You found THE ONE. You’ve
got the ring. The wedding is booked. Now,
what about the
honeymoon?
A fun, amazing & at the
same time scary thought… we call it
the
“HONEYMOON RULE”…
here it is:
YOUR
HONEYMOON IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TRIP YOU WILL EVER TAKE! And you can’t ever
“re-do” a honeymoon, so you have to make SURE it’s amazing & exactly what
you want!
WOW! The pressure is ON!
So where should you begin? Where should you go? How much should you spend?
If these honeymoon questions baffle you, Tiki Trips can help… we are your
honeymoon professionals! We specialize in planning honeymoons, so we can
assist you in the entire process from start to finish. We have booked
thousands of honeymoons & romantic vacations over the years… our clients
above can attest! We travel extensively, so we know all of the destinations
we sell & can tell you exactly what it is like, what your desired resort
looks like, what things there are to do there, & in many cases have personal
photos to share!
So, where to start? Right
here, right now, with this course. After you have finished our “Honeymoons
101” course, you’ll be more prepared than ever to start planning your
honeymoon!
♥
Issue # 1— Where should you go?
This is
the biggest question, & this question’s answer is determined by all of the
other questions & answers below, so read on.
Let’s get the “gut check”
question out of the way: quick, without thinking,
where have you always dreamed of going on
your honeymoon? If your dream has always been to go to
Issue #
1’s answer can also possibly be narrowed down by this question: where you
have traveled so far?
Have you been to
That being said, if you
have visited a region, let that work for you… what did you like about it?
What did you not like? Would you visit again? These questions & answers can
help you focus on the things you liked (& didn’t like) & can help narrow the
focus of destinations.
♥
Issue # 2—When should you start to
plan your honeymoon? How far in advance? Before or after the wedding is
planned?
HOT TIP—plan your honeymoon early
in the wedding process, not after every aspect of your wedding has been
planned. Why?
First, you want your
honeymoon to be (1) AMAZING… (2) as INEXPENSIVE as possible… (3) to the
EXACT PLACE & at the EXACT RESORT & in the exact ROOM TYPE you want. All of
this can only be accomplished if you book early! Why? Well, your honeymoon
can’t be very amazing if you can’t afford to go where you want because you
waited too late & it’s now too expensive OR your dream hotel in your dream
room is already sold out!
Another reason you want to plan your honeymoon early: your wedding will cost
more than you anticipate… we PROMISE! You will always find more wedding
things to spend your money on--ALWAYS.
And while everyone wants a dream wedding, do you really need that $1500 cake
or an extra $1000 worth of flowers?
The fact that no one will tell
you in the wedding planning process is this: your wedding is not so much
about you as it is about being a party for your family & friends,
not you!
Yes, you are getting married, but at the end of the day, it’s only about 3-4
hours out of your life & the most expensive party you will ever plan & pay
for.
Your HONEYMOON, however, is ONLY for the TWO of you… not your mom, not your
sister, not your friends, it’s JUST for the TWO OF YOU.
So would you rather spend extra big money on something you will enjoy for
5-to-10 minutes (flowers,
cake, food, decorations, whatever) or something you will enjoy for 5-to-10
DAYS? If money is not an issue—great! But if money IS an issue,
spend the
money on yourselves (honeymoon) not on something for everyone else
(wedding/reception) that no one will even remember or care about later.
After all, remember the honeymoon rule:
YOUR HONEYMOON IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TRIP YOU WILL EVER TAKE! And you can’t
re-do a honeymoon, so make SURE it’s amazing!
♥
Issue # 3—What do you want
included?
The basics you will need
are usually round-trip airfare from your home city to your destination,
hotel/accommodations, & transportation when you arrive & depart (airport
transfers or car). Beyond the basics, “what do you want included” is
probably the biggest determining factor, above & beyond anything else. Issue
# 1’s “where to go” will determine “what to spend”! The first question is:
Do you
want all-inclusive?
All inclusive means: your
hotel stay includes your meals & drinks—yes, alcoholic ones—your hotel tips
& some hotel activities.
