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from expedia.com
So, it’s only July, but I’m already thinking about where I’m going to go during this winter break. Not that I have anywhere near enough money to pay for an elaborate vacation. My friends that I went to Cancun with last year really want to go back because it was so much fun. And I agree, it was a good time; I loved the beach, clubs, and laid-back party atmosphere, but why not try something different?
I think a cruise would be the perfect solution. I’ve never been on one; they’re pretty inexpensive; you get to see multiple islands; and food is included. Can’t get too much better than that. Plus most cruises leave out of some place in Florida, and domestic flights are way cheaper than international ones. Even if you’re only flying to some place like Cancun or the Bahamas.
The hard part about finding a cruise, though, is that the cruise chooses your travel days for you, unlike staying in a hotel where you get to choose the days. If I had it my way, any money wasn’t a problem, I would somehow be able to squeeze in a cruise, a trip to Cancun, and time at home for Christmas during my three-week-long winter break, but I don’t think that’s possible.
Over the past couple of day’s I’ve been looking at different cruises on expedia.com, trying to find the best deal on the best travel days. The last day of finals is December 21st, so going on any trip before Christmas won’t work, and spending Christmas away from home is out of the question, so I’m left with the first week and a half of January.
I begin my search looking at the least expensive cruises, and work my way up. Of course, the cheapest cruises are 3 or 4 night Bahamas cruises (the cheapest of all being a $189 3-night Carnival cruise to the Bahamas), but if I’m going to spend the money, I might as well go all out.
I spot some 4 night Western Caribbean cruises, that stop in Key West and Cozumel for only slightly over $200, but I keep scrolling. I’ve already been to Mexico; I need something new.
These are the best ones I found were:
7 night Carnival Western Caribbean out of Miami that stops in Cozumel, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands for $379
7 night Carnival Bahamas out of Miami that stops in the Bahamas, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, and the Turks & Caicos for $539. This one might be a good compromise. Not too expensive and stops in some nice ports.
7 night Carnival Caribbean out of San Juan that goes EVERYWHERE (St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Kitts) for the small price of $579. I’ve never been to any of those islands, and they seem more exclusive than just the Bahamas or Mexico. Unfortunately a flight to Puerto Rico is probably $100 more than a flight to Florida. This cruise still would be one of my favorite options because it stops at so many islands.
7 night Noregian Eastern Caribbean out of Miami that stops in the Dominican Republic, St. Thomas, the British Virigin Islands, and the Bahamas for $629.
7 night Holland America Southern Caribbean out of Fort Lauderdale that stops in the Bahamas, Aruba, and the Netheraland Antilles for $599
7 night Holland America Eastern Caribbean out of Fourt Lauderdale that stops in the Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, and the Bahamas for $599.
Or…$750 for 7 nights in Cancun, staying at Oasis Cancun, the all-inclusive party resort I stayed in last January. Add in the flight and the price of the trip reaches about $1000, and that doesn’t even include spending money. The more expensive cruises also end up being around $1000 when a flight is added in, so either way I’m going to be spending a lot of money. The question is whether I want to spend my money going to the same beautiful, fun destination that I went to last year, or if I want to visit a bunch of new, beautiful, fun locations. I’m not sure as of right now, but I’ll probably end up going on the cruise. Hopefully I don’t get seasick.
During Spring Break this year, 8 of my friends from BU and I traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico. We found a great deal through hotels.com: under $500 per person for the flight and 5 nights in a hotel. The trip was a lot of fun; we got to relax on the beach, go snorkeling, take a tour of the rain forest, kayak in the bioluminescent bay, wander through Old San Juan, and of course go out to clubs and bars.
Overall, the trip was more of a relaxing vacation with friends that an a drink-all-day-and-party-all-night booze fest. Unlike Cancun or parts of Florida where spring breakers crowd the beaches and late night clubs, Puerto Rico is full of travelers of all age groups.
The nine of us stayed in two different rooms at the Hampton Inn and Suites in the Isla Verde section of San Juan. Since I was in the group of 5, we were in a one bedroom suite. The rooms were clean and comfortable, and we had enough room for all five of us between the living room, kitchen area, and bedroom. On the downside, the hotel guests weren’t really our age; most were older adults, flight attendants or business travelers. It could have been more fun if we stayed where ever all the college students stayed, but how much time do you really spend at the hotel when there’s so much to do.
The small pool area had a little poolside bar (and swim up bar) that served tropical drinks, burgers, sandwiches, and snacks. The sandwich I got there was pretty good, and decently priced (about $7). The only negatives about the pool were that it was surrounded and shaded by the hotel, and that planes flew loudly overhead.
The free full buffet breakfast was definitely one of my favorite parts of the hotel. I’m a big food-lover, and free-food is about as good as it gets. Every morning they had a different hot item like eggs or french toast, plus regular continental items, fruit, and yogurt. It was nice to start every day with a substantial breakfast, and it definitely saved us a lot of money.
