Elena & Michael

Marriage is all about compromise, right? I guess you could say we began our marriage on the right foot then as our honeymoon was a wonderful mix of something for both of us. Choosing the destination and planning our honeymoon was one of the biggest and yet, most fun portions of the wedding planning process for us.

We both love to travel and generally take at least one vacation a year, but we both have very different ideas of what we like in a vacation. I, Elena, want to do it all and see it all. I want to see the sites, take in the culture, adventure out on excursions, and then maybe hop in the pool to relax. I have a seemingly never-ending list of places I “need” to see at some point in my life. Mike, however, has a slightly different view of vacation. He wants to put on a pair of shorts, probably a bandana and sunglasses, stake out a spot on the beach, and kick back with a Corona in his hand, sans the lime. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll join in a game of pool volleyball or take a swim in the ocean… and naps, well, let’s just say naps are a must in his book! While we’re typically able to switch off on which kind of vacation we take, whether it’s an exploring or relaxing vacation, for our honeymoon we wanted to make sure that we both had exactly what we wanted. Despite our differences, there is one thing we can always agree on – the beach. Our wedding was planned for July and we intended to leave right after our wedding, so no matter where we went, it was going to be beach weather.

When we began to research our honeymoon, we toyed with so many different ideas and different places: Hawaii, the Mediterranean, whether to do a cruise or a resort, but nothing seemed to give us exactly what we were looking for in a honeymoon. Contradictory to our vacation “styles”, Mike really wanted to do a cruise as he had never been on one before (I consider cruises typically more active) and I was leaning toward an all-inclusive on an island somewhere (much more relaxing). Eventually, we came to a decision. We would take a cruise out of Puerto Rico on the Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas to the Southern Caribbean: Curacao, Dominica, Aruba, and St. Thomas. Following the cruise, we would fly over to St. Lucia for another five days of bliss at the Sandals Grande. Perfect compromise in our eyes – do both! Plus, I was thrilled to be able to add not one, but six places onto our list of places we’ve been. Surprisingly, neither of us had been to any of the destinations on our honeymoon prior to our trip together.

Now it was time to really plan. The cruise satisfied Mike’s desire to try a vacation on the seas, but offered the most opportunity for the exploring and adventure that I craved. Together, we chose to make the cruise the fun, exciting portion of the honeymoon. Sandals, on the other hand, was the all-inclusive luxury resort that I wanted, but provided all the relaxation we could ever want after the long months of wedding planning and the week of excitement on the cruise. After booking, we immediately started looking into all the special things we could do on our vacation – excursions, special dinners, and any must-see sites. This is where Traveler’s Joy came into play. Using the registry was wonderful for the planning process as it forced us to start researching all the things we wanted to do. I thought the registry would work best if I was specific, detailed, and realistic about the things we would be doing. Plus, I liked the idea of having our anticipated “honeymoon story” available for those guests who we didn’t get to see very often. Maybe it’s just me, but I like hearing about what a couple plans to do and see on their vacation. It makes you feel more connected.

The idea of a honeymoon registry was not new to me. We had used one to purchase a gift when friends of ours were married a couple of years ago. Although I know everyone loves to receive monetary gifts, I’ve always been one for giving someone a “thoughtful” gift. When I came across their honeymoon registry, I thought it was perfect! I knew technically I was still just giving them money, but to me, it was much more exciting to give them the gift of swimming with the dolphins rather than just a check. I guess that goes along with my mentality that experiences and memories are worth so much more than the money itself. I knew at that point that when I got married, I would use a honeymoon registry too.

Since Mike and I lived together for nearly four years and had already purchased a house two years prior to the wedding, we really didn’t need much in terms of typical registry items. I made sure to register for a few things to satisfy the older, more traditional crowd, but really my focus was on the honeymoon registry. I had a feeling that my family and friends would enjoy giving me some of those memories, especially since they know how much we love to travel, and through the registry they would feel much more a part of the whole experience. I chose to set up the registry only for the “extras” of our honeymoon. Thinking back to what I wanted to give the couple when I used the registry, I wanted to buy them something fun and something that fit my personality. I tried to keep this in mind when creating ours. I knew that our friends (the ones we often go out with) would want to buy us drinks, the romantics in the bunch would love to give us the gift of an intimate candlelight dinner, those who loved cruising would want to give us a specialty dinner on the cruise, and fun-loving friends and family would want to be responsible for helping us to go on adventurous excursions. I loved that Traveler’s Joy gave me complete freedom in creating the items I was registering for. It was great that there were so many pictures to choose from in order to better illustrate our gift ideas. Searching through the pictures even gave me more ideas for extra things to do on our trip.

