Romantic (and Reasonably Priced) Getaways 2.4.11

Feeling like a little escape might be a good thing right about now? Get some one-on-one time with the love of your life and also rack up some bonus points by giving a surprising and amazing gift for Valentine’s Day. I’ll let you in on a little secret: You don’t have to plan your getaway for the weekend or the week of the 14th! You don’t! Plan it for March or May or even September. The point is that you think of it and do all the legwork for it now. Take your better half out to a romantic dinner at one of their favorite spots and give them a cute little card with a note proclaiming your love and impending vacation plans. They will LOVE it (and you) and also have something awesome to look forward to. If they ask why you aren’t leaving right away, tell them you wanted to prolong V-Day and also make sure you could get off work. It’s probably true.

Now, on to my list of vacation spots for young (and old) lovers that will make you the hero this year, while you rejoice in keeping some cash in your pocket, because, after all, you don’t need to spend every penny you have to give a great gift. All the smart people know this, like the ones who hand make gifts for those that appreciate such things. You can be frugal and still make a big impact.

Take to the seas! Caribbean cruises are all on sale right now and there’s nothing more romantic than all-you-can-eat buffets, a floating casino, limbo contests and $42 mojitos. Seriously though, cruises can be a great way to reconnect, pamper yourself and just relax. While the booze cruisers are drinking away their college tuitions, you can enjoy late-night adult entertainment (dancing, comedy, Broadway-style shows), stroll the streets of a new city each day and then hole up in your cabin for hours on end, if you so desire.

Dress up and splurge a bit by taking your date to one of the fancy restaurants that are not included in your cruise rate, or request a nice table for two in the main dining room. And take all those free photo ops! While most will be awful, in the most hilarious way, there’s bound to be one or two that you’ll actually want to take home and show people you know. Right now, CruiseExperts has some dandy deals on 3-14 night cruises in the Caribbean, Bahamas, Mexico, Hawaii, Europe and the Panama Canal. They start from just $219pp, so if you can cruise close to home, you can save even more.

All-inclusive resorts are all-inclusive. I mean, that’s like 95% true. Spa treatments, some motorized activities and anything you buy at the gift shop are not included. I also hear that many resorts make you pay for WiFi, but if you’re there on a couple’s getaway, checking your email probably isn’t on the top of your list anyway. All-inclusive resorts can be found throughout Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, the Bahamas and also the Gulf Coast. So, if you either don’t own a passport or are looking to make your trip a little cheaper, look at great destinations like Destin and Panama City Beach in Florida. The same white sandy beaches and fantastic service, but a shorter plane ride and a smaller bill. The two best places for finding lower rates? CheapCaribbean and BookIt. Both are amazing for finding package deals that include airfare, but you can also book without airfare, so it’s convenient for any travel you want to book. CheapTickets even has this lovely list of deals where you can save up to 55%.

Did you see my post on New Orleans? It’s not just for Mardi Gras anymore! Take a free ferry ride, eat oodles of yummy Cajun food, tour the historic homes and learn about the ghosts that haunt The Big Easy. How are you not planning your trip RIGHT NOW?

If you and your honey are adventurous types that aren’t really into the whole squealing in delight over jewelry and PDA that everyone averts their eyes from while muttering “get a room!” at, and instead you like to try weird foods, climb things and explore ancient ruins (and historic buildings), then South America may be exactly the kind of trip you have been looking for. Peru, Ecuador, Brazil. There are plenty of things to see and do that are also crazy cheap. In fact, South America is my top pick whenever you’re looking for a budget destination. You can make it outdoorsy and cheap or luxurious and pampering for (a little less) cheap. Sleep in a rainforest or the Radisson. Honestly, if your partner is into traveling to cool new places, then you need to go. It fits any budget. Aside from airfare, you can expect to spend 33-50% of what you spend on your normal vacations.

Live large for a few days in Sin City and do a bunch of free things and a few expensive things and still go home with some money in your bank account. Las Vegas has a lot to offer those that aren’t eloping or trying to “win it all back”. Here’s a short list of freebies followed by a way to get crazy cheap show tickets:

·         Sirens of TI show – What used to be called Treasure Island, now is hip and “with it” and has scantily clad lady pirates traipsing around a ship, sword fighting and walking the plank.

·         Fall of Atlantis – Behind Caesars Palace in the forum shops you can eat at the Cheesecake Factory and then watch this animatronic show that happens every hour that shows the struggles between the Gods and how Atlantis ended up on the ocean floor. At least, I think that’s what it was about.