All inclusive is super popular…
it makes things easy because you’ll know exactly how much you are spending
on your trip… AND while on your trip, you don’t have to worry about what
each & every thing costs because it’s included! (Meals & drinks).
How nice to enjoy those
fluffy cocktails rather than worry
how much they are costing. With all inclusive, it’s included! If you
definitely want to do all inclusive, then you need to narrow your search to:
NOTE:
some destinations simply DO NOT OFFER all inclusive at all.
If you
do not want all-inclusive (or it is not that important to you), then your
options are wide open… the world is your oyster!
And you don’t HAVE to do an all-inclusive in Mexico, Jamaica, Dominican
Republic, St. Lucia or Costa Rica… but it’s a fantastic & recommended idea
for those destinations since they do them well & are a great price!
♥
Issue # 4-- How much should you
spend for the honeymoon? (How fabulous do you want your honeymoon to be?)
Let’s be realistic:
nothing worth having comes cheap. NOTHING. Just like if you are buying a
car, the more you spend, the more you are going to get! You can’t buy a new
Lexus for a Kia price. You can’t get a
Corvette with a Chevette
budget! That being said,
we at Tiki Trips will help you
stretch your budget as far as it can possibly go, but we
don’t walk on water!
So you need to seriously take
financial inventory & decide what you have to spend.
Some folks don’t know
where to even START to set a budget because they are not sure what things
cost. Here is a REALISTIC budget list (below) of what you should expect to
spend. And before you read on, remember again that nothing worth having
comes cheap.
Nobody wants to buy garbage,
therefore we don’t sell it nor recommend it. So…
this ballpark budget is a place to start for
a decent, respectable, desirable, 4-star accommodations & nicer trip!
And we
recommend 5 nights as a bare
minimum on closer
destinations (7 nights or more on faraway ones),
though we’ll do 3 nights to 14 nights, or however long you want to stay.
Most folks
stay at least 6-7 nights on a honeymoon, so keep that in mind.
DO NOT
ETCH THESE PRICES BELOW IN STONE NOR USE THESE AS A QUOTE for how much your
trip is going to cost… this is just a GENERAL GUIDE.
If you want a definite price, we need definite dates, place, hotel, & many
other things to give you an accurate price.
Note: Holidays & more popular
seasons (Spring Break, summer) can be more expensive, so be sure to keep
that in mind. Here goes!
What we generally recommend
you spend on a honeymoon—prices are based on double occupancy:
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
5-to-7
nights, 4 star basic
resort-- $1000- $1500
per person, includes air, hotel, meals, drinks, taxes, transfers
5-to-7
nights, 4½ star upgraded resort-- $1500- $2000
per person, includes air, hotel, meals, drinks, taxes, transfers
5-to-7
nights, 5-star luxury resort-- $2000- $3500
per person, includes air, hotel, meals, drinks, taxes, transfers
Yes, you can do a resort
in
CARIBBEAN—all inclusive-- what you should expect to spend
(
5-to-7
nights, 4 star basic
resort-- $1200- $1700
per person, includes air, hotel, meals, drinks, taxes, transfers
5-to-7
nights, 4½ star upgraded resort-- $1700-$2500
per person, includes air, hotel, meals, drinks, taxes, transfers
5-to-7
nights, 5-star luxury resort-- $2500-$5000
or more per person, includes air, hotel, meals, drinks, taxes, transfers
Yes, you can go to a
different Caribbean island (St. Wherever!) than Jamaica, Dominican Republic
or St Lucia, but again, you will be paying the same or more for
NON-inclusive, FAR more, either way. And of course, if you are wanting a
high-end “movie star hideaway” type of celebrity-popular resort, they have
many hidden spots like this throughout the Caribbean islands… & be prepared
to shell out even bigger bucks for these!
