Bridal Guide
May 1, 2005
Sand Dollars: Caribbean Travel Bargains

A honeymoon in the Islands is right up there with blue garter belts and bouquet tosses—it’s a classic. Imagine sunning on the beach, hand in hand, and cooling off together with a splash in the ocean. If you’re worried you’ll need to take out a second mortgage to pay for it, though, don’t fret; you just need to be a little savvy. Here are some tips for snagging a great week of sun, surf and sand --- for less than you'd expect.

Head for the Latin quarters. “In Mexico and the Dominican Republic you get so much value for your money, you’ll pay a fourth, even a third, less than other parts of the Caribbean,” says Mike Coldesina, regional sales manager for Apple Vacations (applevacations.com, 800/727-3550). Considering both destinations offer a huge inventory of hotels and great (read cheap) air connections, you can’t help but snag a good deal.

A classic bargain hotspot since the 70s, there are more beachfront hotels to choose from than ever in Cancun, including the RIU and Iberostar chains, and not all of them are overrun with spring breakers in wristbands. For great beaches and sizzling nightlife in an elegant setting with lots of dark wood, wicker and marble, think the all-inclusive RIU Palace Las Americas (RIU.com or 888-666-8816), which opened in January 2004 (from $1,064 per person per week). Less expensive options include the RIU Cancun (from $826 per person per week). Likewise, the Dominican Republic is a hotbed of affordable all-inclusive hotels, especially if you aim for the north coast. While Punta Cana and La Romana are popular resort areas to the south and east, hotels in Puerto Plata along the mountainous northern coast routinely go for $200 to $300 cheaper per week, says Heather Leisman, director of Product Development for Vacation Outlet (vacationoutlet.com, 888-400-9827). Popular with Europeans for years, Puerto Plata is emerging as an American favorite too. The nearby 18-hole Robert Trent Jones-designed Playa Dorada golf course and the town’s Victorian architecture and 16th-centry Spanish fort don’t hurt. Among the many options is Iberostar’s (Iberostar.com, 888/923-2722) 498-room oceanfront Costa Dorada (from $1,040 per person per week, including airfare from New York, an airy colonial-style resort nestled in a thicket of tropical foliage between mountain peaks and the sea.

Wait till the weekdays. If your big day is Saturday, why not take Sunday to recuperate before jetting off. Some hotels offer discounts if you start your stay on a Monday or Tuesday, instead of a weekend. At the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island (Atlantis.com or 888/528-7155), if you book a standard room with water views (ocean, pools and/or lagoon) during the summer, rates start at $375 a night for weekend arrivals, and $345 if you land up during the week.

Drive to a hub. If you can drive to one of the major airline hubs --- New York’s JFK and Chicago’s O’Hara for American Airlines, for instance, or Philadelphia and Charlotte for US Airways --- chances are you’ll get a non-stop flight to the Islands instead of endless connections. Along those same lines, if you honeymoon on one of the islands with lots of air service, you’ll likely get a decent rate and eliminate the cost of puddle jumping to remote islands. You’ll generally find the cheapest flights to Dominican Republic, Mexico (Cancun), Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas (New Providence Island/Nassau), says Mervyn Winston, president of New York City-based travel agency Zena Travel Ltd. (zenatravel.com, 800/339-5923), followed by Jamaica and St. Thomas. Plus, he adds, flying between Monday and Thursday is generally cheaper than traveling weekends.

Look for Less-developed islands. Though it’ll take you at least two plane changes—probably three—and a ferry ride to get there, tiny, perfect Bequia (pronounced Beck-wee) is worth the trouble. Textbook Caribbean, Bequia is a seven-square-mile scene straight out of romance novel: pretty beaches lined with palm trees and homey waterfront hotels going for a song. You can get a cute room, many with four-poster beds, exposed wood beams, and straw mats, for less than $100 a night during low season at the Gingerbread (Gingerbreadhotel.com, 784/458-3800; $80 for ocean-view rooms, $120-$140 for suites) and Frangipani hotels (Frangipanibequia.com, 784/458-3255; $90 for garden-view rooms, $120 for ocean-view rooms). Both are within walking distance of Admiralty Bay, the island’s picturesque yacht-filled harbor, as well as two of Bequia’s best beaches, Princess Margaret and Lower Bay. The best part, Bequia is secluded: no big cruise ships and no high-rise hotels in sight.

