How did you decide?

Jessa617

H and I are officially able to go on a honeymoon... but I have no clue where!

For those of you that have gone on vacation recently, or went on a honeymoon or are planning a honeymoon- How did you decide on the destination?

My head is spinning with all the Caribbean islands and a lot of them are pretty comparable in price and I have no idea how to narrow it down.

I'm aiming for either Costa Rica or one of the (many) Caribbean islands... tips?

MuppetFan

I think I missed it if you said so in another post, but how was the wedding??? Congrats and welcome back.

i went on a cruise for the Caribbean and loved every second of it.

audrewuh

We made a list of all the places we'd been to already, either together or seperate. It was important to us that we go somewhere neither of us had been and that didn't require a passport as H doesn't have one yet.

We decided on NYC and Boston (even though I'd been to Boston before, we want to move there in a couple years, so I wanted to show H around. Thanks to the lockdown, that didn't work so well...) and then we called a travel agent who set everything up for us. It was amazing (and free!). 

MuppetFan

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_how-did-you-decide?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:14Discussion:d3c3d9a4-e767-42c3-abb7-899cd005cb40Post:45c2b7f3-e5e4-471f-876a-0ee48f6ead88">Re: How did you decide?</a>:
[QUOTE]We made a list of all the places we'd been to already, either together or seperate. It was important to us that we go somewhere neither of us had been and that didn't require a passport as H doesn't have one yet. We decided on NYC and Boston (even though I'd been to Boston before, we want to move there in a couple years, so I wanted to show H around. Thanks to the lockdown, that didn't work so well...) and then we called a travel agent who set everything up for us. It was amazing (and free!). 
Posted by audrewuh[/QUOTE]
welcome back to you too!

audrewuh

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_how-did-you-decide?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:14Discussion:d3c3d9a4-e767-42c3-abb7-899cd005cb40Post:25e9e270-72d7-4d7e-b810-d768b7b11929">Re: How did you decide?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: How did you decide? : welcome back to you too!
Posted by MuppetFan[/QUOTE]

<div>Why thank you! </div><div>
</div><div>(shameless AW, I posted a recap on NEY if you want to hear how it went and see more pics)</div>

cwaggoner07

Budget was a big factor. We only ended up spending 3.1K total for everything to go to Isla Mujeres Mexico to an all inclusive for 7 days. TBH, I think most of the Caribbean looks exactly the same from the resort, it's just about finding a resort that looks great and includes everything you want. For us, we got more bang for our buck in Mexico, yet we were able to be on a small island that didn't scream 'Party Tourists.'

Jessa617

The only place we've gone (together or separately) is Mexico so I wanted to go somewhere different. I love to snorkel so I'd like to go to a place that has amazing snorkeling.

I guess just flipping through travel books is a good start.


Muppet- yes I just got married this past weekend. Thank you!

Aud- It's a shame our city was on lockdown and you couldn't get here. It really isn't a bad place to live!

daria24

Whenever we want to plan a trip, we go to Barnes & Noble and flip through travel guides for a while to get ideas. Then talk about our top picks and choose from there. Usually the top things we consider are how many days we will have, and whether we want to do the whole Europe/city/museums/culture experience vs a more beach/outdoorsy experience.

For the HM we knew we wanted to go somewhere that had nice beaches & a chance to relax, but also had lots of activities because we knew we wanted to spend more than two weeks on the trip. So we ended up going to Hawaii. 

StephJean83

Our roommate recently purchased a timeshare and is letting us buy a week or so from him. He actually has a 2 trips that don't count against his points or anything and he might let us use one of them. I am 99 percent positive we are going to Ireland. If he hasn't purchased it or offered us the chance to buy it from him cheaper than if we booked elsewhere Idk that we would take more than a few days at a local hotel for a honeymoon.

lyndausvi

Well we lived in the islands, so we crossed off all island type vacations.    I had already been to a lot of places around the world and DH wanted to go some place neither had been.

I always dreamed of going on safari and brought it up as a possilbe spot.  Didn't actually think he would want to go, but he said look into it.  So I did and we picked South Africa.  When figuring out the flights I found out that we had to stop in Europe first.  It didn't cost any more to lay over a few days so I picked a few cities we could stay.  

DH always wanted to go to Amsterdam (I had never been).  So we picked that one for the way over.  We could stop in London, Paris or Barcelona on the way back.  I had been to all 3 of those, so DH picked Paris.

The closer we got to the wedding we figured out that we would be flying back via NYC around the time of the last home Yankee game in the old stadium.  So we got tickets and added a few days in NYC.  DH is from there so we just stayed at his mom's house.  Which worked out fine.  We do not get there often and DH was able to see some of his old buddies.

