If you could do your honeymoon again would you do it the same exact way or change it? Not a second honeymoon, if you could go back in time and do the first over again.
twoifbysea
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Re: Would you change your honeymoon?
(we are trying to figure out a post-Christmas vacation so this thread really came in handy!)
This kind of turned into a honeymoon review, sorry about that! But I hope that some of you will find it helpful.
As far as our honeymoon went, my only regret is that I wished we'd taken more time off from work. DH started with a new company in March and was only able to take a few days before the wedding and a full week after... we couldn't do a long trip to Hawaii or Europe.... we needed to go somewhere relatively close-by (the flight is only an hour and a half!!) But having said that, Bermuda is simply MAGNIFICENT!!!! DH had traveled there about 10 years ago with family and had always wanted to go back. I'm so glad that we decided to go there for our HM.
Elbow Beach Resort was taken over by the Mandarin Oriental group in 2007 so I knew that it would be top notch. In fact, I think the only other 5-star resort in Bermuda is the Fairmont Southampton. The ocean water was the clearest, warmest, most AMAZING I'd ever been in. Just the perfect amount of surf, and the sand in Bermuda REALLY IS PINK! The restaurants at Elbow are amazing (I think there were 5 in total) but everything was a la carte. The restaurants on the premises at the resort and also in Hamilton are amazing (I am a major, major foodie). THAT is where my biggest peeve comes in: our honeymoon was so incredibly expensive, I almost cringe thinking about it now. We were giddy if our dinner bill came under $300. But we tried not to think about it too much -- after all, we were on our honeymoon so splurging didn't seem unreasonable. We did the full day at the spa which was terrific but again, the price so steep that the two $50 vouchers we had didn't even cover the gratuity.
If we'd had more time, I still think I would have selected Bermuda as our HM spot, though I would definitely NOT have flown out the day after the wedding. We were SHOT, so exhausted, that we didn't feel normal until our 2nd day there. We'd def. stay at the Elbow Beach resort again, but I think we'd do it a little differently. Maybe eat and drink a little less? Not likely LOL. I also liked having the luxury to eat out all over the island, not just be restricted to eating at our resort like an all-inclusive, but that became annoying because we'd have to take a taxi into town, and a taxi back. One thing we did towards the end of the week is buy some liquor in town (duty free and so cheap) and have a pre-dinner cocktail on our patio instead of going to the bar. But between drinking on the beach all day, eating breakfast/lunch/dinner/room service every day, it was a drop in the bucket.
We rented mopeds for 2 days and that was awesome, the best way to see the island. Bermuda has next to no poverty, and hardly any crime. Each house was more beautiful than the next. And the FLOWERS, omg I swear hibiscus just GROWS everywhere. The island has a lot of naval history which I found really boring but DH loved. The people are very friendly, also.
Overall, our trip was fabulous. We couldn't have asked for better weather, it was in the high 80s and sunny every day. There was an occasional daily rainfall but it only lasted half an hour or so and the skies would open up right after. Even though we've only been home for 6 days (omg) I feel like it was a month ago that we were there. I am getting sad thinking about it!
I think our HM was planned perfectly I would have change a thing. Sandals Antguia and San Juan Puerto Rico one week in each it was great.
azailia
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Re: Would you change your honeymoon?
if i could change anything, i wouldve liked to stay in disney longer.. we were in florida for 5 days but went to universal for 2... i also wish the weather was better....it was over cast and rainy in disney
I was SO sick of eating that food... FH and I loooooove to eat lol but if I had one more damn bacon cheeseburger I was going to go crazy! So I didnt like the selection or quality of the food.