Traveler’s Joy was an absolute hit. Long before the actual wedding, all of our “gifts” were purchased. People raved not only to us, but also to my parents about the registry and the items they had been able to give to us. No one mentioned any problems or difficulties in using the site. My only regret – not registering for more when the registry was completed in April and the wedding wasn’t until July. Many guests later told me they had visited the site, but everything was already purchased. Some of those people then chose to contribute a basic monetary gift toward the honeymoon, which I thought was a great feature on the website. That way, even though those people weren’t able to give us a specific item on our honeymoon, they were still able to feel very much a part of the experience.

Thanks to Traveler’s Joy and our guests, we had what we considered an amazing honeymoon. For the first time on vacation, price wasn’t an issue. We were able to be carefree and enjoy our time together, not worrying about how much that dinner was going to cost or if we could afford that particular excursion. That was such a wonderful feeling.

When the wake-up call came, 45 minutes after falling asleep (we had an evening wedding, followed by an after-party at the hotel and a 6:30 AM flight), we both jumped out of bed, scrambled to get our things together and ran down to the car that was bringing us to the airport. It wasn’t my ideal start to our honeymoon, but being that the cruise was the first portion of our honeymoon, we had to get down to Puerto Rico in time to board the ship. I didn’t want to risk a delay, causing us to miss boarding time, so we chose to arrive early and explore if we had extra time. We knew we’d be exhausted, but figured we could sleep on the plane if needed. The flight was four hours, but neither of us got any rest. I think we were both way too excited to sleep! We were still on such a high from our wedding – the most amazing day of our lives – and it was only going to get better with two weeks in the Caribbean.

Upon arrival in Puerto Rico, we quickly found our way to the Royal Caribbean port. They were actually very organized there and had taxis available everywhere. We were early enough that we were one of the first groups of people to board the ship, without having to wait in line for very long. After boarding, finding our room and settling in for a little bit, we decided to take a quick trip out to the city before departure time. When researching San Juan, I learned that two of our favorite places could be found not far from the ports: Senor Frogs and the Hard Rock Café. We had been to Señor Frogs on a previous trip to Cancun and had a blast and we have a habit of making stops at Hard Rock everywhere we go as we collect glasses from there. At this point, we chose to have a nice, little lunch at Señor Frogs and kick off our honeymoon with a yummy tropical afternoon cocktail. After lunch, we went directly back to the ship and relaxed the rest of the night – I think our 45 minutes of sleep had finally caught up with us.

The cruise itself was awesome. As usual when on a vacation, a cruise in particular, we ate way too much. For breakfast, we liked the option of the casual buffet rather than a sit-down meal. Mike quickly became obsessed with the omelet station and I’m pretty sure he ate one every single day (in addition to other things, of course). His eyes light up with the thought of the omelets… with jalapeños and cheese… lots of cheese (I can see him drifting into a state of bliss as we speak). To this day, he still hasn’t gotten over the jalapeño obsession that began on our honeymoon.

We did get to do a couple specialty dinners, thanks to our registry. The cruise had a steakhouse, called Chops, that was well worth the extra $50 and provided a nice, romantic atmosphere. We were two of only four people in there that particular evening, candles provided the light in the room, and our table was situated next to a window so when we looked out, all we could see were miles and miles of blue, glimmering with specks of light from the stars. We also did a murder mystery dinner which was so much fun (a registry gift from friends of ours). I don’t know if they did it on purpose or not, but we were seated at a table with about four other couples who were all honeymooners. We all quickly bonded and it was fun to see them again throughout the cruise and while on excursions. The “mystery” itself was a little cheesy, but extraordinarily funny. On the night before the last, I won a raffle which provided us with a gift certificate to dinner at the other specialty restaurant on the cruise – Portofinos. Although we also enjoyed the regular dining room, we couldn’t resist the opportunity for another romantic, special dinner. My favorite nights on the cruise were the formal nights. It was nice to see everyone on the ship (well, most people) dressed to impress. For me, it was just another excuse to wear a pretty dress… as if the wedding dress wasn’t enough!

