Where in the World in Carmen Sandiego?, Pt II

(drum roll please)

AND THE WINNER IS...

Coconut Bay Beach

Resort and Spa

on the island of St. Lucia

(Source)

You might ask why this one? And the answer is simple, it best fit our criteria without breaking the bank. Sure we could have afforded to stay at one of the more luxurious hotels but we would have had very little spending to do all the rest of things we interested in doing (ie. excursions). Another big factor in our decision was flights. Like I mentioned before we have a very limited time for this vacation and Coconut Bay is located 5-10min from the airport. The flight into St. Lucia arrived a 2pm meaning we weren't losing a whole day for travel like some of the other islands. But enough with the talk lets get to the good stuff.... the pictures!

I should first mention that this hotel is divided into two "mini resorts". Splash is for families and is located right next to water park (yep, there is a water park on our resort... more to come on that). Harmony is for adults, mainly couples, and is located on the spa side of the resort. We will be staying on the Harmony side of the hotel and because we saved so much money on the rest of the trip we were able to upgrade to a Premium Ocean Front Room.

And since our room is located so close to the spa we will definitely be indulging in a few treatments. Not to mention the prices are FANTASTIC!

I'm sure we will eventually make it to the beach for some lounging. I read some pretty negative reviews about the beach mostly centering on the lack of white sand and abundance of algae (because the resort is on the Atlantic Side of the island). I know these could be HUGE negatives if you weren't aware but we are and are both used to swimming in the Atlantic so we don't think it will be a big deal.

And if the beach doesn't work out we always have the swim-up bar (#1 criteria on the Mr.'s wish list), adults only pool, or ENTIRE water park to enjoy (I'm talking multiple slides, lazy river, splash zones, etc). Plus we have read awesome reviews about the bartenders and can't wait to meet them.

If all that is not enough there are a plethora of excursion available ranging from historic sugar mill tours, zip lining in the jungle, wind-surfing, volcano tours, scuba diving, kayaking, snorkeling, general island tours, and the list goes on and on.
After all of that I'm sure we (and by we I mean me) will be starving. There are three different restaurants to get our eat on: the standard resort buffet(Coconut Walk), an Italian a la carte restaurant (Bellagio), and an Asian style a la carte restaurant (Silk).



At this point we are over the wedding and just want to go on our honeymoon! Is that terrible to say? Are you more excited for your wedding, honeymoon, mini-moon, or even your stay-cation?


*All photos are courtesy of the Coconut Bay Resort and Spa website unless otherwise noted.

Where in the World in Carmen Sandiego?

Anyone else remember this kick-ass game show? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

(Source)

Well like the gumshoes searching for the one of Carmen Sandiego's crooks Mr. Riley and I spent months searching for the "best" honeymoon spot. I wanted to go to Africa, Mr. Riley did not... scratch. Mr. Riley wanted to go to Europe, I did not.... scratch. We both wanted to go to Australia, the budget did not... scratch. Finally we came up with this set of criteria:

1. A Tropical Local. After living in Kansas for a while we are both ready to soak up some sun rays and vitamin D.

2. All-inclusive. We didn't want to have to worry about carrying lots of money, possibly having to change currency, or keeping track of what we were spending and on what. We did have to make sure that there were plenty of restaurants (and bars) for variety.

3. Excursions. This was mainly for me. I have never been outside of the Continental United States and wanted to really "SEE" wherever we visited. Mr. Riley would be content just setting on the beach the whole time but is indulging my need to explore.

4. Adult-only. Although we LOVE kids, being that it was our honeymoon we were really looking forward to some exclusively adult time.

After hours and hours (and hours and hours) of researching , reading reviews on TripAdvisor, and weighing all the pros and cons we narrowed it down the islands of: Antigua, The British Virgin Islands (BVI), The Grand Cayman, St. Lucia, Turks and Caicos, and Aruba. Because of Mr. Riley's schedule with the Army we could only take about 7 days (inclusive of travel) for our honeymoon so flight schedules narrowed our search down even more. We were now looking at The Grand Cayman, St. Lucia, and Aruba.

Check out the amazing resorts we found*:

The Grand Cayman

(Source)

The Reef Resort

Pros:

-Room with kitchenette and whirlpool tub

-Two swimming pools

-Live entertainment

-Moderately priced

Cons:

-One restaurant

-One bar

-Accepts children

-Excursions not as interesting

-45 minutes from the airport

(Source)

Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort

Pros:

-Two restaurants

-Two lounges

-Swimming pool and whirlpool

-White Beaches

-Close to other attractions

Cons:

-Higher end of our budget

-Accepts children

-Excursions not as interesting

St. Lucia

(Source)

Rendezvous

Pros:

-Adults only

-Two restaurants

-Three Bars

-Multiple swimming pools

-Scuba courses included

-Great excursions

Cons:

-Very top of our budget

(Source)

Coconut Bay Beach Resort and Spa

Pros:

-Three restaurants

-Four bars

-Three swimming pools (including adult only)

-Resort divided into Family and Adult only

-Entertainment

-At lower end of budget

-Great excursions

Cons:

-Children accepted

Aruba

(Source)

Occidental Grand Aruba

Pros:

-Six restaurants

-Swim up bar

-Casino

-Moderately priced

Cons:

-Aruba doesn't have a great reputation right now

-Excursions water centric

(Source)

RIU Palace Aruba

Pros:

-Five restaurants

-Five bars

-24 hour room service

-Casino

-Wireless in lobby

Cons:

-High end of budget

-Excursions water centricba

Where are you planning to go on your honeymoon? Where do you think we ended booking?

*Please note all opinions expressed within are based upon our personal criteria, budget, an desires for a honeymoon and not reflections of the actual services or quality of services provided by the resorts.