Honeymoon Indecisiveness

michellep1

I started my honeymoon research with a multi-tab Excel sheet, one tab for each island/destination I was considering.  I was very thorough at first, and now I feel like I'm just losing my drive.  I had a list of about 15 places to look into, and I've only seriously researched about 3, while just sort of looking around at the rest.  I'm looking for something very specific, I want a room from which I can walk right out onto the beach.  I initially didn't want all-inclusive, but after getting into all the planning involved in this I think maybe its the best option.

Now FI went to Jamaica in college on some service trip, where if you ask me not much community service was really done, and ever since then he's been lobbying for Jamaica as our honeymoon destination.  Initially I was 100% against it because I wanted something that would be "our place" to discover together, but I came around and decided to look into it.  As it turns out, Sandals offers EXACTLY what I'm looking for at numerous sites in Jamaica, and its much more affordable than I originally thought. 

So now I feel like A) I'm not researching every single possibility in every single island (is this even possible?) so maybe I could find something better/similar in a different place; It would be so easy to just pick a Sandals resort in Jamaica and call it a day butttt C) I keep coming back to my desire for a place that's our own to explore together for the first time.  Also I sort of feel like Jamaica isn't unique enough or something.  I can't quite put my finger on what I'm feeling about it but it just seems so normal for people to go there and I kind of wanted to go somewhere unique and undiscovered. 

Am I being ridiculous?  Should I keep pushing through to really look at everything in every island?  Did any of you come across similar dilemnas?  How did you decide where to go when there are so many options?! 

courtneyclare103

If you truly want somewhere both of you have never been, then go for it! I'll give you my honest opinion on Jamaica--I didn't really like it. Granted, I've only been there for a few hours on a cruise, but it's certainly not on my short list of places to go back to. It would probably be different at a private resort, but we had people coming up to us constantly peddling their wares, including a guy who swam up to our catamaran boat with a garbage bag full of marijuana. You'll get peddled in most Caribbean countries and Mexico, but this was by far the worst of any of the places I've ever been.

jaime10285

Totally in the same situation.  I started to think way too much about planning the honeymoon and it became the most stressful of all the wedding planning!  I also wanted a place we both had never been to before so we could experience it together.  We just decided tonight to go to Majestic Elegance in P*nta Cana.  There really are a million choices and you'll go crazy if you look into every option.  Decide what's most important to you (all inclusive? no kids? someplace new for both of you? direct flight?) and then pick maybe 3 places that match that and look up reviews/talk to people and just decide.

BrooklynNovia

I understand what you mean about wanting to have something that's new for both youand FI and, at the same time, is somewhat unique.  The amount of research is daunting.  If it were me, I'd make a list of 5 places that fit both those criteria and just research those.

Here are some ideas:

Kauaii [I've been there---amazing!  More unique  than the big island]

Tortola

Dominica

Curacao

daria24

I think researching every island would be impossible and would just lead to more questions! I know a lot of wedding magazines have a one page table of the major islands and then symbols for things like "adventure" "romance" etc. Maybe choose your most important criteria and go from there?

I think you should also decide what your purpose is to go to one of these islands. Do you just want to be at a really nice resort and stay there and relax? Or do you want to actually see the island, experience the culture, etc. Everyone I know who has been to Jamaica has just stayed at the resort because they didn't feel comfortable/safe leaving the resort areas.

Also try speaking to a travel agent-they are experts in AI. 

Carebear62584

If you want some place that you can explore together then I don't think you should go to Jamaica.  I've never been there, but I've heard that it's not the best place.  I've also heard that the people who do go to the Sandals there do not end up leaving the resort because they don't feel safe.  Again, I haven't been there so I can't agree with these statements.  The options of places that open up the beach are endless.  If you went to a TA and told them your ideas they would have many ideas for you.  And if you go meet with a TA you aren't locked in to book with them, you can just get information and go do some research on your own.  If your FI really wants to go back to Jamaica then you could explain to him that this is a special occasion and agree to go there at a different time when it's not your honeymoon.  Also, there's so many Sandals resorts thats I'm sure have the same criteria so you may find one in a different location.  Try asking the HM board for ideas.

calisel

My FI booked and decided on our honeymoon without asking me. He picked an Hawaiian cruise. He has never been there and I have. I wanted to go on a cruise to Alaska, and he picked the Hawaiian one. Oh well, I'm just happy to go along...

michellep1

Thanks ladies for the advice.  I actually did look into all the other Sandals resorts and none of them meet the "walk out onto the beach" criteria!  I was pretty surprised about that actually, we can't be the only people that really want that ability!

I talked to FI and he said the resorts don't allow people to come up and try to sell you anything, so hopefully we wouldn't have to deal with that.  I guess we need to talk a little more about what we want to be doing on a day to day basis on our honeymoon.  I think maybe we do want the all-inclusive more than exploring since there's a number of things that COULD go wrong doing that and I don't know if I want that possibility on my honeymoon.  We can also go on an exploration for a separate vacation.  It looks like it comes down to if I can get over it that he's been there before! 

I think getting it all out here actually helped clarify things a lot for me, thanks for listening.  I'm excited to see where everyone's going as we all make our decisions!