Honeymoon Ideas for July 2016

Knottie07518921

Good evening, I am recently engaged and tasked with figuring out where we should go for our honeymoon. I had always hoped to go to the Maldives, but I understand that July is not the right month to do it. Then I thought Bora Bora, but it's very expensive and I think after 4 days, my fiancé would go stir crazy, although he's fine with us going but not for a long period of time. We live in Toronto and our wedding is July 15, 2016. Any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated!

CMGragain

My daughter spent her honeymoon on a cruise ship to Alaska.  They loved it!  For a more exotic trip, there is Norway, Netherlands (Amsterdam), Denmark (pricey).  If a beach is important to you, Hawaii is always good,  One of my favorite cruises was around Great Britain and Ireland.  You sleep while the ship travels to the next port.  Then there is something new to discover every day.  This is why my DH likes cruises and would hate a resort.
What is your budget?  Princess cruises has just started offering cruises around Japan.

STARMOON44

Iceland. Portugal. Greece.

Jells2dot0

The Maldives are a year-round destination, but they would be way more boring than Bora Bora and also way more expensive!

Depending on budget you could do a more active island, like Moorea, then head to Bora Bora. July is peak season in FP so it is more expensive and I bet some resorts are already close to being sold out.

loro929

DH and I just got back from Seychelles (we went in August). The weather was fantastic and the beaches/scenery are truly breathtaking. From Toronto, I think that the easiest way to get there would be a flight to Dubai and then from DBX to Mahe. The resorts tend to have great HM packages and if you are looking also at places such as Bora Bora and Maldives, it should also be in your budget. Besides the beaches, there are lots of great excursions that one could do to fulfill the more stir-crazy prone, such as snorkelling, kayaking, diving, lots of great tours of old spice markets, and the vegetation for hikes is spectacular.

Knottie07518921

Thank you all!  Budget is a hard one - probably around 10K ... I'm not sure my fiance knows that yet

Some really great suggestions - thank you all very much.

 

 

CMGragain

10K!!!!   That's more than most of us had!

Jells2dot0

CMGragain said:

10K!!!!   That's more than most of us had!

Yeah, but her FI doesn't  know that yet! So, it might not really be $10K. OP- you absolutely have to be 100% on the same page as your FI when setting budgets for the wedding, including the HM. That is, unless you are like me, where I paid for 99.9% of the wedding myself, out of my own bank accounts, and don't really have any other bills and don't have any joint bills. I still ran everything by my H, though, just so he knew what was going on.

Knottie07518921

Okay, maybe that didn't sound great.  Naturally he would like to spend less and so would I, but I think this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to go somewhere where we otherwise wouldn't likely go and I'm prepared to spend more than him to allow us to do that - if I have any money left after the big day!  :S

CMGragain

Cruises are very budget friendly.  Read the sticky I wrote at the top of the board.
Here is my favorite website for pricing.  You have to sign up on their website, but nobody will bother you.  They serve all the major cruise lines.  Have fun just looking.  Remember, airfare, drinks, tips and shore excursions will be extra, but the food is included.

http://vacationstogo.com/

JoanE2012

Knottie07518921 said:

Okay, maybe that didn't sound great.  Naturally he would like to spend less and so would I, but I think this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to go somewhere where we otherwise wouldn't likely go and I'm prepared to spend more than him to allow us to do that - if I have any money left after the big day!  :S

Just remember, it doesn't have to be that way!  Many people do not take lavish honeymoons - and instead splurge in later years when they're more financially established.

We did Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora.  I think 10k is doable (or very near it), though I'm not sure about that time of year.  We went in November, and I think prices are lower at that time.

What are your interests?  Do you want strictly a beachy honeymoon?  Or something with a bit more adventure (Costa Rica, an African safari or Hawaii)?  Would you consider postponing (then perhaps Phuket or French Polynesia)?  How much time off would you have?

CMGragain

I know it seems like the Honeymoon is so important, but it doesn't need to be.  I've been married 39 years.  We had a mini-moon - three days in a Kansas City hotel.  We hardly left the room, so it didn't matter.
On our 25th wedding anniversary we took out first big trip - a cruise to Alaska,  We were hooked.  I'm getting ready for cruise # 19, to Norway.  We have been all over the world, but now we can easily afford those trips, and the romance isn't as urgent as it was back when.
You can always take a big trip.  If you set your expectations to high for your honeymoon, though, you might be disappointed.  I don't even remember what that hotel looked like, and we weren't interested in touring Kansas City.  No regrets.

STARMOON44

Do you have any interests? Any things you really want to do on the trip?

climbingsingle

CMGragain said:

10K!!!!   That's more than most of us had!

SO WHAT. Why must you make comments like this? 

Maggie0829

Knottie07518921 said:

Okay, maybe that didn't sound great.  Naturally he would like to spend less and so would I, but I think this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to go somewhere where we otherwise wouldn't likely go and I'm prepared to spend more than him to allow us to do that - if I have any money left after the big day!  :S

I hate this way of thinking.  Are you never planning on going on a vacation ever again?  Did you ever think that you may be financially in a better place where you could afford an even more lavish trip in 5 or 10 years.  But this line of thinking is what causes so many couples to get stressed out because they think that they need to spend a shit ton of money to go on a once in a lifetime vacation, when really that is not the case.

