Honeymoon related questions

[Larissa]

I have a couple of honeymoon related questions.
Where are you going?
For how long?
How much are you planning to spend total (including food, flight, any activities, etc)?
Are you getting nicer acommodations that you would for any other vacation (I guess this really only applies if you aren't booking an all inclusive)?

------------------------

1- We're going to Austria.
2 - about 6 days, but we aren't totally decided
3 - about $2,000-$2,5000 (it depends on how the £ and euro convert at that time)
4 - not sure, we usually spend about $150-$175 on a hotel room for a night and aren't feeling the need to spend much more than that, but always seem to come back to "but this is our honeymoon!!"


ETA: I just noticed some HUGE spelling mistakes!

[GeekGirl]

We actually aren't really sure where we'll be going, but I'm interested in seeing if this thread offers up any hip suggestions! We're getting married in Fall '06, but for PTO reasons we'll have to wait till after the first of the year to go on our honeymoon. I'm kind of pulling for some sort of beachy/all-inclusive type thing (so we can go right away after our PTO renews!), but he really wants to go to Eastern Europe (which would mean waiting until spring at the earliest).

So help me out and offer up your top honeymooning spots, ladies! There's got to be some sort of compromise somewhere, and the world is our oyster! :D

[reeny]

through my honemoon research I've found this travel agent that the deals are great and I thought I'd pass it on
unforgetable honeymoons (http://www.unforgettablehoneymoons.com/)

[LeslieandPaul]

Where are you going? Caribbean cruise (but not until Nov., wedding is in Aug)
For how long? 7 nights plus one night in Ft. Lauderdale before cruise
How much are you planning to spend total (including food, flight, any activities, etc)? $4000 CDN, hopefully including our PADI certification, offered on board
Are you getting nicer acommidations that you would for any other vacation (I guess this really only applies if you aren't booking an all inclusive)? It's probably not as nice accomodations. We've booked an inside cabin.

[Clattercote]

1. We went to Italy and France (Rome, Florence, Monterosso al Mare, Nice, French alps - Briancon, Lyon). We were there for 2 weeks.
2. and 3. Spent total: around $3500. We used frequent flier miles and Ryanair for flights, and we stayed in nice and comfortable, but cheaper bed and breakfasts that we found at Rick Steve's website. We borrowed a friend's cabin in the Alps. The thing we splurged on was food. Didn't buy any souvenirs at all. The rental car we had ended up being much much cheaper than we thought it would. Got it from Europcar and reserved a diesel fuel car, which was much cheaper for gas.
4. We didn't get nicer accomodations than for other vacations, but like I said above, we planned to splurge on food, and we decided to go with comfortable but not top of the line b&bs (i.e. bathrooms were usually down the hall, which was fine with us). Plus, we figured that treating ourselves to two weeks in Europe was definitely worth it!

[j.d.l.102205]

We have booked a 4 night cruise to the Bahamas.
It's the 4 night cruise then a night before and a night after in Miami (so about a week)
With our flight, drinks, extra excursions, and tips hopefully not much more than $2,500.
We are getting an ocean view room, but I don't think it was because of it being our honeymoon. It really wasn't too much more than an inside room (we just couldn't do the suite w/ a balcony, now that would have been special for our honeymoon.)
I don't think we got too bad of deal with the cruise and the 2 night hotel stay was ($925 for both of us) that's not bad is it? I haven't ever been on a cruise before so I thought it was pretty good.

[babylove]

Old married lady here...I got married in August '03 and thought I could answer some of your questions as someone who has BTDT...

1. We went to Hawaii (Kauai and Maui)
2. 12 days + 1 night at in San Fran on the way to Hawaii
3. Our HM was very expensive...I think probably $8K if you add everything up. Our bills at each hotel when we checked out were about $1,500-$2,000 but that included spa treatments, some meals (breakfast, lunch and some dinner), golf (DH), drinks at the pool, random odds and ends at the sundry shop, etc.
4. YES! We stayed at the Four Seasons on Maui and The Hyatt Regency on Kauai. We figure, why not, you only get one HM in life!

