Honeymoon Recommendations
 

Hi, I need advice on where to go for my honeymoon. I'm getting married in October. I'm looking to go somewhere tropical where I can spend a majority of the day basking in the sun, drinking margaritas and snorkeling. I also want my money to go a long way. I want to stay in a very clean, all inclusive resort with breathtaking views.

Please help me :confused:

I LOVE Hawaii!!!!!!!!!

Hawaii is very expensive... right??

my parents JUST booked ANOTHER Hawaiian cruise on Princess cruise lines for October because the prices are SO cheap right now- you should look into it!

We always book our vacations through applevacation.com. I would recommend an all inclusive resort we have booked vacations to Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) Riviera Maya and Cancun Mexico. The all inclusive trip include flight, food, alcohol, room, and airport transfers. Usually cost us about $800 per person plus tax for seven days. We always book a five apple or higher and never had any complains.

That's right... prices are probably really low right now. I've always wanted to go on a cruise. Thanks!!! My fiance wants to do Hawaii, but I told him way too expensive.

I would definitely do Hawaii! When we got married he wanted to go to the Bahamas while I had always dreamed of going to Hawaii. After talking with travel agents and getting a good deal it actually turned out cheaper for us to go to Hawaii. If you go just be prepared to be in a major depression when you get back home. It's SO beautiful there!

Looks like I'm going to have to do research on Hawaii. I'm thinking Maui.

my parents said of all the islands they went on- Maui was the best! They'd like to go there for a longer amount of time if they could!

We went to Sandals St.Lucia for out honeymoon. All the sandals resorts are amazing. Its all inclusive and they really go all out. We were treated like royalty and theres absolutely no tipping allowed! The food was excellent and as soon as they saw your drink getting a little warm...they replaced it immediately. We spent about 2 thousand per person...but this included airfare. BUT it was our honeymoon and we wanted to really remember it..and we do!! :thumbup:

I love Hawaii - we've been to the Big Island and Maui - we like Big Island a lot more; we stayed at The Mauna Kea.

If you want to stretch your dollar, then I'd recommend Mexico. I've only been to the Zihua/Ixtapa area, but really liked it. A nice hotel in that area is Villa del Sol. The next place I want to try in Mexico is Maroma.

A lot of officials are recommending people not vacation in Mexico right now because of all the drug wars right now. The colleges are even posting warnings to students about spring break.

All inclusive looks like the way to go. Thanks for the advice.

Even the larger resort areas?

HAWAII is the best!! That's where we Honeymooned!! Right now a Travel Agent in Pa. is charging $700.00 per person for air and hotel. We stayed @ the Sheraton Waikaki on the Island of Oahu!! Our Honeymoon package inc. 1 day car rental and a Honeymooners picnic the Hanama Bay, food, snorkling, it was alot of fun!! We went to Sea Life Park, Pearl Harbor and the Alamowana Shopping center. We got lost in the car and went for a ride all around the Island, It was just soo Beautiful!! Have a Great Time choosing...Congrats on your upcoming wedding!!! :wavey::congrats::ip::hug: P.S. We'll be married 30 years on May 5, 2009!!!

Paradise Island, Bahamas It is beautiful and there is lots of stuff to do,and I would say reasonable. The Atlantis Resort is unbelievable.

Sandels resorts. I love cruising. Mostly because it's all inclusive and you can just relax and eat and relax and eat..LOL :) ST. Thomas, St. croix

if you choose hawaii definitely go somewhere else other than honolulu - it's just like any other big city, only place on oahu i'd go to again is diamond head and north shore. maui is beautiful and theres also few things you can do on the big island :)

i was going to say fiji but that can get expensive!

i've been dyinggggg to go on a cruise (disney or carnival) to the bahamas or to the caribbean and i think my boyfriend and i are going in a couple months. its a lot cheaper though if you live in FL because you dont have to buy the plane ticket out here. but you could get it all! eating, sun, going on the island and snorkeling and whatnot. the cruises are also ALOT cheaper in the winter months you just gotta pray the weather is good :p

i think you can take a cruise to cancun as well.. but i know all that stuff is going on over there. i dont think it would be bad around the resort areas though :confused: maybe puerto vallarta?

One of our trips were to the Bahamas and we not impressed at all. The best thing about that was Paradise Island. I have a few pics on my photo album of it. One of the pics with the trees around looks just like a postcard to me. It was beautiful. My favorite place was Coco Cay. That is a private island that Royal Carribean own. Lots of hammocks and awesome island type food setting. The snorkling was soooo much fun!!!!! You can walk out a good distance. They have "sunken" things to look at. We saw a HUGE stingray and beautiful fish. Coco Cay was our favorite out of the whole "bahamas thing". LOL

stay away from cruise!!!
 

I would seriously be very cautious of going on a cruise. A friend of mine and her husband recently went and were unable to leave the ship the ENTIRE time they were on - the entire 10 days they were stuck on the ship because the sea was too rocky. I would hate for that to happen on your honeymoon!!

Another bad story - my cousin and her boyfriend went one year ago - about 3/4 of the ship ended up catching a very contagious sickness and had to be contained in their SMALL cabin the entire time. Yikes! Seriously-- think about it.

