Carribean, European?? Help!

Gina0887

I know there are a million threads like this already, but here I go anyways... We are looking for our Caribbean (or European if not TOO crazy expensive) Honeymoon for the beginning of September this year. FI doesn't want Mexico He likes all-inclusive resorts. Must have good food, drinks, ocean, pool, and spa (easy enough, right?) We just want to relax on the beach and evenings maybe go out a couple nights. His dream wedding would have been in the Italian countryside which draws me to explore the European side of honeymoons. Anyone know if there are even AI resorts in Europe that would fit this list or anywhere you have been and love?? Thanks!

jsquared62009

If you just want to relax on the beach I'd say do Caribbean and save Europe for a time where you can do more sightseeing/exploring. You can find places in Italy to relax on the beach (Amalfi Coast, etc)...not sure there's any AI. If you really want to just relax on the beach the whole time though it'd be a waste of a trip to Italy since there's so much to see/explore. If you want to do some relaxing and some sightseeing then Italy would be a perfect mix of both. It really just boils down to what kind of honeymoon you want.

kjvaracalli

Agree with pp about Amalfi.  We just booked our May honeymoon there.  AI don't exist much in Europe compared to Caribbean.   We wanted some down time (Amalfi) and some sightseeing/exploration time too (Rome).  If you have time/money Europe is great but if your main goal is relaxation/ocean/spa/drinks it sounds like you're leaning more towards AI in Caribbean.  

jenna8984

@kjvaracalli oooo that sounds amazing. I'm dying to go to Amalfi coast and Rome (not for honeymoon just normal vacation). I've been all over the world (25 countries) and FI hs never been anywhere. I talked him into Japan & China which we just did in October and he kind of hated it. He was stressed out the whole time about nobody speaking English. I'm trying to get him to agree to Italy but he thinks it'll be the same way...so you'll have to let me know if people speak much English there!! They did when I was in Greece but I was also with a girl who spoke Greek so I don't know if I was just blinded by being with her and not having a language barrier lol.

delujm0

I wouldn't worry about a language barrier in Italy, especially in touristy spots - i actually speak conversational italian, but i didn't even need to use it when i was there because everyone could tell i was a tourist, assumed i was american or canadian (my heritage is acutally 100% italian, but i'm fair skinned and blonde due to dad's family being from northern Italy), and addressed me in english.  Even in Vernazza, which was a small town that we visited while there, we had no difficulties.  My mother spoke no Italian at all, and is a nervous traveler, but was completely fine.

 

Italy will be more expensive than the Caribbean though, and there aren't AIs.  If all you want to do is lay on the beach, i'd do the Caribbean - Italy is wonderful, but I'd hate to pay for the flight over there and then not do anything but lay on the beach!  You can do that at a lot of cheaper places.  You should go to Italy when you want to do some exploring.

jenna8984

@delujm0 Perfect thank you!! Now if I can just convince him of this lol. Asia was my fault I did not research enough and just "assumed" we'd be ok- wrong! hahaha but it made for some interesting stories.

delujm0

If you do convince him, it might settle his nerves a bit if you buya small pocket translator or maybe do level 1 of Rosetta Stone before you leave.  That would give you some basics.  A pocket translator would be good if you aren't terribly familiar with italian words for food items.  most menus in Rome and Venice came in English or Italian, but in some of the smaller towns, while we could order in English, I did have to translate the menu for my mom.  They use some UK-English words too (rocket = arugula, etc) in their English menu translations, so that might be helpful, especially if you are a picky eater.

 

Otherwise everyone seemed really excited to speak to us in English, as if they were practicing their English on us.  It is truly amazing how many people in Italy spoke English fluently.  It makes you feel like us Americans are super lazy!  Moat Italians speak 2 languages fluently; how many Amerians can actually do that?  (and that's not to mention the French bakery owner we met in Paris who i heard addressing customers in French, English, AND Spanish.  It's amazing.

theartistformerlyknownas

Sounds like me and the FI! He likes the beach, I spontaneously combust in tropical sunlight, but neither of us is very good at relaxing. So we're doing Spain... 3 nights in Barcelona (hotel 2 blocks from the beach, with a spa!) and 4 nights in Madrid, likely with a day trip to Toledo or Seville from there. We're in September too. Hoping it's the perfect balance of sunshine (Spain is mid-80's in September) and culture and food and history for us. Hotel rates were really reasonable too. Check out the Hotel 4 Barcelona!

