as someone who did thailand for the honeymoon, you're right, dont go for a weekand don't schedule to leave for a 30+ hour trip the morning after your wedding, when you're going to have a mean hangover going.you'll have a bad time.
9/25/2012 4:50:15 PM
We're doing a brunch the morning after with the wedding party and other invited guests. So the earlier we'll be able to leave is that night.
9/25/2012 4:53:40 PM
Would it be possible to do it during her Christmas break so you don't feel as rushed? Maybe do a mini-vacation right after the wedding just to decompress from the craziness that is the wedding.I was so thankful that I didn't have to worry about packing for the wedding and then a honeymoon right after.
9/25/2012 5:17:29 PM
Went to Sandals Whitehouse in Jamaica.....On a scale of 1-10, I would say it was about a 5.- Drinks are served in plastic "cafeteria" cups which I found very annoying for some reason. I dont know any other way to describe them but ice melts really quick and the drinks are really small. - Food was actually decent for an all-inclusive. Portions were incredibly small and the service was usually very slow but once it arrived, it wasn't bad.- Activities outside of the resort are ridiculously overpriced- Snorkeling was approximately 100yds off of the shore on a really lame reef and you had to wear a life vest. It only lasted 30 minutes.- Staff was mostly very pleasant however some of the younger staff members were rude and annoying. They also never stop yelling "ya' mon"......seriously....it's all they say....- I upgraded my room prior to departure and Im glad I did. I walked into my upgraded room and was immediately disappointed in where it was on the resort and how small it was. I can't imagine what I originally booked looked like. Pros:-Great reception at the airport and transportation was lined up by the resort. The 2hr ride through the mountain of Jamaica was unnerving to say the least, but we made it.-Easy departure plans setup to get you to the airport on time. -Tons of alcohol-Great pools with swim up bars and occasional activities (pool volleyball)-Price wasn't bad
9/25/2012 5:37:23 PM
We are headed on a Mediterranean cruise from Venice, Italy to Barcelona Spain. Everything is booked and ready to go... except for our transportation from the airport to the hotel. I guess we're swimming on our suitcases And our hotel stay for one freakin night is 350.00 per person!Its kinda BS because when we were booking the cruise, our travel agent said that transportation is provided, but after we booked it, they said it wasn't and would cost us 250.00 for a personal water taxi. I was like wtf. After spending $6500 on this damn thing, you'd think she would be able to work that out since she messed up. I don't care really; just excited to eat the food there. Anyone that has been there have any suggestions where we ought to go see?
9/25/2012 5:58:14 PM
9/25/2012 6:36:46 PM
9/25/2012 6:41:40 PM
I haven't been on our honeymoon yet, but I am SUPER glad we didn't go right after. There was so much stuff to take care of (getting stuff from multiple cars, unpacking it, saying goodbye to out of town family, etc, etc) for several days after the wedding.Besides, now I get to de-clutter the house of wedding presents, and make it all spiffy before we leave. Just gives us another thing to get excited for.I would second the Virgin Islands. My parents have never stopped talking about their trip there.[Edited on September 25, 2012 at 11:17 PM. Reason : .]
9/25/2012 11:17:16 PM
She's pretty adamant about going right after the wedding. I'm indifferent, but I can see her point. After all of the work and stress of the wedding (on the female moreso than the male), I can see the need to go ahead and take the vacay.
9/26/2012 12:04:01 AM
Anybody do Venezuela??We just got back from her family's annual trip to Aruba and we talked to some people in line in customs that piqued our interest in Venezuela. I'm about to do some research, but would like to see if anyone here has been and has opinions.I believe it will hit the travel requirements (we're trying not to spend a WHOLE day traveling). We were able to get to Aruba in less than half a day. Left at the butt-crack of dawn and got there by lunch. Apparenlty Venezuela is less than 30 miles from Aruba...so it can't be much of a difference.It hits the weather requirments (honeymoon in late October, so there has to be zero probability of cold weather). Aruba is pretty much 80+ year round...so I'm going to assume that Venezuela is similar.It being Central American and not a mainly Carribean touristy island, hopefully it will give us a little culture. Also hoping there's some opportunity for some "adventure-like" activities as opposed to sitting on the beach all-day (which would like to do just half the time ).