We paid a lot of money for our HM and were lead to believe that we wouldnt have to lift a finger b/c we got the hut with the butlers. Let me just say that I have not been on a real vacation since I was 7. I'm not counting FL, CA, and PA. I mean REAL. So all the butlers did was get us food aka bacon cheeseburgers lol and make dinner reservations. OK I totally could have done that myself. We filled out this whole survey thing about us...what we liked to eat, drink and snack on.... What they did with it I have no idea... b/c nothing that we put on there was in our room lol. And we didnt ask for anything crazy either.... just candy lol and bloody mary mix.... which yes, there was always like one can but cant you put 2 so we dont have to share? lol! The service su cks and the general attitue from the staff brought the whole mood down...which suc ked as well. The people at the spa were OK... not great. They were very bossy. We went once.... got a couples massage and then bought some skin products. My DH wanted to get another massage the day before we left so we made an appointment for that as well. The day before his appointment we spent the whole day at the beach and DH got a bad sun burn on his face and back.... so obvi he cant get a massage now. He calls the spa and the girl on the phone tells him he HAS to come in and he HAS to get something.... like yelling at him! He never looses his temper but I think he had just had enough from the attitude that he said he does not HAVE to do anything....and carried on about how he is burned and how we just went and bought a ton of face products. Apon check out we had to settle our charges that we made while we were there.... one included the Spa.... I had a credit for $250.00 for booking the room.... The girl at the check out counter gave me the hardest time..... She kept calling different people... and at one point I hear her say.. oh ok $150.00 credit... I was like NO its $250!!!!!!! Finally after like 20 minutes of this crap she comes to the $250.00 credit and takes it off the bill.
Overall I loved our HM because it was our HM.... but I didn't love the hotel, food, service. The best times we had were when we left the hotel to do an excursion because the islanders are actually nice. I didnt like the image they were given by the hotel.
wow...so sry u had a bad exp. we got to Sandals Grande Antigua on 8/9 - just shortly after you & found it to be heaven. We stayed for 13 days. The staff was wonderful - we enjoyed all the food we ate - esp our dinners at Barefoot by the Sea & although we didnt have a room w/ a butler we rented a pool cabana for 1day & found it delightful. We also had a second wedding ceremony just DH & I on the beach & wedding coordinator & photographer were outstanding! We had 1 issue where the suit DH wore for our beach wedding got runied using the dry cleaner on the island & initial manager we spoke to was trying to get off cheap by offering us 1/2 of what suit cost us. we then met w/director of guest services the very next day & she bent over backwards to make things right for us - not only did she fully reimburse us for the suit - but as a good will gesture took off the pool cabana from the bill. Although we were still upset about the suit being totally ruined, we were very happy with the fianl outcome & were able to buy a replacement suit when we got home from our HM. We also had a piece of lost luggage when we first arrived & we had about 5 different staff people calling American Airlines to track it down & get it to us as FAST as possible. We had never experienced such dedication and kindness on any trip/destination before. We had a dinner on the beach which was amazing too! We are actually trying to book our 1 year anniversary back with them b/c we loved it sooo much! The only thing bad I can honestly say that 'irked' me was that they did not enforce the dress code they mention in the handbook & daily newsletter for dinner. For restaurants that required a collared shirt & slacks for men - there were plenty of guys we saw walking in like they came of the beach - that disgusted me - but I guess it's not quite the fault of Sandals that people dont understand what it means to dress up for dinner anymore (enough on this). Overall we would give Sandals 5 *****'s - we would like to check out St.Lucia Sandals next!
mrsjpc3
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Re: Would you change your honeymoon?
yes, our honeymoon was so awful, that we flew home from mexico the next day, got our full $6500 back in the next few weeks after and are in the process of replanning it for our 1 yr anniv. dont go to aventura spa palace. we did however make the best of it that week, and stayed at the Ritz to salvage what we could of our lost time.
Tomlaur0808
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Re: Would you change your honeymoon?
Posted by mrsjpc3
yes, our honeymoon was so awful, that we flew home from mexico the next day, got our full $6500 back in the next few weeks after and are in the process of replanning it for our 1 yr anniv. dont go to aventura spa palace. we did however make the best of it that week, and stayed at the Ritz to salvage what we could of our lost time.
OMG - that's terrible - why did you go/stay? & what made it so awful...if you dont mind my asking?? I'm so sorry your HM was runied, at least you got your $$ back!
mrsjpc3
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Re: Would you change your honeymoon?
