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Honeymoon ideas in the $3000 range.

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tedtropy

$50/hour, but no kissing on the lips and colors must be pre-separated
I've never been to Vegas or Hawaii, so those two have been high on my list, although I'm just not sure if $3000 will get it done on the islands, but basically I'm looking for ideas in the States around that price. An economical honeymoon for these recession-ridden times!
 

DanteFox

Member
Ceres said:
You can go to Mexico for $3000 and get all inclusive.
I've heard good things about people who've done this. Good price and good value. Although I have no first hand experience with honeymoons.
 

Wellington

BAAAALLLINNN'
tedtropy said:
I've never been to Vegas or Hawaii, so those two have been high on my list, although I'm just not sure if $3000 will get it done on the islands, but basically I'm looking for ideas in the States around that price. An economical honeymoon for these recession-ridden times!
Wait, you're getting married? When did that happen?
 

mre

Golden Domers are chickenshit!!
You can stay in our spare bedroom for $2,000, and I'll throw in a six pack of Schlitz for the newly-weds.
 
Ceres said:
You can go to Mexico for $3000 and get all inclusive.
This.

Take the Shawshank Redemption tour of Sehuantenejo or just go to Acapulco. Alternatively, aren't some of the carribean islands cheap as well? Bermuda etc?

EDIT:

On second thought, consider Costa Rica. It's a beautiful country with nice beaches and (relatively) low crime for Latin America.

Whenever I think about travelling I go to: www.smarttraveller.gov.au
 

tedtropy

$50/hour, but no kissing on the lips and colors must be pre-separated
mre said:
You can stay in our spare bedroom for $2,000, and I'll throw in a six pack of Schlitz for the newly-weds.

Dude, if you've got basic cable and maybe a tropical themed wallpaper we are THERE.
 

Wellington

BAAAALLLINNN'
You have a couple of options, some are dependent on the time of year:

1) Some island on the Florida Keys

2) One of the US Virgin Islands

3) The Outer Banks

4) Skiing in Colorado/Vermont
 

Gallbaro

Banned
Amtrak and their bedrooms, for 3000 you could do Chicago to Seattle or Portland on the Empire Builder, Portland to LA on the Coastal Starlight and then LA to Chicago on the Southwest Chief.
The bedrooms are great for sex, just do not get a roomette. The Empire builder has a world class chef and all three routes have spectacular views.
 
BladeWorker said:
How about Disney?

Disney's awesome, but it's pretty stressful. You have to make reservations for every night months in advance, wake up early and get to the parks at opening or shortly after each day, have touring plans, learn to use fastpasses etc.

Definitely not the right thing for a honeymoon. Maybe a few months later, but not honeymoon.
 

Tapiozona

Banned
DanteFox said:
I've heard good things about people who've done this. Good price and good value. Although I have no first hand experience with honeymoons.

Ive done Mexico all inclusive twice now and its by far the best bang for buck. Know that theres 2 sides of mexico if you're looking for a beach vacation. Western coasts will not have the turquoise waters most people think about when they hear 'tropical'. If you want that you have to goto the Yucutan coast (east), anywhere from Cancun south past Playa Del Carmen.

Anywhere in that area will get you the crystal turquoise waters only at half the price you pay on one of the caribbean islands. I don't recommend Cancun unless you want more night life (think college bars, spring break, MTV). If you want something in the middle or more peaceful then look south to the Mayan Riviera.

$3,000 will get you at least a week, all inclusive (I can't even imagine goign on vacation thats not all inclusive anymore. Once you try it you can never go back), with beaches that rival if not top most caribbean islands.

I actually got married down there on the beach so I've done hundreds of hours of research about every beach, every hotel in that area. If you have any questions I consider myself a quasi-expert.

Going back again this May for another friend's wedding. Love it down there.
 

mre

Golden Domers are chickenshit!!
tedtropy said:
Dude, if you've got basic cable and maybe a tropical themed wallpaper we are THERE.

I've got satellite and a home improvement store right down the road. Let me know when you're coming and I'll pick up the Schlitz and put it on ice for you lucky love-birds.
 
Tapiozona said:
Ive done Mexico all inclusive twice now and its by far the best bang for buck. Know that theres 2 sides of mexico if you're looking for a beach vacation. Western coasts will not have the turquoise waters most people think about when they hear 'tropical'. If you want that you have to goto the Yucutan coast (east), anywhere from Cancun south past Playa Del Carmen.

