H-Moon Info

Bimbi284

I already posted this on the honeymoon board, but I figured I would give it a shot with my trusty MN knotties!

  FI and I are trying to think of what to do for our honeymoon. Neither of us have any idea whatsoever where to start. We are getting married July 3rd, 2010, but due to my crazy school schedule (I have to miss class to get married!), we will not be honeymooning until prob the last week of December.

As far as what we are looking for: Something out of the continental U.S., Beach/tropical, good sightseeing, perhaps some hiking/exploring, culture, shopping, romantic (duh), probably all-inclusive, annnd affordable. With us both currently being students, we lack funds for something totally extravagant, but are working on saving up. (I'm thinking we'd like to stay in the $2000 range for everything, $3000 tops).

So any tips, tricks, hints, helpful websites? Any resorts or packages we should look into that you know of??

TIA!!!

LittleSweetie

Do you know anyone who has a timeshare?  My MIL was able to purchase an extra week with their timeshare membership at El Dorado Royale for $239 TOTAL for the week.  We just paid the all-inclusive fee, tips, and airfare.  Would definitely fit into your budget if you did it that way!

ETA: They don't own at EDR but they were able to purchase an "extra vacation" anywhere they wanted because they are RCI (timeshare) members.

Steph0871

LS- do you mind me asking how much the "all-inclusive fee" was?  My dad is the RCI member... but all I've found for resorts is the full price.  It'd be interesting/good to find out if he could get us a sweet deal.

hkiesling

We took a trip to Bunta Cana, Domincan Republic (change the B in Bunta to a P, because the knot won't let me post it with a P!)  a few years ago to an all-inclusive resort.  It was really nice, and being on the far east side, I don't think they were hit by the eartquake too bat.  It was absolutely beautiful with pools, spas, horseback riding, big beaches, and nice restaurants.  It wasn't a Sandles, but it was something along those lines.  Secrets maybe?  I could look it up if want.

For our minimoon, we found a last minute deal to Washington DC and had a blast.  The hotel upgraded us for free since we had just gotten married.  We saw the museums, which were almsot all free and took a free walking tour at night of the monuments, also free.  With the money we saved, we were able to go to some very nice restaurants.  It was  great cheap vacation (under $1000 for both of us for three days including airfare). 

On the more lux side, we're just now planning our New Zealand honeymoon and it's going to be unbelievable!  We're working with springboardvacations.com (Connie) and she's been fantastic.  That's probably a bit out of your price range though.  It was out of ours too, which is why we aren't going until late September (happy first anniversary to us!).

Steph0871

In Response to <a href="http://forums.weddings.com/Sites/Weddings/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_h-moon-info?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:81Discussion:f7f9f2da-d8e3-450b-a917-69c34a951382Post:e029a8b6-cb73-4d7d-ba0f-918cc8aad8a3">Re: H-Moon Info</a>:
[QUOTE]being on the far east side, I don't think they were hit by the eartquake too bat. 
Posted by hkiesling[/QUOTE]

<div>True.  I just got back 2 weeks ago from P.Cana and we didn't notice any problems at all from the earthquake.  We stayed with Palace Resorts and it was wonderful... I'm guessing more than 2 grand though (not sure. my dad/grandparents paid for the big family vacation and I was too scared to ask how much it was! ha)</div>

LittleSweetie

The fees are on the RCI site but we paid $1,860 for late January.  The week she bought for us was under an "extra vacation" versus trading a week.  HTH

Muffers

definitely check out kayak.com for airfare deals. we found flights to costa rica for under $300 per person. score! 
i'd recommend looking into costa rica, if it interests you.  We're finding lots of great prices (under $100/night) at highly rated places with gorgeous volcano views or  overlooking the ocean. exotic and affordable
good luck!

Bimbi284

Yeah, I've been leaning toward Costa Rica too after seeing some stuff. Keep the tips coming ladies! Thanks!

juliels53

We just booked ours to Riveria Maya in Mexico. We wanted a lux AI resort, but were concerned with the cost. We opted to shorten ours to only 5 nights (leave Monday after wedding, getting back Satruday). for right around $2000. We're going in September which is right in the middle of their hurricane season, so we might have gotten a deal because of that, but we're crossing our fingers the weather holds out! GL!