[Sly Fox]

The older I get, the more cruising fits me. I hear you, bballfan84. Mayan Riviera is a bit played out with the Mexican government investing heavily in other resort areas. But you can get big bang for your buck there particularly in Playa area.

[Purple Haize]

We love cruises. Going on one this year (already paid for or we wouldn't go). Love them. You can do as much or as little as you want. New place about every day
We go with Blacony rooms. Didn't care for Norwegian liked Holland and LoVE Celebrity

[alabama24]

We love cruises.

I thought you were for Trump?

[PAmedic]

did the cruise thing... loved it (Caribbean)

wife did an all-inclusive at "Breathless" in the DR

pretty nice but is on the ATL side, she recommends something else if you wanna be in the water a lot

ask OLDFLAME

[alabama24]

pretty nice but

tmi

[PAmedic]

well that too but I'm more about the cans

[ATrain]

well that too but I'm more about the cans

Whatever makes you happy dude...

[flameshaw]

I will give you a one that is out of the box a little bit. I have traveled to most parts of the world. One of my favorite places is Budapest, Hungary. It is the most occupied city in the history of the world. As such, there is vast diversity of architecture. Very beautiful scenery down by the river. I would stay at the Marriott down by the parliament building on the river, the Hilton on the hill overlooking the river or the Hilton downtown, that is attached to the huge mall. Budapest has many great restaurants, churches, scenery, etc. BTW, if it matters to you, the most beautiful women in the world. Very easy on the eyes for sure.

[ALUmnus]

Might also try to message LUconn, he's been to quite a few places in the Caribbean, both cruise & resort.

[olldflame]

Hey guys,

I need a vacation. Like a real one. My wife and I haven't really been anywhere since our honeymoon to Pigeon Forge 12 years ago. She's gone with me on business trips but nothing we're we've been able to spend 100% of the time together. I wanted to see if anyone has experience with this and where you would suggest we go or not go. I've always wanted to visit DR but am not opposed to another Caribbean area. I do want all inclusive and white sand/blue water.

Have any idea when? I've lived here in the DR almost 5 years and Can fill you in in a lot of things, bit I don't know a lot about resorts. If you and/or your wife know a little Spanish and are adventurous I could give you some ideas for things to see and places to stay.

[Purple Haize]

I will give you a one that is out of the box a little bit. I have traveled to most parts of the world. One of my favorite places is Budapest, Hungary. It is the most occupied city in the history of the world. As such, there is vast diversity of architecture. Very beautiful scenery down by the river. I would stay at the Marriott down by the parliament building on the river, the Hilton on the hill overlooking the river or the Hilton downtown, that is attached to the huge mall. Budapest has many great restaurants, churches, scenery, etc. BTW, if it matters to you, the most beautiful women in the world. Very easy on the eyes for sure.

Eastern Europe would be a great place to visit. Prague and Budapest have been a deep bucket list for me. I opted for Egypt instead of Prague back in the early 90's

[ATrain]

I will give you a one that is out of the box a little bit. I have traveled to most parts of the world. One of my favorite places is Budapest, Hungary. It is the most occupied city in the history of the world. As such, there is vast diversity of architecture. Very beautiful scenery down by the river. I would stay at the Marriott down by the parliament building on the river, the Hilton on the hill overlooking the river or the Hilton downtown, that is attached to the huge mall. Budapest has many great restaurants, churches, scenery, etc. BTW, if it matters to you, the most beautiful women in the world. Very easy on the eyes for sure.

Eastern Europe would be a great place to visit. Prague and Budapest have been a deep bucket list for me. I opted for Egypt instead of Prague back in the early 90's

We're hitting up London and Paris this summer. A Caribbean and an Alaskan cruise are on the bucket list.

[Purple Haize]

I will give you a one that is out of the box a little bit. I have traveled to most parts of the world. One of my favorite places is Budapest, Hungary. It is the most occupied city in the history of the world. As such, there is vast diversity of architecture. Very beautiful scenery down by the river. I would stay at the Marriott down by the parliament building on the river, the Hilton on the hill overlooking the river or the Hilton downtown, that is attached to the huge mall. Budapest has many great restaurants, churches, scenery, etc. BTW, if it matters to you, the most beautiful women in the world. Very easy on the eyes for sure.