jenna8984

@lolo8383 I absolutely loved Barcelona. I was only 12 so I have no idea any of the restaurants or exact places we went but I remember out of the 25 countries I've been to it was one of my favorites!!

sdg2502

I'm going to Rome next week and I've got an app on my phone that gives me most conversational phrases, from what I've heard though everyone basically speaks English anyway but I like to show willing! As for European all inclusive, you'll find them on the beach resorts to varying qualities- I wouldn't stay at less than a four star all inclusive (not because I'm snobby, just because the food on offer at less than four start would be pretty rubbish) but I don't think they'd be comparable with four star all inclusives in Mexico or the like. Usually it's just local alcoholic drinks and you don't really get perks like room service. I've been to one in a Turkey that was nice, in a resort called Side-they had some great ruins in that town to explore and it was also close to Greece so I think you could do a boat trip there. I've also been to an all inclusive in Egypt and it wasn't as good. The alcohol was really poor, I think maybe part of that is because Egyptians don't really drink but after the first night I couldn't find a drink I liked so I just had soft drinks. I think the beer was ok,that's what the rest of my party stuck to but I'm allergic the good thing about Egypt is that you have some great excursions like quad biking in the desert,snorkelling/diving in the reefs and of course the pyramids. Egypt also has a very real risk of 'Egyptian belly' out of a group of six, three people I was with got it and couldn't leave their rooms for two days! I don't really see all inclusives advertised for Italy but I think you'd be better visiting as many different restaurants in Italy as possible anyway! I'd love to go to Lake Como but I think that's because I saw it on Top Gear the other night So overall, if you want luxury, and you're closer to resorts like Mexico, go there. You'd pay more to go to Europe, for a poorer quality all inclusive. The only reason I go to them is because it's short haul flights for me.

Jells2dot0

sdg2502 said:

I'm going to Rome next week and I've got an app on my phone that gives me most conversational phrases, from what I've heard though everyone basically speaks English anyway but I like to show willing! As for European all inclusive, you'll find them on the beach resorts to varying qualities- I wouldn't stay at less than a four star all inclusive (not because I'm snobby, just because the food on offer at less than four start would be pretty rubbish) but I don't think they'd be comparable with four star all inclusives in Mexico or the like. Usually it's just local alcoholic drinks and you don't really get perks like room service. I've been to one in a Turkey that was nice, in a resort called Side-they had some great ruins in that town to explore and it was also close to Greece so I think you could do a boat trip there. I've also been to an all inclusive in Egypt and it wasn't as good. The alcohol was really poor, I think maybe part of that is because Egyptians don't really drink but after the first night I couldn't find a drink I liked so I just had soft drinks. I think the beer was ok,that's what the rest of my party stuck to but I'm allergic the good thing about Egypt is that you have some great excursions like quad biking in the desert,snorkelling/diving in the reefs and of course the pyramids. Egypt also has a very real risk of 'Egyptian belly' out of a group of six, three people I was with got it and couldn't leave their rooms for two days! I don't really see all inclusives advertised for Italy but I think you'd be better visiting as many different restaurants in Italy as possible anyway! I'd love to go to Lake Como but I think that's because I saw it on Top Gear the other night :) So overall, if you want luxury, and you're closer to resorts like Mexico, go there. You'd pay more to go to Europe, for a poorer quality all inclusive. The only reason I go to them is because it's short haul flights for me.

Lake Como is the further thing from AI you can get! It was a fortune when we went because of where we stayed and the exchange rate, but I enjoyed it!

thisismynickname2

There is a European resort chain called Iberostar that you should look into. You can combine the all inclusive experience with Europe. Not all their hotels are all inclusive but some have the option. There are Iberostars on the islands off Spain and Portugal, for example. 

I've noticed that Europeans don't necessarily call things "all inclusive" like we do. I have found hotels that advertise "part pension" and "full pension". Generally that has a negative connotation (like for hostels or B&B's, definitely not honeymoons) but I noticed the option on some 3 and 4 star proper hotels that I came across during my research.  There must be something to that.

Don't take my word for this but just throwing it out there, if it helps any!