$1500 Travelling!!??!!

[skyxx]

Originally Posted by cressydrift

LOL.

Someone asked if I was set on my places, I am not. Those are just the places that I would like to go. This is why I posted here cause I needed to think outside the box and get some outside opinions. I didn't want to do a crazy trip, just something small and try to keep cost low while going somewhere new and exciting (IMPOSSIBLE). Every now and then I see crazy flights to London, I knew NYC was pricey but didn't think it was going to be 200 a night for a 3 star.

I told my GF today that we should just take the 3000 and go nuts in Vancouver. Needless to say, that didn't go over well.

yeah as a result she called you nuts for spending 3000 in Vancouver.

[TRDood]

try using priceline with your hotel booking. it will save you tons!

suppose it's $800 for NYC round trip, you still have $1400 for hotels + food.

$100/night for hotel through priceline, you guys still have $700 for food and travel. but it will be tight though.

[syee]

Originally Posted by TRDood

try using priceline with your hotel booking. it will save you tons!

suppose it's $800 for NYC round trip, you still have $1400 for hotels + food.

$100/night for hotel through priceline, you guys still have $700 for food and travel. but it will be tight though.

I tried Pricelining for my trip 3 weeks ago and was unsuccessful. (I was trying a good 2 months in advance) It's really only good (in my opinion) for short stays (like a 1-2 day booking). It's very difficult to get a room for longer stays on Priceline.

Check on BetterBidding.com if you want to see what prices people are getting. Most of the lower priced rooms you'll see are for short stays. If you don't mind hotel hopping you may be able to piece together a bunch of hotels for your stay but that would be more trouble than necessary.

OP: How about Aruba? I was just looking at packages and most are under $800USD. Only problem I could see is right now is hurricane season in the tropical areas so you might want to see if that's going to affect any of those places.

[Amaru]

Lots of good suggestions here but I figure I'll add my 2 cents...

If you want the best bang for your buck, I strongly recommend doing a Caribbean cruise. If you choose a cruise line that caters to younger people (ie. Carnival, Norweigan) you'll meet other young couples and have an absolute blast. It's basically an all-inclusive resort, except the service and food are better and you wake up at a new beautiful island every day. All cruise ships feature multiple pools, non-stop entertainment, and very good (unlimited) food.

My girlfriend and I did an 8-night Carnival cruise out of Fort Lauderdale. The stops were in Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Antigua, and the Bahamas. We went scuba diving, 4x4'ing, jet skiing, and did an awesome historical tour of San Juan. Although drinks aren't included, we smuggled booze aboard the ship and didn't spend more than $100 on booze for the entire time despite getting drunk every night. We were younger than average on the ship (we're both 23), but met plenty of awesome younger couples in their mid and late 20's. There are many families, too, but we spent most of our time in the 18+ areas of the ship.

Flights from Seattle to Fort Lauderdale can be had for about $500 return (after tax). Inside cabins on a 7-night cruise will run you about $700 after tips. The remaining $300 you can use for activities (ie. snorkeling, zip lines, jet ski rentals, etc).

If you're careful with your spending, you could easily do a cruise that visits 4-5 Caribbean islands. Plus you'll stay in 4-star cruise accommodations, and eat 4-star food every night... and it shouldn't cost more than $1500. Having done a cruise once, I'll never consider doing another all-inclusive again.

A couple pics I took during our cruise:













Apologies for all the pics - just trying to break the stereotype that cruises require you to be 55+ and wear a tuxedo at all times. They're great value.

[winson604]

If you're talking about flight + hotel there are tons of places you can go. Even if you just do a quick search on expedia or something depending on when you go you can go to hong kong, japan, thailand, certain places in europe but will probably have to stay in a 3 star place, dominican, costa rica and those carribean places can easily be achieved for that price. Basically what I'm saying is you got more choices then you can handle but the spending money with vary big time depending on the place you choose.

[syee]

I agree with taking a cruise. It's something different (especially if you've never been). As I mentioned in my previous post - it is hurricane season right now so it's something to consider. It's also the reason why cruises are cheap this time of the year in the Carribean.

Flying into Ft Lauderdale as Amaru mentioned is the cheapest as most of the discount carriers fly there. Miami is a little more expensive though where you fly to really just depends on where your ship departs from. Ft Lauderdale is only 45 mins away from Port of Miami so it's not far to get to if you find a cheap flight to FLL but you have a cruise out of Port of Miami.

Unless either one of you gets motion sickness easily, I'd highly recommend a Carribean cruise.

[Amaru]

Originally Posted by syee

I agree with taking a cruise. It's something different (especially if you've never been). As I mentioned in my previous post - it is hurricane season right now so it's something to consider. It's also the reason why cruises are cheap this time of the year in the Carribean.

Flying into Ft Lauderdale as Amaru mentioned is the cheapest as most of the discount carriers fly there. Miami is a little more expensive though where you fly to really just depends on where your ship departs from. Ft Lauderdale is only 45 mins away from Port of Miami so it's not far to get to if you find a cheap flight to FLL but you have a cruise out of Port of Miami.

Unless either one of you gets motion sickness easily, I'd highly recommend a Carribean cruise.