Besides food, the cruise ship had so much else to offer. Before or after our excursions, we tried to make it to the fitness center, although that didn’t happen as often as we would have liked. During the evenings, after dinner, we would relax in one of the hot tubs, taking in the fresh air, looking at the stars, and listening to the music which was often still going. One evening, we played a round of miniature golf together. It was a little windy on the top deck of the ship, but it made for an interesting game. We even made a point of going to a couple of the shows that the ship put on: the Newlywed Game (No, we didn’t volunteer for that one … those poor people were mortified for the rest of the trip after having their intimate secrets revealed, but it made for good entertainment for the rest of us!) and the Crew Talent Show. Who knew there were so many talented people on staff? Our favorite was the bartender who made a bunch of drinks in various cups, stacked them in a huge pile, and then using two hands, he held the pile on an arc to perfectly pour a row of shots all at once. Very impressive! We also spent a little time, not too much, at the casino and one afternoon I actually convinced Mike to play a game of BINGO. It took some convincing as he insisted it was a game for older people, which isn’t true, but once we got there he was the one on the edge of his seat, impatiently awaiting the next number called. We didn’t hit it big or anything, but definitely got a laugh out of it.

While there is plenty to do on the ship itself, we were still excited to see what the islands had in store for us. On our first stop in Willemstad, Curacao, we chose to explore on our own. We didn’t see much of the island and as we look back on it, we wish we had chosen to do a tour or excursion here, but it was also nice to keep it a relaxing day. As we walked around, we stumbled upon some local men gathered around a table playing dominoes together (which we thought was very cool), the floating bridge, which actually floats away to allow ships to come through, and of course, grabbed ourselves a Curacao shot glass. It’s our tradition to collect a shot glass from every place we visit (one of our registry items).

Roseau, Dominica was next on our voyage and we were really looking forward to this island. Here, we had signed up to go zip-lining (a gift from my cousin). That morning, I stepped out on the balcony and was a bit disappointed to see dark clouds looming over the mountain-tops. It was drizzling and a bit chilly, but everything still looked to be on schedule. We quickly got dressed, had some breakfast and went to meet our tour guides. We hopped onto a bus with several others and even that was fun. The driver had some funky music playing and all of us took the time to get to know each other a bit. The roads were narrow and winding, but brought us up to a zip-line park. Just after we finished putting on our gear and being briefed on safety measures, it began to seriously pour. Fortunately, it was only a quick shower and we were on our way within no time. It actually ended up being rather warm and trust me, a little rain felt good after the work-out we got going through the ropes course (I thought we were just going zip-lining, but it ended up being several hours of a ropes course with zip-lining mixed in. It was an awesome experience and very much worth it). I can’t say enough about the staff members there. First of all, they were incredible athletes, swinging from the trees like it was nothing, but they were also very helpful and friendly. They joked with us, made us feel at ease, and helped those who were really nervous about some of the obstacles. By the end, we were pros, latching our safety clips on our own, climbing ropes, crossing over swinging logs one foot at a time, shimmying across wires, and best of all zip-lining over the tree-tops and river.

Oranjestad, Aruba was our next stop, and after having been disappointed by not doing an excursion in Curacao, we decided to book a last-minute Jeep tour (thanks again to the extra money we had). It was a great decision and an interesting way to see more of the island than we would by walking around. A Jeep owner himself, Mike felt right at home in the driver’s seat of the Wrangler. We were to follow our tour guide in a caravan of Jeeps over boulders, through ditches and across open terrain. As the guide instructed, where he drove, we drove… if he avoided a puddle, we avoided it, and if he went right through, we better follow. Our first landmark was the Ayo Rock Formation, a collection of granite boulders developed by nature. We took some time to get out of the Jeep and climb to the top for some great picture ops. Not exactly the easiest feat in my cute little sandals and skirt (Obviously, I wasn’t prepared for climbing as I thought I’d be riding shotgun in the Jeep all day!), but I managed. I wasn’t going to let any wardrobe malfunctions stop me from experiencing Aruba’s best sites. We then piled back in the Jeep and headed to the Natural Bridge. Unfortunately, we learned it had recently collapsed but at least we can say we saw where it was! The last few stops consisted of an abandoned fort, Aruba’s first chapel, and lastly, the famous California Lighthouse. Along the way, we saw several cultural phenomena such as rock piles, believed to be good luck in fertility. We didn’t stop to make any piles of our own at this point, but maybe someday. On the way back, we parked the Jeeps for a dip in the ocean on a beautiful white sand beach. Before heading back to the port and leaving Aruba, we had one last mission – find the Hard Rock Café and get ourselves another souvenir glass. Luckily, we found a helpful taxi driver who navigated the way for us and got us back to the ship in time. We also got a view of the Occidental Hotel, which we will definitely look into when we return to Aruba in the future – and we will return someday! It was a beautiful island.