Price small hotels against large resorts. If you don’t need a big, bustling resort, then think small for savings. The 52-room Sandals Inn in Montego Bay (Sandals.com, 888/726-3257; $215 per person per night), for example, is the chain’s smallest (the largest, Sandals Grande Ocho Rios, has 529 rooms) and most low key, with just a tiny stretch of beach, two restaurants and a pair of bars. The tradeoff? The Inn often goes for $100-plus less a night than Sandal’s other Jamaica resorts. The price is right if you’re looking for a quieter version of Sandals high-energy, all-inclusive fun. Though when you’re looking for a bigger party, just grab the free shuttle to Sandals Montego Bay and Sandals Royal Caribbean a few miles down the road where all Inn guests have free access to these bigger properties’ beaches, watersports, nine restaurants, and nightlife as well as optional spa treatments.

Use an agency with clout. Travel agencies specializing in high-end travel tend to offer more personalized service and better perks than other agencies, since clients are spending more and expect it. Take Largay Travel (www.Largaytravel.com, 800/322-9481) in Connecticut, they have personal relationships with many of the hotels they sell and they’re a member of Virtuoso, a network of 310 agencies that specialize in selling upscale travel. Virtuoso negotiates discounted rates for members, plus passes on extras like room upgrades, free tours, and credit vouchers for the hotel spa or a new outfit in the gift shop. For example, book a honeymoon at the brand new Raffles Resort (Rafflescanouan.com, 784/458-8000, $345 a night for a garden view room) on gorgeous Canouan Island in the Grenadines, where all 156 of the dreamy villa suites have private terraces and a whopping 600+ square feet of space, Largay includes continental breakfast daily, a complimentary massage or green fees for a day of golf, plus, during low season, Largay can practically guarantee an upgrade to an oceanview room at the time of booking.

Take advantage of rich neighbors. Riddle: How can you enjoy the great beaches, pools and waterslides at the Atlantis Resort and Paradise Island Casino (888/528-7155, Atlantis.com, $340-$1,879) without actually staying there and paying the steep rates? Stay across the street at the Comfort Suites Paradise Island (choicehotels.com, 877/424-6423; $205-$255 a night). For much less you can enjoy free continental breakfast and access to all of Atlantis’ amenities. You’ll be so busy checking out the shark lagoons and water slides, you’ll hardly have time notice your room back at the hotel may face a parking lot.

Cruise around the islands. Homeporting --- what cruise lines call sailing from ports in the U. S. --- is hot these days. Hop on a Caribbean or Bahamas cruise from more than 10 U.S. port cities, and there’s a good chance you can drive to the ship and save the expense of flying and transfers. Aside from the Florida hubs of Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa and Port Canaveral, consider cruising to the islands from New York, Charleston, Mobile, New Orleans or Galveston. Take Norwegian Cruise Line’s (NCL.com, 800/327-7030) 2,224-passenger Norwegian Dawn from the Big Apple on 10- and 11-night sailings to Tortola, St. Martin, Antigua, St. Thomas and other ports, and enjoy the pick of the ship’s 10 restaurants (from $1,256 per person for Oct sailings. Carnival’s (carnival.com, 800/327-9501) smaller (and older) 1,452-passenger Carnival Holiday isn’t the snazziest ship afloat, but she’s cozy in this age of jumbo liners and offers 4- and 5-night party cruises to the western Caribbean from Mobile, Alabama year-round. Calls include Cozumel on the shorter cruises, plus Playa Del Carmen or Costa Maya on the 5 nighters (from $349 per person).

Go charter. Though it doesn’t sound especially romantic to board planes and busses in big groups, if you can put up with the mass transport to get there, you’ll reap the rewards when you arrive. Apple Vacations (AppleVacations.com, 800/727-3550) and Vacation Express (VacationExpress.com, 800/309-4717) are two of the biggies who package airfare, transfers and hotel stays all throughout the Caribbean in bulk, and pass the savings on to you—hundreds less than if you booked your air and hotel ala carte. “The key to a charter package is that charter air is almost always going to be a lot less than trying to fly scheduled air to the same destination,” says Charlie Funk, co-owner of JustCruis’n Plus in Nashville (Justcruisinplus.com, 800/888-0922). The catch: there’s often less flexibility with departure dates and flight times.