If traveling from NYC, what is the best honeymoon spot- Tahiti, Greek Island, European Cruise, or Hawaii?
Jean C asked:
Trying to decide on a honeymoon and can’t pick. The choices at this point are Tahiti/Bora Bora, the Greek Islands, a cruise porting in Europe (more eastern Europe), or Hawaii/Kaui/Maui. The time of year would be early May 2008. Any insights are appreciated!
Trying to decide on a honeymoon and can’t pick. The choices at this point are Tahiti/Bora Bora, the Greek Islands, a cruise porting in Europe (more eastern Europe), or Hawaii/Kaui/Maui. The time of year would be early May 2008. Any insights are appreciated!
November 14th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Firstly, Congrats on your Engagement!
All of these choices are goods ones to consider, however they are all quite different from one another! I would first try and think of a few things that are important to you & your fiancée for your Honeymoon.
With Greece you have some of that historic sites, museums, beaches, winery, volcano’s, nightlife/bars, hiking, scenery, mountains, spas, religious sites, etc. All depending on your interests of course! Plus you could do either a land and/or cruise in the Mediterranean so you can see various islands. I wouldn’t recommend just going to Athens as it’s actually kind of a dirty city.
With Scandinavian & Russia cruise well I won’t even go into all that you would have available to you there!
I went to Oahu (didn’t like it - but seeing Pearl Harbor was nice) & the Big Island the middle of this past May. I really did like the Big Island and want to definitely go back there to spend more time. With Hawaii though it is definitely a tropical destination where you have the option of being as active or as lazy as you want, with it just having so many choices of things you can do regardless of interests, most likely something is there for you!
Now on Tahiti I went to this past end of April. This truly IS the place you don’t think exists, oh but it does! I was there on a business trip for 7 nights staying on 4 different islands & 20 different hotels! The thing with Tahiti is you don’t have to stay at the most expensive place, but you need to be careful what you choose because depending on your budget your money will always go further in other destinations. There was one hotel in particular that I was so very excited to see because vendors were boasting about the recent million dollar renovations and how they were so nice and nicer even than this other chain. Oh my gosh, when I saw it I couldn’t believe it! They rate it a 5 star and I would MAYBE give it a 2 + to low 3 (that’s pushing it to!). Plus in going there it was nice to see ALL options for my clients so I really do know where the right place to stay is. Prior to going here I never claimed to be an expert on booking Tahiti, but wow it wasn’t until I went there that I realized just how little I really did know! It is not like booking just a Mexico or even Caribbean trip for that matter. Tahiti to there really is nothing to do except for a few tours here and there. So your resort really does matter a great deal. They have to import so many different things that it makes it for one of the most expensive places in the world. I will say though, I thought the beer would be MORE than I actually paid when I got there which was a nice surprise.
I just urge to not stay at the Club Med. I know it is an All Inclusive property, but trust me big mistake in booking that one. All vendors I know of have dropped it for very good reasons. However with online bookings and this holds true regardless of the destination. They will sell you ANY place just to make that sale. Worst part is if you have questions or problems you aren’t dealing with a live person, but an 800 # never getting the same person twice.
Anyways, sorry for the Tahiti novel - I could probably go on longer as it just truly was such an amazing and the most beautiful place to date I have been to! Please though and you might already be doing this. I would really suggest going through a travel professional. A good agent can ask various questions to help determine where they feel is the best possible Honeymoon for you all while staying within your budget if possible. It isn’t bad to take recommendations from others, but everyone travels differently with different expectations. What your neighbor thinks is wonderful, you might not at all. Like any industry there are good and bad agents, so if you contact one and you feel they aren’t helping you by all means call another until you do find one you like! You want to actually enjoy working/talking with the one helping you in planning your Honeymoon. That can be ½ the fun of planning it with someone. If you have a personality clash (even if they are knowledgeable it’s just not so much fun. Most of the time you are able to tell if an agent is just “making it up as you go along”! If you contact one and all they do is agree left & right with you, most likely they don’t have an opinion themselves and they are just trying to make a “sale” easy for them. I mean we all don’t know everything, we can’t but a good agent will say “I don’t know, but I will find out for you” instead of just making up a story that might sound good. That helps neither the agent OR the client. Hey I know I don’t want any of my clients coming back upset with me so I am a 100 % honest agent in my opinions. I will even tell a person if I think a hotel is over-priced or a rate is just too high.
I could certainly help you if you like, but if not if you are looking at Tahiti please just make sure they have been there because otherwise your dream Honeymoon could turn into a nightmare. A Honeymoon is a once in a lifetime experience!
I wish you all the best. Let me know if there is anything further I can help you with!