Alright, so I'm engaged to get married next year and have been put in charge of selecting the place for our honeymoon. Problem is, I have no idea where to begin!

So maybe some of y'all can chime in with some ideas on where to go and why you would go there. You don't necessarily have to have already been on a honeymoon. It can be places where you've simply gone on vacation and would love to go back.

Prerequisites are:

1) Fun
2) Romantic
3) Outside the Continental U.S.
4) Won't break the bank.

The last one is particularly important because neither my fiance's nor my parents are well-to-do. We are essentially bank-rolling the wedding and honeymoon ourselves with no help from our parents, thus we're aiming to keep costs down. Our budget will be $5k tops.

 

Thailand.

 

Dunno about your budget, but I've always liked to go the Caribbean or Italy for a honeymoon.

Carribean, because you can get a quiet and peaceful island, where you can spend some me and her time, but at the same time do some amazing activities.

Italy because of its atmosphere, people, and of course...food.
the cars form there are a nice benefit as well.

 

Lol...sorry no Thailand. It's too close to "home".

My Dad lives in Thailand and will be traveling to the States to attend the wedding. We are not following him back after the wedding's over. That and I figure sometime in the future we'll be visiting my dad anyhow.

 

I hear you can be treated like royalty in Jamaica, for cheap.

You can get with a travel agent for honeymoon deals to places like Hawaii.

 

If you book now, you'll be able to lock-in a great deal, just in case the economy picks up in a year, and prices go up.

 

Hey man, in the last 2 and a half years I've been real lucky on all the vacations I've be on here is the list

2 little cruises to Mexico, no big deal

2 one week cruises in the Caribbean, love it out there been on many Islands

1 cruise to Mexican Riveria

Oahu is nice but Maui is better- yes in U.S I know but still nice

My favorite and dream vacation was a two week cruise in Italy/Crotia FANTASTIC.

If you are wanting something with a budget but, want to see many places cruises are the best. I like Royal Caribbean they have some great ships, food is always great, not to partyish but not to boring at the same time and I'm 23.

If you have any question just PM me good luck. I'll be doing Kauai in July and another Italy/Greece in October.

 

^Hawaii is ok, because it's outside the continental U.S. The Italy/Greece one sounds real nice, especially because I've never been to Greece.

I've heard because of the swine flu scare, there's lots of discounts right now for Mexico. My brother supposedly is taking a cruise to Mexico for $99 or so this summer. Of course, there's no telling what the price would be for next year.

 

Sandals Grande St. Lucian. Enjoy.

 

I recommend against it. Jamaica is completely hit-or-miss, some resorts are total crap and outdated. If something is listed as a 5-star in Jamaica, it's a 4-star or possibly 3-star anywhere else. Fun place to visit (I've been there twice for group vacations where it was a blast), particularly if you , but I wouldn't recommend it for the honeymoon.

 

My honeymoon is in Oct and we booked a resort in Punta Cana. Great price for a 5 star all inclusive resort

 

^That's a beautful resort, at least from their website pics. Mind I ask how much?

 

Hawaii

 

I was there about 5 years ago. Nice room, but not one of the crazy honeymoon suites or anything. A little over 4 grand with airfare for 2 people for a week.

The great thing is that includes everything -- meals, drinks, all alcohol, everything. You don't open your wallet at all while you're there, except to leave a few tips.

I would highly recommend it, there were a ton of couples there on their honeymoon.

And I'm sure there's good deals to be had now.

 

Some killer packages now and you don't have to exchange currency. Neighbor islands always nice if you want something more tropical and exotic.

 

Airfare right now or at least in October to London I heard is like 500 bucks round trip

 

Maui

 

wifey and i went to club med bora bora (french polynesia) for our honeymoon. i'm pretty sure you will pay less than us, as we went during the christmas holidays in 2007/2008.

 

Is the $5k including airfare or not?
If not, maybe you could look at the Maldives? I went to the Banyan Tree Maldives for my honeymoon. Beautiful white beaches and blue waters.

