Where should we go?

shoegal715

I know we have a lot time to decide, but we can't decide at all where we want to go. We are getting married in July and have narrowed our choices down to: 

1. Mayan Riveria, Mexico. I've looked at a 5 star resort - the Iberostar Grand Hotel Paraiso. It will cost just over $5,000 for the 2 of us for the week. 

PROS: all-inclusive, luxurious, beach, no additional costs, relaxing, no kids

CONS: Mexico, safety issues, not much to do except beach, booze and sex, I feel it's weird spending $5,000 to go somewhere warm when it's already warm in July at home, food could be bad 

2. Mediterranean Cruise. It will be the most expensive at almost $10,000 (including booze, excursions, flights etc.)

PROS: It's a Mediterranean Cruise! So much to see and do, great experience, once in a lifetime trip

CONS: cost obviously, I've heard that you almost need a vacation after the cruise as you're always seeing something / walking around the different cities, no beach, the heat, alcohol not included

3. Alaskan Cruise. $5,000 including flights, spending money etc. 

PROS: again it's a cruise, Alaska is beautiful, nice weather, not too hot, good food

CONS: no beach, not hot weather, might not be as "exciting as the Mediterranean Cruise", kids on the ship

So we are at a loss. Right now I think Alaskan cruise is best bet economically, but I've never been on one and wonder if I will get bored. Is it just ice? What do you do at the ports? 

Any input would be soooo appreciated! We are stuck!

sunshine_day_dreams

Can I pick #3a?  The a. part being visit Alaska but not as part of a cruise.  We went to AK last summer for three weeks and spent ~$5k total.  You actually will get to see beaches and a LOT more by doing a land tour in AK rather than a cruise. 

Honestly, when you get off a cruise ship in AK, the towns aren't prepared to handle you because the population of the cruise ship is about 10X that of the town.  There are 5 other cruise ships also docked and there are people EVERYWHERE swarming the same shops and restaurants.  You can do excursions, but they're part of a big group, where as for my honeymoon I would prefer to explore and tour on my own - especially in such a remote, untouched place.

Another part of the cruise is that AK cruises are typically older people and there isn't a ton of night life entertainment.  One of my favorite parts of AK was visiting the local places after work hours when the locals were actually out and about.  There are some really quirky, fun bars and places that offer a different kind of night life, but a fun one nonetheless.  For instance, one of the most fun/memorable nights of our trip was open mic night at the saloon in McCarthy - a tiny town in the middle of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.

I used the Great Alaska Tour Saver http://www.toursaver.com to plan our trip.  It has a ton of 2-for-1 deals on hotel nights, tours, rental cars, flights, etc. and literally saved us over $2k on our trip.  I think if you use it to shape your trip you can most certainly do a land based trip on $5k or less and see a lot more of the interior and lesser visited places of AK.

We had such an amazing time in AK that we've seriously talked about moving there.  It's definitely a must-do trip.  If you want more recs, I'd be more than happy to help.

KappaUCF20

Personally, I would never pay $10k for a Med cruise because that money would go a lot further in Europe if you traveled around there by land instead.  If you booked apartments/condos (rather than hotels), etc., you could spend an entire month in Europe for the same price and experience a lot more!  Also, they give you too little time in each port to justify that price IMHO. 

Of your choices, I guess I'd pick Alaska.

sunshine_day_dreams

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_should?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:166cb8c9-4edc-4587-8540-cffe38622d27Post:13079132-9be4-46e7-95ac-7cd3d2495a56">Re: Where should we go?</a>:
[QUOTE]Personally, I would never pay $10k for a Med cruise because that money would go a lot further in Europe if you traveled around there by land instead.  If you booked apartments/condos (rather than hotels), etc., you could spend an entire month in Europe for the same price and experience a lot more!  Also, they give you too little time in each port to justify that price IMHO.  Of your choices, I guess I'd pick Alaska.
Posted by KappaUCF20[/QUOTE]


I also agree with this.  We're going to Europe for 3.5 weeks for under $10k.