Wedding Honeymoon ?

[Lynnie]

So, FI and I have been doing a lot of research about our honeymoon.

Which would YOU rather, and why?

Choice #1: 7 nights at Sandals in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. All inclusive, pool in room.

Choice #2: Fly to Orlando, FL, take a 5 day cruise (Royal Carribbean) to Nassau, return to Orlando and stay 5 more days at Disney World. Meals (not drinks) included, 3-day park pass included (park hopper)

We are SO undecided. I''ve never been anywhere outside the US. He''s been to Mexico (all-inclusive), but he was 19 at the time, and he only went for 5 days, and he was pretty inebriated (his words) most of the time. Neither of us have ever been on a cruise, or to disney, or even Florida for that matter. Neither of us are big drinkers (he''s learned his lesson, hehe). I am a huge fan of rides - he likes them too, minus the crazy spinning ones (he won''t step foot on a teacup!)
Choice 2 is about 100 bucks more than choice 1. Neither of us has passports, though.
I''ve heard wonderful things about both. I would LOVE some advice from you well-traveled PSers!! I keep going back and forth, back and forth. FI says "Whatever you want". It''s such a hard choice! Jamaica seems more romantic, more relaxing. Orlando sounds more exciting.... Oh, brother. I can''t decide.

TIA!

 

[Smurfysmiles]

Personally I would pick cruise. Our whole wedding party is looking at going on a cruise in september to jamaica and im so excited!!! Plus I love disney world and there''s a lot more stuff to do there than just the rides Also...would you rather have a 10 day honeymoon or 7? Personally I would go for 10!

 

[gwendolyn]

#2 for me!! Going on a cruise makes me feel utterly pampered, and Disney World is so so SO much fun! I think it''s a great plan! But it probably depends on how you imagine your honeymoon and if you want the ''just the two of us'' feel for a lot of it, because that might be harder to get on a cruise ship (and definitely at Disney). But the decadence of the cruise might just make up for it...

But that''s just me, and I won''t be there on your honeymoon.

 

[Daydreamer7130]

It sounds like you guys need to decide on what you like to do. Are you the adventerous kind of couple, do you want seclusion, do you want to be surrounded by other couples, do you want to party, do you want to emerse yourself in the culture of the place you are visiting?

I personally would not stay in Ocho Rios, however I would visit there because of Dunns River Falls.

I would stay at in Negril, Jamaica instead and take a tour to the Falls.

The cruise sounds fantastic!

Discuss things ahead of time and the decision will be easy.

Good luck!

 

[Cleopatra]

oh man oh man - i sure am glad i found this thread. The Sandals in Ocho Rios is terrrrrible (sorry if I offend anyone who''s been, but it just from my short experience over there)

DH and I honeymooned in Ocho Rios - we stayed at the Royal Plantation - it was positively unbelievable - seriously, the most luxurious, beautiful, and wonderful place we''ve ever been - I would recommend it until I''m blue in the face.

However, next door was Sandals Ocho Rios - we were able to visit the grounds because Royal Plantation is owned by Sandals, however, it was a very different atmosphere (It''s kind of the upgrade of Sandals - we were allowed to go there, but Sandals guests weren''t allowed at our resort). DH and I visited the resort and I can hardly describe it - the beach is enclosed by a 3 walled warf. So, you cannot look out into the ocean. There are no chairs with umbrellas, only connected rows of lounge chairs. They were doing construction, so there was scaffolding across nearly every beachfront guestroom and men working all day. The room where breakfast was served was SUPER crowded - it just looked depressing to me.

I have heard nice things about Sandals Dunns River. But on the plane home, we talked to many people who were grossly disappointed with Sandals Ocho Rios.

Here''s the resort that we stayed at in Ocho Rios - it was magical!
Royal Plantation

 

[galvana]

Lynnie
Its so funny because you are in the same boat i was a few months ago! deciding what to do out of these TWO exact choices.
Fiance and I LOVE our drinks -so going to an all inclusive for us is well worth the money - a cruise ISN"T for us, because drinks are not included and you get stuck with a huge bill at the end of the trip and if you are not counting how much each drink costs on the boat it can really add up quickly. they wont allow you to pay for drinks as you consume then, you have to charge them to your room.

One thing i will suggest - If you can, i STRONGLY recommend doing the disney parks FIRST and the cruise/relaxation second.
Going to disney is a TON of running around, being a kid, going from ride to ride, etc. but its very tiring. so - if you can, do the running around part first and the cruise 2nd.

My best friend and her husband did disney for their honeymoon and had to take 3 days OFF when they returned just to recoup - depending on how active you guys are, you will be literally running around the parks (*and they are huge) all day everyday!

My fiance and i decided to do BOTH choice #1 and #2. and we just swinged it price wise, so we are going mon - fri to disney, and then friday to friday in mexico. we actully found a resort in mexico that beat our sandals ochos rios.

I hope this helps a bit, any questoins please ask

 

[dcgator]

I feel I may have a little insight here as I was born in Florida and lived there for most of my life, ie a Disney pro, and I have also stayed at the Sandals in Ocho Rios.