·         Lions at MGM – My favorite activity is totally free and amuses all day. Smack dab in the middle of the MGM is a plexiglass home of the MGM lions, where they lounge about and sometimes yawn or play with trainers. Watch from outside or inside the tunnel and then peruse the gift shop.

·         The fountains of Bellagio – Every night you can be entranced by the dancing water that is put to lights and music. This can be romantic.

·         The conservatory and botanical gardens of Bellagio – If you’re biding your time until nightfall to see those amazing fountains, take a trip into the botanical gardens to check out some awesome plant life. Hold hands and marvel at flowers. Chicks dig flowers.

·         Hawaiian Marketplace – Modeled after the marketplace in Honolulu, you can browse vendor booths with cool products you’ve never seen or just saw two kiosks away and then enjoy a bird show and also Hawaiian dancing.

·         Fremont Street Experience – If you like shiny things, or travel with someone who does, then make a point to visit Fremont Street. The entire canopy lights up and makes you dizzy after staring upwards for so long. This may also be the best time to spend some money and go for a zipline under the canopy of lights. Fun!

·         Stroll through the “streets” of Paris or New York.

·         Ready to show your Valentine a bit less of a frugal time? Take a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower, eat at a celebrity chef’s restaurant, sit at a sidewalk café and then take in a show or two. Use Broadway Box to find discount codes on many of the popular shows in Vegas. Sometimes up to 50% off and sometimes inclusive of dinner.

·         Need to find a deal on getting to and staying in Vegas? Again, this is the time to check out BookIt.

Want more ideas on spoiling your Valentine on a budget? Sign up for Groupon Las Vegas and get 50-90% off dining, entertainment, activities and more. Or follow me on Facebook or Twitter to see the deals rolling out each day.

Do you have more ideas to add to this list? I want to hear your romantic getaway destinations!

The Ultimate in Valentine's Day Getaways 2.1.12

It's that time again: Valentine's Day is coming! I’m sure some of you are racking your brains still for things to buy your Sweetheart. If you had a plan and are totally prepared, why not start thinking about a romantic getaway later in the year or even as an anniversary, birthday or next Valentine’s Day “Wow” vacation? I’m talking, of course, about the most romantic city in the world: Paris. While others may disagree with this title, I think more people than not still want to travel to France to see what they’ve been missing all this time. From the sidewalk cafes to Notre Dame, Paris is really a magical city. There’s so much to see and do that even if you don’t find it extremely romantic, you will find it extremely tourist friendly, with something to see or do around every corner.

The only drawback to this great city? Price. Paris can be very spendy if you don’t plan out your trip ahead of time. And don’t let the fact that Euros sound cheaper than British Pounds fool you. Currently, the dollars to Euros exchange rate is 1.36 : 1, meaning 1 Euro = $1.36. Make sure you do the math when trying to figure out your budget. It doesn’t seem like much, but if you forget to add almost 40% to all of your purchases, that is huge!

Spring, Fall and Winter are good times to travel to France. Anything, but Summer, really. Fall and Winter are going to be the least expensive times and also the least crowded. While shops and museums may be open shorter hours, you will be able to do more than you would in Summer, since tourists are sparse. Another upside: The air will have a chill, meaning you and your sweetie will spend a considerable amount of time snuggled together for warmth.

If you plan to do any real sightseeing in Paris, you should get yourself a Paris Pass. For one reasonable price, you can then skip the lines at many attractions, such as the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre, and go right in. In fact, over 60 attractions are included with your Paris Pass, making it the most valuable thing you can take with you, besides your passport and loved one. Gain entrance to 55 museums and monuments (unfortunately, the Eiffel Tower is not included), amazing attractions, like the Seine River Cruise, unlimited travel on the metro, buses and RER within Central Paris, an awesome guidebook and coupons for dining and shopping.

Just looking to take a few relaxing days out wandering the streets? Well, that’s a great way to save money, especially since there are so many things to walk around and see without having to pay entrance fees. Stroll the Champs de Elysee, take pictures of the Arc and the outside of Notre Dame, cross the bridges over the Seine, buy a baguette or crepe from a street vendor, enjoy the sculptures outside of the Louvre and on and on. 

