Beaches, which are owned by the same people as Sandals, are the ones where kids are allowed and are clearly marketed as family resorts.

6/18/2007 5:18:24 PM

dont forget the prenup

6/18/2007 7:55:28 PM

hedonism

guarantee it wont have kids!

6/18/2007 8:23:06 PM

Anyone been to Indonesia?

6/19/2007 7:34:07 AM

bttt

6/15/2009 1:34:33 PM

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

6/15/2009 2:03:04 PM

Thanks for the bttt Omar.

We didn't plan a honeymoon immediately following the wedding due to $$ and vacation time at work. So we did a mini-moon, but now that the wedding is over we're starting to think about where we'll take our big trip together. We're thinking of taking our honeymoon sometime during December 2009 - May 2010, and will chose when based on where we decide. I've already read this thread and the ideas so far, but more and other suggestions appreciated.

At the moment, our two big ones at the top of our list are Hawaii and an European cruise.

Anyone been to South America or other Pacific Islands for a vacation/honeymoon?
Minimum time away 7 days...Maximum time away would be 2 weeks.
$ range undetermined at the moment...really just looking for ideas right now

Thanks!

6/15/2009 3:16:17 PM

Quote :

"^^^ no, we're going to The ROYAL Playa del Carmen"

This is what my wife and I did a little over a year ago now. It's very convenient to 5th street, which is good for a nice walk. The food is decent with breakfast being the best meal they have. Having drinks delivered to you pool and ocean side is nice. A tip on the pool, you'll figure this out within a day or so, they say you aren't supposed to do it, but people do it anyway, go get your towel from the towel checkout spot (looking across the pool toward the ocean, it will be on the left near the bar) and claim two chairs with your towels and maybe a book or magazine. The first morning we rolled out at about 10am after breakfast and couldn't get a chair pool side. Tell your soon to be husband to be on the look out, when we first walked out on the beach after we got there this hot as latin chick walked by topless, rubbing her tits seductively. Don't want to miss that.

When you get there, someone will tell you to come ask for someone to get you acquainted with the place. This guy will be really helpful in pointing out resort amenities and also other stuff in the area to do (like Mayan ruins, snorkling, etc), but after about 20-30 minutes of that, he'll start trying to push you to come show up for a time share presentation. They are very nice and very persistent. going so far as to show me a picture of his daughter and stuff. So, you can avoid them altogether or you as soon as you sit down with him tell them you are too poor to afford paying for next years vacation and it would be a waste of everyones time for him to try and sell you on it. Or, maybe you're interested in a time share.

God fucking damnit, didn't realize that was from 2007.

[Edited on June 15, 2009 at 3:39 PM. Reason : .]

6/15/2009 3:38:29 PM

hey...it's ok! if we decided to go there, that is very good information for us

6/15/2009 3:45:31 PM

I highly recommend this company: http://www.intrepidtravel.com

You can do all sorts of really cool tours pretty much anywhere in the world and they have a cool philosophy on how they run the tours. The one I went on there was a honeymooning couple with us and they just went on and on about how glad they were they did it for their honeymoon.

Here is the trip that I did:
http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/VSK

These are some of the ones I want to do:
http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/GXW
http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/RXT
http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/FRE

6/16/2009 5:19:50 AM

Quote :

"GLACIER NATIONAL PARK"

amen, sister...i have almost those exact same shots

6/16/2009 7:45:28 AM

We went to Honduras in December 08 for our honeymoon. We stayed at the Hacienda San Lucas in Copan, and the Lodge at Pico Bonito near La Ceiba.

It was very economical and not touristy or crowded at all. Very private and quiet, perfect for honeymooning. There were many beautiful things and lots of excellent food. We went horseback riding, hiking, visited the Mayan ruins in Copan, visted a wildlife refuge, we had scheduled to go snorkeling at the Cayos Cachinos, but the weather was bad and we didn't get to go. Another popular destination is the island of Roatan and Utila, but we did not visit there this trip.

elkaybie and Lutra, pm me and I can send you a link to some photos that I took and more info

Forgot to mention that Samantha Brown from the travel channel did a special on almost the same trip, so google that for more info

[Edited on June 16, 2009 at 9:56 AM. Reason : k]

6/16/2009 9:49:27 AM

Hawaii?