BostonGIrl4732

For us, we look at time of year first.  We're going on our honeymoon at the end of September, so most of the Caribbean was out because of hurricane season (I didn't want to take the risk).  We put together a list of what we both wanted out of our honeymoon.  I wanted somewhere warm with a beach.  FI wanted to go somewhere he'd never been before and somewhere they had something exciting to do.  We settled on California (no hurricanes we hope, I can check out the beach, and we're hitting up Disneyland for FI).

The islands all have their different strengths.  When picking an island, I usually talk to people I know have traveled a lot and get recommendations.  FI and I have been to Punta Cana before and LOVED it.  I've heard amazing things about Aruba too.

thejucheidea

We're going to Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. I've wanted to go to Iceland for awhile, and Sweden was recommended by one of our close friends, so we figured we'd just do it all.

Our last few vacations haven't been really huge things -- New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, Vermont, Seattle, California -- so I'm looking forward to going out of the country again. It's been too long (2008).

audrewuh

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_how-did-you-decide?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:14Discussion:d3c3d9a4-e767-42c3-abb7-899cd005cb40Post:6209bec2-060b-4c78-92ea-68d678f148aa">Re: How did you decide?</a>:
[QUOTE]The only place we've gone (together or separately) is Mexico so I wanted to go somewhere different. I love to snorkel so I'd like to <strong>go to a place that has amazing snorkeling.</strong> I guess just flipping through travel books is a good start. Muppet- yes I just got married this past weekend. Thank you! Aud- It's a shame our city was on lockdown and you couldn't get here. It really isn't a bad place to live!
Posted by Jessalyn2013[/QUOTE]

<div>Check out Puerto Rico. I went in middle school and snorkled a lot. Sooo much awesomeness! </div><div>
</div><div>The lockdown wasn't too bad. We got in from NYC on Thursday and hung out in the North End all night. Friday during the lockdown, we ended up walking around the Commons and all the way to Fenway. Saturday we went to BU (where I want to go to grad school), Fenway again (to change the name on our tickets to the sox game that we weren't going to make any more), and then Fanueil Hall. We got to see some good stuff, I just wanted him to see more. He loved what he saw though!! </div>

ally91

FI's parents offered to pay, gave us a budget, and FI did extensive research online for a place that fit the budget and got good reviews. He really wanted something tropical, I really wanted all-inclusive. We ended up going with Couples Sans Souci resort in Jamaica Can't wait to go!

RailWayWife

We discussed things we wanted to see/do. If we wanted adventure or romance, or time to relax. How much time we could get off work, budget. From that we picked a few destinations & researched them. In the end we decided to backback in Vietnam, Cambodia, & Thaliand for a month. I CAN NOT WAIT.

winelover123

We were originally going to do something in Europe or Turkey. We had it down to Turkey after making a deal in which FI would get to plan the 1 year anniversary trip since I would get the trip I wanted (which is Turkey). After that, my parents offered to let us use their timeshare. Suddenly Hawaii, which was out of our price range, was on the table because that shaved off 8 nights of rooming costs. FI really wanted to go to Hawaii, so Hawaii it is. In exchange, I get to plan the 1 year anniversary trip and we're going to India :-)

AI were never on our list because we wanted to get out of the resort to do things. We're not really a stay-at-the-resort couple, even if the resort has cool watersports. A cruise was a potential though, just because of the lower price.

harper0813

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_how-did-you-decide?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:14Discussion:d3c3d9a4-e767-42c3-abb7-899cd005cb40Post:2f140ff5-fead-40b6-810e-24e934463988">Re: How did you decide?</a>:
[QUOTE]We discussed things we wanted to see/do. If we wanted adventure or romance, or time to relax. How much time we could get off work, budget. From that we picked a few destinations & researched them. In the end we decided to backback in Vietnam, Cambodia, & Thaliand for a month. I CAN NOT WAIT.
Posted by RailWayWife[/QUOTE]

<div>THAT SOUNDS AMAZING. That's seriously the best honeymoon I can imagine. Have fun!!</div>

tlc35

I actually can't remember how we decided.  I think mainly that I have always really wanted to go to Spain and FI has never been (and he has been to a bunch of places).  He really wants to go to the south of France, so we ended up with a plan of Spain, South of France and Italy.

I have been on a Carribean cruise, to Jamaica, and to Costa Rica.  Costa Rica was my favorite but I like active vacation and get bored easily hanging out on a beach.  I agree that looking at travel books and reviews.  Think about what you want to do, relax on the beach, cultural things like museums, sporty activties and then match up which destinations fits your plans and budget.

Jessa617

OOh backpacking sounds fun! DH is not as adventurous as I and would rather sit by the pool and drink pina coladas all day. Which is why an AI might suit us better. We love to eat and drink.

First step- travel books
Second step- travel agent

Thanks for all of the wonderful tips!

MrsGandthebeag

Someone suggested Puerto Rico for snorkeling.  It really depends on where you go in PR.  We just went in February and there was not one shell on the beach or in the water.  We stayed in the Isla Verde area which has the best beaches.  So, you'd have to do your research there on where to go specifically.  

