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Did anyone used this website to book a travel: https://www.smartours.com/
My son is getting married in Fall, and I am looking at some interesting places for honeymoon.
Please share your experience. Was it a pleasant, well organized travel, worth the money?
If you know any other travel sites, and actually used it, please let me know.
Thank you!!
Did anyone used this website to book a travel: https://www.smartours.com/
My son is getting married in Fall, and I am looking at some interesting places for honeymoon.
Please share your experience. Was it a pleasant, well organized travel, worth the money?
If you know any other travel sites, and actually used it, please let me know.
Thank you!!
Elina, yes, many use websites and they do not charge anything. Depending on what he and his bride would like to do, there are many ways of finding fun vacations for them. I happen to use a travel agent. I let her do all the work. She does have a website and handles travel all over the world. Some people like to use a website based on what type of travel they have in mind. I would be careful about one thing: remember, unless you check for a tour type, organized travel group for people under a certain age, you are going to end up putting him with a bunch of old ladies like me. Most people who do organized tours are older. There are a couple of companies that specialize in tours for people under 35 or whatever. Again, an agent can also assist you with this.
Smart Tours is a group travel company. They MAY do individualized, personalized bookings as well, but that is NOT their area of expertise. They have a sister company called Friendly Planet, and many of the group tours combine the bookings from both sites. (The guides joke That they have "Friendly People" and "Smart People" on the bus.)
We took a tour of Thailand thru Friendly Planet (I find their Florida based customer service agents more helpful than the NY based Smart Tours.). The group was about 25 people, nearly all over 45, VERY well organized, great hotels, at a terrific price. Most meals were NOT included and that is our preference. I wouldn't hesitate to book with them again IF I WANTED A GROUP TOUR. I would be hesitant to book a cruise with them as they often use cruiselines and ships are second class and old. (I'm also quite confident my great cruise travel agent can get me a better deal.)
However, if your son and DIL to be want to travel independently, call a travel agent. If they or you are members of AAA or Costco, I'd start with them.
Hmmm... I am not completely sure how to approach this. It's not the way I travel, but this probably has to be different, I just need a little help
I thought to get them something different than the usual resort stay with leisure, pampering, full service, and just "hotel-beach-food-clubs" sorta thing. That would be easy to book, but seems boring. They do such sometimes during a year - a long weekend get-away from work and stress.
I thought about an adventure/sightseeing trip to Far East (India/China or Japan), Australia/New Zealand, African Safari (Kenia/South Africa perhaps, away from Ebola). Turkey and Russia was in my mind for a while - mostly southern part, but it's to dangerous to go there right now.
So, any of the three regions listed above really need some kind of planning and organizing. They will have 10-14 days, and to make the most of it, they would need a guide who would know where to go, what to see, where to eat, how to move from place to place in most efficient manners, but also someone with knowledge about the history and culture.
They are not interested in shopping, resort hotels with spa, first class restaurant that cook for Americans. So, I am not expecting anything Five Stars, but I don't want chaos, and them wasting time looking for transportation/guides and finding their way around.
Therefore I am looking for a deal/package tour, small group of younger, fit people would be ideal.
Travel agents might be helpful, but they got their hints from the same source - the Internet. Word of mouth is more valuable, because people can share their experiences with travel agencies/websites and tell if what they paid for/were told to expect did actually happen.
I read some ugly stories about travels that were a nightmare, with nothing like the websites/agents promised.
It supposed to be a honeymoon trip, something exciting and unforgettable - the good way!
BTW: I don't think that spending more than $7-8K for the trip should be necessary, and justified.
Jkgourmet - thank you for the tip. I noticed this website yesterday when I searches the net. I also saw budgettravel.com and gate1travel.com
Budgettravel.com is the digital version of Budget Travel Magazine. They do not organize tours - they just advertise for companies that DO tours. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/16/bu...irth.html?_r=0 (I think Fodors had something to do with the magazine?)