One of my favorite memories, which may seem odd, was our trip to Pere Lachaise Cemetery. Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust and other notable historical figures have been buried here. It’s free to enter and they’ll even give you a map to guide you around. There is a donation box, and I suggest tossing in a couple of Euros, just for being able to walk among the mausoleums, tombstones and memorials. It’s simply amazing, the money and craftsmanship that went into the houses of the dead. We spent around three hours walking up and down the pathways and taking pictures of the magnificent structures and reading about those who were buried there and didn’t even see half of the grounds. It’s definitely a cheap day, but also very interesting. I plan to make another trip when I return. (Kudos to my husband for planning that day and including the cemetery, otherwise I would never have seen it.)

It’s pretty easy to get around town on public transportation. While it’s not as easy as it is in London and other big cities, mostly just because there aren’t as many stops, it’s still a great way to get from one place to another and also get your walking and exercise in once you arrive at your destination. Paris is a wonderful walking city. With everything to see, you won’t even realize how many miles you’ve put on your walking shoes…until you finally decide to sit down and get lunch somewhere. If you don’t invest in a Paris Pass, get yourself a daily or weekly Metro pass. It will save you money from buying each pass individually and make it much easier to keep track of.



Find delicious places to eat on a budget! This one is so easy, I wish I had the options last time I was there. Food can really add up, especially if, like me, you didn’t do your homework and assumed there would be amazing food everywhere you turned. Unfortunately, it wasn’t so. Check out these options for finding and booking meals in Paris and saving money while doing it!

• TopTable.com: Not only can you make reservations online with TopTable, but you can see diner reviews, menus, get big discounts and accrue points for each reservation you complete to earn your way to a free dining certificate. Even if you’re already in the city and want to have lunch in an hour, make your reservation just to get the points credited to your account when you check in.
• Groupon: Sign up for this deal-a-day site and get emails each day with the new deal. It can be entertainment, dining, personal services, shopping or more. The point is, there is plenty that Groupon has to offer that might be relevant and useful to your trip. Many of the selections are 50% off, so already that’s a significant saving on one aspect of your travel day.

• KGB Deals: Another great deal-a-day site like Groupon. I've seen many great deals for dining in Paris. 

So, you didn’t already plan a getaway or buy a gift and you can’t put together a trip to Paris in two weeks? What’s that? You’re not made of money? Don’t worry. Most of us aren’t, which is why this blog exists. So, for those of you that need a little help to stretch your dollars further, I'll be posting deals on Facebook and Twitter in the coming weeks and on Saturday, I'll have a great blog post on last-minute getaways that are both affordable and romantic. You can even bring your kids...if you have to.

In the meantime, check out the 10 best budget boutique hotels in Paris from MrandMrsSmith and GlobalGrasshopper's list of 10 best budget hotels in Paris. I totally want to stay in all of these and the rates are super reasonable. I'll definitely be looking into which one works best for us when we get down to seriously planning our trip for fall.

Live and Learn: Cruising 1.28.12

Cruising always seems like something of a luxury vacation…or one that is frequently taken by seniors and college kids. When I went on my first cruise ( I do expect to go on others at some point in the future), I didn’t really know what to expect. Cruising sounded boring to me, because we like to get up and go each day of our vacation. We were actually given the opportunity for a great deal, so we picked the most interesting sounded itinerary that would sail out of a convenient (read: affordable) port. The winner was Western Caribbean that stopped in Belize, Honduras, Cozumel and Grand Cayman. Now, I can’t really give you specifics on all cruises, as we only sailed on Carnival, but I suspect that (other) cruising doesn’t always go as planned, or even turns out to be what you anticipated at all.

While you could go in blind and see what happens, this Live and Learn might be especially helpful for those of you who have never cruised or have and feel like you are the only one who had things go wonky. We combined our cruise vacation with a short trip to Orlando, in order to visit Universal Studios’ Harry Potter World, but that’s a whole other post of mishaps. Hopefully, you can take something away from the following.

There is never enough time on a cruise ship. Cruises are like Vegas…Time slips away and before you know it, it’s midnight. How did that happen? You can clearly see daylight (or lack of it) while on the ship, but somehow you’ve had breakfast, lunch and dinner and it’s already time to go to bed to start over again the next day. With so many activities available, you want to get to as many as possible, so you plan your day accordingly and then realize your day is over all too soon. Was that just me? I mean, how can one be expected to get to 2 trivia sessions, a tutorial on doing the Thriller dance, watching a magician, playing adult dodgeball and laugh at two comedians all in one day? You're not, but different people have different tastes, which is why there are so many things going on at any given time...and they also happen multiple times during your cruise.