[Sazoo]

Where are you going? We went to Fiji last September for our HM.
For how long? 8 days
How much are you planning to spend total (including food, flight, any activities, etc)? I think in the end we spent $5,000-6,000 total, but about $1,200 of that was for last-minute upgrades to first class that we purchased for our return flight from Fiji to LA.
Are you getting nicer acommidations that you would for any other vacation (I guess this really only applies if you aren't booking an all inclusive)?No, unfortunately we didn't score any great deals on much of anything by being honeymooners. :( We stayed at a timeshare condo resort.

[tlew12778]

My answers are kind of lame bc we haven't planned anything HM related yet.

Where are you going? Not sure... my list of potential places includes:

Thailand
Brazil
A safari (Kenya or South Africa maybe)
A cruise down the Nile and Luxor
The Maldives (especially if we get out PADI certification this summer)
Jamaica (an Island Outpost hotel based on this (http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/ADVISOR/05/19/honeymoon.planning/index.html) CNN article)

For how long? I think our max is two weeks based on how much time we can get off for HM. Here in Italy everyone gets 2 weeks extra vacation for HM. I need to take off a few days before the wedding as well though so that might cut into the two weeks.
How much are you planning to spend total (including food, flight, any activities, etc)? Hopefully not more than 5000 euro but that really depends on where we go and for how long. Ideally, if we go to Egypt for one week, we'll spend about 2000 euro total... but if we go on a safari or to Brazil or Thailand for 2 weeks, I expect to spend more... probably closer to the 5k total.
Are you getting nicer acommodations that you would for any other vacation (I guess this really only applies if you aren't booking an all inclusive)? Probably. I would like to at least. I want to go 5 star for the HM. Normally we stay in 3-4 star. If we go to Egypt, we are definitely going 5 star as I would be concerned about health issues otherwise. Likewise for a safari as I want to be high enough up away from the lions, ya'know?

ETA: We are going to S. Africa and Mozambique for 12 days (plus 2 days of travel for a total of 14 days). We totally blew the HM budget... by a lot... EUR 7.5k... close to $9k :eek:. In Capetown we are staying in a B&B, then we are 5 star on the private reserve in Kruger Natl. Park and 5 star in Mozambique. We are flying coach to S. Africa though. I probably would have preferred business class then 4 stars but oh well.

[lil_geek]

Where are you going? - A last minute hot spot like Mexico, Cuba, Dominican. Our wedding is in May and we will likely not book anything until April. We want to spend 6 days doing absoulty NOTHING but enjoying each others company!
For how long? One week. Two would be nice (and affordable, but Vacation time is limited)
How much are you planning to spend total (including food, flight, any activities, etc)? We have budgeted about $3000 CDN (I went to Cuba this April and got 5 * all inclusive at an AMAZING hotel for only $800 so it is very doable!
Are you getting nicer acommodations that you would for any other vacation Hmmm, it will be a 5* so in a way yes... but a 5* in Cuba does not equal a 5* in New York/Paris or London

[BethElena]

Where are you going? We're going to the Pocono Mountains, PA.

For how long? Sat - Sat ... Nice b/c we don't have to fly, and can get there whenever we want to after 5pm Sat!

How much are you planning to spend total (including food, flight, any activities, etc)? We're using my mom's timeshare, so it was $139 for the week, $30 guest pass (b/c condo is in mom's name), plus probably $50 per dinner out at night, $100 for groceries for the week, $100 for horse back riding for a grand total of $719.

Are you getting nicer acommodations that you would for any other vacation I have been pleasantly suprised by my mom's timeshares...they all have been better accomodations than I could afford going to per night, and only been at the most, $300 per week. They look to be better than the accomodations we got at a property in Jamaica that was owned by one of the larger chains (I believe Sandals).