2/24/2013 3:26:54 PM
I would save the money and look into Gulfport, Mississippi. I hear the beaches are beautiful and the town is top notch.
2/24/2013 5:40:55 PM
Going to Nappa and San Fran in June for the honeymoon. We aren't going to French Laundry, but are there any other things we shouldn't miss?
2/24/2013 6:14:18 PM
hopping in to get some advice from you old married folk. Honeymooning in August (4-9 or 10) want to do caribbean but don't want to get hurricanne'd. Not 100% committed to a resort, could also rent a house. Fiancee doesn't want to go to sandals or take a cruise, I don't want to be murdered in Mexico. Other than that, we're open to anything else..... thanks TWW
2/24/2013 8:04:19 PM
^^ All the drinking in Napa?We had a great honeymoon there, mostly by researching all the wines we were interested in and planning to stop at a lot of different places. I'd stay away from the more commercial places (Sterling, Mondavi, etc) to avoid crowds and to try wines you can't get in NC. Some places in Napa do require appointments, so be mindful of that before going out there. We did Napa from Sunday to Saturday, so we did most of our tasting during the week: it was pretty dead in most of the tasting rooms, which was nice.Shame you're not hitting French Laundry, it was one of the best parts of our trip. That said, do wander around Yountville a bit while there: Bottega, Bouchon Bakery and Ad Hoc are all really awesome.
2/24/2013 8:55:21 PM
^ The wine is the main reason we're going. We'd love to hit French Laundry, but she's a med student, I'm a grad student, so we can't swing the $300 a head for one dinner and reservations are so hard to get.We're going to do this:http://winetrain.comand there is a bicycle tour of some vineyard we're going to do. We are planning to do some vineyard hopping and hoping to eat some great food (though not FL great), and throw a spa day in at some point.. We're going to spend a few nights at the end of our trip in San Fran as well. We'll check out the places you recommended.So you guys spent all 5-6 nights in Nappa? I've heard that is too long, which is why we're planning to spend the last few in SF.[Edited on February 24, 2013 at 9:04 PM. Reason : ]
2/24/2013 9:02:35 PM
We did a spa day at Solageit rocked, although it's normally quite expensive - they had a weekday deal on the mudslides, though, so it worked outas far as other dinner options go: Bouchon, Bottega, Mustard's Grill were all great for dinnerwe also went to Redd, but weren't wowed by itWe did a full week in Napa, but we had plenty to do between the sheer number of wineries we wanted to go to, plus the driving (you're not actually in the town of Napa the whole time: you drive up and down the highway to get to all of the wineries) and dinner plans (I mean, French Laundry was at least four hours one night, so yeah)[Edited on February 24, 2013 at 9:10 PM. Reason : but I had been to SF before, but not Napa, so we didn't do much in SF proper]
2/24/2013 9:04:16 PM
Trinidad and Tobago anyone? Too many "hit or miss" reviews on the Venezuelan coast and it's islands.
2/26/2013 9:17:38 AM
Majorca is wonderful. I would go back in a heartbeat
2/26/2013 4:35:17 PM
I think I've got a winner with the Castara Retreats in Tobago. It hits all my requirements...just have to talk the lady into it.
2/26/2013 4:57:36 PM
Being steered towards Belize now. I'm still in love with the Castara Retreats in Tobago, but I've been promised that we'll use it for a later vacation (lets see if that holds). It's a little more "rustic", and the fiancee keeps preaching how she doesn't want to "rough it" at all on the honeymoon. Too many stories of brides being exhausted after wedding week. Its not a fight I'm going to win.Her parents' travel agent is pushing us towards getting a "casita" at the Victoria House. I'm doing some browsing and research this morning and I'm pretty impressed so far.Anyone do Belize? In October/November? Thoughts?
