There have been a few threads lately, but none specifically addressing this.

Looking at a 5 or 6-day honeymoon in April. We had a nice thread about it awhile back, but now we are trying to determine where we should look for a location for an all-inclusive.

In another thread someone mention that sandals wasn't exactly the best. When I look at the pricing that the only travel agent we have spoken to has given us, it looks something like buying a used car. I'm getting a $10,000 deal for 4500 bucks. Really?

Looking for some advice. Mostly, where can I get the best bang for my buck. Good food and good activities. I don't care where it is, but we will be traveling from Charlotte. So probably the Caribbean area or Mehico. Looking in the $4,000-5,000 range, including tickets. I'd like to hear about your experiences.

Congrats on the honeymoon. Don't limit yourself to all inclusives. I have found that you don't necessarily save a lot by going all inclusive. Depends what you are interested in. Do you mind preparing your own food because you can find a condo with a kitchen, hit the grocery store and save much? If you want to relax and have everything prepared for you, an all inclusive might be the best idea. Every all inclusive I have stayed at was pricy.

Check out coconut bay on St Lucia. My brother got married there and it was a very good all inclusive and we all had a great time.

We've done Couples Tower Isle and Couples San Souci in Jamaica multiple times and going again in April to San Souci.

Good food at both, Tower Isle slight edge. Typically have some sort of entertainment at night.

Activities, not overwhelming. You can do the Falls trip where you hike up the waterfall to a tourist shop at the top, catamaran rides, and they have small sailboats and watercraft for individual use.

We fly from Charlotte also, only about 2 1/2 hours or so. There is about a 2 hour ride from the airport to the resort once you hit Jamaica.

I've had good luck at Sandals.

*Great for if you plan on having drinks or eating a lot.
*Food is mediocre, but some is much better than others, the nice part about being all inclusive is that if you don't like your food then you snack on it, treat it as an appetizer and go somewhere else.
*Nice for excursions (not all are included, some are overpriced).
*People are very polite and tipping is not allowed.
*Lots of options for massages/SPA stuff, try one on the beach, it's awesome.
*Most people are there arrive on the same day, leave on the same day. You will run into the same people over and over again. You can make vacation buddies pretty easily.

I really enjoyed my stay at Iberostar Tucan a few years back. Beautiful beach, no coral or rocks, fun waves to play in, and in the gated Playacar resort area.
There is a Riu Palace there as well, and if the food was anything like the Palace in Los Cabos, it was excellent.

Neither of these resorts should cost you as much as you are looking to budget - Jamaica seems to be the $5000 range, unless you get into some resorts at Playa and Cancun that most people aren't familiar with.

I have stayed here several times, both with my wife, and also solo (when flying a client in his company airplane). I have never been disappointed.

Some of the resort locations in Mexico, Jamaica, etc., you are well advised not to leave the premises.

This place, it's safe to rent a scooter or a car and go exploring the area, although there's certainly enough at the resort so it's not necessary to leave it.

We have stayed at Sandals three times, Jamaica x 1 and the Bahamas x2. We had a wonderful time in all three but would not go back to Jamaica.

I don't know which is the best, but I know it's not Secrets - at least our experience was pretty underwhelming.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
I have stayed here several times, both with my wife, and also solo (when flying a client in his company airplane). I have never been disappointed.

This place, it's safe to rent a scooter or a car and go exploring the area, although there's certainly enough at the resort so it's not necessary to leave it.

Another vote for Stella Maris. We've been there 4-5 times in our plane, as well as other places in the Bahamas. I now won't stay anywhere else in the Bahamas; Stella Maris is a wonderfully relaxing place and there is plenty to do if you wish. It's different than most of the Bahamas as there are Atlantic and Caribbean sides of the island.

The food is good, and the casitas are roomy and clean. The owner is a German expat and many of the guests are German tourists.

I second Couples Resorts, wife and I had our honeymoon at Couples Negril in Jamaica. It met or exceded our expectation in everything- the food, staff, activities and the resort itself.

My wife and I went to The Rendezvous at St. Lucia. We wanted a "Gilligan's Island" kind of feel, and they had what we were looking for. It is all inclusive, couples only.

On our plane ride from Puerto Rico to St. Lucia, out of around 100 passengers, maybe 6 were going to our resort. Everyone else was going to Sandals.

I seriously asked myself if we had done the wrong thing. Within about 2 minutes, I realized we had made the right choice.

