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| Couples Sans-Souci Resort |
When Arthur and I were researching honeymoon ideas last year I came across a new (to me) type of vacation – the babymoon or pre-baby vacation. I knew right away that when the time came this was definitely something we would want to do. Traveling and exploring are probably our absolute favorite activities, and to be completely honest it was the one potentially barrier for us to having babies right away. But then again, I don’t think there ever is a “perfect” time to have children, so we promised ourselves that once baby was old enough we would continue to travel as a couple. I do believe it is good for both child and parents to spend a bit of time apart, not that it won’t be a little hard. I miss Mercedes’s cute face and wagging tail after just a weekend away (something Arthur likes to make fun of me for, although I think he secretly misses her too).
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| Couples Tower Island Resort |
So when we got our positive back in December we started to think about our babymoon. Everyone says the best time to travel is the 2nd trimester, so springtime! Being a tax accountant means post 4/15, so we started looking at the end of April, beginning of May. Originally we had tentatively planned our spring vacation to be another roadtrip – this time through the deep south (blast down to West Virginia, then explore Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana (ultimate destination New Orleans). We had an awesome time on our West Coast roadtrip, and my Mini Cooper lease is up in July and I’m about 12K miles short of my 30K limit. Roadtrips are awesome, but I’m not sure how awesome a pregnant roadtrip would be. I currently pee every 45-75 minutes. And the Mini Cooper is a great city car, but honestly, not the most comfortable cruising car. It boasts a “go-cart” driving experience, and it certainly delivers. So roadtrip out.
My ideal babymoon would probably Greek Island hopping. Exotic, warm, & water centered. But let’s be realistic, we are having a baby & babies are expensive! So Europe out. Also any place with good wine (mostly France & Napa). That would just be cruel. A cruise popped up on our radar – they are easy, economical, and provide lots of options for a husband who can’t sit still and a wife who will probably be happy reading by the pool. We found one we liked – Southern Caribbean, only 1 day at sea, stopped in Bonaire – a place we both really want to go for diving (so fun for Arthur). Then we sort of stopped looking. A few weeks ago we though – hmm if we are going to do this we better book it. So researching started again. Flights weren’t looking so hot. There was only 1 week we could actually go, as it seemed all the cruises leave the Caribbean after April, and April 15 falls in the middle of the week, so we could only go the last week of April. Then I read cruise ships allow pregnant passengers, but not a minute over 24 weeks. I get the calendar out, and ugh, I’ll hit 24 weeks right in the middle of our cruise. So cruise out. I started to get frustrated – maybe it just wasn’t meant to be and we should save our money. Arthur didn’t agree, and we continued to look. Austin, TX? Palm Springs? No, Arthur really wanted water. Hawaii? Mexico? Anywhere in the Caribbean? So many options!
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| Couples Negril Resort |
Finally I browsed through Caribbean Travel Magazine and found an article on the best all-inclusive resorts, which is something neither of us has tried. They had 4 categories: luxury, family, value, & romantic. I researched each of the four romantic resorts they recommended and finally settled on “Couples” resorts in Jamaica (also an island we haven’t been to). They have four resorts in Jamaica, all of which are couples only, and all super inclusive (airport pick up, top shelf liquor, all activities including sailing, scuba diving, etc). Also one of the top rated spas in the Caribbean. It was hard to pick a resort, so we opted for a special they were running for the more “adventurous” couple. For a pretty significant discount, we pick the days, they pick the resort and will tell us a week in advance. All four resorts were in the top 13 out of 130 of trip advisers “romantic hotels in Jamaica” so we figured it was pretty safe. We settled on 5 nights on the resort, and 2 nights in Montego Bay. Can’t wait!
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| Couples Swept Away Resort |
