which carribean island?

glamorous0813 · June 2012

I was going to do Italy for my honeymoon but my Fiance insists on somewhere more tropical and beachy instead and then doing Italy for our one year. I'm totally in the dark of what Carribean Island is best. I know we are hoping look for breathtaking views, beautiful beaches, good restaurants, and some shopping. I want to go somewhere SAFE. Here are the choices I'm thinking of so far: P CANA, TURKS AND CAICOS, BARBADOS, OR ARUBA. I am worried about going to an island and feeling bored so I hope that doesn't happen! Any recommendations? Thanks!

LOMLBOAT · June 2012

I went to St. Lucia and Aruba for my honeymoon. St. Lucia was far more beautiful, it has mountians, kind of a rainforest feel. It has zip lining and other island excursions, but the downtown parts aren't as nice, but if you stay in an all-inclusive, there's not a lot of time you'll spend in town, it'll just be taking buses for the excursions.

Aruba was wonderful, great weather, great breeze, but it's pretty much a desert island, so there are the same type of excursions, but every island has them (booze cruise, snorkling, off roading, etc). I loved Aruba's weather and the shops, I felt so safe there and again, we did all-inclusive, so we didn't spend a huge amount of time in the downtown, but they have all the high end duty free shops which is fun to walk around.

The only thing that would sway me to Aruba again is that there is a direct flight from Boston and I HATE layovers, it just makes the trip that much longer and you spend so much money in the airport getting snacks and drinks.

Not sure about the others, but my vote is Aruba. We wanted to go to Spain for our HM, but decided we'd do that for our 1 yr anniversary.

i2012do · June 2012

We looked into the same islands as well. Our travel agent really pushed Aruba, she said you can do all inclusive at a place like DIVI or not, because the restaurants there are so affordable and deliscious ,and there are tons of options- and the downtown is really safe and great to walk around.

I was more interested in going to Barbados and staying at the Crane- which was running great specials and I have heard it is spectacular!However, the airfare to go to Barbados in August for us was $800 pp WITH layovers in Coach.

We ended up booking to mexico, because I didn't want to waste money on flights going to the carribean when I could get the same feel in Mexico for half the price. So we booked at the Secrets Maroma in Playa Del Carmen--and our airfar together was around $800 for first class tickets on the way there...Again, this depends on hwen youa re going and what time of year.

Have you considered doing a carribean cruise. We did one to the bahamas, and turks and caicos. Turks was beautiful, the beaches were amazing and we had fun- but I feel like if I spent and entire week there I would get bored.

I think of all the places you mention Aruba has the most to do
St. Lucia is beautiful too- our friends went and loved it, but they said it was expensive to get around (they didint stay at an all inclusive).

bells24412 · June 2012

I am going to aruba for my honeymoon and i cannot wait! I have neen there once before and it is truly an amazing place plus it is safe and that is what we wanted. We are staying at an AI but one night we are going to a nice restaurant just because the food is delucious. Our plane tickets were a bit expensive but im glad we are going for the reasons i mentioned good luck and i am sure you will have a good time wherever you go.

RIFallBride · June 2012

We are going to Aruba, mainly because it is outside the hurricane belt and we have heard so many good things. It is a desert island, like PP said, so it is a very different feel than the rainforest/wet islands. We are doing semi-inclusive meaning that breakfast and lunch are included which will allow us to go out to dinner while we are there. We are thrilled with the idea. In terms of direct flights, there are very few out of Boston now. Jet Blue used to do them more often but now only does one a week on Saturdays, I believe.

We considered St. Lucia and Barbados. We were originally leaning towards a Sandals resort in St. Lucia but we worried about the weather and realized that you pay so much for the Sandals experience. We did consider the Crane resort in Barbados, it is spectacular and we have had friends go that loved it. But the resort is somewhat isolated and we were worried there wouldn't be enough nightlife for us. Barbados is more Caribbean than Aruba, Aruba is very Americanized.

