Vacation Recommendations?

[hyunelan2]

My wife and I are planning on going on a 'big' vacation next summer. We have yet to decide on the specific location. Somewhere tropical, all-inclusive, with a beach, near the ocean/gulf is what we're looking for. The Caribbean and Mexico are the obvious locations. We're planning on going next June/July (2008), so that's getting into hurricane season a little bit. We were planning on spending $3-$4K on the trip (airfare + all-inclusive hotel).

Originally, we were supposed to go to Sandals St. Lucia for our honeymoon in 2004. That was canceled and we used the $4,200 that it was costing us towards our house. We don't necessarily need to redo our honeymoon plans, if we can do the same thing (sit on a beach, do all-inclusive resort type things) for less money closer to home (like the Dominican Republic or Jamaica).

Anybody have any experiences/recommendations they want to share? We want to start narrowing down our choices to a few different locations/resorts and then go visit a travel agent.

[BobMs_wht2k2]

WHat about a 7 day cruise?

[hyunelan2]

Nah, we're not really cruise people. I don't think there are any "all inclusive" cruises, are there? I don't want to think about how much drinks/dinner/etc is costing me while I'm there. I'll have more fun and be more relaxed if it's already included.

[BobMs_wht2k2]

All the cruises we have been on all include food and non-alcoholic drinks. Perfect for us as we don't drink. Off ship excursions are a seperate fee, but in all honesty it's not a necessity. On our last Royal Carribean cruise the cruise cost us $1700 and the excursions cost us another $700. Not bad for 7 days/6 nights.

If you do a cruise, I can't recommend Royal Caribean enough for the Married, no-kids couple in their late-20's. It's a more mature, laid back feeling with tons of adult activities every day and night. So many in fact that we only got to catch about a 1/3 of what we wanted to see!

Other than that, what about a Jamaican island resort? If I understand correctly, going there on your own outside of resort is not recommended.

[Ugzz]

my boys rents went on an all inclusive cruise for there 20th aniversary.. but it was 9k lol and no, im not kidding, they took out a loan to go away for 2 weeks!

my rents went to mexico for aroun 3000-3500 and it was all inclusive.. but that was about a year ago and it was a good length trip, like 10 days i think, it was all inclusive, and i mean ALL hehe. like fillet for every meal and high shelf drinks etc.. any hour if you wanted. no limit on anything at all..

man id love to have the cash to do that hehe

[BobMs_wht2k2]

man id love to have the cash to do that hehe

Mike can agree, us DINK's have it right. Too bad Uncle Sam treats us like redheaded stepchildren and taxes the chit out of us.

DINK= Dual Income No Kids. other than our mortgage, we have no other sizeable debt. No credit cards and we save to purchase stuff for cash. Sometimes the saving part sucks, but the end result is well worth it.

[hyunelan2]

Ugzz- That's the kind of resort I'm talking about - like what we had booked for Sandals. All drinks, all meals, all snacks, whatever you want - no charge. About the only time I plan to leave the resort is for snorkeling/scuba/jetski activities in the ocean.

Yep. DINK. However, kids will probably become a strong thought soon; which is why we want to go on our blow out vacation next summer. Next Summer = Go on vacation, move to new house, get the Mrs. Knocked-Up, get old, lose my hair, go to bed at 8pm, buy a buick, yell at kids to stay off my lawn.

[Cypher]

all-inclusive is where all expenses are paid for????

[hyunelan2]

http://sandals.com/general/included.cfm

All-inclusive means everything from drinks to meals to activities are included in the hotel price.

