| Five
Affordable, Glamorous, Honeymoons
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If money isn't a consideration, then
planning a honeymoon becomes a cinch. You simply select the top,
deluxe resorts of the world, and make a reservation. You go to the
Hotel du Cap on the French Riviera (world's costliest hotel) or to La
Samanna in St. Maarten (a possible runner-up). And there you enjoy a
fantasy life for one or two weeks: priceless oils on the bedroom wall,
orchids on your breakfast tray, a verandah leading to your own private
beach, a tip-toeing waiter to bring the drinks.
But money has got to be
considered. Even if a well-meaning relative is ready to bankroll that
ultimate fantasy, it's simply wrong to spend excessively,
heedlessly, when so many other matters need funding, like the
furnishing of your new home or apartment.
Mind you, I'm not suggesting
you be a miser on your honeymoon vacation, or forego glamour and
comfort. Some of the most attractive resorts--first class hotels, even
deluxe properties--charge reasonable rates for their "honeymoon
packages." And other travel interests have created glamour vacations
for honeymooners on the most limited of budgets. It's all a question
of choosing wisely.
I've chosen five honeymoon
trips that give real value, even when they use top hotels or
locations:
(1) Club Valtur, Agadir,
Morocco: Glamorous, exotic, comfortable, warm--and yet only
$949 or $1,099 per person for the week, including round-trip
air fare from New York, all three meals daily, unlimited wine, all
sports facilities: We start with a stunning bargain, but at a
sophisticated and rather elegant, Italian-managed resort on the west
coast of Morocco, a part of the growing, Italian challenge to the
French Club Meds. "Valtur" hotels are operated like Club Meds in that
they are totally all-inclusive: you receive everything (room, meals,
activities) for one set price. But the staff here is Italian, the
cuisine Italian (one resort lists 30 varieties of pasta on its menu),
the service Italian and superb, and there's none of the emphasis on an
unmarried, single clientele that's found at some Club Meds. This
winter, until the end of April, a long-established, American tour
operator called Central Holidays (1-800/935-5000) will be sending
Americans to spend a week at Club Valtur in Morocco for $899 per
person some of the time, $999 at other times, and for slightly more
than $999 in later months (summer and fall). Attended by a warm,
sentimental and caring Italian staff, anxious to establish their
resort in the American market, you'll enjoy a honeymoon of swimming,
sailing, and remarkable sightseeing of Morocco, in as luxurious a
setting as you'd wish, but at an unprecedented bargain price. Write
for the brochure.
(2) Moorea, in the Tahitian
Islands: The same $899 buys you a week's stay throughout the year, at
the Moorea Village Resort (and other properties) on the enchanting
island of Moorea, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles to
the other-worldly Tahitian Islands of the South Pacific, but this time
with meals and activities charged in addition to the basic $949 price.
(About $300 more will upgrade you to one of Tahiti's very best resort
hotels). Tour operators are two of America's most eminent, Islands in
the Sun, of El Segundo, California (phone 1-800/642-1881) and Tahitian
Legends (phone 1-800/200-1213). You will be staying on the dreamy
island of Moorea, with the mountaintop that James Michener called
"Bali Hai" in his novel, Tales of the South Pacific. From my own
personal visit to Moorea, I can assure you it is a place lifted from
your dreams, surrounded by sugary white-sand beaches and turquoise
waters, the classic honeymoon location. It's a matter for rejoicing
that America's tour operators have now enabled this experience to be
enjoyed by modestly-incomed visitors.
(3) Jamaica's "All-Inclusives":
The setting is the north shore of the classic Caribbean island of
Jamaica, all lush with flowers and foliage, near seaside villages
whose very names bring goose bumps to your arms: Ocho Rios, Montego
Bay, Negril. The resorts to which I refer are operated by two separate
chains--"Sandals" (1-800/SANDALS) and "SuperClubs"
(1-800/GO-SUPER)--with such success that they now number a dozen
individual properties, and each one charges one set price for the
stay, including all meals, all drinks and beverages, all tips, all
sports activities, all evening entertainment--they are "all inclusive"
hotels. And each one, with the possible exception of the modest
Sandals Inn in Montego Bay, is a comfortable, high-quality and
attractive beachside resort, perfect for a honeymoon at moderate cost.
The Sandals hotels tend to charge $1200 per person for an
all-inclusive, seven-night week (room, meals, drinks, everything),
while those belonging to SuperClubs do the same, except for two
upgraded properties--The Grand Lido Negril, and the Grand Lido Sans
Souci --priced throughout much of the year at around $1900 a week per
person. I've stayed at the Grand Lido Sans Souci, and visited The
Grand Lido Negril, and both are unusually comfortable, attractive
hotel resorts, massively popular among honeymooners, and endowed with
every form of sea sports and entertainment. If there were any negative
at all about either chain, it would relate to the somewhat brash and
innocent young newlyweds that sometimes patronize Sandals, but who
become a bit more subdued and sophisticated when seen at SuperClubs.
(4) Classic Hawaii, Wisely
Planned: Seven nights in paradise, on the island of Maui, in
one of Hawaii's single finest hotels. Yet the price for the two of you
comes to only $2,000 for that entire week, and champagne on arrival,
with chocolate-dipped strawberries alongside. How is that price
brought about? By choosing the seven-night "Mauka Bliss" honeymoon
package at the resplendent Westin Maui, which places you not into a
room facing the sea, but one overlooking the manicured golf course
(sea views cost a total of $375 more). For that reasonable cost, you
stay in one of Hawaii's three or four "wow" hotels--so-called because
the usual reaction is to say "wow" when you first glimpse this
other-worldly, opulent palace, lined with marble throughout, filled
with masterwork sculptures and wall hangings, dotted with fountains,
lagoons, and Asian-style gardens, supplied with multiple restaurants,
lounges, swimming pools, water slides, and swim-up Jacuzzis--and, of
course, directly on an ethereal beach. You'll want to phone
immediately for a brochure (800/228-3000 or directly to the hotel at
808/526-4111) so that you can fully grasp the almost unique quality of
this 700-room hotel. By booking the "package" and staying in a
"golf-view" room, you experience the heights of luxury--at an
affordable price.
(5) Sailing on the QE2:
Few travel experiences are quite as memorable--especially for a
honeymoon--as a six-day transatlantic crossing on that "city at sea,"
the QE2, followed by a three-day stay at London's Ritz Hotel, before
flying home (phone the ship's owner, 1-800/5-CUNARD, or any travel
agent, to make the arrangements). While a minimum rate cabin costing
$3,000 per person may be too small and cramped for this special
occasion, a payment of about $3,500 gets you more-than-adequate
quarters--and the price includes a return trip by British Airways jet
to your home city (any of 82 North American locations), at no extra
charge. Your only extra payment is for that stay at the Ritz, which
comes at a special price, but still hefty, to QE2 passengers: $975 for
two nights, including sightseeing tours, theater tickets and
breakfast. And you've had hardly any extra costs at all on that
all-inclusive ship.
The QE2 departs New York
at roughly-two-week intervals from early April to early December. If
the actual dates don't coincide with your wedding, you can always
reverse the itinerary by first flying to London, enjoying the Ritz,
and then making the crossing by sea to the U.S. On board your ship
will be a highly vital sort of fellow guest, well-read and
well-educated, and the activities schedule of the liner (which
includes numerous lectures and discussion groups) is well suited to
that special clientele. You will recall this once-in-a-lifetime cruise
for the rest of your lif
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