Anywhere in that area will get you the crystal turquoise waters only at half the price you pay on one of the caribbean islands. I don't recommend Cancun unless you want more night life (think college bars, spring break, MTV). If you want something in the middle or more peaceful then look south to the Mayan Riviera.

$3,000 will get you at least a week, all inclusive (I can't even imagine goign on vacation thats not all inclusive anymore. Once you try it you can never go back), with beaches that rival if not top most caribbean islands.

I actually got married down there on the beach so I've done hundreds of hours of research about every beach, every hotel in that area. If you have any questions I consider myself a quasi-expert.

Going back again this May for another friend's wedding. Love it down there.
Yeah, you want Carribean coastline, not Pacific.
 
Damn. I was going to suggest Disney.

There's a lot of cheapish all-inclusive programs in the Caribbean to be done. A lot of my friends go to the Dominican Republic--may want to look there too.
 

EMBee99

all that he wants is another baby
My new wife and I just did Vegas for well under $3000. Fantastic suite at the Mirage, great dinners, and a trip to the Hoover Dam to see how Transformers were born.
 

MotherFan

Member
NintendoTogepi said:
Disney's awesome, but it's pretty stressful. You have to make reservations for every night months in advance, wake up early and get to the parks at opening or shortly after each day, have touring plans, learn to use fastpasses etc.

Definitely not the right thing for a honeymoon. Maybe a few months later, but not honeymoon.

I did Disney for my honeymoon (Jan 1-5th), and believe me, it is so much fun, even with the stress. Remember, this is your honeymoon, you don't have to ride every ride multiple times, etc.

you don't have to make reservations months in advance for every night, only a few places do, and you prolly will not want to do those (unless you really have a wish to be at the cinderella castle character dinner). I didn't make reservations untill I got down there, and I went to three good restaurants for romantic dinner/lunch: 1) Brown Derby in MGM, 2) The Seafood place in Epcot, 3) The African place in the Animal Kingdom Lodge ( recommended, they have tons of African wines there).

Ya, you need to get up decently early, thats the only drawback. Using fast passes is not really that bad, and the service for honeymooners is excellent. You will not be disappointed if you chose it, trust me.
 

Justin Bailey

------ ------
3K? I'm doing an all-inclusive in the Dominican Republic for $3500 later this year. That's not including airfare and we're staying for 10 days.
 

TriSwords

Neo Member
I just booked a honeymoon for 5 days 6 nights to Maui at the end of May for $2600. Vegas was gunna be around $2300 for a week (for flight + hotel). We had been looking at a cruise to Alaska or the Caribbean also but it was a bit too high ($3000-3200). Depending on how long you want to go and if you are including food in the $3000 then you should be able to do either.
 
MotherFan said:
I did Disney for my honeymoon (Jan 1-5th), and believe me, it is so much fun, even with the stress. Remember, this is your honeymoon, you don't have to ride every ride multiple times, etc.

you don't have to make reservations months in advance for every night, only a few places do, and you prolly will not want to do those (unless you really have a wish to be at the cinderella castle character dinner). I didn't make reservations untill I got down there, and I went to three good restaurants for romantic dinner/lunch: 1) Brown Derby in MGM, 2) The Seafood place in Epcot, 3) The African place in the Animal Kingdom Lodge ( recommended, they have tons of African wines there).

Ya, you need to get up decently early, thats the only drawback. Using fast passes is not really that bad, and the service for honeymooners is excellent. You will not be disappointed if you chose it, trust me.

I'd make reservations AT LEAST a month in advance. When we went, we had to make all of ours 3 months in advance. We had difficulty adjusting them when we wanted a different restaurant a month before. And this was during a very quiet time (September).

Disney is probably the best vacation ever, I'm just not sure if it's right for a honeymoon.
 

Tapiozona

Banned
Heh, just don't get caught. It's a pretty heft fine and your honeymoon will end up costing 5x-100x your initial budget.
 

yuna55

Member
We road-tripped it to Florida in my Honda Civic and rented a pet-friendly condo with fenced-in yard and private beach access. It was the laziest, best time of my life. Would've been $1500 max for everything, but we took wedding money with us and went out to eat for every meal we were there. Spent more than we originally planned, but it was perfect. We just got to enjoy each other and our pups, and even had some of his crazy cousins over and partied with them.