6/16/2009 6:35:35 PM

i think its funny that some people's food budgets are our whole honeymoon budget.

how on earth do you guys afford $5k honeymoons right after having to spend so much money on a wedding??

i'd like to see some ideas for honeymoons <$1500

6/17/2009 1:17:44 AM

We went to Charleston. Neither of us had ever been before. We used Marriott points to stay at the waterfront hotel. Had a nice corner room with a balcony. Did all the sight seeing, horse drawn carriage rides, plantation tours, and eating we wanted, and got out for less than $400. If we had not used our points, the room would have been $776.42 for 5 nights.

6/17/2009 6:58:07 AM

Quote :

"i'd like to see some ideas for honeymoons <$1500"

For our honeymoon, my husband and I are taking yet another road trip this summer (It would have happened even if we hadn't eloped, but because so many people started asking about a honeymoon, we decided to give this as an answer. What we had that was more like a traditional honeymoon, in terms of timing + seclusion + romantic was a series of weekend trips in the weeks after we got married. Like going whitewater rafting for the first time ever the weekend after we got married . Eloping to the outer banks was something of a built-in honeymoon, too.)

I just did the mileage, and it looks like 5400 miles RT is about how far we'll go. Unlike last trip, we won't be crossing the Rockies - this trip will have much less in the way of elevation changes, so a very conservative estimate of only 27 mpg (I fully expect to see 29+, and 32+ would not surprise me) means that we'll buy 199 gallons of gas. If gas is 3.50/gal, we'll spend $650 on gas (rounded to 200gal); if it's $4, we're looking at $800.

Last year, we stayed in far too many hotels and ate way too much fast food. This year, we'll be camping, and eating more normal groceries. I don't know how much to plan for food, but I have convinced my husband that it is worth it to plan to eat from groceries in the car most of the time. (He places an overly high premium on getting on the road ASAP, even at the expense of eating better. I had to throw a tantrum last year to get him to take me to walmart to buy granola, yogurt, bread, and lunch meat, because I was absolutely sick of fast food. I told him that I was not leaving the hotel room until he promised he would take me to some sort of grocery store, and that I meant it when I said I was sick of fast food.)


Camping costs:
$100 for four nights in yellowstone. The total trip is from 7/9 (leave raleigh) to 7/26 (arrive raleigh); for two nights for sure, we're staying with family (possibly three). Two nights at $100 for a wedding. That leaves, at most, 10 nights to decide on lodging. We'll probably stay at a hotel 3 of those, so say $300 total for those. I figure $25/night camping for the remaining 7 (knowing that some nights, we'll probably not even have any fees), and total lodging costs are around $775.

I'll probably spend $30-$40 on postcards and stamps; $60 on souvenirs (I like to get those little pins at the parks and destinations I visit); and another $100 for misc souvenirs and shotglasses (what my husband likes to get for his souvenirs).

So, so far:
gas: $800
Lodging: $775
Souvenirs/etc: $200
Petsitting for 18 days: $150? $180? I forget what he pays the petsitter. $200 for calculation purposes in this thread.
Food: Oh, hell. I don't know. $400 would definitely be enough, and allows for a lot of flexibility, and errors in other areas, or costs I've forgotten.
So for 18 days, $2375. A very generous $2375, for breathing room and mistakes/omissions.

Ways to take it down to $1500:
- Use the more fuel efficient car: I get 36mpg city, and my car is roadtrip-worthy. He likes to be the driver, though Savings: $244 - $313 (figured 39mpg for the trip)
- Don't plan attending a wedding into the trip
Savings: $200 on lodging alone. It adds more mileage, and so save the costs associated with that.
- Make it shorter, even by two days
Savings: >$50 camping costs, and >$20 for food, and some mileage.
- Don't go so far. Stay in destinations longer. Don't drive to BFE, MN to see one elderly relative
Savings: Easily 1000 miles (at least 1400 in our case). $156-$178

These four items take it down to $1679, and three of the four are bare minimums: you can easily increase the savings dramatically. Especially if you choose to, say, only take a 10 day honeymoon. (I don't know what a 'normal' honeymoon duration is.)

My husband and I plan year-round for these summer road trips. We make a much bigger deal out of these trips than most people would, and so I think it'd be relatively easy to trim costs down to work for you.