We had the best time of our lives there, and honestly thought about moving there. Just realize the vacation seasons are completely opposite of what they are in the US. Other than anther couple who was there, everyone else was from Europe.

We could take paddle boats out, and were able to see the Sandal's resort. Sandal's looked like Spring Break at full capacity. So if that is your sort of thing, that might be what you are looking for. But I wanted to get away from people, especially on our honeymoon.

If you scuba dive, take your license. They offered free diving.

Without a doubt, I highly suggest The Rendezvous in St. Lucia. Just be prepared to get your ass kicked in volleyball and soccer. It might help to learn some French.

Congratulations on the upcoming events,wish you the best.

Many moons ago my wife and I went to Caneel Bay on St John. Honestly one of the most memorable, romantic vacations ever. The resort has a ferry to st Thomas if you want to get out and shop, or you can go to a sister resort on Virgin Gorda. Highly recommended

quote:

Originally posted by aileron:

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
I have stayed here several times, both with my wife, and also solo (when flying a client in his company airplane). I have never been disappointed.

This place, it's safe to rent a scooter or a car and go exploring the area, although there's certainly enough at the resort so it's not necessary to leave it.

Another vote for Stella Maris. We've been there 4-5 times in our plane, as well as other places in the Bahamas. I now won't stay anywhere else in the Bahamas; Stella Maris is a wonderfully relaxing place and there is plenty to do if you wish. It's different than most of the Bahamas as there are Atlantic and Caribbean sides of the island.

The food is good, and the casitas are roomy and clean. The owner is a German expat and many of the guests are German tourists.

Check out Staniel Cay and the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, have to land in Andros to clear customs, but the Exumas water and water activities blow away Long Island.

Moon Palace, Chongo. It's Cancun, but it's separated.

We did Excellence in Cancun for our honeymoon a few months ago. Loved it! Food was great. 30 minutes from airport.

I had my honeymoon back in 2007 and I too was trying to find the most bang for my buck. After doing a lot of research, I found I could do 2 weeks in the Dominican Republic for the same price as 4-5 days in Hawaii. We stayed at the Melia Caribe and it was awesome. The service was great, constantly was left champagne/chocolates in the rooms, fresh flowers, etc. It was an all you can eat/drink place with about 14 restaurants. Several were buffets, but they also had hibachi, French, Italian, etc. The nicer restaurants did require reservations. They had several free things on the beach and even a nice cruise out to a sand bar. We also paid for things like horse back riding, scuba, and 4 wheeler excursion through coco fields. My favorite was probably the 4 wheeler, they had lunch setup for us near a cave where we could go swimming. The water was so clear you thought for sure you would hit the bottom, but sure enough it was 100+ feet deep. I didn't play golf, but I was told they had several nice courses near by.

That being said, it was 10 years ago so I can't say how the experience is these days.

We just got back from this all inclusive in Cabo San Lucas and it was by far the best and nicest resort we have been to over the years. Food was great and top shelf liquor included. Immaculate facilities and staff and very reasonable prices. We are going back very soon. Also, they have 4 resorts and a golf course and you can shuttle to any of the restaurants in any of the resorts as part of your all inclusive plan. Also just a 5 minute cab ride to downtown marina for shopping and good eats.

http://www.pueblobonito.com

quote:

Originally posted by craigcpa:
Moon Palace, Chongo. It's Cancun, but it's separated.

Moon palace was really nice. It was my favorite until we discovered this place. It was a bit nicer.

http://www.pueblobonito.com

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by aileron:

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
I have stayed here several times, both with my wife, and also solo (when flying a client in his company airplane). I have never been disappointed.

This place, it's safe to rent a scooter or a car and go exploring the area, although there's certainly enough at the resort so it's not necessary to leave it.

Another vote for Stella Maris. We've been there 4-5 times in our plane, as well as other places in the Bahamas. I now won't stay anywhere else in the Bahamas; Stella Maris is a wonderfully relaxing place and there is plenty to do if you wish. It's different than most of the Bahamas as there are Atlantic and Caribbean sides of the island.

The food is good, and the casitas are roomy and clean. The owner is a German expat and many of the guests are German tourists.

Check out Staniel Cay and the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, have to land in Andros to clear customs, but the Exumas water and water activities blow away Long Island.

Yea, nice place too. We flew over for lunch and walked around. Not much to do there though.