The hotel was a short walk from the beach, which was very nice. I could have laid out all day, everyday, but I didn’t. We took two different excursions that were both a lot of fun. One day we went on a catamaran that took us snorkeling and to an uninhabited island. It was a nice trip but basically the same trip that you do on every Caribbean island. Fun, but not really worth $80 (especially since I did the same thing in Cancun two months earlier).
Another day, we went to El Yunque Rain forest and hiked to a beautiful but very cold waterfall. We all went in the freezing water and took a bunch of pictures. The hike wasn’t very difficult, probably a mile or two, and I would definitely recommend it to everyone. Our tour guide was very funny, friendly, and knowledgable. There also was this great restaurant at the base of the mountain that served delicious authentic Puerto Rican food and had great homemade hot sauce!
The rainforest tour also included a kayak tour of the biolumiescent bay. Sounds nice, slowly kayaking through glowing waters, but in reality, not so nice. The glowing water was really cool, but unfortunately, my friend and I were not the best kayakers. We ran our kayaks into the trees about a million times, could barely see, hit about 10 other kayaks because we couldn’t stop ours, and had to be pulled by one of the leaders. I probably almost cried about 100 times. Also, some of our other friends accidentally followed another group and got lost. Basically the whole bio bay tour was not run very well. Tip: Learn to kayak before you go and follow the right group.
As far as night time entertainment goes, it’s no where near as crazy as Cancun. The first night I went out, we went to Old San Juan. We got some margaritas at this nice little bar and then headed to this club, Laser, which was supposed to be good. Not at all. It was full of locals, smoke, and loud reggaeton. It was nice to see where the locals hang out, but I’m all for music I know and air conditioning.
The next night we got this great deal at a bar down the street from our hotel called Bed Lounge: $15 for open bar! It wasn’t too big, but they played good music (popular American rap and hip hop) and had a dance floor. Upstairs they had a roof deck with a bunch of comfortable chairs, couches, and of course beds, as well as another bar. The weather was perfect so we sat up there for a long time.
Our last night before we went home, we went to one of my favorite bars: Senor Frogs. I love the big plastic cups, the funny games, and the free shots they pour in your mouths. The Senor Frogs in Cancun was much bigger and better, but this one was still fun. Senor Frogs is in Old San Juan, which is definitely another interesting area to visit. The hilly streets offer countless of great places to shop and eat, and the buildings are all painted in bright, tropical colors.
As far as dining goes, we ate a bunch of great places, but sadly I can’t remember any of the names. One of the places that was very close to our hotel, overlooked the beach, and had $5 glasses of Sangria. Wonderful. I wish I could remember the name. It was inside a small motel that was next to the beach, but other than that ???
Well, this post is becoming too long very quickly, so I’ll end with these last words of advice: Puerto Rico is a great place to vacation if you’re looking to get away from the crazy spring break crowds but still want be on a warm island that has lots to do.
So, this is my first post here on Sun, Sand, and Savings. In this blog, I plan to write reviews of places I’ve been to recently and post deals that I find for my vacation wish list. The majority of the places I review will be warm weather, beach destinations because that’s where I usually travel, but my wish list deals will be from around the world. I have a feeling that no one’s going to see this blog for a while, but I’ll start posting my finds anyways.
Planning and going on vacation has been a hobby of mine since I was a young girl. I can’t remember a family vacation that I didn’t help plan. Every time my parents announced that we would be taking a trip, my sister and I would spend hours online searching for the best hotel within our budget and the cheapest flights. My parents always listened to our suggestions, except once when I was about 11 and my dad picked this horrible hotel in Lake George, NY.
I love travel, but I haven’t been far. All the other travel bloggers have been everywhere. I, on the other hand, ventured outside of this timezone for the first time in January, and the only countries I’ve been to outside of the United States are Canada, Mexico, and the Bahamas.
I would love to travel more, but unfortunately I don’t have a great deal of money right now. Neither do my parents, hence the exclusively east coast travels during the first 18 years of my life.
I spent 24 hours a week this semester at two different unpaid internships and only was able to squeeze in about 20 hours of working as a sports bar server. Like every industry, the restaurant industry has been hit hard by the recession, and I’ve seen a substantial decline in my tips since last year. Fortunately, thanks to my wonderful credit card, I was able to take two trips this winter: Cancun during winter break and Puerto Rico during spring break. Thank god it wasn’t the other way around or I could be sick with swine flu right now.
Hopefully my future will be full of sun, sand, and savings on great vacations. Who knows, maybe one day this poor college student will be paid to review hotels around the world. Wouldn’t that be nice? Watch out Samantha Brown from the Travel Channel, I might be stealing your job.