GL wherever you go you will enjoy!

BelleandIzzy · June 2012

We just got back last week from our honeymoon to Couples Swept Away (CSA) in Negril, Jamaica. At first I thought Jamaica was cliche but as we researched Carribean all-inclusives, we kept seeing Couples come up with great reviews and they are only based in Jamaica. We absolutely LOVED our honeymoon. The water was crystal clear, the sand powdery white, and we felt completely safe the entire stay (they have security on the perimeters of the resort as well). We were able to get their best room (oceanfront right on the beach) for less than the cheapest room at a Sandals resort (though it's just personal preference but I find Sandals to be Vegas on a beach- chinzy and outdated).

Wherever you go I highly suggest Trip Advisor- one of the major reasons we booked CSA was the amazing reviews and the extremely high rate of repeat guests (people who come back year after year for over 20 years), and after having stayed there we can see why- we can't wait to plan our own repeat trip!

Good luck...honestly I have a feeling wherever you wind up will be magical. There is just nothing like sitting on the beach with your new husband knowing that you're married and relaxing after all the hard work of wedding planning!!!

LOMLBOAT · June 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_rhode-island_which-carribean-island?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:122Discussion:6027c1c1-f9de-43dd-8b34-779f3e13953aPost:15e3c1c8-e191-486c-a3b1-2a96c9ef2ff9">Re: which carribean island?</a>:
[QUOTE]I am going to aruba for my honeymoon and i cannot wait! I have neen there once before and it is truly an amazing place plus it is safe and that is what we wanted. We are staying at an AI <strong>but one night we are going to a nice restaurant just because the food is delucious.</strong> Our plane tickets were a bit expensive but im glad we are going for the reasons i mentioned good luck and i am sure you will have a good time wherever you go.
Posted by bells24412[/QUOTE]

Not sure if you are talking about The Flying Fishbone. We wanted to go there so bad for dinner one night, but it was going to cost $75 roundtrip for the taxi to get there (it's on the complete opposite side of the island) and I heard the food was also pricey. We had AI and didn't care about 1 night out to dinner, but when you think about it being a $200-250 dinner with taxi and stuff, it just wasn't worth it for us.

bells24412 · June 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_rhode-island_which-carribean-island?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:122Discussion:6027c1c1-f9de-43dd-8b34-779f3e13953aPost:e1ca28d5-3a17-499d-bc61-0da966e20606">Re: which carribean island?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: which carribean island? : Not sure if you are talking about The Flying Fishbone. We wanted to go there so bad for dinner one night, but it was going to cost $75 roundtrip for the taxi to get there (it's on the complete opposite side of the island) and I heard the food was also pricey. We had AI and didn't care about 1 night out to dinner, but when you think about it being a $200-250 dinner with taxi and stuff, it just wasn't worth it for us.
Posted by LOMLBOAT[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the heads up....Our travel agent recommended the lighthouse dinner by the ocean, she said it is very romantic. I think the resturants on site of our Hotel also does a romantic dinner by the ocean so we may not even bother spending the money we will probably just decide when we get there. We are staying on Palm Beach which I heard isn't far from a lot of things, is this true? I went to Aruba like 7 years ago so I don't remember much.

tclopes · June 2012

Last year on vacation we went to St. Martin (French side) and had an amazing time. Beautiful beaches, great food in Grand Case area, and their downtown Marigot was awesome for shopping. We also took a day trip to St. Barths - another beautiful island. We stayed in Grand Case http://www.lesplanade.com/.

Sarah MD · June 2012

I went to Turks & Caicos for my graduation trip (2002). My BFF and I stayed at Club Med, so a lot of inclusive things. I'm sure it's more built up now since it became more popular since my trip, but there wasn't much there. My friend and I had asked where we could go for a day of shopping - yea, they looked at us like we had 8 heads. There really wasn't any. I still loved it, but there wasn't a lot of "stuff" to do - gorgeous beaches and snorkeling though!

which carribean island?

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