3/12/2013 10:36:25 AM
Never heard of it, but pretty solid tripadvisor ratings.http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g291962-d302868-Reviews-Victoria_House-San_Pedro_Ambergris_Caye_Belize_Cayes.html
3/12/2013 10:50:51 AM
I went to St. Thomas because we f**ed off and did not get our passports. Magens Bay was beautiful, but for whatever reason there were like eleventy billion jellyfish floating by, not sure if its always like that or if it was just temporary. If you visit St. Thomas (its a short beutiful ferry ride) to see beaches go on a day no cruise ships are in port, when a ship is in the whole place is crawling with people and all the taxis are full, beaches full, etc. When no ships are in everyone that lives there is just chilling and its a lot more relaxing. My favorite beach on St. Thomas was Coki (sp?) Beach. There are people selling fresh fruit cocktials right on the beach and the snorkeling is amazing.
3/12/2013 12:32:20 PM
Getting married May 18 and we've both been busy with other things so I'm trying to decide on a honeymoon with some degree of quickness. We're looking at 7 to 9 days including travel. Budget maxes out around $4k but less is certainly welcome.Considering the Carribean of course, possibly along the Mexican Rivera...I hadn't heard of Secrets Maroma before reading this thread but I'll look into that. Bermuda could be another option though I'm not sure how warm it would be since it's farther north than the carribean islands.Also considering keeping it in the USA. One idea I was considering would be to fly to Miami, rent a convertible, and drive into the Keys. Stay 3 or 4 nights at one with good beaches (Largo? Marathon?) and then drive down into Key West for 2-3 nights. Seems like the drive would be scenic and there would be plenty of relaxation, then plenty to do in Key West if we were bored of the beach by then.Amazingly I hadn't really considered Hawaii, but I've heard it's $texas to do it right so it may not be budget-friendly. Especially considering that flights are stupid expensive currently. Need to look further into prices there.
3/12/2013 2:55:42 PM
So the Victoria House in Belize and Sandals in St Lucia are our final two choices. It's looking like both will end up being similar prices in the end. St. Lucia will be $5,300 all inclusive (that includes airfare). Belize will be $2,000 accommodations and about $1,900 for flights. We've looked at all of the "activities" packages (private massages, boat trips to snorkel spots, ziplining, cave tubing, etc) and picked what we wanted to do and that is right around $1,000. So here's the breakdown:Belize:- $2,000 casita (bungalow) on the beach- $1,900 flights- $375 golf cart rental for the week- $1,000 activities- ????? for food and drinks ??????I'm thinking of about a $1,200 food and alcohol budget. Which puts the total around $6,500.St. Lucia:- $5,300 all inclusive- $1,000 for activities similar to BelizeSo basically...it's the exact same fucking price. So which is better? Didn't get any responses to my Belize questions, but I'm guessing a few people here have been to St Lucia before. Normally we wouldn't go for the all inclusive because we would get tired of the same restaurants and doing everything around the resort, but in St Lucia, the inclusive includes access to all three Sandals resorts with around 20+ restaurants. So that kinda makes that concern moot. At the same time, in Belize, I kind of like the idea of taking the golf cart into San Pedro and trying out all the local places and getting out of the "resort feel."A lot depends on how accurate my food/alcohol budget is for Belize. If its closer to $2,000, then maybe we should just stick with St. Lucia and eat and drink our faces off for free. But if the prices are the same, then I'll probably go with Belize unless my research on St. Lucia today blows me away.Thoughts??
3/14/2013 10:27:58 AM
I have heard if you go to an all inclusive, make sure its a large enough resort with enough variety to keep you from getting bored with the same food and backdrop.
