Honeymoon Help
 

Hey Folks,
I’ve been posting in the Delta (not anymore!) and US Air forums for a while but this is my fist post here.
My fiancé and I are in search of a unique honeymoon destination that fits our budget. While I feel like it is more than tacky to mention numbers, I’ll say that our budget is about $6,000 give or take a few hundred.
We are looking for a unique beach and/or island destination. We have looked into the Seychelles, Phuket Thailand, the Maldives, etc, however at this point they appear to be cost prohibitive. I suspect airline prices will drop as we get closer, but we do not want to spend 4k getting somewhere and not have anything left for a hotel or food. We also considered the French Rivera- despite having spent a considerable amount of time there- because we know it will and we could spend more on accommodations and food. The problem there is the time of year. We are locked in to the end of April – beginning of May.
We have considered the Caribbean or Hawaii- we could use miles and fly FC- however we feel like (with mileage) we can go there almost any time. We want to visit a place that we could not normally afford to visit.
I would love to find some neat European island with great resorts so that we could spend a few days in Paris visiting old haunts.
If anyone has any suggestions (even reasons we should consider places like the Caribbean, etc) please share them. I am really enjoying looking at different places and would love some suggestions!

-Nick

p.s. Is Burj Al Arab in Dubai really $10,000.00 a night?!?!?! That rules that out!

Congrats on the marriage. I'm getting married next year, and we just booked our honeymoon. We're going on a 12-night cruise through the Mediterranean, out of Barcelona.

Although others may have suggestions, I would suggest doing a search on FT (using honeymoon as the keyword). There have been a number of threads on the topic, and you should find some valuable information.

Well, this is WAY off your topic, but I thought it'd be worth a mention.

Have you considered going to Majuro in the Marshall Islands? They now have an Outrigger hotel, and you would be in one of the few off the path places left in this world. I don't know, but do believe that the rates are still more than reasonable there.

Just a thought.

10K per night at the Burj? Even the Royal suite is only $9K per night. Rooms are $800 at the Burj, but you should be able to get even lower than that if you try.

And airfare to Thailand isn't $4K. Try $700 or so if you book in advance. Book on an airline you can upgrade on.

Pearl Beach or Pacific Resort in Aitutaki in the Cook Islands. More exclusive and off the beaten track from French Polynesia, and weather won't be a problem.

Congratulations on your wedding.

Do a search in Trip Reports for the Burj al Arab...Uli did a fantastic review there and I don't think the rates are that high!

I'm surprised you say that airfare to Thailand is so high. At the end of April you should be able to get there from pretty much anywhere in the US for well under $1,000 pp. This would leave you with about $4,000 for room and food. While it may not be the swishest place, you can get pretty good beach accommodation for under $100 per night. For two weeks that would leave you with $2,600 - more than you can possibly spend on meals and activities!

Now Thailand is not the most exotic place anymore, but for beach value, Phuket, Ko Samui etc are tough to beact on price.

I would avoid much of the south Pacific since food/drink is often quite expensive.

Have you looked into some resorts in Malaysia (Pankor etc?). You might even want to be adventurous and try Vietnam.

South Africa is a long flight from the US, but once you're there, prices are very reasonable. No great (swimming) beaches (unless you head to Durban and further north) since the water is so bloody cold, but beautiful scenery. Safaris are expensive.

What about the coast of Brazil north-east of Sao Paolo/Rio...there are some beautiful resorts there at fairly reasonable prices, and flights should not be a problem.

I'm begining to think I either mis-read or saw something misquoted... Although that was right from their website.
$700 is more consistant with what I am used to seeing for Thailand fares. I think at this point it is so far out that all the fares are full price. I'll have to check again in a few months.

I'm also looking into the Cook Islands (see above).

What about Boura Boura? Anyone have expirence there?


Thanks again for everyones' advice!

-N




[This message has been edited by SpaceBass (edited 09-10-2003).]

Bora Bora is quite expensive and usually hotels rates are 10-15% higher than elsewhere in French Polynesia. So I don't suggest you to get there even though I'm a FP addicted: why don't you think of staying in Moorea instead? Or to the more affordable Cook Islands? Or try a very relaxing full immersion vacation in Easter Island (departures from PPT at 600$ p.p. RT, accomodation and meals for a week?)
I also agree with FTs here saying you can find <1$ p.p. tickets to go almost everywhere...
Furthermore your spouse and you are going to travel off-peak, so an advance booking will let you spare the bulk of your budget for other expenses.
Finally, a tip concerning the place I live: if you're looking only for a sea vacation, the Mediterranean sea would not be the place to be...weather is very unpredictable and water is still too cold.