Eastern Europe would be a great place to visit. Prague and Budapest have been a deep bucket list for me. I opted for Egypt instead of Prague back in the early 90's

We're hitting up London and Paris this summer. A Caribbean and an Alaskan cruise are on the bucket list.

Yeah but isn't that a Tennis thing? I liked London And wouldn't mind a day in Paris but that's about it. I have never heard anyone say anything bad about Eastern European vacations from food, service and value. Paris? My dad has been 5 times. Had wallet stolen 4 times. London? Not cheap.

[Sly Fox]

I have only been to London & Paris on business with no time to be a tourist. But we plan on hitting both along with a return to Italy on a European Vacation with my family in 2017 if the price of oil rebounds enough. I have personally been on mulitple trips to every continent except Africa as a result of my work. The two countries that stand out thus far as places to get away and be blown away are Italy & Japan.

We were supposed to go to Budapest this year so my son could compete in a TKD tourney and we could visit some Hungarian Campus Crusade missionaries we support. But that cheap gas you all are enjoying that is tanking the global economy ended that move. In the future we are hoping to combine Budapest, Prague & Vienna with perhaps a return to Bavaria, Switzerland or Greece. The latter two would be my next two suggestions after Italy & Japan. Once you get into a Europe, everything is ridiculously close by train or car with movement between countries no different than crossing state lines here in the States. On a side note, do you know where most of my Euro friends of means always tell me that tops their bucket lists? Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, LA/Hollywood and Havana. Crazy, huh?

It sounds like flamerbob & his wife are not looking to be adventurous in exploring but rather soak up some sun on a beach for some downtime. The options are endless in the Caribbean. I would be careful of suggestions by friends who are travel agents pushing a particular resort. If those same friends have been there recently it was probably as part of a junket. I have multiple friends always working me pretty hard to book through these resorts. But look at all of your options.

One final note, nearly all of the Mexican resort areas have become relatively free from the narco-violence. PV still has seen some issues in the past year or so. But even that is so remote that it shouldn't be a big concern. At least that is what I am trying to convince Mrs. Sly so she will let me take our family back to our favorite city in all of Mexico, San Miguel de Allende.

[ATrain]

Yeah but isn't that a Tennis thing? I liked London And wouldn't mind a day in Paris but that's about it. I have never heard anyone say anything bad about Eastern European vacations from food, service and value. Paris? My dad has been 5 times. Had wallet stolen 4 times. London? Not cheap.

You're right, its not cheap, but it will be worth it. We're also flying Virgin Atlantic, Upper Class

Yes, we will be spending a day watching matches on Centre Court and another day watching matches on Court No. 1. This is also counting as our honeymoon.

We'll likely be spending only a couple days in Paris, do the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, one day at Euro Disney, and then exploring the Champagne and Bourdeaux regions, b/c you know... A few of my coworkers have been, and we're getting great tips from them about what to do aside from the tourist attractions.

Sly...Yellowstone also remains on my bucket list. Eastern Europe is also there, along with Scandinavia. Once we're back on the East Coast, may take one of the three day weekends and fly WOW Air to Iceland.

Finally, Flamerbob, if you're not going to do a cruise and decide to just fly to the Carribean, drive to Richmond or Raleigh and fly JetBlue through their hub in Ft. Lauderdale.

[From the class of 09]

Just got back from Punta Cana, DR. All in 3k for the wife and all inclusive. Beautiful great experience! Snorkeling right off the beach not too bad. Masjestic Colonial is the resort.

[Kolzilla41]

So asked my wife again an full time cruise is a no no. She wouldn't mind do a sunset cruise for dinner or something like that. I would love to take her to Itally, France, Or other parts of Easter Europe but it is SO expensive. The reason I was thinking DR is because it's pretty low in crime and both airlines that I have points for fly there. I wouldn't rule out Cancun but I hear it can be very shady. I wouldn't mind Bahamas or Bermuda but understand it can be similar to Mexico off the resort property. I would even consider the south or Gulf side of Florida if there is a nice place to stay. We do want some place to relax but I don't mind snorkeling or something like that.