Posted by Tomlaur0808
Posted by mrsjpc3
yes, our honeymoon was so awful, that we flew home from mexico the next day, got our full $6500 back in the next few weeks after and are in the process of replanning it for our 1 yr anniv. dont go to aventura spa palace. we did however make the best of it that week, and stayed at the Ritz to salvage what we could of our lost time.
OMG - that's terrible - why did you go/stay? & what made it so awful...if you dont mind my asking?? I'm so sorry your HM was runied, at least you got your $$ back!
it came very highly recommended from our idiot travel agent. if you read my review, i added an entire commentary about why it was so bad. the food, the rooms, ughh, it was a shame. it was a ghost town too, NO ONE WAS THERE. it was no 5 star resort as promised. it was the kind of vacation you would pay no more than $1500 for. but, my wedding day was absolute perfection, so i guess i'd rather have that....
mrsjpc3
Posted:
Member since
Re: Would you change your honeymoon?
Posted by mrsjpc3
Posted by Tomlaur0808
Posted by mrsjpc3
yes, our honeymoon was so awful, that we flew home from mexico the next day, got our full $6500 back in the next few weeks after and are in the process of replanning it for our 1 yr anniv. dont go to aventura spa palace. we did however make the best of it that week, and stayed at the Ritz to salvage what we could of our lost time.
OMG - that's terrible - why did you go/stay? & what made it so awful...if you dont mind my asking?? I'm so sorry your HM was runied, at least you got your $$ back!
it came very highly recommended from our idiot travel agent. if you read my review, i added an entire commentary about why it was so bad. the food, the rooms, ughh, it was a shame. it was no 5 star resort as promised. it was the kind of vacation you would pay no more than $1500 for. but, my wedding day was absolute perfection, so i guess i'd rather have that....
scroll through for pics. there was literally no one at the resort, it was very eerie.
Tomlaur0808
Posted:
Member since
Re: Would you change your honeymoon?
Posted by mrsjpc3
Posted by mrsjpc3
Posted by Tomlaur0808
Posted by mrsjpc3
yes, our honeymoon was so awful, that we flew home from mexico the next day, got our full $6500 back in the next few weeks after and are in the process of replanning it for our 1 yr anniv. dont go to aventura spa palace. we did however make the best of it that week, and stayed at the Ritz to salvage what we could of our lost time.
OMG - that's terrible - why did you go/stay? & what made it so awful...if you dont mind my asking?? I'm so sorry your HM was runied, at least you got your $$ back!
it came very highly recommended from our idiot travel agent. if you read my review, i added an entire commentary about why it was so bad. the food, the rooms, ughh, it was a shame. it was no 5 star resort as promised. it was the kind of vacation you would pay no more than $1500 for. but, my wedding day was absolute perfection, so i guess i'd rather have that....
scroll through for pics. there was literally no one at the resort, it was very eerie.
Wow...saw the pics...that is very unsettling, maybe the ppl who wrote good things about this place liked that no one was around...lol...but seriously, that really ***** to have been misled not just for a trip, but for the ultimate trip...your HM! I hope things worked out for you in the end! HUG!
BarbieGrl10
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Member since
Re: Would you change your honeymoon?
Posted by rebekahlw164
I don't think that I would change a thing. We also went to Sandals Antigua and we had the greatest time. The resort was beautiful on the Mediteranean side, the other side was just okay. Our suite was upgraded to a penthouse suite and I could have stayed there all day! The bathroom was as big as my house and the balcony was great. I thought the service and food were good, maybe not excellent. I also would have liked more options for lunch or snacks. The one thing I would change was that we didn't get to go scuba diving. They were predicting bad weather and had moved their boats to a nearby harbor and even though the weather turned out fine they didn't bring the boats back in time for us to go. Overall, I would go back anytime!
That is soo funny I bet we were there at the same time!!! You are right the Med side was SO much better.. we didnt stay on that side.... had we known we would have though.