You can’t do everything. But you want to, right? Okay, maybe YOU don’t, but I tried to do as much as humanly possible. With cruise itinerary in hand, we would go from bingo game to art auction to welcome party to trivia time. Every day I planned to use the gym the next day and then, before I knew it, the day would be over. What the? Don’t plan to do everything. Just do what sounds fun – which should NOT be an art auction – and try not to overdo it.

The weather doesn’t always cooperate. Don’t have your heart dead-set on doing something at your ports of call, because you may not even get there. Just know it’s a possibility. We were all excited to get off at Grand Cayman to swim/wade with the stingrays. Unfortunately, when we got up, there was an announcement saying that the swells were too big and the weather was really bad, so we couldn’t pull into port and had to skip this destination. Sad news, but we had another “fun day at sea” and had to get past it. Also, because we booked with a reputable company that worked almost exclusively with cruisers, we were not charged and our deposit was refunded to us, as the weather and cancellation was not our fault.

Make time to actually use the gym. I really wish I had used any of the equipment or taken any of the free classes offered onboard. Even walking as much as possible and using the stairs a billion times a day, I still gained weight from having access to so much food. This is not what you want to happen on your vacation. Skip the morning or late night activity you were planning on “because you can” and go to bed a bit earlier and get up to use the gym while other people are stuffing their faces at the breakfast buffet.

Don’t drink on the ship. Are you cursing at your computer screen? I’m sure you are. I know lots of people look forward to a week of laying by the pool with a cocktail and then laying on the beach with a cocktail at their ports of call. Let me let you in on a (not so little) secret: alcoholic beverages are marked up 300% on cruises. I’m not making that up. You know how you go to a bar and gripe at a drink costing $6-8, when you could buy a bottle and have a dozen or more drinks for the price of two? Well, the cruiselines are worse, because they let you use your key card for everything and don’t really put prices on menus. THEN they add that little line for a tip, when you’ve already been charged 18% on top of the outrageous drink prices.

My husband insisted I get at least one drink on board, so I ordered a piña colada at one of the parties and when I was given my receipt to sign, it was almost $18! On top of that, it didn’t even get me buzzed. Imagine your final total – that they will be charging to whatever credit card you put on file – for an entire week of boozing it up. If you even went slow and ordered three drinks per day for seven days, that’s almost $400. FOR ONE PERSON. Perhaps you thought ahead and put $1,000 in your booze cruise fund, but more likely you don’t even have that kind of money to waste. Here’s a better idea of how to cut your drinking total:

·         Get free drinks at the captain’s reception. Everyone’s invited, you just have to put on some clothes and look presentable.

·         Get free drinks at the “goodbye, your cruise is ending” party. Hopefully, they will be better than the ones we had, that pretty much all tasted like window cleaner to me. Lime colada? Guck!

·         Sign up for an alcohol tasting. While you still have to pay for it, it will be considerably cheaper than any of the other drinks on board. I saw a tequila tasting for $24, where you got to sample EIGHT different kinds of tequila. $3 per drink is better than $18, in my opinion. If you know any sort of math, you know I’m right. You just saved $120 right there.

·         Wait until you get off at your port to let loose. The drinks will be considerably cheaper, possibly better, you’ll get to sample some of the local cocktails and you’ll be pumping money into a foreign economy. Try not to go wild and get blindingly, fall down drunk though, because you’re still representing your country (and who wants to be known as the idiot cruiser who made all your people look like jerks?) and you should be able to find your way back to the boat, as I suggest going a bit outside of the “recommended” port merchants. A bar in port is always going to take advantage of your eagerness to start drinking with higher prices than one that may be a couple blocks away.

·         Purchase cheap or unique alcohol in ports of call. While they will take them away to store in a locker until your cruise is over, you can enjoy it at home or on the rest of your vacation, if you’re extending it after your cruise. You can also just enjoy it in that port and save even more money. Make sure to pick up some sandwiches or other food before you start in on that bottle, though.

·         If you're a non-drinker, this is easy to ignore, but if you're a  recovering alcoholic/user, you will be happy to know that you can attend AA and NA meetings on the ship. I found that to be convenient and awesome for those that needed to get away from the many drunkards onboard and get back on track, because there is SO MUCH temptation to be found on a cruise ship.