We wanted to go to Europe for our hm as we do a lot of beach travel during the year.  So, we decided on a mediteranean cruise to see more than one place.  Our favorite stop was Turkey.

kks4471

We went to Bermuda for our HM, for a couple a different reasons.  First, there was a direct flight on JetBlue out of Logan, and the flight was only 2.5 hours.  Second, my H doesn't like the heat, so we didn't want to travel far south in June.  Bermuda had 80* weather when we were there, it was perfect!  Third, beaches, beaches, beaches.  Fourth, we found a wonderful resort to stay at, based on reviews from tripadvisor and a travel book.

We're going on a Caribbean cruise in October, which stops at 5 different islands.  I could never choose just one to see, so we're excited to cruise to all of them.  Maybe you could do a cruise too?  Good luck searching, and definitely use the books and travel agent.

NYCBride2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_how-did-you-decide?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:14Discussion:d3c3d9a4-e767-42c3-abb7-899cd005cb40Post:6e1aa1e0-23c9-468d-b0ce-2437ebd3f59d">Re: How did you decide?</a>:
[QUOTE]S<strong>omeone suggested Puerto Rico for snorkeling.  It really depends on where you go in PR.  We just went in February and there was not one shell on the beach or in the water.  We stayed in the Isla Verde area which has the best beaches.  </strong>So, you'd have to do your research there on where to go specifically.   We wanted to go to Europe for our hm as we do a lot of beach travel during the year.  So, we decided on a mediteranean cruise to see more than one place.  Our favorite stop was Turkey.
Posted by MrsGandthebeag[/QUOTE]

Definitely agree with this.  Most islands will have great snorkeling you just need to go to the right area on the island.  My FI and I decided on Bora Bora, Tahiti and Moorea.  That was our dream honeymoon location so it was an easy decision.  We booked through a travel agent.  I would recommend trip advisor because it was really invaluable in finding the right travel agent to go with. 

Belle0720

FI and I had been planning to go to France & Italy. But after some research decided that when we go to France & Italy we are going to want to be on the go the whole time and maybe stay in some hostels and cheaper places, and for our honeymoon we want something more luxurious and relaxing.

So we started looking around online, top honeymoon destination lists, tripadvisor, travelocity, etc. Our #1 criterion was that we wanted to go somewhere neither of us had been before and #2 was budget. That knocked out Hawaii, Mexico, and a few islands in the Caribbean. We finally decided on Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica since it has both beach and Rain Forest. So we should be able to relax on the beach and also go out to explore and be adventurous. The price is higher than Mexico but also less than many other tropical desitinations and was within our budget so it seemed perfect.

krizzo17

We're both engineers, so like everything with our wedding, this involved many spreadsheets. We started by listing pretty much every place either of us wanted to go - some was specific, some more vague. Then we eliminated everything we couldn't afford right after the wedding (Galapagos Islands, Kilimanjaro), anything we didn't think was safe at the time (Egypt, parts of South America), and anything we didn't have time to do (we were originally thinking of a week, which eliminated Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji).

Then we talked about what we wanted on a honeymoon vs a vacation - we wanted to spend time relaxing together, not necessarily busy every day. So we crossed off all of Europe - for us, those vacations will be planned all day every day. That pretty much left Alaska, Hawaii, and the Carribean. I wanted to lay by a pool/beach, so we crossed off Alaska.

The biggest deciding factor for the rest was actually our age - at the time, I was 24 and H was 23, so we couldn't rent a car. We planned a Hawaii itinerary, but since we like to hike and explore it was mostly off the beaten path, and we would have needed a 4x4. We didn't want to spend our entire time at an AI, so we knew we'd either need somewhere small, or with good public transit. I had originally wanted to go to Guadalupe, but you can only get flights there certain days, and it didn't really work with our schedules. At that point, we had narrowed it down to St Lucia or the USVI, and we started coming up with lists of activities, places to stay, and overall costs. And then H fell in love with the idea of St Lucia, so that's where we went

Super long winded, but true story.

Jessa617

krizzo that's typically what I do. I make a list of each place and list the pros and cons (the biggest factor being budget), then when I narrow down the area I start looking at hotels. I like to be able to get a drink at anytime and H likes sushi/japanese/thai so I like to find places that have those types of food within the hotel or nearby.

I am so jealous of everyone's amazing honeymoons! My dream would be New Zealand/Australia but that's way out of our budget.

I was thinking of someplace we'd never get the chance to go to again because of the generosity of our guests, but H (being sensible for once) said we should save the money and do something nice but small. Which brings me to DR. Since we've already been to Mexico, I didn't want to do that. Costa Rica is still within our budget (barely), so I'm really trying for that.

We are going to vacation in early December. The rain/hurricane seasons will be over by then, it's the slow season at my work and H should have accrued some vacation time by then.