HONEYMOON Options

All inclusive
St Lucia
Coconut Bay- Harmony
4000 air and hotel all inclusive. Nice, good room layouts. kids somewhere on resort though
3 restaurants? hmmm

Antigua
Sandals owns the Grand Pineapple- older and can't find pricing cuz sandals site sucks.

Turks & Caicos

costa rica: driving

COSTA RICA MAPS
from airport to arenal volcano
85 miles

Jaco- distance from:
- SJO: 102 km 2 hours
- LIR: 220 km 4 hours
- Arenal: 175 km 6 ½ hours- it's 5 on the shuttle bus.
- Daily Domestic Flights: No

From Airport

Juan Santamaria International Airport - SJO

• Hotel direction: 60 miles SW
• Driving directions: From the Juan Santamaria International Airport turn right on to Bernardo Soto Highway and follow the signs to Orotina, heading towards Jaco. Exit at Herradura Los Suenos and follow the signs to Marriott. *** Rates are subject to change ***
• Alternate transportation: Private Transportation; fee: 120 USD (one way) ;on request
• Estimated taxi fare: 120.00 USD (one way)

JACO Shuttle bus $70 to arenal
ground transportation CR

Costa Rica: volcano and cloud forest

Costa Rica

Maps
Monteverde Cloud Forest
4662 Ft.
canopy tours, zip lines, coffee tour,


Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve
5500 ft

Arenal volcano

map and hotels

hot springs
Monteverde
Volcano/hot springs
hot springs reservations http://reserve.anywherecostarica.com/arenal/tour_reserve/add.htm?id=79&timeId=167


Arenal Volcano- hot springs night time... stay at spa?\
hotels at volcano area map
Tabico hot springs - no available rooms 1/6---- 300+ per night w/ 2 night min.
Arenal Paraiso- has own hot springs and houses the canopy tour company
$75/standard
$105/superior - wood building, enclosed balcony
this hotel site has a lot of info on activities in the area!~
Monteverde Cloud forest is close to arenal.

Costa Rica: re-posted from WYODOC 2

Jaco Beach- Near Los Suenos

7 nights; 6 days ?

what we want to do:
Surfing
White water raft
Canopy tour http://www.skytrek.com/index/index.html
hanging bridges http://www.hangingbridges.com/
costa rica map- tours
Monteverde
Volcano/hot springs
hot springs reservations http://reserve.anywherecostarica.com/arenal/tour_reserve/add.htm?id=79&timeId=167


Arenal Volcano- hot springs night time... stay at spa?\
hotels at volcano area map
Tabico hot springs - no available rooms 1/6---- 300+ per night w/ 2 night min.
Arenal Paraiso- has own hot springs and houses the canopy tour company
$75/standard
$105/superior - wood building, enclosed balcony
this hotel site has a lot of info on activities in the area!~
Monteverde Cloud forest is close to arenal.

Guanacaste
Tamarindo beach
Hotel Bula Bula

Los Suenos Marriott near Jaco beach.
Jaco Beach is the big surfer hangout, but the quality of the sand isn't the best.
The best place is near Guanacoste on the Pacific side just north of Jaco Beach. It's ranked as one of the top spots in the world, with perfect sand, etc. There's a Four Season's Hotel there, but I hear it's like $1000 USD per night. You could stay across the street in a condo like place, which has use of the Four Season hotel pool/beach/amenities for much, much less. One of the gals that works for me did that.
At the Los Suenos Marriott, it was only like $135 USD per night. It's a 4-5 star hotel with a huge pool that's like a maze. You can feed giant iguanas and lizards french fries, etc like we did. From the hotel, you can take about any excursion for a reasonable price. Heather and I stayed there and went to Arenal.
At Arenal, you can go to the Tabico Hot Springs and sip some drinks while watching fire/lava/rocks come down the erupting volcano while sitting in the volcano heated water/springs.
Costa Rica is well known for the zip lines and mostly for what some say is the best white water rafting in the world. If you stay in San Jose (capital city in the mountains) you need to have dinner at the Monastery. It's an old Spanish monastery that overlooks San Jose up in the mountains, amazing view and sometimes live music/bar scene. The drive to the beach near Jaco or Guanacoste is only like 1.5-2 hours from San Jose. English literacy is like 94%. They're forced to learn it all through school. Almost every restaurant has menus in both English and Spanish.