5-to-7
nights, 4 star basic
resort-- $1200- $1700
per person, includes air, hotel, meals, drinks, taxes, transfers
5-to-7
nights, 4½ star upgraded resort-- $1700-$2200
per person, includes air, hotel, meals, drinks, taxes, transfers
5-to-7
nights, 5-star luxury resort-- $2200-$4000 or more
per person, includes air, hotel, meals, drinks, taxes, transfers
5-to-7
nights, 4 star basic
resort-- $1500- $1800
per person, includes air, hotel, car rental, taxes
5-to-7
nights, 4½ star upgraded resort-- $1800-$2500
per person, includes air, hotel, car rental, taxes
5-to-7
nights, 5-star luxury resort-- $2500-$5000 or more
per person, includes air, hotel, car rental, taxes
U.S.A./CANADA—NON inclusive—what you should expect to spend:
5-to-7
nights, 4 star basic
resort-- $1000- $1500
per person, includes air, hotel, car rental, taxes
5-to-7
nights, 4½ star upgraded resort-- $1500- $2000
per person, includes air, hotel, car rental, taxes
5-to-7
nights, 5-star luxury resort-- $2000- $5000 or more
per person, includes air, hotel, car rental, taxes
7-10
nights, 3-4 star basic
hotels-- $1700- $2700
per person, includes air, hotel, train, taxes
7-10
nights, 4½ star upgraded hotels-- $2700-$4000
per person, includes air, hotel, train, taxes
7-10
nights, 5-star luxury hotels-- $4000-$8000 or more
per person, includes air, hotel, train, taxes
CRUISES—NON inclusive (meals only) – what you should expect to spend:
(NOTE: we recommend 7
night cruises only, they are the only way you get anywhere/see anything!):
7
nights, cabin with no view-- $600- $800
per person, includes cabin & taxes—no air or tips
7
nights, cabin with oceanview-- $800- $1100
per person, includes cabin taxes—no air or tips
7
nights, cabin with oceanview/balcony-- $1100- $1500
per person, includes cabin & taxes—no air or tips
7
nights, small suite with oceanview/balcony-- $1500- $2000
per person, includes cabin & taxes—no air or tips
7
nights, larger suites with oceanview/balcony-- $2000- $5000
per person, includes cabin & taxes—no air or tips
Advisory:
You don’t really get any “beach” time on a cruise!
Cruises are all about
pulling into different ports for short periods, therefore you don’t really
get any beach time. A cruise is best for the
sightseeing in a variety of
ports.
OTHER DESTINATIONS AROUND THE WORLD—what you should expect to spend:
TAHITI-MOOREA-BORA BORA,
AFRICA—
ASIA
(
Again, DO NOT ETCH THESE PRICES ABOVE IN STONE nor use them as a quote for
how much your trip is going to cost… this is just a GENERAL GUIDE.
If you want a definite price, we need definite dates, place, hotel, & many
other things to give you an accurate price! Cost of your trip all depends on
availability (how available or sold out it is), time of year
(holiday weeks
& popular times—Spring Break & summer-- are more expensive!),
if you are traveling in high or low or middle season, how early or late you
book, where you are departing from & how far you are flying, hotel chosen,
room type chosen, other inclusions (car, train, transfers, etc.) & other
factors.
TOP TEN HOT
HONEYMOON FACTS to know when planning your honeymoon:
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
♥
1—ONLY A DEPOSIT IS REQUIRED TO RESERVE YOUR TRIP!
Unlike the internet, Tiki Trips only
requires a deposit for your honeymoon, typically from $150-$500
(maybe more, depending on destination), NOT full payment at time of booking.
That is EXCELLENT NEWS! That’s right, you do NOT have to pay everything up
front. Many honeymooners can end up
affording a nicer, better trip because they can “pay as they go” & only put
down a deposit when they reserve; final payment isn’t due until 60 days or
so before their departure date. Very do-able!
♥
2—Reserve your honeymoon as soon as possible; 4 months in advance is good, 5
months is better, 6-8 months is best.
Things sell out, flights
fill up, & prices GO up as you get closer to departure. You are NOT going to
get some smokin’ deal on a great place because you waited ‘til the last
minute… folks are always getting married at more popular times, & those
popular times get pricier as you get closer & the best stuff sells out. And
it’s not like you are flexible on your timeframe… do you really want to have
to wait ‘til a week or a month after your wedding to take your honeymoon?