[KeWLKaT]

Come to canada and I guarantee you a fun time, hah

ask your fellow americans who stepped into here and im sure theyll agree :)

[Ugzz]

sandals is pretty badass...... *drool*

i just did the quote thing on sandals and it runs about whats expected. book 1+ month in advance and its like 3-3500 for a week or just over.. avg is like 400-450 a day the way i did it..

its totally a huge expense.. but if you go and eat and drink like a king.. you can get your moneys worth lol. ive seen people ring up 200+ dollar bills in cheap crap bars.. im sure they hit twice that given all day and super $$ meals all day hehe

[SWortham]

I haven't compared the pricing of the two, but I'd much rather fly somewhere and stay there than take a cruise and spend most of the vacation on the ship. I went on a cruise a couple years ago and that's how it was. Of course I got seasick which tainted the experience a little, but that only lasted a few hours. But also the food was not as good as I was hoping on the ship, and overall it wasn't as much fun being on the ship as people say.

Personally, I want to go to New Zealand some day. There are a lot of scenic spots there (they filmed Lord of the Rings there), and a lot of cool things to do outside like rafting, hiking and such. And it looks to be a relatively inexpensive place to stay if you were to rent a condo for a week or two.

Also, Tobago looks pretty nice. My brother has been down to Trinidad several times now for business and finally had the opportunity to go to Tobago. The pictures he brought back all looked like they came out of a brochure. That might be a little more along the lines of what you're looking for.

[BobMs_wht2k2]

What about Australia? I think the wife and I are finally planning on that for our 10th anniversary (5 years out).

[SuperGLS]

Usually I don't talk to much about my personal life, but since the subject has arrived... my wife and I are going to Cancun in December. Her parents have an RCI timeshare that they don't use so they asked us to use it for them. There are some transfer fees, so the week long stay at the resort is $250. $500/each for a round trip ticket, $180 to rent a Chrysler Attitude (read: rebadged Accent), and $500 or so for food and some scuba diving. $2000 give or take.

The best part is that it's not the "I'm on spring break" part of Cancun. It's more to the south, closer to Cozumel.

http://www.mayanpalace.com/riviera/index.cfm?lang=en

[SWortham]

Info on the weather and climate of New Zealand...
http://www.tourism.net.nz/new-zealand/about-new-zealand/weather-and-climate.html

I'd go during their summer (Dec, Jan, or Feb).

The best part is that it's not the "I'm on spring break" part of Cancun. It's more to the south, closer to Cozumel.

http://www.mayanpalace.com/riviera/index.cfm?lang=en
My parents went to Cozumel for their 25th anniversary and had nothing but good things to say about it. I think they spent half their time in Cozumel and half in Tulum, actually.

[Cypher]

i say go down to austraila or new zealand if you can. i've always wanted to go down to that area

[hyunelan2]

I think airfare alone would cancel out the option of Australia/New Zealand on the price we would like.

Actually, I just looked. For airfare + hotel (not an all-inclusive hotel, btw) it's like $3700 for a dirtball motel, up to over $6000. Not this trip, but maybe someday.

I think sticking to the western hemisphere is best. If I were going far, it'd probably be like Ibiza or something else on the southern coast of spain.

[SWortham]

I think airfare alone would cancel out the option of Australia/New Zealand on the price we would like.
That's what I was thinking -- that's the one thing that makes it more expensive I guess.

Well here's some info on Tobago which is a lot closer...
http://www.simplytobago.com/

[hyunelan2]

Trinidad/Tobago do look nice. Only problem is they also seem to be a lot more than some of the more popular destinations (I'm sure there's good reason). However, it may put them out of the range we are hoping to spend. Right now it looks like $4600-$5000 for a week for 2 people all-inclusive.

I'll look into it more. If it ends up being something we really want to explore, wer could cut a couple of nights off to lower the price.

[mayollo072R]

http://sandals.com/general/included.cfm

All-inclusive means everything from drinks to meals to activities are included in the hotel price.

You can go to Punta Cana, Gran Melia (recomended), Babaro beach (also recomended) , Paradisus, Gran Bahia, Casa de campo in the Dominican Republic. All of these are all inclusive and there are white beaches with clear waters.

My personal experience was great. I stayed 2 weeks and spent around 2k. US VI are great also. You can go to St. Thomas take the speed ferry to St. Martin and enjoy crystal clear white sand beaches like Megan's Bay. I stayed at the Marriot in St. Thomas, great hotel but at a Marriot price (uuhh!).