Of course, this is all moot if you hate driving/riding, and/or camping

6/17/2009 9:00:00 AM

Quote :

"how on earth do you guys afford $5k honeymoons right after having to spend so much money on a wedding??"

we were very fortunate in that our parents contributed to the majority of the wedding expenses. we're paying for the honeymoon ourselves which like i said above, other than vacation time at work, is one of the reasons we're waiting 6 months-year post wedding to actually take our honeymoon. we just plan and save (ya know...eat ramen every night, have yard sales or sell things on e-bay, hahaha)

also, i know that some people factor the honeymoon expense in to their overall wedding budget. some couples i know have received their honeymoon as a gift from family or parents as their wedding gift. there are even "honeymoon registry" sites where people can buy excursions on your planned honeymoon as a wedding gift, or contribute to help pay for it.

i'm digging the http://www.intrepidtravel.com link...and I totally DVR'd a bunch of Samantha Brown's shows the other night to get ideas

6/17/2009 9:46:02 AM

I think the package that we had was about $1100-1200. I found this was very reasonable for a week's vacation. This did not include food and airfare which was about $400 each.

Here is one of the awesome views from the Hacienda San Lucas in Honduras:


and the front of our cabin at the Lodge at Pico Bonito:


Ok, I looked up the episode guide for Samantha Brown's passport to Latin America series. The episode on Honduras is supposed to air Wednesday, June 24, from 12-12:30pm. Set your DVR!

[Edited on June 17, 2009 at 5:20 PM. Reason : add]

6/17/2009 5:17:27 PM

Just got back from my honeymoon Monday to the Turks and Caicos. Stayed at Point Grace and spent about 6000 when everything was said and done probably not counting plane tickets because those were free for us using points. I would go back here in a second and would highly recommend it to someone looking for a very nice place to honeymoon.

6/17/2009 6:36:31 PM

6/17/2009 8:40:41 PM

Your cabin!!!!!!!

Oh my

6/17/2009 9:51:39 PM

Yeah, amber, those pictures are gorgeous. It makes me want to go right now!!

6/17/2009 10:12:24 PM

Quote :

"how on earth do you guys afford $5k honeymoons right after having to spend so much money on a wedding??"

we went to hawaii - her parents paid for the wedding in almost its entirety - minus the open bar which we covered - our honeymoon was paid for by my hotel points and airline miles - the only thing we had to spend money on what what we spent there - the room was about $2750 if you paid for it and the first class tix to hawaii were about $4000 - so it ended up being a pretty cheap honeymoon

6/17/2009 11:01:54 PM

So we did a cruise. We went on the 90 day ticker on Vacations-to-Go. The last min. cruise website.

http://www.vacationstogo.com/login.cfm?t=y&u=n&sp=y

We picked one out and went on a 7 day Mexican Riviera Royal Caribbean cruise. It was amazing. I think there were 30 honeymoon couples on there with us. It was 569 pp (for an outside cabin) and had on board credit. We ended up winning our cruise back in blackjack, but that is a totally different story.

We did end up leaving from LA. So we had to buy plane tickets. We liked the fact we didn't really know where we were going until we went through the list and picked one out. I mean last month I saw Alaska 7 day cruises for 399.

I am looking at this package which includes air to Greece and Turkey for $999 pp for our anniversary trip.
http://www.friendlyplanet.com/athens-3-day-greek-isles-cruise.html

[Edited on June 17, 2009 at 11:16 PM. Reason : ]

6/17/2009 11:14:45 PM

i would go to http://www.maho.org/ 100000000 times

6/18/2009 12:11:56 AM

Quote :

"i'm digging the http://www.intrepidtravel.com link."

I was surprisingly pleased with Intrepid. I'm not the type of person to do tours usually but an Aussie friend talked me into trying them out. I am so glad he did. It felt like I was backpacking with a bunch of friends rather than being in a tour group. The tour guides were all local, chill people too that would bring us to hole in the wall local restaurants rather than the tourist traps. It was great.

6/18/2009 3:42:08 AM

FYI to posters, humandrive and I have been married over a year now! Sooo, if you're still posting it's for other soon to be wed tdubbers. We are thinking about a British Isle trip next year though!

6/18/2009 2:10:27 PM

bttt

9/28/2009 3:18:05 PM

who is getting hitched?

9/28/2009 6:01:15 PM

Quote :

"or other Pacific Islands for a vacation/honeymoon? "

I've been to Saipan and we plan on going again this December. Saipan and the surrounding islands kick ass. And it's part of the US so you don't have to worry about visas or anything. Some of the stuff we saw in Saipan included:











When we go in December we're going to spend more time snorkeling, particularly where the sea turtles like to hang out and we're going to make sure to get to the WWII museum before it closes this time

I've also been to the Okinawan islands twice which are amazing, especially the southern islands, but I would think it would be retardedly expensive from the States.