3/14/2013 10:46:49 AM
3/14/2013 11:12:44 AM
I really think the only places where an all inclusive is a good deal are places where there is not much to see/do off the resort property, or places where going off the resort property is not as safe. There are some stunning resorts in places where you really do not want to wander around off the resort.
3/14/2013 1:14:34 PM
Just rereading this thread and wanted to put in my two cents, since I started it.I went to Secrets Maroma in the Mexican Riviera and it was perfect for what we wanted.We wanted an all-inclusive, adults only, somewhere with amazing beaches but that there was more to do than just beach bum it.Our tri fit all those perfectly. It was a quick trip to Cancun (4 hours I think?), easy transfer to the resort, amazing facilities and the best beach I've been to (no real snorkeling there is the only downside, but no biggie). We bummed it at the beach most of the week with some trips inland to spice it up and do some cultural stuff. Went to Coba (a great ruin which you can still climb on), and Akumal to snorkel and swim with the sea turtles.There were like 7-9 restaurants and we only ate at one twice, and didn't get bored with it. There was enough variety for us, and we're big food people.One week all told set us back around $4500 at the end of it.Would definitely recommend, and we've promised to go back in a year or three after some more traveling.[Edited on March 14, 2013 at 2:43 PM. Reason : Just read the previous few posts]
3/14/2013 2:35:32 PM
I originally was going to book Sandals in St. Lucia, but when I looked at the flights, it was 17-18 hour flights one way for everything. Every flight involved going to NYC or Toronto and then flying back down to St. Lucia.Because of the flight time, I switched and did Sandals Negril in Jamaica. Travel time was much better(only about 4-4.5 hours of flight time with one stop in ATL) and I could get a nicer room with butler service for the same price.I'd definitely recommend Sandals Negril. It was my first experience with Sandals, or an All-Inclusive resort, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. But if I'm picking a Sandals resort, I'm definitely going with the Butler service, definitely a difference maker on the trip.Pros:- All of the food was really good and getting reservations to the nicer restaurants wasn't too bad(though Butler took care of this). Portion sizes weren't a problem, but you can easily order more if you're still hungry.- Staff is super nice. They had good activities going every night(concerts, poker nights, shows, etcs) and they usually kept activities going around the pool and activity areas(beach volleyball, pool tournaments, etc).- All of the people we met were great, but it wasn't crowded. Plenty of space to just do our own thing, but also some really good conversation with new couples we met, young and old.- Butler service. Having our beach chairs setup with fresh towels every day, having a cooler packed with water and bottles of Red Stripe each day and kept filled throughout the day, making reservations we wanted, decorating the room each night for the romantic feel(candles, flower petals, etc), bringing us random food/treats to the beach to snack on, etc. Really worth the extra money.Cons:- Haha, it was only in the morning and at the main dining area(buffet style), but if you sat in a certain area of the dining room, you'd have birds that liked to hover over you and try to get to your food. We just ended up moving to a different area most mornings(or doing room service) and it was fine after that one time. But some of the wildlife was fun to watch(peacocks in particular).- Anything you forget to bring(sunscreen, bug spray, etc) is quite expensive in the gift shop. (One spray bottle Banana Boat sunscreen was $26).- Local vendors setting up on a pathway near the main pool selling merchandise and trying to get you to stop. Also people walking down the beach trying to sell various items(jewelry, hats, shirts, smokes, "seashells") could get annoying but it wasn't too bad.The new wife was definitely raving about Sandals on our return, and while there she was already talking about when we could go back. We'll probably try to check out another resort, but I'd have no qualms with going back to Negril. Even the 1:30 ride to the resort from Montego Bay was a scenic beach route and they stopped half-way so we could buy a few beers and snacks.
3/18/2013 9:53:56 AM
3/19/2013 9:52:18 AM
Yeah the St. Lucia thing was a buzz-kill for me too, had really fallen in love with the idea of going there as well. Belize sounds great though. Yeah the waiting sucks but definitely gives you something to look forward to when the wedding planning starts to get stressful.