Costa Rica: re-posted from WYODOC

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g309271-s304/Jaco:Costa-Rica:Taxis.And.Rental.Cars.html
Car rental article in Jaco , CR

$1 usd=517.93 colons (crc)

fishing in los suenos
http://www.stayincostarica.com/fishing/index.htm wooo muy $$$

fishing trip all inclusive.. stay on boat http://www.southfishing.com/pages/CRlossuenos2POP.html

full day $1250
http://www.captaintoms.com/reservations.htm

getting better priced
http://www.costarica-fishingcharters.com/charters.html
$700/day

tico fish
http://ticofish.com/fandango.html
rates $275 open boat 4 passengers min? i emailed them to question the "open boat"

tours & airport transfers & heli rides from airport
http://www.hookedoncostarica.com/costa-rica-tours/

EcoTours
http://www.costaricatours.net/
http://www.costarica-ecotourism.com/
http://www.southernexplorations.com/costa.rica.htm actual cruises
http://www.earthfoot.org/cr.htm
http://www.ecotours.com/dest_cr.html
http://www.naturetours.com/costrica.html
http://www.wildplanetadventures.com/content/view/11/30/ packages muy $$
http://www.caravan.com/costa-rica-tour/costaricaecotours.html
http://www.journeysouth.com/ packages 10days
http://www.ecotoursincostarica.com/ecotours/ all from san jose
http://www.crocodilebay.com/ - resort, fishing and tours :) way south of jaco beach


where is La Paz Waterfall Gardens ?
http://www.waterfallgardens.com/

Manuel antonio nat'l park
http://www.manuelantoniopark.com/mapk/default.asp

blog
http://wordpress.com/tag/costa-rica-travel/

surf board rental
http://www.wowsurf.net/

Acapulco

Why is it that all I think about when contemplating Acapulco is how many winners of the Price is Right's showcase showdown enjoyed their lovely 7 day 6 night vacation there?? hmmmm..
Bob Barker can't be wrong!

wyndham
mayan
Address:
The Grand Mayan® Acapulco Wyndham Alliance Resort
Av. de las Palmas No. 1121
Fracc. Playa Diamante
Acapulco, Guerrero, 39900
Mexico

Address:
The Mayan Palace Acapulco Wyndham Alliance Resort
Av. de las Palmas No. 1121
Fracc. Playa Diamante
Acapulco, Guerrero, CP 39900
Mexico

sooo.. they ARE in the same damn place. in the Diamante area/district

Grandmayan Room layout grand master room. 450sqft max (2).

Mayan Palace Room Layout
Suite
The 636 Sq. ft. Suite features with 1 one bedroom with a 1 King size bed, 1 bathroom, bathtub, shower room, sink vanity with hair dryer and shaving make-up mirror. Separate living - dining area with additional 2 sofa beds with second closet; dining table. Full equipped kitchen with electric stove, fridge, microwave, toaster, coffeemaker, blender, tableware, silverware, cookware and kitchen utensils.. There is a maximum occupancy of 5.

acapulco.com
allabout acapulco
travel-acapulco
map at planet ware
old Acapulco map
Acapulco Map
info at villamedialuna
mexico travel net

Honeymoon- chicken dinner

Moon Palace
has rooms available all January. Looks nice!
All inclusive is per room $2350 from jan-april 2010. yikes!
brand new resort.
sold. Moon Palace. She had me at "in room liquor dispenser"

• 1 King bed
• Double Jacuzzi
• Seating Area
• Balcony

• Liquor dispenser contains whiskey, tequila, rum & vodka
• Mini bar contains sodas, bottled water & domestic beer
• LCD TV w/ Satellite
• Purified water
• Farouk bath amenities
• Bathrobes & slippers
• Digital safe (laptop size)
• Individually-controlled air conditioning
• Coffee maker
• Direct dial telephone
• Alarm clock
• Hair dryer
• Iron/ironing board
• Wireless Internet
• 24-hour room service
• Turndown service

going to book and then ask for upgrade at check-in seems wise. The presidential is triple the price.