[ATrain]

So asked my wife again an full time cruise is a no no. She wouldn't mind do a sunset cruise for dinner or something like that. I would love to take her to Itally, France, Or other parts of Easter Europe but it is SO expensive. The reason I was thinking DR is because it's pretty low in crime and both airlines that I have points for fly there. I wouldn't rule out Cancun but I hear it can be very shady. I wouldn't mind Bahamas or Bermuda but understand it can be similar to Mexico off the resort property. I would even consider the south or Gulf side of Florida if there is a nice place to stay. We do want some place to relax but I don't mind snorkeling or something like that.

Key West

[Purple Haize]

So asked my wife again an full time cruise is a no no. She wouldn't mind do a sunset cruise for dinner or something like that. I would love to take her to Itally, France, Or other parts of Easter Europe but it is SO expensive. The reason I was thinking DR is because it's pretty low in crime and both airlines that I have points for fly there. I wouldn't rule out Cancun but I hear it can be very shady. I wouldn't mind Bahamas or Bermuda but understand it can be similar to Mexico off the resort property. I would even consider the south or Gulf side of Florida if there is a nice place to stay. We do want some place to relax but I don't mind snorkeling or something like that.

If she's worried about getting sea sick tell her not to worry. You can get this patches to put behind the ear that are crazy effective. My wife uses them the first day or two and is great. She gets more sea sick on Those little boat cruises

[Sly Fox]

Sea sickness is not an issue at all these days due to the massive size of the ships except when tropical activity comes into play. But if curises are a non-starter then it doesn't really matter. My dad is essentially afraid of the water and he has become a cruise maniac after we basically drug him onto his first one to placate my mom.

Any place in Mexico or the Caribbean that you go it will be sketchy away from the resort or tourist zones. The most beautiful places typically are among the poorest. But it doesn't sound like you are planning on being adventurous trying to soak up local color. If the beach and some snorekling sound perfect to you and your wife, the options are plentiful. Then it just comes ot bargain-hunting.

As for the European expenses, you just have to be creative but it can be cheaper than some Caribbean resorts if you know how to game the system. Atrain mentioned one of the ways with his Iceland references. There are government-owned airlines in Europe that are selling obscenely low tickets to try to direct tourism their way. As in often lower than flying to Florida or Chicago. But once you get their you are on your own. The all-inclusive options are very limited in Europe.

My parents and Mrs. Sly's parents jut got back from a nearly two-week cruise that circled the Gulf & Caribbean. Their favorite islands were Bonaire, Grenada and surprisingly Puerto Rico. And that cruise included other top-rated stops like Aruba, Martinique and the British Virgin Islands. Just throwing that out there.

It should also be noted that air travel to the Caribbean hasn't been this inexpensive for years with Southwest going all in from Houton Hobby joining American's flights from Miami and United from Houston Bush. I can fly just about anywhere in Caribbean outside of Cuba for less than $600/pp from Houston. Some places are ridiculously cheap depending on the date of travel. I have trouble flying just about anywhere domestically for prices this low.

[alabama24]

Key West

Split the difference and go to Coconut Grove.

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[jack_sparrow81]

So asked my wife again an full time cruise is a no no. She wouldn't mind do a sunset cruise for dinner or something like that. I would love to take her to Itally, France, Or other parts of Easter Europe but it is SO expensive. The reason I was thinking DR is because it's pretty low in crime and both airlines that I have points for fly there. I wouldn't rule out Cancun but I hear it can be very shady. I wouldn't mind Bahamas or Bermuda but understand it can be similar to Mexico off the resort property. I would even consider the south or Gulf side of Florida if there is a nice place to stay. We do want some place to relax but I don't mind snorkeling or something like that.

Check out Sanibel/Captiva or Siesta Key online ( probably hour and a half away from each other). With Sanibel, there is a water taxi called the key west express that departs from fort Myers and goes to key west (normally 2:30-3 hour ride but there is entertainment on the boat. They had group on deals in January for $99 but it may just be a little more than that and that's round trip, plus you can return any day so u can stay in key west for a couple of days. Islamorada though is still my favorite location in the keys

[thepostman]

Wife and I spent a weekend on Sanibel a few years back and loved it. Very relaxing and affordable.

[adam42381]

Sanibel/Captiva is a great call if you just want to relax. A friend of mine is a charter boat captain. I could get you his info if you're interested in some fishing while you're there.

[bballfan84]

Key West

Split the difference and go to Coconut Grove.

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my co worker..actually owns part of the cocunut grove..no lie