Paris or St. Lucia/Aruba for Honeymoon?

LegalDiva10

My husband and I postponed our honeymoon to 2011 because of his work schedule. We are undecided on whether to go to Paris or the Caribbean.. I want Paris only because I lived there when I did my study abroad semester in college almost 15 years ago. I also speak French and Spanish fluently and can navigate Europe.

My husband prefers the Caribbean because its cheaper and a shorter flight. He has been to Turks & Caikos and orginally I was leaning toward Sandals St Lucia or Aruba. However we have received a lot of wedding gifts and our budget can accomodate a European vacation nicely so I dont know whether to hit Europe or just do the Caribbean. Our target dates are either February or April 2011.


Any suggestions? What do you guys recommend?

KerriCornell

How about French Polynesia???  That seems like a good compromise

VESmith25

Well there is a destination where you can have France in the Caribbean-have you considered St. Barth?  It's a beautiful little French island.  The cuisine is fabulous, the shopping amazing and the beaches are beautiful.  I would suggest going after April 15 though as that is when the low season starts and prices drop significantly.  There are no AIs-only small boutique properties and private villas.  We have rented though St. Barth Properties several times and really enjoyed working with them.  We love villas for the total privacy and amazing views.  

Laur0813

My opinion would be if you have the time and money to go to europe, living in the US its pretty easy to get to the caribbean, so that would be a vacation that you could do almost anytime.. where with europe you will need a set amount of time and money for a decent trip.  either trip would be amazing though.

dawnmarie1279

I have been to Aruba and loved it! We are going to Sandals in St Lucia for our honeymoon! Aruba is a very beautiful island, you wont be disappointed!

alithebride

you don't need to speak another language in Paris (especially spanish). Aruba is my 2nd LEAST favorite island so I'd take anything over that.

i think you need to look more into what you want out of a place now that the budget is set.

also-you've already been to Paris. why not try someplace neither of you have been unless your FI is ok with Paris.

Traceyd14

Ali - curious what did you dislike about Aruba?  We are honeymooning during hurricane season so we are looking at Aruba as an option.   If there's a reason I should stay away, please let me know.

crushme8602

We went to St. Lucia for our honeymoon. Stayed at Sandals Regency, and Sandals Grande. Both were great, but we liked the Grande a tad bit more. My only complaint about St. Lucia was the roads are realllllly windy, so it's easy to get car sick on the hour + ride to and from the airport.

alithebride

i didn't like it for a few reasons. it pretty much lacked any kind of island personality, it's basically US HM central. i found it utterly disappointing. some of the beaches were ok but especially after seeing it's sister island curacao (and it's huge dutch personality, amazing snorkeling and true island feel) i was really not happy with it. it's not that it's a bad island-to me it was just plain vanilla, bland, lacking spark or any kind of uniqueness.

also-it's been hit by hurricanes in the past. it happens less often than the rest of the caribbean, but it happens.

girlinchicago

I like Paris AND St. Lucia BUT, for a honeymoon, I'd be more likely to go with the Caribbean.  After all the stress leading up to the wedding and the wedding day itself, it feels good to just relax and refresh.  (We eloped but there was STILL stress!)  You WILL be tired!  There are so many amazing islands in the Caribbean and incredibly gorgeous places to stay with a nicer sized budget - how about St. John?  St. Barths?  I think Petit St. Vincent Resort looks amazing!!  Or Peter Island.  Hermitage Bay in Antigua?  Ladera or Jade Mountain on St. Lucia.  I could go on and on.  

Having said all that, Sandals isn't really my thing, so between Sandals and Paris I'd take Paris.