restaurants

Tangerine – 24 hr service (TBA)
Cuisine: International
Breakfast, lunch & dinner: buffet

Tao – Tepanyaki
Dinner: Japanese a la carte

Spaggo
Dinner: Italian a la carte

Los Gallos
Dinner: Mexican a la carte

Lucca (thematic)
Breakfast & dinner: International buffet

Marina Grill
Breakfast & lunch: International buffet
Dinner: Caribbean and Seafood a la carte

Prime Grill
Dinner: Steakhouse a la carte

Samba (expected to open: August 31)
Breakfast & lunch: International buffet
Dinner: Brazilian a la carte

Baccarat – Fusion Cuisine (TBA)
Dinner: Fusion a la carte

Pizzeto
Lunch & Dinner: Brick oven pizza
From Noon - 11:00 pm

Cafetto
Breakfast, lunch & dinner: American a la carte

Santé Deli - Gourmet Deli

From 3:00 pm - 11:00 pm

Lima Deli – (2pm-2am)

Rain Deli – (4pm – 12am) (TBA)

Bars/Lounges
Asia Lounge – service (8am – 10pm)
Blue Bar – lobby bar service (3pm – 1am)
Sun Bar – lobby bar service (10am – 1am)

Pool snack bars - in pool areas (3 open)

Soda bar – soda fountain (12:00 pm – 10:00 pm)
Must Sweet & Coffee – service (8:00am – 11:00pm)
Ice Cone – Ice cream parlor (12:00 pm- 10:00 pm)
Casino bar (TBA)
Sports bar (TBA)
Onyx Nightclub – with bar service (TBA)

Reviews on TripA

seemingly good. The bad usually by non-travellers or just PITA's

moon palace: eats

Moon Palace restaurants

Tangerine – 24 hr service (TBA)
Cuisine: International
Breakfast, lunch & dinner: buffet

Tao – Tepanyaki
Dinner: Japanese a la carte

sushi

Spaggo
Dinner: Italian a la carte

Los Gallos
Dinner: Mexican a la carte

Lucca (thematic)
Breakfast & dinner: International buffet

Marina Grill
Breakfast & lunch: International buffet
Dinner: Caribbean and Seafood a la carte

Prime Grill
Dinner: Steakhouse a la carte

Samba (expected to open: August 31)
Breakfast & lunch: International buffet
Dinner: Brazilian a la carte

Baccarat – Fusion Cuisine (TBA)
Dinner: Fusion a la carte

Pizzeto
Lunch & Dinner: Brick oven pizza
From Noon - 11:00 pm

Cafetto
Breakfast, lunch & dinner: American a la carte

Santé Deli - Gourmet Deli

From 3:00 pm - 11:00 pm

Lima Deli – (2pm-2am)

Rain Deli – (4pm – 12am) (TBA)

Bars/Lounges
Asia Lounge – service (8am – 10pm)
Blue Bar – lobby bar service (3pm – 1am)
Sun Bar – lobby bar service (10am – 1am)

Pool snack bars - in pool areas (3 open)

Soda bar – soda fountain (12:00 pm – 10:00 pm)
Must Sweet & Coffee – service (8:00am – 11:00pm)
Ice Cone – Ice cream parlor (12:00 pm- 10:00 pm)

Try the tres leches ice cream
Casino bar (TBA)
Sports bar (TBA)
Onyx Nightclub – with bar service (TBA)

trip advisor quotes:

Exercise area was one of best I have ever seen at a hotel. Didnt see it until our last full day there and couldnt talk the wife into going (couldnt pry her from beach). Had I seen the facility earlier, I would have gone every day.

NEED BUG REPELLANT

restaurants:

Go before 7 for top of the line service since basically no one else is there. Everyone in my family enjoyed this meal.

"The cafe in my opinion is the least impressive restaurant. The service is extremely slow and they often only put 5-10 fries on the plate. The bacon in the BLT is often undercooked. However the bartenders at the bar there are super friendly and kind. "

"The pizzeria is amazing. They bring out a plate of Focattia with a bruschetta type salad on top of it, it's simply to die for. We often order two plates because it's SO good. The pizza is all right, not the best, but still very good. The calzone is great! And so is the service. A guy named Juan works there, and his smile and service are amazing. "

"The buffet in the hotel is good for breakfast, but closes at lunch and dinner is always different. I like the Marina grill better."