So instead of thinking "OMG I have to make this the best trip EVER!" why not think "FI and I would love to go to X and do Y" and go from there.  It kind of takes the pressure off of the end product and your expectations are lowered so you aren't disappointed when your "ZOMG ONCE IN A LIFETIME" trip doesn't happen or doesn't go according to plan.

klk111415

It doesn't matter when you take the honeymoon.  I don't know about other people, but we decided we wanted a nice long vacation after all of the stress of planning a wedding.  We also bought a house so I'm happy we had our honeymoon booked prior to that because we wouldn't have had that opportunity or considered it with the mortgage payments. And I feel that most people want the lavish honeymoon and "once in a lifetime" trip because who knows what the future will bring and if you will have the same opportunity.  I know that planning my honeymoon around my allotted vacation days was much easier to get approved because it's my honeymoon... my boss was totally understanding.  And if you plan on starting a family shortly after you get married, you really want a last hurrah before parenthood quickly takes over all of your major financial decisions.

 

Anyway, to the OP, Hawaii is a beautiful honeymoon destination without the hassle of passports and such.  It offers something for everyone. 

Jells2dot0

klk111415 said:

It doesn't matter when you take the honeymoon.  I don't know about other people, but we decided we wanted a nice long vacation after all of the stress of planning a wedding.  We also bought a house so I'm happy we had our honeymoon booked prior to that because we wouldn't have had that opportunity or considered it with the mortgage payments. And I feel that most people want the lavish honeymoon and "once in a lifetime" trip because who knows what the future will bring and if you will have the same opportunity.  I know that planning my honeymoon around my allotted vacation days was much easier to get approved because it's my honeymoon... my boss was totally understanding.  And if you plan on starting a family shortly after you get married, you really want a last hurrah before parenthood quickly takes over all of your major financial decisions.

 

Anyway, to the OP, Hawaii is a beautiful honeymoon destination without the hassle of passports and such.  It offers something for everyone. 

OP is from Canada, so passports are essential!!!

klk111415

Oh, sorry about that, I misread.  I'm sure the OP is well aware that Hawaii is not part of Canada, but my mistake for not seeing that detail.

TNDancer

klk111415 said:

It doesn't matter when you take the honeymoon.  I don't know about other people, but we decided we wanted a nice long vacation after all of the stress of planning a wedding.  We also bought a house so I'm happy we had our honeymoon booked prior to that because we wouldn't have had that opportunity or considered it with the mortgage payments. And I feel that most people want the lavish honeymoon and "once in a lifetime" trip because who knows what the future will bring and if you will have the same opportunity.  I know that planning my honeymoon around my allotted vacation days was much easier to get approved because it's my honeymoon... my boss was totally understanding.  And if you plan on starting a family shortly after you get married, you really want a last hurrah before parenthood quickly takes over all of your major financial decisions.

 

Anyway, to the OP, Hawaii is a beautiful honeymoon destination without the hassle of passports and such.  It offers something for everyone. 

I will definitely agree with bolded. Sometimes it can take awhile to get PTO approved. They heard honeymoon and I was approved within the hour.

JoanE2012

TNDancer said:

klk111415 said:

It doesn't matter when you take the honeymoon.  I don't know about other people, but we decided we wanted a nice long vacation after all of the stress of planning a wedding.  We also bought a house so I'm happy we had our honeymoon booked prior to that because we wouldn't have had that opportunity or considered it with the mortgage payments. And I feel that most people want the lavish honeymoon and "once in a lifetime" trip because who knows what the future will bring and if you will have the same opportunity.  I know that planning my honeymoon around my allotted vacation days was much easier to get approved because it's my honeymoon... my boss was totally understanding.  And if you plan on starting a family shortly after you get married, you really want a last hurrah before parenthood quickly takes over all of your major financial decisions.

 

Anyway, to the OP, Hawaii is a beautiful honeymoon destination without the hassle of passports and such.  It offers something for everyone. 

I will definitely agree with bolded. Sometimes it can take awhile to get PTO approved. They heard honeymoon and I was approved within the hour.

Ahhhh, sadly not all jobs are like that.  My job is easier to get time off, but DH's schedule is very dependent on client schedules.  Honeymoon or not, his time off has to be carefully planned.

klk111415

JoanE2012 said:

TNDancer said:

klk111415 said:

It doesn't matter when you take the honeymoon.  I don't know about other people, but we decided we wanted a nice long vacation after all of the stress of planning a wedding.  We also bought a house so I'm happy we had our honeymoon booked prior to that because we wouldn't have had that opportunity or considered it with the mortgage payments. And I feel that most people want the lavish honeymoon and "once in a lifetime" trip because who knows what the future will bring and if you will have the same opportunity.  I know that planning my honeymoon around my allotted vacation days was much easier to get approved because it's my honeymoon... my boss was totally understanding.  And if you plan on starting a family shortly after you get married, you really want a last hurrah before parenthood quickly takes over all of your major financial decisions.

 

Anyway, to the OP, Hawaii is a beautiful honeymoon destination without the hassle of passports and such.  It offers something for everyone. 

I will definitely agree with bolded. Sometimes it can take awhile to get PTO approved. They heard honeymoon and I was approved within the hour.

Ahhhh, sadly not all jobs are like that.  My job is easier to get time off, but DH's schedule is very dependent on client schedules.  Honeymoon or not, his time off has to be carefully planned.

Oh, that's true.  I was so fortunate in my situation.  I work in sales and it's end of quarter, but it was the only time that would truly work because the beginning of the year is hectic.  I'm not sure I even had enough PTO... but my boss is overlooking that.  It will be a mess when I get back and have over 2 weeks of work to catch up on in under a week, but having that time off to take a trip together will be amazing.  I feel like most of my time off is for traveling to weddings and we haven't had a true vacation in over 2 years.