RCI honeymoon?!

I feel the same way. My mom has a timeshare and told us to use it for my HM. But we want to go to Hawaii. All the resorts on RCI looks dated. Most of the time it doesn't pay to use the timeshare because the flight/hotel packages on sites like Expedia and priceline are more cost effective. There are all inclusive resorts on RCI. It might not be worth paying the extra fee.The carribean resorts look good. But you might get things cheaper if you book on sites like skyauction and livingsocial. Good Luck.

I think the timeshare we used (my husband's Aunt's) was RCI. I think we paid her $500 for whatever had to be done for us to use it. We got

married in September and did two weeks in Maui (1 week at two different locations, literally right down the road from each other). We had a great time, I think around this time is when she booked it for us. She gave us a book of places we could stay, we gave her our top ones, but ultimately it came down to where could she get us back to back weeks. Apparently Hawaii books fast.

Good luck!

My parents have a couple RCI timeshares and often offer me and DH weeks to use for vacation each year. We have gone to Cabo (Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach) and St. Maarten (Divi Little Bay) with the timeshares before and both were really nice resorts. If by entertainment you mean night life, neither hotels had much of that, but you can easily find that outside of the hotel and there are tons of activities to do during the day. Cabo had great pools (nice beach but not swimmable) and St. Maarten had a gorgeous beach (and a decent pool). We would definitely consider going back to St Maarten in the future. We enjoyed a lot that the island had to offer in terms of activities and food.

The timeshares can work out as a really great way to lesson the expense of the trip since the accommodations are taken care of. You only need to worry about your transportation, and activities and food. We have never done an all inclusive with the timeshare.

I looked into divi and it seemed not to have a lot going on as far as activities? We want to go somewhere tropical but have limited options for september.

I guess overall going to dinner and such would be cheaper then 150 a day for all inclusive. Their is no way we would spend 300 total in food & drinks

$300 for food and drinks can go FAST on a beach vacation. On a nice resort it might be $40 for breakfast, $40 for lunch, $80 for dinner, and easily $100 or so in drinks and bottled water throughout the day. And some tropical islands are just $$ in general b/c a lot of stuff is imported. So it probably just depends on where you go, what's included, etc.

If you spending most of the day off the hotel property, you can stretch your money further unless you're in a pricey area. When we go to Playa del Carmen, we get a cheap breakfast at a local bakery, then head to the beach with a bottle of tequila and some water. For lunch we pack a picnic or hit up a taco stand. Dinner is usually a nice restaurant, then we go clubbing. Still can hit $300 easily, but the evenings are a splurge and H is a liquor snob.

I've been to Cabo and didn't love it - too many people trying to sell us something all the time. It was really beautiful! I just prefer being left alone a bit more.

So maybe all inclusive is the way we need to go..

Cant figure our the right hotel!

IDK.......maybe we're just lushes.

We like the flexibility of going wherever we want for drinks and meals so we've never done a full AI. I was just saying for budget purposes, $300 might not be crazy for food/bev on a day that you have nice meals and go out in the evening. Every day might be different - I know on our HM, we had splurge-y days and lazy street-food days.

Do you have half-board options at any of those hotels? That might be nice, if it covers breakfast and maybe an allotment for poolside drinks, but then lunch/dinner/evening you're on your own? I guess it depends on how you guys want to spend the day.

So what are your options? Literally anywhere in the Caribbean??? That would be so overwhelming! Fun though.

My parents generously gave us a week of their timeshare to use for our honeymoon. we're most likely going to rome, but its not 100% decided yet. they have interval international/marriott.

i think with most timeshare companies, some of the properties are newer and fab and some are older and drab. best to call them up and find out what properties would be available to you during your honeymoon week, then research each one. avoid the caribbean since september is hurricane season.

once you have a list of possibilities, i think it will feel less overwhelming and you can go through the pros and cons of each one. i wouldn't discount this option because you'll save money on a hotel and can use the savings in another part of your trip.

we vacation in timeshares often and find in general it saves money. most of them have kitchens so we hit up the local supermarket and liquor store and avoid having to buy every meal and drink. this way we can splurge on nice restaurants and attractions.

So is aruba out? ive herd its safe in sep?

You know, the Tripadvisor forums are really awesome. That was a HUGE help to me when we were planning our HM to Spain.

I wonder if there's a general "Caribbean" forum that is then split into subsections for different islands/etc?

A lot of the people who write on those forums are ex-pats who live in those areas or just spend a lot of time vacationing there and they know all the ins and outs, down to names of restaurants and room numbers that are better than others at certain hotels.

I'm no expert on the Caribbean at all - I think there are a few islands and places that are a bit more sheltered from hurricane season, and then there are some you should really just avoid completely. I would check out TripAdvisor to do some research on different areas, maybe.

I know there are a couple of TAs on this forum too, maybe you could try getting their attn?

Aruba is IN. its in the westernmost carribean and much less affected by hurricane season. we've been there a few times and its always fantastic.

We are going to Vegas using our grandparents RCI Timeshare. It was their wedding gift to us. We also have one with Wyndham but can travel with RCI. From my understanding you pay a price like $199 for a weeks vacation anywhere available. But be careful at the all inclusive resorts with RCI. The $199 doesnt include the all inclusive part. At Most resorts the all inclusive fees are mandatory and range anywhere from 100-200 per person per DAY! which is crazy!!!!...

@ash just check the location of the RCI timeshare. Is it on the strip? Or like a mile away? Unless you don't mind being off the strip.

@Janelle its away from the main part of the strip but they have a shuttle that goes to the main part of the strip all day everyday...We are staying at The Grandview

@Ash... I know where it is... Yeah it's off the strip... Just be careful when planning your day on the strip...

We've used RCI for lots of trips and are using it for our honeymoon in Cabo. First you should find out what the value of her weeks are. Online you can search by value and that will narrow down what's in your "budget"