Seriously, best honeymoon/vacation ever. No stress, no flight delays, no time issues. Wake up the day after the wedding, eat, open gifts, pack, and leave whenever the hell we want. If we saw a cool place, we'd stop and walk the dogs. Didn't matter when we got there or when we left, as long as we were home in a week and a half.
 

Yamaha98

Member
Went to Maui over the summer for our honeymoon. 10 day trip at the Maui Prince, round trip airfare (from Washington D.C), car rental (a must) & a $50 daily credit at our stay cost me about $5K. Keep in mind this was during high-gas time which meant airfare was very expensive. Do not doubt a penny of expense except for missing the humpback whales who tend to migrate to Hawaii in the winter & back to alaska in the summer.
 

G-Pink

Member
Cereal KiIIer said:
You can get something fucking great for that price in Cuba.

Yeah, but that won't work if you're an American.

It's too bad too. Cuba is cheap, and fucking beautiful. (Cigars too)
 

Adonymous

Neo Member
Vegas is the place to go right now, hotel prices are dirt cheap, u can stay at a 4star resort for $100-$130/night

its a lot quieter too...
 

AMUSIX

Member
Trips my wife and I have done for $3000 and under, all lasting 1-2 weeks:

Club Med (several times, various locations in Mexico and the Carribean)
All-Inclusive in Cabo San Lucas (for new year's)
All-Inclusive in Puerto Vallarta
Disneyworld (twice, staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge)
Maui (staying at the Maui Prince Hotel)
Vancouver (forget where we stayed, went for food, theater, and hiking)
New York City (went for theater)
Road Trip across the Southwest (did Grand Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, etc)
Road Trip around New England

All were great trips, but we definintely have our favorites (Club Med) and not-so-favorites (Puerto Vallarta).
 

AMUSIX

Member
NintendoTogepi said:
I'd make reservations AT LEAST a month in advance. When we went, we had to make all of ours 3 months in advance. We had difficulty adjusting them when we wanted a different restaurant a month before. And this was during a very quiet time (September).

Disney is probably the best vacation ever, I'm just not sure if it's right for a honeymoon.
It's great for a Honeymoon, for the right couple, and, in fact, making those reservations early makes for a very relaxing trip.

That said, I just did a week in Disneyworld with a dozen people over New Years, the busiest time of the year. We made our big reservations early (the three meals where all of us were eating together) and my wife and I made a few others for ourselves in advance, but a lot of them people we were with had NO problem getting tables without reservations, including two dinners for four at Jiko (one of the 'signature dining' places) a meal for 5 at the Crystal Palace (in the middle of the Magic Kingdom) and moving the times and numbers for three other reservations.
Again, this was during the single busiest week of the year. Not sure what you were trying to do in September, but unless you were shifting to Victoria and Alberts or trying to get a table in Le Cellier, I'm shocked that there was any issue at all.
 

tedtropy

$50/hour, but no kissing on the lips and colors must be pre-separated
jamesinclair said:
3,000 will get you a balcony room in a 10 day cruise, all meals included

That's temping, and we've talked about cruises, but I've never been on one, don't know how I'd react to it and kinda want to go with a safer bet for a honeymoon. It is something we do plan on doing together eventually though.
 

AMUSIX

Member
jamesinclair said:
3,000 will get you a balcony room in a 10 day cruise, all meals included
Whoops, totally forgot about this one. Have done two cruises. Both were great (despite us not being 'cruisey' people) but the most important thing to watch for are number of 'at sea' days. One or two are ok...beyond that I'd say take another boat.

Also, for an 8-10 day cruise, have two excursions already booked and locked in (snorkeling, cave hiking, 4-wheeling). You can book others, but having those set at least assures you'll have experiences.

Damnit, now I'm wanting to book a cruise.
 
Me and my wife did Disneyworld and it was great. We did it for around $2000, but that was almost 8 years ago, so I am sure that prices have gone up.
 

Ceres

Banned
tedtropy said:
That's temping, and we've talked about cruises, but I've never been on one, don't know how I'd react to it and kinda want to go with a safer bet for a honeymoon. It is something we do plan on doing together eventually though.