We thought about doing another tour in Charlotte Amalia, St. Thomas (our last stop on the cruise), but couldn’t resist taking a trip to the raved about Magen’s Bay. Instead, we purchased tickets for the sky ride, which was walking distance from the port. We climbed into one of those steel balls you see floating above you at amusement parks and began our ascent up 700 feet to Paradise Point. From the top, the view was literally breathtaking. You could see the harbor with all the cruise ships and various sister islands nearby. It was quiet and peaceful up at Paradise Point and for a while, I think we were the only two people there. There were trails for nature walks, which we took part-way, until they got too steep (ugh, those silly cute flip flops again – I never learn!) and we decided to turn back. After returning to the main streets, we found a taxi and headed for the much-raved-about Magen’s Bay. It was completely worth it to spend our afternoon there. The beach was, surprisingly, not crowded at all. Most of the beaches I’ve ever been to in my life are rather loud, with people talking, listening to music, kids playing, etc. But for some reason, this beach was simply perfect. The sand was soft, but hot – and we found an ideal spot not too far from the water. It had to be nearly 100 degrees, so the occasional swim in the ocean was a necessity. In Connecticut, where we’re from, I’m always worried about stepping into the ocean. You never know what you’re going to find at the bottom or accidentally step on – but that just doesn’t happen in the Caribbean. Dipping my toes in, I could see clearly right to the bottom thanks to the sparkling turquoise waters. Wading further in, schools of pearly white fish dashed this way and that, not at all afraid of the fleshy foreign object in their path. We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon swimming and sunbathing at one of the world’s most beautiful beaches.

Before we knew it, the first half of our honeymoon was over. We were sad to leave the ship behind but were also very much excited to reach the second portion of our vacation at Sandals, St. Lucia. However, after disembarking from the Serenade of the Seas, we had the entire day to spend back in Puerto Rico since our flight didn’t leave until that evening. We had one must-do item on our list of things to accomplish – go to the Hard Rock and for the rest of the day we just went with the flow. The cruise had advised us of places to store our luggage in Puerto Rico and that was convenient and easy. Once we had done that, we just started walking around San Juan. We stumbled upon a horse-drawn carriage giving tours. It wasn’t something we had planned on doing, but we thought it was a great way to get to see parts of the city that we wouldn’t see by simply exploring on foot. We were glad to have taken the tour as the city was actually much more beautiful than we had realized by only being in the area by the cruise ship ports. Although we enjoyed the tour, it didn’t take nearly as much time as we had thought it would and we were still left with several hours to kill before heading to the airport. On the carriage, after seeing a sign for Bacardi Rum, we were reminded that the Bacardi factory was in San Juan – perfect! The factory was on the other side of the island, but we were right near a ferry that would take us there for only 50 cents each, each way. From there, it was only a short cab ride away and a very well worth it adventure. The Bacardi factory was fabulous. First of all, it was free! Yes, free… there isn’t much that is free these days so that was a huge surprise. Not only was it free, but they also gave us two drink tickets each for a Bacardi concoction of our choice in their outdoor lounge. Two Mojitos please!

The tour itself was actually very interesting. We were given the history of the family, saw old letters from the family members, and went through a replica of the distilleries, learning some, but not all of their secrets. They had barrels that you could smell to experience the difference between different proofs of rum. Wow, some of them were so strong… Strong enough to make your eyes water a bit! Finally, the tour ended with a bartender demonstrating the correct way to make several classic Bacardi concoctions. All in all, it was a fascinating way to spend an afternoon. By this point, though, we were starting to get a little tired and it was extremely hot. We took the ferry back to our starting point and made our way over to the Hard Rock Café for some dinner (registry item) and of course, to grab more of our souvenirs.