+1

The sea sickness issue is obviously more prevalent during the hurricane season, but even then you can usually minimize the risk of experiencing sea sickness by choosing a large modern ship (Royal Caribbean's "Oasis of the Seas" is the largest and very new) and asking for a cabin on a low deck (lower down in the ship = less swaying motion).

They also give out free "sea sickness patches" on some cruise lines, and of course all the modern ships are equipped with advanced anti-motion stabilizers.

Naturally, the ship's route & ports of call will also dictate the amount of motion sickness you'll experience. The Bahamas & Eastern Caribbean cruises (what I did most recently) tend to have less open ocean travel and spend more time in ports. The Western Caribbean routes (stopping at the Caymans, Cozumel, Belize, Costa Rica, etc) involve 1-3 days of open ocean sailing across the Gulf of Mexico, so not a wise choice in Hurricane season. If you did an Eastern Caribbean cruise departing from San Juan you'd have very little time sailing in open water. (Downside being that flights to Puerto Rico are usually several hundred bucks more than flights to Fort Lauderdale).

Again, if you've only got $1500 and you really want to have a great time with minimal stress, cruising is the way to go. Literally THE most relaxing way to travel, imo, as you don't have to deal with switching hotels or arranging transportation between places. You also get to explore a new place every day and then retreat to the comfort of 4-star dining, twice-a-day room housekeeping, numerous pools and hot tubs, gambling, entertainment, 24 hour room service, etc. Then you wake up the next day at a new island and repeat.

Frankly I don't understand how the cruise lines make any money, because $700/pp for seven days of hotel, transportation, and quality food is an absolute steal. And you can find deals closer to $400 per person for an inside cabin if you look hard enough. If I lived near a cruise terminals (ie. in Florida) I'd take at least one cruise every few months. It's barely more expensive than living at home....

(Don't get me wrong, I am not advocating that every vacation should be a cruise. I will do cruises again in the future, probably many times, but only when I'm looking for relaxation and a stress-free, luxurious experience. For a more genuine travel experience, which I enjoy just as much, you're much better off with a backpack, a one-way flight, and a willingness to couch surf...)

[Gumby]

Cool - nice to see a few more cruise advocates in here!

Originally Posted by Amaru

The sea sickness issue is obviously more prevalent during the hurricane season, but even then you can usually minimize the risk of experiencing sea sickness by choosing a large modern ship (Royal Caribbean's "Oasis of the Seas" is the largest and very new) and asking for a cabin on a low deck (lower down in the ship = less swaying motion).

Agreed with all of your comments about sea sickness and calmer waters in the Caribbean. However, you'd be hard pressed to get a stateroom on Oasis of the Seas for $700 per person...

Again, if you've only got $1500 and you really want to have a great time with minimal stress, cruising is the way to go. Literally THE most relaxing way to travel, imo, as you don't have to deal with switching hotels or arranging transportation between places. You also get to explore a new place every day and then retreat to the comfort of 4-star dining, twice-a-day room housekeeping, numerous pools and hot tubs, gambling, entertainment, 24 hour room service, etc. Then you wake up the next day at a new island and repeat.

Exactly - a new location every morning (depending on your itinerary), and no need to repeatedly pack & unpack. There are tons of activities so you're free to do as much or as little as you want.

Frankly I don't understand how the cruise lines make any money, because $700/pp for seven days of hotel, transportation, and quality food is an absolute steal. And you can find deals closer to $400 per person for an inside cabin if you look hard enough. If I lived near a cruise terminals (ie. in Florida) I'd take at least one cruise every few months. It's barely more expensive than living at home....

Cruise prices have been going down, but they're also finding many ways to charge you extra during your cruise. Specialty restaurants, funky drinks, spa treatments, special classes (i.e. yoga) that require admission, Ben & Jerry ice cream parlor, etc., the list goes on. That's where they make their money.

With that said, the price of your cruise itself still includes a LOT of stuff, so you do get good value for your money as long as you don't indulge too much on the things with extra fees.

[syee]

vacationstogo.com seem to have some decent deals on cruises. Might be a good starting point for price comparisons to other sites. That's where I booked my last trip. The customer service there is great too.

Oasis of the Seas is pretty pricey because it's still a pretty new ship. If you can find some of the older ships (I rode the Carnival Imagination last time), they usually have cheaper deals and the ships (although a little dated) are still maintained quite well.

[Walperstyle]

Chilliwack is the best place to go. For only $1400/each I'll take the two of you on hikes up Mt Cheam, Lindamen Lake, and do some camping there too if requested.

A quick stop at Kilby Beach for some fun in the sun.

let me know!

[fliptuner]

Gf was looking at resorts in Jamaica.

Air and all inclusive, 4 or 5 star resort (Iberostar), for 7 days was $1500ea.

[Amaru]

Originally Posted by fliptuner

Gf was looking at resorts in Jamaica.

Air and all inclusive, 4 or 5 star resort (Iberostar), for 7 days was $1500ea.

I haven't looked around at all-inclusive packages recently, but $1500/pp for a 4-star in hurricane season doesn't sound like a very good deal at all.

[fliptuner]

lol, of course after.