The previous comments about the resort in Ocho Rios are somewhat true. There is only really two places for breakfast so they can become crowded and the beach is itty bitty, not highly recommended. However, the staff is all pretty nice and the drinks definitely flow very easily

. If you are staying in one of the butler suites, that is really nice since you can have someone bring you champagne, or w/e else you desire, directly on the beach or wherever you are. The pools are also really nice, as is the swim up bar.

However, if you desire the service and free-flowing beverages, I would recommend the Beaches in the Turks and Caicos. I went there a few years ago with some girl friends and it is AWESOME. The beach is absolutely goregous and large and the property is lovely. I heard they just added some more rooms too. There are kids allowed on the property, but they do a good job of keeping them segregated in thier own pool and play areas. I would recommend that over Ocho Rios, hands down!

If you decide that a beach-only vacation is not what you want, I highly recommend Disney. And instead of the Royal Caribbean cruise, I would recommend the Disney cruise. I have not done that one myself, but I have only heard great things about it. It brings the absolutely fabulous service of Disney to the boat, which can''t be beat! As for the parks themselves, I agree with other posters, it is long, busy, and really fun days. So, take the cruise on the back half of the week.

Personally, I would recommend the Disney and cruise because you will get to play like kids and relax in the sun. Either way, enjoy your time together!

 

[tabu]

I would go for the cruise! I personally would have more fun then going to an all-inclusive. I feel like all-inclusive hotels/resorts you don''t really get to venture out and see the sights

But thats just me. Whatever you decide I''m sure woul''d be a blast!!

 

[meresal]

Date: 11/18/2008 8:34:50 AM
Author: galvana
Lynnie
Its so funny because you are in the same boat i was a few months ago! deciding what to do out of these TWO exact choices.
Fiance and I LOVE our drinks -so going to an all inclusive for us is well worth the money - a cruise ISN''T for us, because drinks are not included and you get stuck with a huge bill at the end of the trip and if you are not counting how much each drink costs on the boat it can really add up quickly. they wont allow you to pay for drinks as you consume then, you have to charge them to your room.

One thing i will suggest - If you can, i STRONGLY recommend doing the disney parks FIRST and the cruise/relaxation second.
Going to disney is a TON of running around, being a kid, going from ride to ride, etc. but its very tiring. so - if you can, do the running around part first and the cruise 2nd.

My best friend and her husband did disney for their honeymoon and had to take 3 days OFF when they returned just to recoup - depending on how active you guys are, you will be literally running around the parks (*and they are huge) all day everyday!

My fiance and i decided to do BOTH choice #1 and #2. and we just swinged it price wise, so we are going mon - fri to disney, and then friday to friday in mexico. we actully found a resort in mexico that beat our sandals ochos rios.

I hope this helps a bit, any questoins please ask

Huge Ditto!! We did 7 days there in March and it took a week for my body to recover.

I vote for the cruise and Disney, but definitely try to do the cruise at the end of your trip if you can!!

 

[Lynnie]

Wow, thank you, thank you, everyone!

Cleo, thanks for your insight on Ocho Rios. The reason I was considering going there is because right now, they''re having a 60% off sale. Kinda makes me wonder, why such a steep sale? The cynic in me is saying there was something fishy about it! The Plantation looks beautiful, but a little more than I wanted to spend. I was trying to keep the whole thing under 4K. Keeping in mind that we are paying for the entire wedding(about 14K), and would like to start house shopping afterwards.
Like a lot of you said, I am leaning towards the cruise/disney deal. It is amazingly inexpensive for us to fly to florida through southwest - like $600 total roundtrip. I agree with those that suggested that we do disney first, then the cruise. I was trying to figure it out so we could sail out of either Port Canaveral or Tampa (1-2 hr drive from Orlando). Tampa would be ideal, as we could fly directly home afterwards, assuming we can get a cruise from Tampa on the days we would need them (not much wiggle room). I can get discounted park-hopper tickets through my work, too, which is cool. It all just seems like a lot of leg-work. But I''m sure it''ll be worth it!
About the whole romance vs fun thing - we''ve been together for 9+ years. We''ve been to a couples-only spa/resort (a local place called The Inn of the Dove). We''ve done lots of fun things, and go to the Jersey shore every year.

Galvana, that''s awesome! Your honeymoon sounds amazing. I agree, disney first.
dcgator, I''ll have to check out disney cruises. I really hadn''t looked into them because 1) I was afraid I''d be "disney''ed out", and a lot of kids/families would go the disney cruise rout, and 2) I heard they were expensive, I''ll have to look into it. Thanks, though!
tabu, I totally agree. My girlfriend went to an all-inclusive honeymoon and said towards the end it got kinda boring. You''re itching to do stuff. FI''s only stipulation is that he be able to do a fishing excursion (nothing big, 3-4 hour thing), which is doable at an all inclusive, also at a port during the cruise. I would go with, of course (and prob catch more fish than him, hehe... that happened last time!)
meresel, I hear ya! My BFF went a couple months ago, and she was MIA for the week afterwards, too!

Thanks again, everyone. I''ll let you all know once everything''s booked!