 

Bora Bora and Tahiti~Beautiful!! Very Romantic private getaways. All inclusive resorts have your own private huts right on the water.

 

+1.

1) You're still in the US - no passports, no money problems, no language problems
2) It's a known quantity - that is, you know you'll have a good time for your $ and won't get taken or misinformed
3) $5K would do it up nice - good hotel, and $ to go have fun
4) From where you're at, it might even be a direct flight

Been to Maui once and Kauai twice. Maui had more to do and more to see. Kauai is nice and quiet.

 

Yup. $5k should include everything i.e. Flight, accommodations, food, entertainment, etc...

So yeah, in addition to the four things I mentioned in my first post (Fun, Romantic, Outside the Continental U.S., Won't break the bank) I also want it to be a relaxing honeymoon where we won't feel rushed to see things or fight against hordes of people.

For example, I took my fiance to Disneyland last month on a Thursday-Saturday. Thursday was awesome because there was less people and we could get on most of the rides quickly. But when Friday and Saturday rolled around, we were elbow to elbow in a lot of places and it just became annoying.

 

Kauai. If budget permits, Grand Hyatt Poipu is sick. Waterslide and Mai tais FTW!

 

<---Jealous. Surfing and scuba diving is supposed to be insane in the maldives.

 

We went to Turks & Caicos for our honeymoon. Loved it and would recommend it again to anyone in a heartbeat.

In fact, we are planning a trip back there hopefully within the next 12 months...

 

Congrats! I'm getting married in 3 months and 2 days, and I know how you feel as we're paying for everything ourselves as well. We decided on Hawaii and we're staying at the Turtle Bay Resort by recommendation of a friend (and no, her name is not Sarah Marshall).

 

How about Oakland or San Fran? lol

All jokes aside I would try Cancun or another down "South" location. where ever you go see if they are "all inclusive" food and drinks are included in the room price. They have adult only locations as well, no kids running around

My gf and I went to Cancun for a week and it was 1100 each for flight/room spent abt $500 each while we were there on site seeing and tours etc...

 

Hey, congrats to you too! Must be nerve racking since your time is approaching soon.

Initially I was thinking of doing something in Europe with a chance to drive on the autobahn (being a car enthusiast), but now I'm veering towards something more tropical and relaxing.

My fiance and I are both certified scuba divers, so we'd love to hit up a destination that involves diving. So far I've been doing some research on Hawaii and the Maldives.

Thanks for the suggestions thus far from everyone and keep them coming if you've got something different.

 

Search for Roatan on these forums. Someone recently posted about it and it sounded like an awesome trip with scuba. I think it was Barefoot Kay Resort. I want to go.

 

Cruise to Bermuda on Royal Caribbean. We flew, got a hotel and ate on the island for 6 days. It was pretty expensive, but you might be able to find an all inclusive stay on the island too. The water is amazing and the food is too.

 

Good memory! That was me... and that's what I was about to suggest. Barefoot Cay is amazing. PM if you want to see more pics.


https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...=693976&page=2
"PADI cert here. I did a resort dive in the Caymans which was nice, but nothing will ever beat my trip last summer to Roatan, Honduras. It's on the same barrier reef as Belize, but has much warmer water... not to mention that it carries less divers than Belize, so it's a great place to get to before it gets over-populated. There have something like 150 mapped dive sites, and people are mapping new ones every week.

Roatan is a small island just north of mainland Honduras and has flights from some of the major aiport hubs... Atlanta, Houston, etc. Hugely popular for Europeans, so it's well kept. I stayed at an awesome little resort called Barefoot Cay, which is its own 4 acre Cay, and they have their own dive shop. Did 10 dives in 5 days, got just under 9 hours total. I could be wrong, but I think their dive shop is the only PADI 5-Star place on the whole island... it truely is Valet Diving, which is amazing.

Check them out... it's worth the trip!
www.barefootcay.com
www.barefootdriversroatan.com"

 

Also, if you don't believe me, trust in the fact that Trip Advisor has them listed as #1 for the whole island... http://.com/2njn6v

Oh, and they were a 2008/2009 recommended luxury hotel by Conde Nast...

