My family and I will be in Miami from July 15-18, and I need to find a nice but not overly expensive Carribean vacation, or my husband will whine to go to Disney. Where do I start looking for the best deals?

Try Air Jamaica Vacations if you want to go to Jamaica. Try American Airlines Vacations if you want to go somewhere else. Also check CheapCaribbean.com, which has a number of islands. Expedia is also pretty good for Caribbean package deals. But you should pick an island based on your own interests, and "nice but not overly expensive" isn't terribly helpful. That applies to almost every island. The cheapest airfares will be to Puerto Rico or the Bahamas. The entire Caribbean is marked down for the summer. You might also be able to do a short cruise to the Bahamas; there are a lot of 4-night cruises, but I'm not sure your visit is going to work in terms of timing for a cruise. Plus, Key West is a great family place and much cheaper in the summer.

I would also check out American Airlines. Miami is one of their hubs and you might be able to score a great Caribbean trip along with a direct flight.

A/A has a direct flight from Miami to St Kitts.

So far the best deal I'm finding is with Travelocity to Curacao. $708 pp for 5 nights at the Marriot. Do you think I can beat that? I checked both American and cheapcarribean. Cheapcarribean was surprisingly high!

For 5 nights, that's a very good price. Make sure it includes taxes and service charges, which can add up to 20% to the cost; if not, then it's not as good. The cost of airfare is very expensive this year and isn't likely to get to the rock-bottom rates some people have come to expect during the summer season. So you need to be realistic about prices. But if you want to stay at a big brand-name resort, then that seems to be a good deal.

As a rule, I've found airfares to the Caribbean (at least on AA) are not a whole lot less from MIA than other major US cities.

Try Negril, Jamaica. you can get a 1-bedroom apartment on the beach at White Sands Hotel for $97/night or a 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom with a private pool for $300/night. It is not a top of the line resort, but a small, family owned hotel so if you're looking for more, look elsewhere, but its safe and beautiful. go to
www.whitesandsnegril.com
I have stayed there 5 times and its a lovely place and family friendly. Roundtrip is around $215/person.

A quick check on Expedia showed a variety of options on Grand Cayman from $679 per person including air from Miami for five nights... and Cayman is a lot closer to Miami than Curacao.

Just another option

We really enjoyed Curacao and the Marriott and it's an easy 2 1/2 hour flight from Miami. Be sure to rent a car to tour all the great beaches and take advantage of the wonderful restaurants in Willemstad.