Honeymoon Discussions

Honeymoon cost = or > than Wedding?!

We would love to go to South Africa in December. A package from the travel agent has it at $5000 for just the stay in the country for 10 days. No airfare added. We are super depressed. I knew it wouldn't be a $2000 trip, but I was hoping we could do it for under $5000 for both of us.

Does anyone have any helpful ideas? Unfortunately we are limited to leaving late December and coming back early January. Flexible only with a difference of a few days here or there.

Re: Honeymoon cost = or > than Wedding?!

  • hmm.. south africa is coolest thing since sliced bread this year and more so since the world cup and its an exotic honeymoon destination so i can imagine its realllly expensive.. and the flights are more expensive than the hotel stay itself.. my suggestion/idea for you is to maybe take a mini honeymoon during the time you are able and reschedule your south africa trip for maybe your one year anniversary or even the following december :) HTH!
  • Our honeymoon is going to cost far more than than the wedding, because we place a far greater value on travel and those kinds of experiences than on the party. All that matters to us about the wedding is that we come out of it married - beyond that it's all about the honeymoon! I'm not sure there's any way to cut costs (and in South Africa, you don't want to cut costs - you want to make sure you're staying in reputable, safe hotels), but hopefully you can make cuts elsewhere in your life so you can put the extra money toward your trip.

    I'm assuming you've never been to South Africa before - have you spoken to people who have? One of my best friends lived there for the first 22 years of her life and I will NEVER visit there - it's dangerous to the point where she and her mom went to daily target practice before she went to school each day, and she got her first gun to carry in her purse when she was 9. I know it's different as a tourist and if you're going with a guided tour group I wouldn't worry too much, but please make sure you do your research into which areas you would like to go to. Kenya is one of the more peaceful countries and still South Africans know that when you go there, getting mugged is not out of the ordinary and is generally just part of the routine. Even with what's going on with soccer right now - journalists are being mugged in their hotel rooms (the hotel managers are in cahoots with the muggers) and they're being left alive. People from there know that if it weren't from the publicity that the soccer is bringing to the area, that would never happen - if you wake up while you're being mugged, they kill you, period..

    Again, as long as you do your research and you're comfortable with that level of crime, I say good for you! It takes a seriously ballsy person to visit somewhere like that..

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  • Our honeymoon is costing us about $4300 (hotel & airfare). It is expensive but we figured, its our honeymoon...we only plan on having one, make it worth it! Another big part of our reasoning was that my FI owns his own practice and it is very difficult for him to take time off. This will be his first whole week off in over 3 years. The opportunity doesn't arise much as you can see so we dont know when we will get to do this again...especially if we decide to have children.

  • Yeah, I think there was no question that trip was going to cost closer to 10k than 5k.

    I agree about the comment abour priorities. We have no problem dropping money on travel - it's really important to the both of us.
  • I would recommend getting a second opinion on cost. I have known more than a few people, family members and friends, that have not only visited south africa, but have also lived there for a few months at a time.  i agree to make sure you do your research on safe locations.  But i have heard its beatiful country, and maybe your travel agent is putting you in higher end hotels, that perhaps are higher than necessary.  I would get 2 or 3 different options on cost, and then make your decision.  for 5-6g you can take a really nice honeymoon somewhere else..
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  • I think it might be worth it to look into putting together a trip yourself instead of going with a pre-packaged options.  As some have said, I would be careful about doing that if you'll be in, say, downtown Jo'burg (which is admittedly awful), but I don't think the dire warnings are quite so necessary for the entire country- some of the cities do have very high crime rates, so research which parts of the country you can visit safely.  I've traveled many places that prompted people to say "don't ever go there!!!1!1" but I did my research and never felt unsafe.  I've been robbed in my hometown, but never in any African countries.

    Unfortunately, South Africa is trendy right now AND December/January is tourist high season there because of the reversed seasons, so I'm not sure you'll be able to do a lot to cut the price really low.  Do you have airline miles or credit card rewards you can use for your flights?  What are you planning to do in the country- mostly safari and wine stuff?  You could ask your TA to lower the level of your accommodations for areas outside of the major cities.

    As far as the cost vs cost of the wedding, I think that is an entirely personal decision.  Our honeymoon is costing far less than our wedding but it is still one of the more splurgy vacations we will have taken.  The most important question to ask is, "can we afford this?", ideally without going into extra debt or completely wiping our all your other savings.  Good luck, I hope you find something that works out perfectly!
    7.17.10

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  • I have been to Kenya and South Africa and never once felt unsafe. Granted we went with a guided tour company, but don't let the poster above's account scare you out of going if you really want to go there. It is an amazing, beautiful country! Have you checked out 2Afrika's vacation packages? We went to Kenya for about $3,000 with included airfare and lodging and the lodging was amazing. I recommend checking their vacation packages out! www.2afrika.com
  • Thank you all,

    I would like to say that I have been to the East African country of Ethiopia twice and felt safe. It is ignorance and taking one situation that prevents people from experiencing amazing things.  If I listened to terrible stories about traveling, I guess I'd never go anywhere...

    We have wanted to go for a long time and will keep working on building the packages ourselves... I'll take the good luck wishes!
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_honeymoon-cost-wedding?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:1ea17ba0-688c-4608-a434-a977e9cd3a43Post:dd57da6a-683e-45ba-9822-cc90d999311d">Re: Honeymoon cost = or > than Wedding?!</a>:
    [QUOTE]It is ignorance and taking one situation that prevents people from experiencing amazing things.  If I listened to terrible stories about traveling, I guess I'd never go anywhere...
    Posted by vitacosmopolita[/QUOTE]

    Ditto this!  Good luck and have a great trip :)
    7.17.10

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  • I think if you can afford it you should go. 
    Also check out the travel board on the nest, GilliC posted about a trip to South Afirca today. 

  • December/January is high season from travel in Africa so you will be paying a premium price. 

    Plane tickets to South Africa are expensive too.  Expect at least $2200 per person. 

    What is it about South Africa that you are interested in?  Wildlife, culture, beach?  Other parts of Africa are much less expensive (ie Egypt) bu they might not have what you are looking for. 
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