It was late at night when we finally arrived at the St. Lucia airport. It was quite possibly the smallest airport we’ve ever been to, which made it extremely easy to navigate. Within minutes of arrival, we had our luggage, and were seated comfortably in the private car sent by Sandals to escort us to the resort. I fell in love with the Sandals Grande from the minute I stepped foot outside the car. We were instantly welcomed by at least three people, one of whom took our luggage and another who helped us to find our way to the concierge. I could tell we were going to love it there. Everywhere I looked there were flower arrangements containing the two flowers I had used for my wedding – lilies and anthuriums – the waxy-looking, leaf-like flower that, in my mind, is the essence of tropical.

All throughout the lobby, there were games set up and couples everywhere. Apparently, it was casino night! People were playing poker, roulette, and craps while laughing and chatting. We wanted to jump right in and enjoy it, but our long day had caught up with us and we were anxious to relax in our room. We thought maybe we’d come back down later if we were feeling motivated. We were taken to the concierge who helped us to confirm the activities we had chosen and find our way to our room. The room was probably one of my absolute favorite parts of Sandals. Flowers and rose petals were drizzled all over the room; in front of the TV, in the bathroom, on the tables. Balloons were hung above our bed and there were two glasses along with a bottle of champagne and a Happy Honeymoon card waiting for us. It was all so very beautiful and we immediately felt like we were going to be living in luxury for the next five days. The most amazing thing, however, was our balcony. We had chosen a swim-up room (we did not opt for the rooms with private pools, but this was a close second for us) which literally had the pool at our feet as we walked off of our balcony. We could sit outside our door with our toes dipped in the warm water. It wasn’t completely private, but our side of the pool was shared with only three other rooms and the pool then twisted and winded around corners to another small cove with a similar set up. We were provided with floats that we used daily to take a dip in the pool. I loved this mostly because after dinner, late in the evening, we could go for romantic dips in the pool. It was quiet, peaceful, and beautifully lit with colored lights that left an iridescent glow atop the water.

Although we had decided that this portion of our honeymoon was to be the relaxing portion of the honeymoon, we did have one activity planned for our time in St. Lucia. Our first morning, we were scheduled to go horseback riding on the beach (another registry item). This was my special request for the honeymoon and I was really looking forward to it. We were met by a shuttle that took us only a short distance away to a local farm where we were to start the tour. There, they provided us with helmets and a quick lesson on how to handle the horse – the reigns, mounting, dismounting, and the basics. I had grown up around horses and used to ride when I was younger so I was familiar with all of this, but it was great for those who were a bit nervous. There were about 16-20 of us on the tour together and several instructors around just in case. We lined up… not necessarily by choice. Some of the horses definitely had more dominant personalities than others, while a few of us had the more relaxed ones who liked to stop and munch on the greens every once in a while. The tour itself took us on an open trail on our way to a small beach. Roughly 15 minutes into our ride, it began to drizzle a little… followed by a complete and total downpour! It didn’t ruin our spirits and we all laughed it off, claiming it cooled us down, but we were utterly drenched. The up side – we were already wearing our bathing suits since we had anticipated going for a swim in the ocean, so the water was not that big of a deal.

We arrived at the beach and let the horses rest for a bit and we all grabbed some water. There, they had some jewelry we could buy and a man slicing a coconut with a gigantic blade – something I have seen a lot while in the Caribbean, but yet, never can quite get used to watching without flinching a bit as he swings the machete. It had stopped raining by this point and we took turns pulling off our socks and shoes and ringing them out. It was time to go for a swim! Only about six horses at a time were going in the ocean, so we went in groups to experience the waves. As I’ve said, I’ve been on horses before and although it’s been a long time, I have never quite experienced the feeling that I got riding bareback in the ocean. The horses started off slow, seemingly watching their steps much like we do as they navigated the sand on the bottom of the water. But, once we hit the waves, they started running or maybe swimming, I’m not even quite sure! It felt so free. Even the horses seemed to be having a great time and it was tough to pull them back in to the beach. I highly recommend this to everyone. Even Mike really enjoyed himself.