Gran Melia in Puerto Rico is good too but prices will rip your wallet eventhough is all inclusive.

[04 elantra cvvt]

We went to Riviera Maya (south of Cancun) on our honeymoon. The place is called the ElDorado Royale. It is rated #1 all inclusive resort in Mexico. The place was absolutely amazing. I would highly recommend it to you. You can stay right on the water if you want with your own swim-up bar in front. The only things you have to pay for are elective excursions.

We also paid for a candle light dinner on the beach with a private saxaphone player.

Look it up:
El Dorado Royale in Riviera Maya Mexico.

[hyunelan2]

Just did a quick look at pricing for your suggestion. $3079 for airfare + a week (using Expedia and their discount). So it's something to look into more in depth.

EDIT:

Looks nice. 4-star: http://www.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll?qsfr=cmfd&itid=&itdx=&itty=&ecid=

EDITEDIT
Have read some reviews saying it's very crowded, and rooms are musty with poor water pressure. Did you experience any of that?

[SuperGLS]

Poor water pressure = not worth it no matter how good it is. I hate trying to take a shower and it feels like a 5 year old is pissing on your head.

[04 elantra cvvt]

Just did a quick look at pricing for your suggestion. $3079 for airfare + a week (using Expedia and their discount). So it's something to look into more in depth.

EDIT:

Looks nice. 4-star: http://www.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll?qsfr=cmfd&itid=&itdx=&itty=&ecid=

EDITEDIT
Have read some reviews saying it's very crowded, and rooms are musty with poor water pressure. Did you experience any of that?

Not at all... But we went there before Hurricane Wilma took the entire resort out. They did rebuild it, and we have seen pics of the place since we went. As far as I can tell, they made it a little better.

The best thing IMO, is that there is a Jacuzzi in every room. It's not just a bathtub with jets, it's a real jacuzzi. The thing you have to remember about the Air Condidioning down there is that it does not take the humidity out of the air, it only cools it. So, it is not a dry cool like it is here. That may be why some people have said that it is musty.

Tell you what, here are some pics from the place:

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p13/camaro_thunder92/hmoon01.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p13/camaro_thunder92/hmoon02.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p13/camaro_thunder92/hmoon03.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p13/camaro_thunder92/hmoon04.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p13/camaro_thunder92/hmoon05.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p13/camaro_thunder92/hmoon06.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p13/camaro_thunder92/hmoon07.jpg

You can see the jacuzzi in the back of the room here:

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p13/camaro_thunder92/hmoon08.jpg

[BColeman]

I didn't read the whole post, but I have a wonderful idea for you.

See, Hot Import Nights is coming to Charlotte, NC. A bunch of people for NT and EXD will be there. Why not make that your vacation?

You would be about 3 and a half hours away from the Wilmington Beaches, which I hear are pretty decent. There are areas where you can rent cabins that are literally feet away from the beach. I believe they are on an old military base.

Plus, there are mountains to drive around, mountains to visit.

Of course, this would require you to bring a Hyundai in one form or another, since HIN would be the highlight of your trip:D

[SWortham]

I'm looking into a vacation for myself and came across St. Lucia which looks very cool as well. In particular, the tropical jungle mountain biking caught my eye...
http://www.vacationidea.com/articles/gallery/mountain_biking_anse_chastanet_Gallery6.html

More info...
http://www.stlucia.org/planner/about.asp

[hyunelan2]

St. Lucia was where we were originally going on our honeymoon. I work with 3 people that have gone there, as well as one of my friends who went there on his honeymoon.

It's pretty-expensive compared to some of the 'closer' islands, that's about the only thing wrong with it. I think with where I am in my life right now, if what I can do for $4200 in St. Lucia, I can do for $3000 somewhere closer, I should save $1200 bucks.

[04 elantra cvvt]

^^^ Not a bad idea. Whey spend the extra $1200? Just to say that you did? Not me.