Looking for July honeymoon ideas

AuroraRose41

We are getting married in July of 2016, and so far the hardest part of planning has been trying to decide where to go on our honeymoon! I know that we have a long time still, but I would rather have some places narrowed down when it comes time to book. 

We want to go somewhere for about 4-5 days where we can relax, recharge, and enjoy each other's company. Our preferences would be somewhere near water (lake, ocean, bay, etc.), relatively child free, and has both options to relax (preferably in a pool, jacuzzi, geothermal spa, etc.) but also tour options and activities available. Somewhere warm isn't extremely important, as long as it isn't colder than 50 degrees or so. Our budget is $4000 max, including airfare. We would be flying out of Albany, NY, but NYC airports are also an option, and returning to San Diego, CA (LAX is also an option here). Another really important aspect is not having to get many vaccines before traveling (FI's request; we are up to date on our standard vaccines), and access to decent medical facilities in case anything happens (for peace of mind). 

Places I have looked into so far are Jamaica, Iceland, Ireland, Alaska, and Croatia. Iceland and Croatia seemed to be out of our budget, Ireland might be doable but doesn't seem all that relaxing, and Jamaica worries me with the mosquitoes (especially with chikungunya; I would get it knowing my luck). I am still looking into options for Alaska, but I haven't found anything yet that is within that time frame and budget. I would prefer not to have to wear bug spray 24/7 during our honeymoon. However, I love the idea of Jamaica other than that, and it is well within our budget to stay at Couples San Souci or Tower Isle. Is this a valid concern or am I being paranoid? 

I would love to know if anyone has any other recommendations that would fit all of our criteria, or any comments about the places that I listed. Thanks! 

holyguacamole79

Alaska is amazing!  Have you also thought about Seattle or Vancouver?

AuroraRose41

@holyguacamole79 thank you for the suggestions! I hadn't considered those two, but did some research on them today. Unfortunately I don't think they have the relaxing vibe that we are looking for, but please let me know if I am way off base! We live in a major city now, and really would prefer a change of scenery from city life. 

klk111415

What about a crusie?  I would say check out Alaska cruises because I hear that's a great way to see everything- but those are usually 7 nights minimum.  I hear good things about Cabo which is at least a little closer to San Diego. That will have a relaxing feel for sure- but I'm not sure about the mosquito situation.  

cantwaitforthefuture

I would not fly across the ocean for a 4 day vacation (Ireland or Croatia).  Between the cost to get there and the jetlag you have for the first day or two, I don't think either would be worth it.  I second the ideas that people suggested about a cruise.  There are a lot of really nice 5 day cruises that would be easy to get to.  Some even leave out of New York!

AuroraRose41

I have been looking at cruises, but as @klk111415 said most to Alaska are 7 days, and I don't think we will have the vacation time for that as we will be in NY for a week prior to the wedding. Cabo was hit pretty hard this past summer by a hurricane and are still rebuilding, but I will look into it more. How are kids though on a cruise? Do you see them often? We really don't want them running around a lot nearby us.

@cantwaitforthefuture, Ireland is actually a shorter flight from NY (6.5 hours) than San Diego (7.5+ hours) is, but I agree that Croatia would be too far.

climbingsingle

I've been to the Caribbean in June, July and August, and for me, it was almost unbearably hot. 

Have you thought about Canada? Or what about somewhere in New Hampshire or Vermont? 

500days

I think travel time plays a lot into where you should go. I'm going to Alaska this July for our honeymoon! We are spending about 10 days in Alaska (7 nights will be the cruise portion). It's not easy traveling from place to place in Alaska, so a cruise is really the best way especially if you don't have loads of time. Plus, from Boston our flight is almost 10 hours, including an 1.5 hr lay-over in Chicago. Long journey!

Have you considered the Cape or Newport, RI? Or even Bermuda!!! 

klk111415

The White Mountains in New Hampshire are beautiful, and there are a lot of things to do in the area.  I would recommend looking at Mt Washington Resort.  We stayed there and although there were children, there were a lot of amenities at the hotel geared towards adults.  There are also a lot of nice bed & breakfast in the area.  We go up there a few times a year and love it.  Cape May, NJ is also really nice- but once again you will probably find kids since it's a family area.  I know there are some hotels that are less family focused, though.  They have vinyards, the beach, lots of great restaurants... things like that.  I love Cape May.  You could even look at the Outer Banks, NC or Sedona, AZ.  

klk111415

Oh, you could even look at Niagara Falls area.  A friend of mine went to both the American side and Canadian side- and also Niagara on the Lake for her honeymoon and loved it.  

AuroraRose41

@500days I was actually just looking at Alaska cruises. I did some calculations, and I should have about 25 days of vacation come our wedding (FI should as well; we work at the same company and have the same amount of vacation), so a 7+ day cruise might actually be doable. I would love to hear more about yours! 

@climbingwife and @klk111415 thank you for all of the great suggestions. I will look into all of them too! 

