The Caribbean - Planning a Honeymoon at Sandals in March 2009

Hi, all-

My soon-to-be wife and I are planning on spending 7 days in the Caribbean at either Sandals Grande Antigua or Sandals Grande St. Lucian from March 21st to March 28th.

The Antigua resort looks beautiful, but St. Lucia is appealing because we can take shuttles to the other resorts for different restaurants and golf (if I'm lucky.)

I have 2 questions-
1. A general question: does anyone have experience with either of these 2 places?
2. Is now too early to book? I see specials on the sandals.com website - will there be more specials at the beginning of 2009, or should I book through another agency?

Thanks in advance - any help is much appreciated by me and the fiancee.:)

I have a friend who just came back from staying at a Sandal's resort in St. Lucia yesterday. Not sure which one but I will ask her how she liked the island. The Antigua property has recently added buildings and done renovations I believe. I love Antigua but thought the beach at the Sandals property to be rather small and not that nice. There are alot of nice AI properties on that island, though. Galley Bay (http://www.eliteislandresorts.com/resortsb58c.html?islandID=1&resortID=10) and Blue Waters (http://www.bluewaters.net/) come to mind.

I have a friend who just came back from staying at a Sandal's resort in St. Lucia yesterday. Not sure which one but I will ask her how she liked the island. The Antigua property has recently added buildings and done renovations I believe. I love Antigua but thought the beach at the Sandals property to be rather small and not that nice. There are alot of nice AI properties on that island, though. Galley Bay (http://www.eliteislandresorts.com/resortsb58c.html?islandID=1&resortID=10) and Blue Waters (http://www.bluewaters.net/) come to mind.

Thanks for the response. I'd love to hear feedback from someone who's just recently returned.

I'll look into those other all-inclusives as well - thanks for the suggestions.

We are going to Sandals Antigua March 23-30th we have a Rondoval with our own little pool. Some friends went last March and LOVED it.

Congrats on the wedding (ours is March 22)

We are going to Sandals Antigua March 23-30th we have a Rondoval with our own little pool. Some friends went last March and LOVED it.

Congrats on the wedding (ours is March 22)

Congrats to you as well! Ours is March 14th.

Who did you book through?

My husband and I honeymooned at Sandals in St. Lucia (can't remember which one off the top of my head) and wished we would have chosen Antigua. I did not find the beaches in St. Lucia to be that nice -- the water is not the typical Caribbean turquoise-blue. I thought the beaches in Antigua were really nice (although we didn't stay at Sandals when visiting that island).

You might want to do some searching on Trip Advisor. There are a lot of posts about the Sandals resorts in that forum.