[maplekitty]

Where are you going? - We are staying at the El Dorado Royale (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g150805-d574249-Reviews-El_Dorado_Royale_A_Spa_Resort-Yucatan_Peninsula.html) in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
For how long? 8 days and 7 nights
How much are you planning to spend total (including food, flight, any activities, etc)? I was fortunate enough to meet a friend on the WC in my hometown who worked for Air Transat, and she gave us her "friends and family" discount. So we were able to get this trip for a little $4000 CDN (it normally would have run us about $5000 CDN)
Are you getting nicer acommodations that you would for any other vacation (I guess this really only applies if you aren't booking an all inclusive)? It *is* All- Inclusive, so it will be a treat.

The "second" leg of our honeymoon will take us on a roadtrip into the Interior of BC for a week after we get home from Mexico, to visit wine country and and do all the wine-tours. We havn't budgeted for that yet, and we don't know where we are staying.

[LovinLife]

Where are you going? 7 Day Eastern Caribbean cruise to Nassau, St. Thomas, & St. Maarten with 3 days at sea! (on Royal Caribbean)

For how long? 7 Days!

How much are you planning to spend total (including food, flight, any activities, etc)? Cruise was $1600, flight was $590, excursions so far are $400, food is free, we will probably spend another $1000 on drinks, other excursions and misc items. So, around $3500. Thats the high end though!

Are you getting nicer acommodations that you would for any other vacation (I guess this really only applies if you aren't booking an all inclusive)? Yes, we went for the balcony room! We booked over a year in advance, so it was only $800 per person. Now the price is $1029.

[Rosebud]

Where are you going? Paris, the Loire Valley, Brussels & Amsterdam

For how long? 2 weeks

How much are you planning to spend total (including food, flight, any activities, etc)? Around $3500 for both of us with plane fare, hotels, train, car rental in the Loire. Food will be more.

Are you getting nicer acommodations that you would for any other vacation? Since we're staying in several different places, we mixed it up a bit. A friend gave us her apartment in Paris, which is free. So, we splurged on a chateau in the Loire. An inexpensive B&B in Belgium, and then a private boat in Amsterdam. It evens out. We're not staying in anything 5 star because (a) it's not worth the money to us and (b) how much are you really in your hotel in Europe? You're out enjoying the scenery!

[PG-rated]

Where are you going? We went to the Galapagos Islands for a land-based tour
For how long? Seven days
How much are you planning to spend total (including food, flight, any activities, etc)? I think we spent about $4000
Are you getting nicer acommodations that you would for any other vacation (I guess this really only applies if you aren't booking an all inclusive)? It was an all-inclusive, so no. But the hotel was still one of the nicer ones on the island.

[ginandchris]

We got married last year so here are my answers:

We went to Hawaii (Oahu and Maui).
Went for 2 full weeks--14 days.
I think we spent in total about $6500-7000 for everything. We upscale at Maui stayed at the Grand Wailea. Then did a cheaper hotel on Oahu. We did everything pretty much souveniors, tours, etc. HTH!

[Kinetic]

Where are you going? We honeymooned in the Greek Isles - (visited Athens, Rhodes, Crete, Santorini)
For how long? 14 days
How much are you planning to spend total (including food, flight, any activities, etc)? We saved up about $6000 over the course of 2 years to pay for it - we considered this to be one of the best trips of our lives.
Are you getting nicer acommodations that you would for any other vacation (I guess this really only applies if you aren't booking an all inclusive)? In Athens, we stayed in a budget hotel in the middle of the city, and in Crete we stayed in an all-inclusive resort (which to our surprise was like a mega-resort, the size of a small town). But on the other islands, we stayed at beautiful places - our rooms were simply beautiful, and we ate in fancier restaurants than we ever would have back home. We never got the "honeymoon suite" itself, but the hotels themselves were 5 star.

[mlfallis]

Where are you going?Cruise that goes to: Barcelona, Spain; Villefranche (Nice), France; Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy; Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy; Naples, Italy; Venice, Italy; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Santorini, Greece; Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey; Piraeus (Athens), Greece
For how long? 12 days
How much are you planning to spend total (including food, flight, any activities, etc)? close to $10,000 CND including an extra day in Barcelona and Greece
Are you getting nicer acommodations that you would for any other vacation (I guess this really only applies if you aren't booking an all inclusive)? We are going to get a oceanview but that is it since we are in port almost everyday.