 

If you're on a budget have you thought about a Cruise? Since you're in Nor*Cal you could drive 5-6 hours to SoCal and catch a boat out to Hawaii. I'm pretty sure it'll be cheaper than flying and staying there. The big perk about a Cruise is that food is included and it's generally all you can eat. =)

Congrats on the engagement and goodluck!!

 

^Thanks. I've considered a cruise as well, just don't know how I feel about driving the 6 hrs or so to SoCal. But I have been looking at TravelZoo's deals every week that it's becoming a disease.

Thanks for the links, it looks like diver heaven!

My fiance and I are both PADI certified advance open water. She's looking to do the rescue diver course this year.

I'm going to look more into the links, but we maybe able to swing the 1-bedroom bungalow at $1647/person that includes lodging, meals, and dives.

Did you rent or bring your own gear? (i.e. BC, regs, etc...) Just wondering because it'd probably be a bitch to bring dive gear as I'm guessing the inclusive package doesn't include rentals.

Also, how was the temperature? I'm used to diving in waters that require a 7mm wetsuit, so warm waters would be a nice change

 

I vote Maui.
My parents went on a Mediterranean cruise last year, and they said they were fairly unimpressed by Greece. They said it was pretty trashy. Take that as you wish.

I've never been myself; I'm just communicating what they said.
Only place in Greece I'd have interest in going is Santorini.

 

^^
To add to what I said, they were on mainland Greece, not any of the islands.

 

I just did some more investigating into this place, not that I can afford to go now, but maybe next year...

Anyway, I usually pack my gear. It can be a pain and it gets close to max weight on the luggage, but I know and trust my gear more than anyone else's. But they rent the dive gear for $120/week for guests. that's just BCD, reg & computer. Don't know if fins/mask/snorkel are included, but you usually bring those anyway. Wetsuit is extra. They have 3mm suits, but water should be ~80, so you may not need it. I've been using just a dive skin for warmer water.

For a honeymoon, the all-inclusinve package might be good. I'd probably just get a one bedroom bungalow and get some groceries for most meals and have a few at the resort.

Edit: I kind of recommend against taking courses while on a vacation. 1. it adds to the cost. 2. it takes time away from enjoying your stay. Yes you are getting something out of it, but you have to do the coursework, too. I did my Advanced OW in Jamaica and while I'm glad I have it, it consumed too much time. For a honeymoon, I wouldn't even consider it.

 

Yea, it really is diver heaven. The diving was amazing, and the staff at both the resort and the dive center are amazing. They cater to your every need. We brought our own fins, masks and snorkels, but we rented their gear. Everything is brand new as of May 2008. They only stock the highest quality gear, so we really enjoyed what they had to offer. We dove with some dive snobs and they were jealous of the gear that was available at Barefoot. It's a PADI 5-Star facility, and I think they're the only one on the island. The food is amazing. We went off the cay for dinner one night and regretted it 100%. The chef at the cay is talented and the food is so fresh. They buy it all that same day, so it's always perfect.

If all your meals are included, you'll want to eat there... fish, steak, lobster, etc. They have a set menu for each dinner, and it's awesome.

The temp was amazing. We went in May, so it was warm down there. They average in the 80s almost year-round. We dove with 3mm fulls, and my dad had a 3mm shorty, but none of us ever got cold. Even when I was down around 100 feet I felt comfortable. The visibility is amazing and there's plenty of "fish soup" where you'll see a lot. Most of the dive sites average 40-60 foot depths, so you're never all that deep where the sun won't keep it warm.

If you call to inquire about rates and availability, ask for Mel and tell her you were referred to them by a previous guest, they like to hear that kind of thing.

Here's a link to some photos I took while there:
http://s289.photobucket.com/albums/l...view=slideshow

 

if you keep an eye on southwest airlines, you could fly in to LAX or you could take JetBlue to Long Beach airport (shorter drive to the cruise docks). They always have deals like 89/roundtrip airfares...just a thought!

 

Maui, Maui, Maui or Maui. You won't regret it. Then visit some other islands.