Get me outta here!
 

Looking for a quick (3-4 night) vacation in December or January, not too complicated to get to from NYC area, not over 1K pp. Of course, it has to have an excellent beach, food and service. Preferably no kiddies, but I'm flexible considering I'm starting to sound unrealistic. Oh yea, I don't want to fly on AA. <BR><BR>Anyone? :)

The most band for your buck and guaranteed warm weather will be Mexico. The closest part would be Cozumel, Cancun, Playa del Carmen area.

Any really nice places there? I've been to Cancun and wasn't impressed with the whole scene. Got sick too. But - I don't know much about Cozumel or Playa del Carmen. What are they like and where is an upscale place to stay?

Stay outside Cancun. Yes, the beaches are marvelous in Cancun and Playa is supposed to be very nice. Warm water, white sugar soft sand and hot weather. Start surfing the web and you will find something plenty under $1000 per person.

meant to say beaches are fab in Cozumel. Waters a little rough in Cancun but it is a great party town!

At 1k per person from NYC, your choices are very limited I'm afraid. Maybe somewhere in Florida or the Bahamas. Places such as anguilla, St John or Barbados which have excellent beaches, food and services are foing to run you much more than your budget will allow, especially at that time of the year - Jan/Feb is most expensive for travel to the Caribbean.

Paradise Islands - Comfort Suites. Check out its website. great place!

Outta here said quick and cheap. What is travel time to Cancun versus the Dominican R flying from NYC??<BR><BR>NYC to the Dominican you are on the beach by 1PM at the latest.

But she also said she does not wish to fly AA which is possibly the only airline that would get her from NYC to DR direct and to be on a beach by 1pm. Based on what she has said she is looking for and how much she has to spend, it sounds like a low budget trip to the Bahamas to me.

ok - then what's a nice place in the bahamas. not atlantis, please! not looking for the crowds . . . . and what airline will get me there pretty painlessly?

Outta here is looking only for 3 or 4 days. That should be very feasible on 1k pp. I would pick the closest place cutting down flying time. DR, Bahamas, or maybe even Bermuda. Could probably do the DR and stretch it to 5 days. <BR>

Just caught the tail end of an advertisement on the radio. 4 days to the Mexican Riviera for $899.00 pp. (excluding taxes etc.) Apple vacations deal. Must book by 16 Nov. This is all I heard. Not sure of travel date restrictions.

Try St. Martin. Continental flies from Newark. You can often get cheap fares if you don't try to fly around Christmas and New Years. If you shop around, you can find reasonble hotels and rental cars. You can probably do the whole thing for less than $1k.

The Lucayan at Freeport, Grand Bahamas, is great..staying there in January. Stayed before at the Port Lucaya marina across the street, rooms for around $100 a night, lovely, with views of million dollar yachts thirty feet away from you. Walk across the street, through the Lucayan, to an incredible beach, 14 restaurants and lounges, beautiful pools, the Port Lucayan marketplace....great place! Check out their website at www.ourlucaya.com.

Why don't you want to fly AA?<BR><BR>Maybe take Jet Blue to San Juan or Ft Lauderdale?

Get,<BR>you might want to check where US Airways flies to out of Philadelphia. They service parts of the Caribbean directly from Philly. Although Jan/Feb is the most expensive time of year, last year I noticed a lot of great deals if you're willing to travel the first week in January. That's a good bargain week.

My vote if you want to avoid AA is some other airline nonstop to Puerto Rico; someone else mentioned Jet Blue. For a 3-4 day trip you don't want to change planes. Some nice resorts on the east coast of PR and that's where PR's good beaches are too.

We stayed at Riu hotel in Playa for a week from Minnesota all inclusive for $800 per person. That included air fare. It was fantastic and I highly recommend it. Took the ferry and ate at a great place in Cozumel, but were anxious to get back to the hotel. The grounds were immaculate, the people friendly and the pool area was gignatic. The beach was also great. There were kids there but the resort area was so huge that you wouldn't have to be bothered. Its a fun lively spot that I would not hesitate to send my best friend. Which by the way she is leaving the first of December!

Wendy, You mention you were anxious to get back to the Hotel after Cozumel? Why? Cause the Hotel was so great, or Cozumel was so bad? Inquiring minds want to know. Thanks.

After snorkling at the park in Cozumel and walking around we ran out of things to do. We also were carrying our snorking equipment which got pretty heavy after awhile. We just looked forward to going back and just relaxing watching the evening entertainment.