Five Factors of a Great Honeymoon
How can you have a great honeymoon
1) A great honeymoon is unique to you.
The two of you are unique individuals, and you are a unique couple. Your honeymoon should be unique too.
2) A great honeymoon is within your budget.
You don’t want to start out your life together with a big credit card bill for a honeymoon that was really more than you could afford. The sweetness of the luxury of the honeymoon will soon be overshadowed by the stress of carrying the debt. You will ultimately be happier with a lesser room, or a lesser resort, or a shorter honeymoon.
Better yet, be sure to make the budget for the honeymoon a priority. The honeymoon is the part of the whole “getting married” that is only for the two of you. It isn’t on display for someone else to enjoy. It is just for the two of you and it lasts way longer than the wedding. Don’t let extra flowers or anything else take away from the budget for your honeymoon.
3) A great honeymoon begins with a well rested couple.
Don’t schedule a 6am flight the day after your evening wedding. In fact, we usually advise couples to allow a full day between their wedding and their honeymoon. You won’t have to arrive at the church packed for your wedding, your wedding night AND your honeymoon. You’ll be able to go to brunch with your out of town guests if you choose. And, you’ll be well rested.
4) A great honeymoon has perks (honeymoon packages, upgrades etc).
Resorts that cater to honeymoon couples will often provide upgrades to honeymooners. Some resorts even offer a package with a set of amenities and services that honeymooners love. Things like a romantic candlelight dinner on the beach, a massage, and extra deluxe room amenities are common.
Is there something it would break your heart not to have? Like, a certain category of room or maybe champagne in your room upon arrival? Then you should arrange for it (and pay for it) prior to your arrival. Many honeymoon amenities are on a “space available” basis. They’re great if they happen, but if its really important to you, don’t count on it.
5) A great honeymoon is the beginning of your life together.
Real life will intrude soon enough. Arrange your honeymoon as a time when you can enjoy each other and relax. You have many years in front of you when you can deal with the stresses of life. Give yourself a week of indulgence that you can look back on fondly in years to come.
What is your favorite honeymoon story?
What is included in “All Inclusive”
What is included in an all inclusive?
Just what exactly is included on an all inclusive vacation? What do people mean when they say “All Inclusive”?
Generally speaking, an all inclusive vacation is one where all food and drink and usually non motorized watersports are included at the resort.
There are variations, of course. For instance there are a couple of resorts that choose to have some “optional” restaurants at the resort where people in a certain room category can dine with no additional charge, but guests in other room categories must pay a surcharge. The guests in the other room categories do have other options, but for these optional restaurants there is a charge. This is not typical at most all inclusive resorts, though.
Another variation is the variety of non motorized watersports. Most resorts have complimentary boogie boards and snorkel equipment. Many will also have Hobie Cats, which I love. You’ll find paddle boats sometimes too. Some resorts have a water trampoline suspended just off their beach. They are surprisingly tricky to jump on (especially after a couple of drinks).
At some resorts, there are some motorized watersports included but this is not usually what you’ll find. Things like parasailing and jetskis are typically available at an extra cost.
Beverages, both alcoholic and non alcoholic, are typically included. Your particular brand of beer may not be available, your particular brand if liquor might not be served either. If the availability of your brand is paramount to your enjoyment of your vacation, have us check to see if it will be available.
Room service is another variation. Many deluxe resorts offer a great 24 room service menu. Others have a more limited menu only available within certain hours. Still others offer no room service at all. Another situation you’ll find at a few resorts is one room service menu offered in lower room categories and an enhanced menu in the more deluxe room categories.
The term all inclusive does NOT refer to air being included in the package. All inclusive does not refer to the transfers to and from the airport in the destination. All inclusive does not refer to baggage fees being included. Your vacation may very well include those things, but that isn’t what “all inclusive” means. Simply put, all inclusive typically refers to a resort where accommodations, meals, drinks and at least some non motorized watersports are included.
What about you? Has there been a time you’ve been surprised, either pleasantly or not pleasantly, about what was included in your all inclusive vacation?
My Friend is Paying Less Than Me!
What do I do if I paid more than my friend for my vacation?
A phone call we get frequently (especially with destination wedding guests) had to do with differences in the rates paid by different people. Even more fun is when all of the guests at a destination wedding get together over fruity (adult) drinks at the resort and the subject of “who paid what” comes up.
When we get those phone calls, we try to explain the following points:
1) Your friends trip probably isn’t identical to yours. If you’re flying from different cities, if you’re staying different dates or a different number of nights, if you’re in different room types or if you took different flights even from the same city, your trip is not identical. If there are variations in your trips, there will be variation in your prices.
2) Your friend didn’t buy his trip on the same day as you. When you buy your trip matters. We don’t get advance warning that hotel “X” is going on sale in three weeks. We also don’t know when the price is going up. What we know is what the price is today. Air prices tend to be more volatile than hotel prices, but when you’re looking at a package it doesn’t really matter what part changed…the price changed either way.
Be happy with the price of the trip on the day that you buy it, or don’t buy it. If you believe the price with which you are being presented is a fair price, then go ahead and feel good about it regardless of what subsequently happens to the pricing. Several of our suppliers offer a price protection waiver that you can purchase. Buy that waiver if you believe the price might go down, but you want to go ahead and secure your spot now. Of course, the price would need to go down at least as much as it cost you to buy the insurance in order to make that worthwhile. There are other wonderful reasons to purchase the waiver though, but that is the subject of another article.
Some vacation companies allow you to roll down to a lower available price even if you don’t have the waiver if you pay the revision fee.
I often compare buying a trip to dealing in the stock market. You do your research, you do the best you can. Sometimes the price goes up after you buy (WIN!) and then other times it goes down. Life is filled with uncertainty. Buying a vacation is no different.
Of course, one way to help reduce some of that uncertainty is to use an experienced travel professional to book your trip. We deal with these prices every day, all day. We know when something seems high, or when it is a deal. We have a feel for if it might be a good idea to hold off, or if your best bet is to lock it in now.
What about you? Have you experienced this before? How did it turn out for you?
Why the Off Season Should Be Your On Season
On Season = Off Season
It is a great idea to travel when others aren’t traveling. It’s also a great idea to plan your trip while others aren’t planning.
Most people are familiar with high seasons and low seasons in various destinations. For instance, for a ski resort, clearly the winter is high season, summer is low season. For a beach destination, winter is high season, summer is low season. (There are more specific dates that are higher and lower than others even within those broad parameters, but I’m just trying to make a point here.)
Vacation booking has a distinct season as well. For instance, during the first half months of the year it is everything we can do to keep up with the flow of people wanting to book vacations. It’s a great time of year for us. After July or so, activity starts to drop off.
We do a very good job of keeping up with the pace during the first half of the year, but if you call our office in the fall, you’ll find the agents have plenty of extra time to talk and plan your trip.