And we've been to Koh Phi Phi which was surprisingly not overrated. I highly recommend that one as well.

I had thought about going to Bali but my Aussie friends all describe it as the Aussie equivalent of Myrtle Beach so I will probably skip it.

[Edited on September 28, 2009 at 6:28 PM. Reason : ,]

9/28/2009 6:27:17 PM

We went to Micronesia. Fantastic vacation if you're scuba divers. Not really a honeymoon locale though. If anyone is interested in Micronesia (specifically Truk Lagoon) let me know.

9/28/2009 6:51:46 PM

I think a honeymoon to Africa would be pretty neat. Hit Ghana, S. Africa, and Kenya to stay in relatively safe, English speaking countries. Also that way you get to see three very different parts of the continent that had very different histories. Also Ethiopia if you could swing it. Maybe do some sort of service with an aid organization while there. No reason not to do some good in the world while enjoying the beginning of a marriage.

9/28/2009 7:19:29 PM

Quote :

"Kenya to stay in relatively safe"

You haven't paid much attention to Kenya recently have you?

9/28/2009 7:21:28 PM

ok i wont read all the other suggestions. so, sry if repeating

considering your differences in travel experience, i'd suggest a cruise. you can see many places while not having to change hotels. it is a nice way to "sample" future vacation spots.

not a crappy carnival cruise. i nice one, princess, celebrity, or holland america. you could go on a very nice 7 nt cruise and stay in a balcony room rather than an inside stateroom.

i'd suggest one that leaves from san juan if you'd like to stay in the caribbean, because cruises from san juan going to the souther caribbean typically have the most days at sea.

during the day you can swim, snorkel, hike, etc at each destination. at night you can dress up, have a nice dinner, and go dancing or to a show.

your nicer cruises have very good food and the entertainment is much better than the lower end cruises.

my husband and i are cruise whores. we go on at least 1 per year. love them. good destinations, good food, good lodging, good entertainment. and they are quite cost effective in comparison to other vacations.

some cruises we have enjoyed: greece and italy, alaska, western mex (to acapulco), bermuda, southern caribbean.

other vacations that we've liked: half moon bay ritz carlton, napa valley, west palm beach, palm springs, aspen (in fall as well as winter. aspens are beautiful), banff, hawaii (going back again this year)

in our 5 yr plan: galapagos, northern europeean cruise, orient cruise (really wanting to visit angkor wat for some reason), possible longer alaskan cruise





[Edited on September 28, 2009 at 7:46 PM. Reason : er]

9/28/2009 7:42:04 PM

^^
"Kenya had an uncharacteristic bout of intertribal violence in January 2008 after a disputed presidential election. Things have now quieted down and the country is considered safe for travelers, but the situation remains somewhat on edge, so follow local news carefully."

I am assuming you are talking about the above but if not let me know. I tend to read more news out of southern africa than any other region so I am not completely in the know.

From Wikitravel, and i know that isnt the best source but it isnt a bad one either.

[Edited on September 28, 2009 at 7:55 PM. Reason : ^^]

9/28/2009 7:55:23 PM

we spent 2 weeks in Sydney, but it was around 4000 for everything (but i have hotel points up the ass, so that part was free), and the travel agent was a close family friend

we did a tour of the mountains, a jet flight where we landed and had lunch at a vineyard, river cruise, i climbed the harbor bridge

dreamworld is great too, but i think busch gardens is better

9/28/2009 8:09:32 PM

I don't know who this was bttt'd for, but since I had it bttt'd hubs and I have planned our honeymoon. Eastern European cruise out of Venice touring Dubrovnik, Athens, Izmir, & Nafplion April 29th-May 10th

9/28/2009 8:45:36 PM

Barbados

9/28/2009 10:54:55 PM

glacier national park

9/28/2009 10:56:41 PM

looking at thailand and the surrounding area, india possibly.

so far a short stay (3-4 days) on a junk that sails around (you pick where it goes) all food included seems to be a winner, i'm also looking at resorts but that's just b/c i dunno what else there is around there (we would get out of the resort most days (jungle trekking, elephants, etc)

the best part is that it's all pretty cheap...

9/28/2009 11:59:24 PM