The rest of our days at Sandals were spent, well…relaxing! We spent some days by the pool, in the hot tub, grabbing a few drinks at the swim-up bar and checking out the multiple areas to dine including the Barefoot Café – a cute little lunch spot that had picnic tables in the sand. Some evenings we participated in the theme nights that Sandals offered and some we did not. We went to the barbecue one night and met a few other couples that we chatted with for the rest of the evening. Later, we played some pool with them and grabbed some more drinks and appetizers at one of the several bars. One night we went to their street party where they had some dancing, shows, and again, things to buy. We stopped to pose for pictures with a fire-eater and a man holding a snake. He made sure I wasn’t terrified before placing the snake around my shoulders for me to hold. Just before the camera went off, he looked at me and said “You better put this up on your Facebook page!” This made me laugh… how typical, I thought, but it was amusing at the very least. At least everyone had a sense of humor. The only thing we were disappointed in was the “club” that Sandals had. We had heard that it was supposed to be dancing, but it was practically dead… and if anything, they were playing movies in there. Not quite as lively as we had hoped, but that was okay and we were content having a more quiet night.

As far as romance, they certainly had that – from the tables for two to the private cabanas on the beach. We particularly loved the randomly placed hammocks all over the resort. After dinner, we sometimes would just find one and relax there, talking, or staring at the stars, and wishing we could just stay there forever. We also took advantage of our “honeymoon breakfast in bed” which they offered and on our very last night there ordered three yummy desserts to be delivered to our room, which we ate while toasting with the champagne they had left us. One day we even decided to splurge on a couple’s massage, which was very relaxing. But, the most romantic thing we did, by far, was our candlelight dinner on the beach (a gift from my aunt off of our registry). Let me set the scene for you…

A small table for two, covered in white linens. There are bamboo sticks with flowers wrapped around them and candles glowing brightly in the dark night sky surrounding our table. Drawn in the sand around the table is a heart. Pure romance, I think. We were greeted by a white-gloved waiter who was determined to get us to finish not only the bottle of champagne on the table but also a bottle of wine. My favorite part was the personalized menu, which I took home with me to put in my scrapbook. The top of the menu greeted us as Mr. and Mrs. and it had each of our choices for the four course meal we were about to have. The food was delicious and the service was phenomenal. I know it’s cheesy, but I even loved that they wrote cute messages in chocolate and raspberry sauce on our dessert plates, like “Love” and “Happiness Always.” What made it even better was that there was music coming from the pier which serenaded us as we enjoyed our meal and each other’s company. At one point, Mike looked at me and said, “You know, I’m not the most romantic kind of person, but even I have to admit this is amazing.”

On our last full day in St. Lucia, we made sure to take advantage of a photo shoot. A note of advice to anyone going to Sandals, they do these photo sessions for free. If you go to the photography shop, you can sign up for a time to meet up with a photographer and have your own private session. You do, of course, have to pay for any photos you buy, and if you’re suckers like us and you want to document your honeymoon, you will buy something (lucky me, this was on my registry)! We met up with our photographer, who was funny and friendly and made a game of guessing our occupations. We strolled around a few different areas of the resort taking pictures everywhere – in a garden, a gazebo, on a hammock and a boat, and we ended on the beach – literally, lying in the ocean, which made for very cute pictures. It was a fun way to end our honeymoon.

When all was said and done, our honeymoon probably cost us roughly $8,000-9,000 (the cruise being about $3,000 of that including drinks and extras and Sandals taking the larger $6,000 portion). It was a 12-day honeymoon from July 25 to August 6. It was all booked through a travel agent, which was very new to me so I’m not sure how much the actual airfare ended up being in all of that. It was included in our package with both Royal Caribbean and Sandals.

Traveler’s Joy helped us off-set that cost with about $1,000, though I probably could have added more to my registry. It was more than we would typically spend on a vacation, but it was our honeymoon and it was well worth it. After all, a honeymoon is really a once-in- a-lifetime experience. We will have those experiences and those memories forever. We have done some great trips before we were married, but there is just something about our honeymoon that makes it extra special. Whenever I look back at the pictures, I smile. Would I recommend the trip to others? Of course I would. We had nothing but positive experiences with both Royal Caribbean and Sandals, but I also did my research on the internet – on travel websites and review sites as well as reading about what other brides thought of their honeymoons. This all helped me to make our decision on where to go. When I speak (or write) about our trip, I get really passionate and excited. I hope that everyone has as memorable a trip as we did. That being said, your honeymoon is exactly that – your honeymoon. Make it something you both will enjoy. I’m glad Mike talked me into relaxing for some of ours and I’m positive he had a great time on the excursions I talked him into doing with me. No matter what, you have each other, and at the end of the day, that’s really what matters.