ETA: Even though we will have 25 days or so, we will probably need to take 5 days off prior to the wedding, and then the honeymoon would be after that, including some buffers for flights delays. I also wouldn't want to lose all of that so that we would have time to travel during the holidays too. I would say 10 days would probably be the max for a honeymoon. 

klk111415

Oh! I hope you can do an Alaska Cruise! FI and I have been dying to go to Alaska, but since we are getting married in November, we decided on Hawaii- but Alaska is on the top of my list! Good luck!

amelisha

What about the Rockies? Banff National Park in Alberta, for example? There are some beautiful luxury hotels up here with stunning mountain scenery and lots to see and do.

AuroraRose41

@amelisha do you have any hotel and activity recommendations? I looked into it briefly (the hot springs sound amazing!), but the fairmont seemed pricey and I had some difficulty finding good reviews for other resorts and any other fun activities. 

amelisha

AuroraRose41 said:

@amelisha do you have any hotel and activity recommendations? I looked into it briefly (the hot springs sound amazing!), but the fairmont seemed pricey and I had some difficulty finding good reviews for other resorts and any other fun activities. 

Sure - if the Fairmonts are out of our your budget, somewhere like the Rimrock Resort, Post Hotel (in Lake Louise) or somewhere like Emerald Lake Lodge might all be more reasonable. Even one of the little loft suites at the Fox Hotel or Hidden Ridge might work for you (although they're in town) - they've both got reasonably priced two-level suites and beautiful outdoor hot tub areas. There are also more rural lodge-type accommodations if that's more your scene. 

As far as activities, there are about a thousand easy day hikes in the area (the kind you can do in regular shoes, even), canoeing on Lake Louise, the hot springs and Cave & Basin, gondola trips up to the mountains, spas for daaaaaays, great concert series up at the Banff Centre, the Icefields Parkway drive (wonderful in July), horseback riding...we are more into outdoor stuff so we mostly hike and camp out there in the summer and ski in the winter, but it's a beautiful little town and there is SO much to do throughout the park.

esstee33

Ireland was incredibly cool when I went there, but you'd spend almost your entire budget on just the flights. They were dirt cheap when I went in 2010, but significantly higher now. You can see a whole lot of the country for very cheap in 10 days, though -- we stayed in private rooms in hostels to save a ton on lodging so we could have nice meals out and take trips out to the Aran Islands and do all the other cool stuff we wanted. Not sure that's what you're looking for, but if you want some specific recommendations on places to go and things to see there, I can list the places we went. If you're going for something shorter than a week, though, I don't think you'd enjoy it as much -- we spent the entire first day jetlagged and wandering like zombies around Dublin just sitting in parks because we had no energy for anything else. Also you can make Ireland relaxing, but I wouldn't consider it a relaxing place. 

I've also been to Jamaica in October, so YMMV with going in July, but I really liked it. The Sandals resorts are very cost-effective, especially for what you get. With airfare you'd be pushing $4k though, I'm sure. There's a special on their website right now for 65% off and I crunched some numbers -- you'd be right at $4k. (Granted, I did this for a random date in July because I don't know what your actual travel dates would be.)

Honestly you're probably going to get the best bang for your buck if you stay in North America. What about Niagara Falls? New Orleans? Key West? Charleston or Savannah? 

500days

@aurorarose41- If you have the vacation time for Alaska, go for it! We are flying from BOS to ANC and spending 1 day in Anchorage, next 2 days will be Denali (wish we could do longer because we will only get 2 half days of touring) then back to Anchorage. We'll take the train from Anchorage to Seward and then board the 7 night cruise. We will be on the NCL Sun- we found their balcony prices to be affordable...but definitely eats up your $4k budget.

We plan to visit Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords after we board and drop our luggage in our cabin. We sail away at night and the next morning we cruise Hubbard Glacier (it will be cold and we plan to take lots of pictures!) The following day we plan to take an ATV tour and ride the zipline in Hoonah, Icy Strait Point. It is a small town that not many cruise ships visit. The next day we stop in Juneau and have a driver booked to take us to Mendenhall Glacier for 2.5 hours. After we will eat lunch at the famous Tracy's Crab Shack. Definitely a highlight that I look forward too. The next day will be spent in Skagway and we plan to take a Yukon Discovery tour to Canada's Yukon territory. It's supposed to be a beautiful tour with lots of changing climate. The next day will be in Ketchikan. We booked a flightseeing tour to Misty Fjords National Monument. I'm very excited for this excursion too! It's supposed to be breathtaking and a once in a lifetime type of trip.

The final day of the cruise is sailing through the Inside Passage, which I'm sure will be very relaxing after all of our excursions. The next morning we will disembark in Vancouver and spend the night there. Hopefully we will have enough energy to go to the Capilano suspension bridge...I'll have to wait and see! We fly home to Boston the next morning. 

Alaska is definitely expensive- it's the excursions that add up. I bought a toursaver book that has a ton of excursions at 2 for 1 prices. We booked our train tickets and Misty Fjords tour with it, saving at least $400. Another way to save money is to book an inside cabin instead of a balcony. We booked the balcony but it truly is twice the price of an inside cabin. Booking fights early is important too- we booked them in Sept/October and saved a shitload of money compared to how much they cost now. I know this is getting super long so I'll stop here, but definitely let me know if you have any questions!