There's good things about cruises and bad things. I think for a honeymoon, it's not a good idea, personally. You're usually stuck sitting with a bunch of people you don't know for meals and any time off the boat is restricted by whatever time the boat leaves port. It's probably a better vacation done with a group of people you know. Of course, I've heard plenty of good stories about cruise honeymoons so it really depends on what you're looking for.
 
If you do go to Disney World, stay at a deluxe. We had ourselves booked at a moderate - we switched after the first day, yes, even with the 1000+ dollar plus increase. The moderate and values resorts are basically motels.

We switched to the Yacht Club, which was absolutely fantastic. Would definitely reccomend, ask for room 1154 :D
 

Nore

Banned
Check out a Sandals resort. They're all inclusive, so if you're on a budget that might be the way to go since it will cinclude food/drink.

My honeymoon was in Hawaii. We spent 8 nights in Oahu and another 3-4 nights in San Francisco. The base cost was $6600, not including food, drink, activities. We booked through AAA, so we had key card access to this floor in a hotel that had a free happy hour from 5-8 every night. So we liquored up there for free and went out on the town on the cheap.
 

gcubed

Member
when are you getting married?

For 3 grand if you are not getting married in hurricane season, you can try Jamaica. You should be able to get 5 nights for around 3000 all inclusive during the peak season. I stayed for 6 days, 5 nights at Couples (its a Sandals resort that is 21+) for 3200 (flight included)

As an fyi, on the islands there are all inclusives that are adults only... no not the freaky shit going on adults only, just 21+ places which make for a MUCH quieter time (i've done regular and 21+ and its much nicer to not have kids running around)


I also nixed the cruise because i didnt want my first one to be on my honeymoon.
 

ShinAmano

Member
So I am in the same boat...I have been looking at resorts by Dreams and Excellence. Anyone with experience?

Also was considering a European tour...but not sure which cities I would like to hit other then Prague.
 

ToxicAdam

Member
--> PUNTA CANA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC


If you want something quiet and classy. All inclusive for 7 days. Best trip you can get for that cash.


Secrets Excellence

Iberostar Bavaro



If you want somewhere loud, young and fun. I would recommend Breezes in Runaway Bay, Jamaica. The staff is tremendous. There is literally activies going on all day and a wide variety of things to do outside of the complex.

Breezes, Runaway Bay
 

Gio_CoD

Banned
You can do a lot with 3k. Look into all inclusive Mexican resorts and Jamaican resorts. Also, cruises are always a blast. If it's in the winter time, I'd be looking at getting a cabin in Utah/Colorado/Oregon and going skiing/snowboarding for a week. You've got a lot of options.
 

mre

Golden Domers are chickenshit!!
ShinAmano said:
So I am in the same boat...I have been looking at resorts by Dreams and Excellence. Anyone with experience?

Also was considering a European tour...but not sure which cities I would like to hit other then Prague.

You can stay in our spare bedroom for $2,000, and I'll throw in a six pack of Schlitz for the newly-weds.
 
Before the whole H1N1 flu thing started, I went to an all-inclusive resort south of Cancun, Mexico with 3 other people and our total cost for 4 people in a penthouse suite with a huge terrace and hot tubs, all inclusive, for 9 days, including flights there and back, was just under 6,000. So you should be able to do it for $3000 easily, especially since the H1N1 flu thing has lowered demand (and therefore prices) and you'll only be 2 people.

Plus, it was a blast, the staff was really friendly, and sitting on the beach having as many drinks as you want without having to worry about the cost or anything like that is pure heaven.
 
ToxicAdam said:
--> PUNTA CANA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC


If you want something quiet and classy. All inclusive for 7 days. Best trip you can get for that cash.
i'll second this. we mostly do all-inclusive trips, and we prefer dominican republic because the beaches are less crowded and more relaxing than mexico and other places in our experience.
 

Saya

Member
Does it have to be near the US? If not, then I would suggest somewhere in Asia, maybe Bali (Indonesia)? You can get great hotels at fantastic locations and still stay in your budget I think. It's just the tickets that might be a little pricey. But everything in the country itself will be dirt cheap so it compensates.
 

mre

Golden Domers are chickenshit!!
ahoyhoy said:
Dugg for consistency.

Thanks. We pride ourselves in resisting inflationary trends and not punishing our guests by raising prices. We're the Flophouse that Cares™.
 
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