NO! We’re not saying it’s impossible to get something nice inside of 3-4
months before your departure date, but for heaven’s sake,
if you are closer than 3-4 months before
your wedding date/departure time, you need to RUN, not walk, to a phone &
call us! So don’t mess around, get it done, decide what you want
to do & make your reservations with deposit. If you have no clue what to do,
just call us, we’ll help you figure it out!
J
♥
3—Don’t leave for your honeymoon until at least 36 hours after your wedding.
TRUST US ON THIS. Your wedding is the biggest event of your life. Think
about it: your wedding day is all of the following: (1) a wedding, (2) a
religious service, (3) the biggest & most expensive party you will ever
throw, (4) the best dressed you will ever be, (5) a family reunion of BOTH
your families… ALL ROLLED INTO ONE. You will be
beyond exhausted. So do you
really want to then get up at the crack of dawn to go get on a plane the
following morning? You gotta be kidding! Leave 36 hours after your wedding
(the Monday morning after your Saturday night wedding, for example). This
would give you some time to decompress the following day, relax, say goodbye
to family & friends, remember what you forgot to pack & finish doing so, &
be properly prepared mentally & physically for your honeymoon before leaving
for it. The perfect way to go!
♥
4—Do the nicest, “biggest” trip you can for your honeymoon.
After
all, when it’s all said & done, it’s all about the “braggin’ rights”!
When your honeymoon is over, there are only 3 things left: your memories,
your pictures, & the BRAGGIN’ RIGHTS! Yep, we said it, & it’s true.
You want to do the nicest trip you can…
because you will be able to brag about your fabulous honeymoon for the rest
of your life! “Ah, we honeymooned for a week in heavenly
♥
5—Be realistic on how far you should go.
Not to contradict # 4 above, but do you really need to take four planes to
go all the way to Bali or a remote part of
♥
6—Don’t cheat yourself out of a nice, quality honeymoon.
Everyone wants to pay the least amount they can for anything, naturally.
Just don’t cheat yourself out of a nice honeymoon by trying to go cheap. Do
you really want to stay in a
budget hotel for your HONEYMOON? Come on, splurge a little. Do the nicer
resort. Go to a different place farther away. It will be more memorable,
you’ll avoid certain problems & issues (like the two of you fighting about
why you chose a dumpy hotel with bedbugs!) & you will be glad you did it
better!
♥
7—Don’t cheat yourself out of a decent stay.
Some folks feel they have to hurry up & get home. Why? Do you REALLY have to
hurry home? Come on, think about it… the world is not going to come to an
end because you stayed an extra day or two on your trip. It’s your
HONEYMOON. Remember, that once-in-a-lifetime thing? That’s what we’re
talking about! You will have the rest of your life to worry about work,
bills, house, kids, family, & other obligations.
So TAKE THE TIME,
FOR YOURSELVES, TO REALLY
ENJOY YOUR HONEYMOON. You’ll thank us later!
♥
8—(A) It is no big deal to get a passport. Really.
So don’t rule out a foreign country just because you are too lazy or cheap
to get a passport. A passport is about $100-$200 (depending on if you
expedite it & send it through private channels). It won’t take very long to
apply & is pretty easy to do. And a passport is good for TEN YEARS!!
(B) Yes, you
really DO need a passport—a VALID passport-- to go to
♥
9—Don’t overschedule yourself on your honeymoon.
It is tempting to sign up for all these extra activities/excursions/tours at
your destination. We recommend being busy/scheduled about half of the
time at the most. Therefore, if you are going to
♥
10—Pick a honeymoon destination on which you both agree.
If you really don’t want to go snow skiing on your honeymoon & your future
spouse does, talk about it, compromise, decide on something together. The
honeymoon destination is usually—not always, but most of the time—more
important to a woman than it is to a man, frankly.