"There were 11 different restaurants. NO need to make reservations to any of them like in other resorts, with the exception to Tao. But you could make reservations to Tao at any of the other restaurants but only during breakfast hours. Strange I know but once again not a big deal. We didn't get a chance to go to all of the restaurants but here a a few we did go to. The Mexican restaurant: to tell you the truth i cant remember what had. I know the food was good but it just wasn't that memorable., Prime Grill: Everyone was ranting and raving about this steak house, the food was great and the view of the beach was wonderful. But the service I was least impress with. For one the hostess was a completely rude . She stared and made faces at me the whole time we were there, she made no effort to hide it. Our Waiter was very short with us. I felt very comfortable there., Marina Grill: THE BEST PLACE THERE!! The service was impeccable and food was to die for. Ive been to 5 star resorts before and this was the best. During the day this is an a la cart restaurant. Amazing quality of food, fruits and veggies. At night its a Seafood restaurant, once again the food was amazing. U must have the octopus ceviche!!, Tao: The ambiance is pretty nice and the service was OK. We had Chef Peter and he was pretty cool. The food was good also but nothing to special. Def. the most fun restaurant though., The Cafe: it was pretty delicious as well. the service was very slow, The Sushi: Ehhh this place was OK ... I mean its there version of sushi. We went everyday so it couldn't have been that bad :)., Lucca: I only came here for breakfast and it was good.,The Pizzeria: was horrible ... I'm not a fan of pizza but after this I'm def not a fan. Yuck. The snack bar's: Not to good either, but its as good as it gets for fast food. "

Punta Cana Food and Booze

The Jellyfish-
more info at virtual tourist
Beside the Barcelos in Punta Cana
Steve's Corner Bar
Coconut
Soles Chill out bar
The Blue Marlin at Sanctuary Hotel
La Yola
akai - Sushi in Plaza Palma Real
the Hot Spot in a cave.. nice

Punta Cana

what to do....
PC travel Guide
pc live
destinations 360
whale watching
fun fun cave - spelunking 2.5 hours away.
panoramio pics
Marinarium
Dressel Divers
4 wheelers ., .i can do that here
xtreme buggy half day $86 full day $159
fun buggy cooler looking little herbies! pic below courtesy of fun buggy
$90 all day


Fishing:
mikes marina $500 private 4 hours. shared 4 hours $80pp


night scene:
webster hall: night club. sounds like american prices?

shopping:
Palma Real District

Areas?
Bavaro beach= best beach
Manati Park

Begin at the beginning. set the scene. get your bearings
Maps at PC info

outside pc:
Altos de Chavon
tripA

Mountain Thunder Lodge Map

Honeymoon

Dominican Republic is the winner winner.
Punta Cana at Paradisus Palma Real.
I was trying originally to avoid paying all inclusive- but hey WTF? it's our honeymoon!

Right now, there are only available units in June and October. I'm going to keep checking back. RCI's website is totally 90's and is pissing me off to my internet core. I wonder if there's a way to set up an alert if one becomes available.


















Breakdown:
Paying $90/day to pigout= $1260 plus $189 exchange
trying to decide which room is this?
Room options?
expedia $3562.
we are on the wait list for anything from 1/1/10 to 2/28/10
NICE

FLIGHTS:
random dates 1/9/10 to 1/16/10 $575 per person.

HONEYMOON Options Central America

We would both like to look into the treehouse experience. also, needing to utilize the RCI family.. is limiting our options. but still having good options.. ya follow?
Flying Crocodile in Costa Rica
Blue Jay Lodge also in CR
Jaco Beach Costa Rica- Weather high-Jan 88, Low 70.. NIiiiiIIiIce.
COSTA RICA
on RCI- MOnarch Resort not gold crown. no kitchen. mandatory all inculsive. F that.
Occidental Grand Papagayo - all inclusive $115/pd- booking direct seems the same as cashing in our week and having to pay all inclusive.. where's the benefit?


Panama
Royal Decameron gold crown
expedia $
Sol Melia - not gold crown- but 5 stars.. niiiice- gulf side. might not be on the beach. on the canal or water somehow.


