How to decide?!!

tcnoble

We are stuck. We originally decided on the Iberostar Grand Bavaro in PC. Great reviews, I've been to another resort in PC before and loved the beaches, butler service is included, access to the other two Iberostar resorts, and it's slightly more affordable. Then we (I) fell in love with St. Lucia. I'm not opposed to Sandals, but the Viceroy Sugar Beach nestled between the Pitons looks phenomenal. My parents stayed there years ago and have nothing but amazing things to say. Going to St. Lucia and staying at the Sandals Grande is just slightly more than Iberostar grand PC, and the Viceroy isn't even in our budget range at all. FI has never taken a tropical vacation, his priorities are good food and some excursions.... Which either place provides. Given that Sandals St Lucia and Iberostar PC are comparable (except at PC we are in the highest room category AND get butler service included - sandals we wouldn't be in that category), which is more bang for our buck? Do we go to PC, where we seem to get more for our money, and save Viceroy Sugar Beach for am anniversary trip when we can afford those accommodations? How did you finally decide??

Jells2dot0

Definitely do what you can afford. It's going to be amazing no matter what because it's your honeymoon with your new husband! Going outside of budget before the marriage even starts will cause undo stress.

tcnoble

@jells2dot0 I think we could pull off Sandals in St Lucia, financially, but there are so many amazing resorts in St. Lucia I'm wondering if it'd be worth it to save and do that on another trip. Just looks so beautiful!!

AprilH81

Don't forget to include any off-resort excursions (zip lining, shopping, ect) into your budget.  One location may have cheaper excursions available.

Butler service is nice, and a higher room category is nice, but I don't either will make/break your honeymoon.  We just got back from Punta Cana (Excellence PC) and had a lovely time.  We upgraded to a swim up room when we checked in and frankly, I wish we had saved our money.  It was a nice  view, but probably not worth the small upgrade fee.  

I think your butler service is going to fall into that category.  The service at the resorts is amazing and you probably wouldn't miss having a butler at your beck and call.

I have been to St. Lucia twice (only day stops on a cruise) and I think St. Lucia will be the more beautiful island.  Punta Cana is nice, but outside of the resort there isn't much to look at.  St. Lucia has a lot of lush foliage, natural flowers, and rain forests.  Punta Cana almost looks like a prairie once you get off the beach.

Don't get me wrong, PC is great, but personally I would go to St. Lucia if it is in your budget.

tcnoble

@aprilh81 thank you for your thoughts!! the butler service is included in PC but way out of our budget in St Lucia (as far as Sandals is concerned), so at a Sandals we would be paying the same amount just to have the option of room service and some concierge services. What part of St Lucia did you see in your stops?? I'm unsure because Sandals is in the north and I've read that many excursions are in the south, therefore requiring more travel time. Unfortunately the resort we like in the south is far out of out budget for now. I've been to Punta Cana before on a family vacation and we all loved it, though I do agree with you that outside the resorts it isn't very visually appealing. Someone brought up to me that St Lucia is really so beautiful and makes you want it explore it, but that after the wedding craziness we might be more interested in just doing "nothing" and not feel like we miss out on much, which would make PC a great choice. I think this decision is harder than any other wedding decisions we have made! Hmph...

AprilH81

@tcnoble   The cruise ships dock in Castries near the airport.  I went zip lining the first time we were there (about 45 minutes to an hour from the dock) and river/sea kayaking the second time (drove to Marigot).

The island isn't too big and there are a lot of things to do all over the island if you want to explore something off of the resort.

We did 3 excursions in PC during our 6 nights there and it was just the right amount of activity and relaxation.  Excellence is one of the furthest resorts from PC so we did spend a lot of extra time traveling back and forth so it is worth considering location but I don't think proximity to excursions should be the deciding factor, especially if you are only going to do a few.

Good luck!