3/19/2013 12:18:52 PM
My wife and I are headed to Ireland this Tuesday for our honeymoon! It's on!!!! 7 days, $1400 each including flights, hotel stays, rental car, Waterford house tour, cliffs of moher, ring of kerry tour, hurling match, horse race at fairyhouse, breakfast and dinner each day, and spa st the Heritage resort.
3/23/2013 1:10:30 PM
^I was just about to ask if anyone had advice on European destinations for a honeymoon. I know a couple that did the Almalfi Coast and it sounds pretty amazing.
3/24/2013 8:36:35 PM
We are doing Paris for a week in October but I haven't created an itinerary yet. Any ideas from you people for a romantic Paris trip?
3/25/2013 6:09:41 PM
At what point in the year does it become too hot in the caribbean to enjoy sitting on the porch there?
3/25/2013 7:03:26 PM
The tropics, including the Caribean, don't really have seasonal temperature changes. It's more of a Rainy - Dry season shift. December to April is usually the drier time, and May to November is wetter.The 2 times I went to the Bahamas (not really the tropics, but close) in a wet season, it was pretty nice, just the occasional shower. It did make sleeping on the deck of our boat unpleasant, but didn't affect our daytime activities too much.We did Costa Rica for our Honeymoon in January and our first stop was at a mountain resort. It was the dry season but it still rained every 20 minutes. That ended as soon as we got to the coast.
3/25/2013 8:20:26 PM
Just got back from our honeymoon in Ireland! Holy shit, it an awesome trip!!!!!!!! Definitely recommend.
4/3/2013 10:20:34 AM
^^ Agreedhttp://caribbean-guide.info/weather/
4/3/2013 11:15:46 AM
4/3/2013 12:08:17 PM
Changed our minds about trying to go to French Laundry while in Nappa. After 3 days of trying we finally got through and got a reservation. Our last night in Nappa we will have dinner at FL, pretty excited about that.[Edited on April 3, 2013 at 1:37 PM. Reason : ]
4/3/2013 1:34:32 PM
Damn "PRIX FIXE 270.00"
4/3/2013 2:32:57 PM
^Yeah, it's not cheap and if this wasn't our honeymoon, we would be more likely to pass. It's supposed to be one of the best restaurants in the world though, so I'm really looking forward to it.
4/3/2013 3:05:37 PM
^I have the French Laundry cookbook and i LOVE it. So jealous of you! It's on my bucket list.Please let me know how you like it!PS: Buy the cookbook for your new wife.. she will love it.[Edited on April 3, 2013 at 6:32 PM. Reason : yep.]
4/3/2013 6:31:55 PM
French Laundry is worth every single cent of that, honestlyplus you'll get extra stuff (cake, champagne) if they know you're on your honeymoonalso, make sure you don't rush it: 3-4 hours, at least - I think we were there for 4and maybe hire someone to drive you home (if you're into wine, and plan on getting it - and you should: we just gave them a budget and they saw to the pairings, which were AWESOME)^ the food's a little too fancy for me to want to even attempt to cook anything out of that cookbook, but I do like his Bouchon Bakery, Bouchon, and Ad Hoc cookbooks a lotoh, and you can ask to go see the kitchen at FL while you're there: do it, it's kinda cool to see how small the kitchen really is[Edited on April 3, 2013 at 6:44 PM. Reason : .]
4/3/2013 6:38:16 PM
4/3/2013 7:49:42 PM
The cookbook is not intimidating at all. It teaches you HOW to cook moreso than what to cook.. Great photos.. Just very very well done!
4/3/2013 8:33:07 PM
4/3/2013 9:11:25 PM
Temperature shouldn't be a consideration of the carribean, but depending on what part you are in hurricanes could be a risk. Go somewhere further south like Antigua or St. Lucia it shouldn't be a concern.
4/3/2013 9:36:00 PM
4/3/2013 10:04:04 PM
put it in her butt
4/3/2013 11:59:49 PM