Belize
Surfing in Belize
The only RCI resort is a Tradewinds Cruise.... hmmmm

Honeymoon Option South Africa

From RCI
La Cote D'Azur 2 or 3 bedroom
Strand Pavillion
Flight to capetown $1350

most resorts, even thought they are "gold crown" look like a shiny turd.

HONEYMOON Options

Aruba
Costa Linda
gold crown, no all inclusive... cruise ship destination?
Trip Advisor info... good resort. not cheap for food and etc. one guy refers to it as the "vegas" of the caribbean. uh oh... Tony's all in! hahaha

Malta (ex flight $1242)
Fortina Spa Resort- Honeymoon Suite

Barcelona ex flight $742 ...searching 1/5-1/13/10
Tenerife-canary ex flight $953 .. mmmm.. ok.. high of 70'
Lanzarote-canary $3651
Gran Canary $952
Palma island-spain $900
Fiji-Kadavu $1669
Fiji-Nadi $1518
worldmark resprt in fiji
Herkalon, Greece $1457
san jose, CR $420
Punta Cana, DR $561

Venezuela
Maracaibo $1333 sa-su ?$1200 tr/tu
Caracas $ 1059
Valencia $ no good flight.

New Zealand -
Summer dec-feb
warmer towards north.
flight-auckland $1600
CLub Paihia

Xtapa/Zihuatianejo
gold crown Resorts
Raintree
Club Intrawest
available in Jan 23 2010 - Park Royal Ixtapa - silver crown 1br no kitchen


Hawaii















Gold Crown - Cliffs at Princeville - Kauai

Jan 2010 isn't an option. I think Hawaii fills up fast and the only December starts the 12th. double fuckaccino
If i take off the awards option...
December checkin on the 13th. yuk.
or Wyndham Ka'eo Kai on Jan 7th. hmmmm- Hawaii can't be bad.. even at a lower star.
3970 Wyllie Road
Princeville, Kaua`i, HI 96722
Phone: 808-826-6549
look at the address.. is it a sign?
Lihue Airport flight $671.. yum.


I'm really thinking we need to go right after the wedding... well, right after xmas. that way the kiddo is still out of school and he doesn't pull that flunk out cuz we're not here thing.

ok.. so in adding to that thought we could go:
Wyndham Bali Hai Villas on December 26th..... review on TA. same airport price changes to $1040.. .maybe stay elsewhere on the cheap so we're not flying both on saturday.. ?? coming back the following Tuesday $950 nonstop $1086
to fly out on xmas-


Dominican Republic
Punta Cana
Paradise Palma - THIS PLACE IS FUCKING AWESOME~~
only says available in sept, trades for 1 br, all inclusive $80/pp-pd
They have a place in Costa Rica in Guanacaste
Trip Advisor Review.. i'm wet

Grand Cayman
Gold Crown- Morrits not all inclusive, no times for 2010 yet

Tortola- Cruise club
St Lucia.. holy lucifer the all inclusive is $2000... fuck you.
Barbados- south beach resort not all inclusive
Netherlands Antilles - St Maarten
Divi Little Bay - not all in.. looks schwank. niiiice.
no info for dec or 2010.
Royal Islander great bay
Royal Islander club la plage

trinidad and tobago
Sandy Point Beach Club silver crown..studio or 1br with full kitchen.. dump



FUCK FUCK FUCK/.... I already don't like being tied down to the fucking RCI resorts.. so much work.

HOney Moon options: Canary Islands

Surfing in the Canary Islands? Use this map from Magic Seaweed to pick a spot

some resorts on Tenerife owned by XL Resorts

Palm Beach Club

Beverly Hills Club

Beverly Hills Heights

Hollywood Mirage

Resort 360's


Checkin gin Fri - Dec 18th-25th
Canary Islands, Tenerife- Beverly Hills Club- Gold Crown
1 or 2 bedroom with full kitchen
not on beach
weather yearround in Tenerife 70 degrees in dec/jan.

Club Casablanca on the north part of island. also closer to better surf.
1 br dec 29-jan5th
not on beach
review on ta
review of puerto de la cruz (where casablanca is) for weather and whatnot
"not the best time to go" -december
personally,, it sounds great, but i need it HOTTER.. 70 high isn't HOT!