Art auctions are not what they’re cracked up to be. I’m no sort of art connoisseur, but I have never heard of any of the artists these people were talking about being big deals in the art world, nor did I think any of it was worth paying hundreds or thousands of dollars for. I got sucked into the “win free prizes” element, which is all a big scam, if you ask me. I did win something…a plastic liter bottle that I could use to get a free drink at one of the ports of calls. I gave it away to another young couple who were looking to have a good time off the boat. I had better plans for my time. Also, that auction last, like, NINE HOURS! Okay, I think it was more like four, but surely my time would have been spent more wisely doing something else. Maybe actually using the gym.

Shopping seminars are a waste of time. Free is not always good. If you want free stuff, then go get it, but if you have done any research at all on your ship’s destinations, you don’t need maps and coupons to places in port that you won’t be shopping anyway. Sure, they will lure you in with “prizes!” (see post above) and “freebies!”, but keep in mind that the freebies are largely brochures and the coupons I just mentioned and then they will also try to give you free jewelry, or a voucher for free jewelry that you can redeem at merchants they want you to shop at. I found they weren’t very high quality, but if that’s not going to stop you from going “but it’s FREE!” then go get them and don’t get sucked into browsing the store and buying something else you don’t really want or can afford. I now have 10 charms for a charm bracelet I refused to buy, as well as several pairs of tanzanite studs that are almost visible.

Don’t get caught up in the gift shop crazy sales. I can’t even stress this enough. Near the end of your cruise the shops are going to have clearance sales and some will only last a few hours. If you didn’t like it enough at full price when you were there on Tuesday and Thursday, you aren’t going to like it at 75% off on Friday. Also, be aware of how much packing space you actually have. Eric got all excited about sale stuff that he bought bags and bags full of it, for Christmas gifts, mind you. Fantastic. Everyone is taken care of…and now we have bags that weigh 400 lbs. Actually, he was lucky I brought my newly purchased Travelon Pack-Flat Back Up Bag. It was its first test of strength and, luckily, it didn’t fail. In fact, I was surprised that the strap didn’t just disintegrate over the sheer heft of all our purchases. Once we got to Orlando, we ended up packing the majority of it and some of our other items we didn’t need with us into a box and shipped it home. Another unnecessary expense that couldn’t really be avoided at that point.

It’s okay to act like an idiot. I have a hard time with this usually, but this time I figured I was never going to see these people again, so why not have fun and look stupid. I mean, everyone else is doing it – which is not peer pressure, but joining in a non-dangerous activity with a bunch of strangers to make it more enjoyable for yourself. Sure, you could sit on the sidelines with your arms folded and a frown on your face because you hate the electric slide, but why ruin it for yourself and others. Go make a fool of yourself for once, even if you hate line-dancing or are totally bad at it (raises hand). Take pictures and point out how you did something totally out of your element, like played closed-eyes trivia and shook your hips like Elvis for your answer. Yeah, I did it, and it was fun.

Don’t book excursions on the boat or on the cruise line website. Either people are made of money or they have no idea they can even book their excursions on their own, but I found the rates for things through the cruiseline to be super high. Why would I pay $120 to swim with stingrays when I can get the same exact activity through a similar company for $40-50 per person? That is not a joke. I routinely found my own tours for 50-75% less through online companies. We saved a ton! You just need to make sure the company is reputable and has good feedback from travelers. Why are they so much less? The bottom line is that they get all the money. They don’t have to split it with the cruiseline, so you save huge.

Don’t tip. I am not one of those people. I’m not! If you read the fine print, you’ll see that everything that is a service to you on your cruise has added gratuity. You pay a set amount per day for your room steward and your waiters and everything else. You are charged 18% gratuity on anything that isn’t included in your package, like drinks, room service and even food in the fancy restaurants. If you add tips, you are making your expenses more for no reason. They count on you not knowing this, so you spend more.

A cruise is always going to cost more than the posted price. Sometimes double what you see. It’s true. A cruise with a going rate of $549, may end up costing you almost $1,100. It may not, but make sure you find out what port taxes and fees are before you get all excited to book and then find out the cold hard truth by the end screen just as you are about to hand over your credit card info. Our last cruise was “free” that we received through a timeshare presentation; however, we still had to pay taxes, and it still cost roughly $1,200 (and then whatever we paid for on the boat the wasn’t included, like the soda card – which saved us a ton – and onboard purchases…and our excursions). So, while the posted price may seem like a fantabulous deal, if you go into it knowing that isn’t the final price by any means, you will be less likely to be disappointed when you see the final total for just the cruise.

Have you been on a “budget” cruise? What are some of your tips that you can share from your experiences?