Not to say that this happens on every cruise, but I've heard a lot more people not liking their cruise than people not liking Mexico, Dominican, Cuba, etc.!

Personally, I absolutely LOVE the Mayan Riviera! I also enjoyed the Dominican Republic - we stayed in Punta Cana!

Here are some resorts I would definitely recommend! They are all all-inclusive, all you can eat, all you can drink!

Dominican Republic - Punta Cana (2008)
- Grand Palladium Palace (it's a large resort, kind of a 3-in-1) We absolutely loved it, wonderful beach!!

Mayan Riviera, Mexico (Riviera Maya)

1. Barcelo Maya Colonial (2006 and 2005 - Been here twice it's so great!!)(which is also a large resort with 4 resorts in 1! Including, the Caribe, Colonial, Palace, and Tropical) Absolutely AMAZING - great food, great beach, great disco, nice pools! One of my faves!

2. Bahia Principe - Akumal (2007)(Also large!) Great great great food! I cannot say enough about the food! Beach is a little rocky for the mayan, but nice view! Too far of a walk from our hotel (in the Akumal section) to the beach, we actually had to take a little tram to the beach. Really nice resort!

3. Riu Playacar (2003) - GREAT place! Really small, but when you stay there you can also go to the other Riu's in the area (Riu Tequila, Riu Yucatan, Riu Lupita) Good food, amazing beach! nice pools, and it's nice to be able to go to all of them!

3. Riu Tequila (2009)- We just got back from this resort two weeks ago, it was great but our room really stunk like mold - probably because it gets so wet! Food was plain, beach was so nice! Lots of cool critters hanging out there if you like animals! Small, but really nice scenery and pools! A plus was that it has a cute little plaza really close where you can do some shopping. Also, Playa Del Carmen is about a 5 min taxi ride. Playa Del Carmen is a really neat city - shopping on 5th avenue is unlike anything you have ever done!!

Hope you have a great honeymoon!!! :D


I should also add that Hawaii was VERY expensive - not all inclusive, drinks are 8-12 dollars US a drink, meals 20-30 -

Some tours I would recommend in Mexico:

Xel-Ha - Absolutely AMAZING even if you don't like fish! I don't care for fish at all, and I loved snorkeling, it's like you are with the fish, they swim so close you can almost touch them. Some spots, you can even feed them. If you don't want to snorkel, you can use a tube (or even a double tube if you and your hubby want to go together) and just float down the river. It eventually goes into the ocean. One of the best things i've done, I had to do it twice!!

Xcaret - Like a very large zoo - if you love animals - go here!!

Tulum - The ruins were neat to see, it's not too expensive, and the beach there is just like a postcard, just flawless in every way!! Plus - you will see lots of iguanas!!

Seems like people have always got something bad to say about Mexico, It's too bad - you'll be missing out! Just stay away from the drugs - I've been there 7 times (and I'm 20) and I have never seen anything like that going on. It could happen, and probably does, but I don't think it's as bad as the "officials" are making it seem like! :D

I too am iffy about Mexico- however i think if you are smart and don't go where you shouldn't- bad things won't happen! The news has been full of tourists being killed/robbed in Mexico in the past few years- but I mean stay at your resort- be smart and it can be a great vacation.

The Virgin Islands!! I would live there in a heartbeat :love:

I rented a private home in St. John's - my favorite island. I would think with the economy more & more people would have their homes available for rent. we stayed in an unbelievable huge home and everything was at our use. This island is so gorgeous - the majority of it is protected - it was donated by one of the Rockefellers to the government.

St. Croix is also beautiful. And you can't beat all the things to do & see on St. Thomas.

beautiful beaches and blue water

Thanks for all the great advice. The only problem I have with cruises, and this is a big one, I get sea sick very easily. I would hate to be stuck in rocky waters. That would absolutely ruin my honeymoon. Thanks for the warnings. My FH is very skeptical about Mexico, and is friends are not helping in the matter. They are basically telling him to stay away. I figure if we don't go off the beaten path, we would be ok. But he told me that Mexico is definitely out of the question :(

I've actually researched Punta Cana on the applevacation.com (thanks Crystal). I was told snorkeling is really awesome there. I'm definitely going to do the all inclusive thing.

Thanks,
Joan

Best advice so far :D My FH says Mexico is definitely out of the question :(

How much did you pay to stay at the house?

It was a long time ago - so, I do not remember - It was for the week I believe, or 5 days, but I know it was cheaper than that many nights in a nice hotel in the area. This was before the Internet - I found the ad in the back of a Bride magazine. This was a wealthy family from the east coast - the lady told me her husband was so tied to his job, that they didn't get to spend much time there. It was one of the most unbelievable homes I have ever seen. Including outdoor showers, a mother-in-laws apt. - just huge.

There is at least one YT member that lives in St. John - I haven't seen her on here in a long time - she used to live where I do, but the lucky girl moved to St. John -- maybe she could help you if you were interested in going to the Virgin Islands. Let me know if I can help you locate her - might take me a bit of time. Or you could search St. John's on YT - can't have been discussed in that many threads

Did you decide on your honeymoon? I would love to hear what you chose!