New Years in the Caribbean

[pjred]

Am looking for any insight/advice here...i'll take anything you got! lol
We are looking to go south right after Christmas, hoping to ring in the new year on the beach with some friends :D
I've been searching and prices don't look that great right now...Would it be safe to wait for better deals to come up? Or is that a time that books up quickly and we would be safer just booking now?
There will be 8-10 people in our group, so could we be looking at any type of group discount?
Also, I thought maybe there would be some new years specials or deals to be had, but can't seem to find any...do they not exist or are they not out yet?

Sorry, I know that's alot of questions...clearly you can see I need some one to give me some direction lol

[JiffyPB]

I've been searching and prices don't look that great right now...Would it be safe to wait for better deals to come up? Or is that a time that books up quickly and we would be safer just booking now?


This is indeed a high demand time. If prices are acceptable now, booking early is what I'd do for going at New Years. Friends that are going down this year booked about 2-3 weeks ago. I believe some websites now offer a price guarentee, that if the prices drop you get a bit back.



There will be 8-10 people in our group, so could we be looking at any type of group discount?

You might actually be able to with that large a group. This is one of the times a travel agent would come in handy. Go and visit one and ask about this possibility. Don't expect a huge discount though, but something is better than nothing! :)


Also, I thought maybe there would be some new years specials or deals to be had, but can't seem to find any...do they not exist or are they not out yet?


Being a high demand time period, the likelihood of specials is unfortunately lower, not higher. Again, this is one of the few times a travel agent might come in handy, but I think you are out of luck on getting a really good deal.

[mikeycanuk]

I booked back in may for St Lucia from dec26-jan4. Got my flights using my AP points back in Jan. For this flight there are very few seats left and only 1 seat left for the return, in J.

You might want to do some dummy bookings and see what seats are left and go from there.

No deals to be had, ever. I book early just to make sure we get what we want, where we want. I admit I got lucky in that the resort we booked had a promo where I got 25% of the room portion in "sun dollars" to be used against meals, spa, drinks etc. The room is self-catering. It's been 50% all year but I thought we weren't getting anything for "holiday time" (a direct call to the resort back in April left me with such an impression). Considering the cost of the suite X9 days it's a sizable $ amount.

However we also go away to Mexico in summer for 2 weeks and boy did we save HUGE. In fact a suite for 2 weeks with 2 adults, 1 child was less than the amount of sun dollars we're getting (it was an AI too). And I got 3 J seats using my Aeroplan points.

So I average the 2 out and it's not so bad, but NewYrs is the most expensive time and first to go. I've a jewish customer that got a last minute deal for Sandals St Lucia last year around christmas, but unless you're jewish, most want to stay home for the 25th.

[trajancavalous]

We are doing New Years in Cozumel this year. Place has everything I come to the Caribbean for. Got a very good deal at Hotel Carib Blue I think it's called. As suggested above lot of good deals in Mexico available but whatever you are gonna do you should decide soon!

[Frameboy]

My wife and I did New Years in Bahamas a while back... it was okay. Very expensive.

[mikeycanuk]

We are doing New Years in Cozumel this year. Place has everything I come to the Caribbean for. Got a very good deal at Hotel Carib Blue I think it's called. As suggested above lot of good deals in Mexico available but whatever you are gonna do you should decide soon!

We did Cozumel last new years too. Stayed at the Occidental Grand Cozumel. Nice resort, quiet even at 100% capacity but LOUSY food. Went into town for dinners a few times. Prima (the new location on top of the hotel), was amazing. One night we sat near the windows and watched the floating hotels leave port and sail out, neat. BTW get pesos in Canada. The hotel gives the worst rate and the money changers give better rates for US than CDN.