And guys, here is a wise ol’ fact you need
to learn before you get married:
if mama ain’t happy, ain’t
NOBODY happy! So choose a honeymoon destination
together… don’t be “punished”
for the next decade (or lifetime!) by your spouse because you just wouldn’t
go to “St. Something Island” for your honeymoon! If you demand to go to
Place A & your future spouse is demanding to go to Place B & you just can’t
come to an agreement, then why not compromise on something completely
different, Place C? Just an idea. If you are simply “stumped” & can’t come
to a compromise, call us… you might be surprised at some “combo” trips we
can create to make both the bride & groom happy!
We hope this information
has helped you in your honeymoon planning process… call us if you have
questions, ideas & to get started… we are here to help you plan the perfect
honeymoon for YOU!
If you’d like to
make your life even EASIER & save LOTS of
WEDDING MONEY, why not consider a
DESTINATION WEDDING? That’s
right, get married THERE instead of here!
A destination wedding is much
more UNIQUE & MEMORABLE, & it can
save
you 75% or more
on the
cost of your wedding…
that’s BIG!
A
wedding at home is a 3-4 hour EVENT… a destination wedding is a 3-4 DAY
EXPERIENCE!
And, because you are there, you can
start your honeymoon immediately! Check out our destination
wedding info page:
http://www.tikitrips.com/doadestinationwedding/ for more info
♥
ESCAPE to your DREAM HONEYMOON...
Contact your Tiki Trips HONEYMOON, DESTINATION WEDDING & VACATION SPECIALIST today!
Your Tiki Trips agent knows...
Your Tiki Trips agent has been there!
We make it our job to KNOW J
TIKI TRIPS® LLC
214-478-4200
E-mail:
info@tikitrips.com
Website: http://www.tikitrips.com
We so
appreciate your referrals… they are the greatest compliment you can pay us!
Please
let us know when you are sending folks our way
J
We SPECIALIZE in VACATIONS, HONEYMOONS & DESTINATION WEDDINGS!
We would love to
help you plan your next exciting vacation to:
HAWAIIAN ISLES~
TAHITI/ BORA BORA/ MOOREA~
BRITISH ISLES~ EUROPE~
MEDITERRANEAN~ MIDEAST~ AFRICA & SAFARIS~
SPECIAL OCCASION TRIPS: HONEYMOONS~ DESTINATION WEDDINGS~ BIRTHDAYS~
PROPOSALS~ BACHELOR & BACHELORETTE TRIPS~ ANNIVERSARIES~
GRADUATIONS~
FAMILY REUNIONS~
CORPORATE INCENTIVE GROUPS~ BUDDY WEEKENDS
SPECIAL INTEREST TRIPS:
SPORTS TRIPS~ SKI~ GOLF~ DIVE~ ADVENTURE~
CULINARY/WINE TOURS~ LADIES' TRIPS (HOME/GARDEN
Contact us
today!
Would you like
to travel the world
with a fun group
of friends?
Come go with us,
the TIKI HEADS!
http://www.tikitrips.com/tikiheads
HELPFUL LINKS for your trip:
http://www.tikitrips.com/future -- Future upcoming Tiki trip specials around the world!
http://www.tikitrips.com/toptenreasons -- Top 10 reasons to book with the Tikis
http://www.tikitrips.com/triptestimonials -- Testimonials from Tiki Trips clients themselves
http://www.tikitrips.com/honeymoons101 -- Planning your perfect honeymoon
http://www.tikitrips.com/dwinfo -- Destination wedding pictures, policies & info
http://www.tikitrips.com/passport.htm -- All about passports
http://www.tikitrips.com/strongarm -- Dangers of
booking on the net vs. safety/security of Tiki Trips!
Have your wedding or event
decorated for less hassle & cost than doing it yourself!
All payments
are non-refundable once made; please be certain of wedding/travel plans before
payment.
PASSPORTS ARE NOW REQUIRED FOR U.S. CITIZENS TRAVELING TO ALL INTERNATIONAL
DESTINATIONS (including MEXICO, CARIBBEAN ISLANDS & CANADA)... get one soon! (Passports can be obtained through
your local gov't tax office or main