Gate1 will not be what you are looking for. Ask them what they want, where they want to go. They may not even want to do anything with a group, period. Heck, they might prefer getting the seven grand to put towards a house (I know I would have at that age!) They might want to go backpacking, or to Manhattan. You're spinning wheels here.
But, for what you are describing, particularly for their age group, the place I would start is GAdventures. They used to be known as GAP Adventures.
I also think I'd be looking specifically at Costa Rica. Not a long plane ride from the US, plenty of outdoor stuff to do, safe to drive on your own, not exceedingly expensive, easy to navigate on your own, beautiful beaches, rain forests, remote and busy areas, incredible diversity in animal, plant and bird life. If that is of interest to them, shoot me a DM and I'll hook you up with a Travel Agent who specializes in independent tours of the country. We used him and LOVED IT.
There are so many places to go but I prefer not to book the whole trip. The booked trip has its limitations . Book the things earlier but by yourself. The booked packages are tiresome and never flexible. Do book the flights and hotels but not the whole trip.
Maldives is a good place and off course Dubai is in its best shape during this time of the year. There are so many tourists attractions to last a single trip . I have stayed in Dubai Villas and it was a great experience for me. The night camping is Safari is superb and there are so many things to see in Dubai. I loved the fountain show and Wild Wadi water park. Hope the couple will enjoy their trip.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Just get to the main destinations / hubs and plenty of inexpensive travel available when there (have visa if necessary)
I would suggest, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Penang, Singapore, (Tours / guides not required, plenty of options to travel and stay CHEAP).
The LAST thing I would want on a honeymoon is a TOUR GROUP!
Personally... I would do a LONG relocation cruise. (Good way to relax / enjoy / pamper / step lightly into a relationship without the STRESS of connections / planning / languages / money / running here and running there (via suitcase / backpack)... just sit back and enjoy and plan your next 50 yrs together.)
Adventure travel on each subsequent anniversary (good way to grow a relationship / hectic challenges.)
Did a 30 day 6 destination Honeymoon (mtns to beach / east to west). It was great, but tiring (always on the go / changing locations). Memorable, but not the BEST choice!.. A month in a mtn cabin would have been a fine way to get acquainted. We have traveled a few months / yr for 35+ yrs. It just gets better (temporarily). Will cap extended travel with a RTW, then extended stays (3- 6 months at separate destinations.) By then we will be 40+ yrs married and traveling together and rarely a fight / hassle / argument over travel or stress caused by such. Lots of embarrassing laughs from silly / risky choices.
^^^ OK, I understand and agree. But I am concerned about mobility and communication there. It would be awful to get lost in any of those big cities, or waste time looking for transportation from point A to point B etc.
The group /guided thing is not ideal, and I have zero experience in that field. It's not my way to travel. However I am afraid that they will waste too much time finding their way around.
Not sure about the cruise, but I will look at it and see the options.
Also thank you for the link to GAdventures.
Nothing is set in stone. I am open to suggestions, and looks like you have better ideas than I...
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Reputation: 46190
Quote:
Originally Posted by elnina
^^^ OK, I understand and agree. But I am concerned about mobility and communication there. It would be awful to get lost in any of those big cities, or waste time looking for transportation from point A to point B etc. ..
Most big cities have well defined public transit with 'tourist passes / maps'. A "tour" will have you sitting in traffic all day on a bus, and the drivers dropping you by their friends 'jewelry shop', for extended time.
(minus Penang, very small town, great food, I use a scooter rental or a city bus).
The advantage of HUB cities is a central place to depart from. In USA, Europe and Asia, discount Air from hub cities is very cheap and available. If Air connections are booked from USA (SABRE), can be 10x the price, and very limited routes. (as a continuation flight). I prefer to find most useful hub city, and book RT from USA to that city, then hop around the region on discount carriers.
Philippines is another destination that is fairly ez to get transportation, and can be very inexpensive. There are 7,000 islands, and lots of nice beaches / diving / history, and culture to enjoy.
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