How Much Are Your Guests Paying?

[tygrrlily]

Ours came out to about $1680 from Toronto for 1 week at Beach Palace in Cancun, airport transfers and direct flight with Air Canada.  Our week is right before Christmas so rates weren't crazy high season prices yet, but they weren't low either.  Unfortunately I couldn't really be flexible about the dates because I'm in school again this year and I had to arrange it for a week I have off, or wait until I'm done in May (which I wasn't willing to wait for before haha.  Now I'm like oh shoot, it all came so fast ahhh!)

 

We also had some complaints about it being so close to Christmas and some people complained about the price, but as all of the ladies said above, the people that are going to come regardless will come through for you! We may have had a few more people had we waited until May or if we had chosen a cheaper resort, but ultimately we had to put our desires first because it is our wedding!

 

I'm not too familiar with Cuba but I think it'd be a bit cheaper than Mexico.  Good luck w/ your planning! Definitely find a good TA

[calgarybride2015]

Ours came out to about $1680 from Toronto for 1 week at Beach Palace in Cancun, airport transfers and direct flight with Air Canada.  Our week is right before Christmas so rates weren't crazy high season prices yet, but they weren't low either.  Unfortunately I couldn't really be flexible about the dates because I'm in school again this year and I had to arrange it for a week I have off, or wait until I'm done in May (which I wasn't willing to wait for before haha.  Now I'm like oh shoot, it all came so fast ahhh!)

 

We also had some complaints about it being so close to Christmas and some people complained about the price, but as all of the ladies said above, the people that are going to come regardless will come through for you! We may have had a few more people had we waited until May or if we had chosen a cheaper resort, but ultimately we had to put our desires first because it is our wedding!

 

I'm not too familiar with Cuba but I think it'd be a bit cheaper than Mexico.  Good luck w/ your planning! Definitely find a good TA

 

I don't think you can win no matter what you do -- it's too close to Christmas, it's too soon after Christmas, it's too close to Easter, it's too close to my great grandma's sister's brother's cousin's communion hahahah!!    You can only do the best you can do!

[jlc3]

We searched for a good few months and I drove myself crazy trying to figure out pricing and best resorts. I spoke to a couple TA's before finding a good one that my fiance and I vibed well with.

 

Our main priorities were budget friendly, decent/or free basic wedding packages, and a place where we could get legally married without doing blood tests or anything too nuts. 

 

We started looking early and were SUPER flexible with months/dates. We were originally thinking Nov 2014 but we creeped closer to that date and found that prices in Jan/Feb and May were comparable for the resorts we looked at. 

 

Our TA let us know that Mexico and Cuba are the most cost effective generally from Toronto. There's always exceptions to this rule of course. We ended up with a 4.5* in Cuba for $973 double and $1133 single taxes in. 

[calgarybride2015]

We searched for a good few months and I drove myself crazy trying to figure out pricing and best resorts. I spoke to a couple TA's before finding a good one that my fiance and I vibed well with.

 

Our main priorities were budget friendly, decent/or free basic wedding packages, and a place where we could get legally married without doing blood tests or anything too nuts. 

 

We started looking early and were SUPER flexible with months/dates. We were originally thinking Nov 2014 but we creeped closer to that date and found that prices in Jan/Feb and May were comparable for the resorts we looked at. 

 

Our TA let us know that Mexico and Cuba are the most cost effective generally from Toronto. There's always exceptions to this rule of course. We ended up with a 4.5* in Cuba for $973 double and $1133 single taxes in. 

I LOVED Cuba, have you been before?

[Brandii]

That's what I'm talking about! Lol. Which resort did you pick?

[Msmimi]

We searched for a good few months and I drove myself crazy trying to figure out pricing and best resorts. I spoke to a couple TA's before finding a good one that my fiance and I vibed well with.

 

Our main priorities were budget friendly, decent/or free basic wedding packages, and a place where we could get legally married without doing blood tests or anything too nuts. 

 

We started looking early and were SUPER flexible with months/dates. We were originally thinking Nov 2014 but we creeped closer to that date and found that prices in Jan/Feb and May were comparable for the resorts we looked at. 

 

Our TA let us know that Mexico and Cuba are the most cost effective generally from Toronto. There's always exceptions to this rule of course. We ended up with a 4.5* in Cuba for $973 double and $1133 single taxes in. 

 

YES, I'd love to know where your resort is too

[TammyWright]

pricing is really going to depend on a few factors:

 

1. there is a big price difference between high and low seasons

2. how many nights?  This is going to factor in because if some people are quoting 3 nights vs. 7 nights, obviously that is going to make a difference.

3. are there any charter flights out of your area?

4. the quality of resort.  A 4 star will be much higher than a 2 star

5. All-inclusive vs. non-AI.  Upfront the cost may be lower for a non-AI but once you factor in food and drinks, AI are usually a better route.

6. Location: usually cabo and riviera maya are more expensive than PV but once you factor in air it changes which is more expensive.  Dominican republic is a good option as well if you have good, direct air.

 

There is a reason why Riviera Maya/Cancun is one of the most popular dw spots. You get great bang for your buck.

[chelseapaige37]

I'm going to throw this out there - you will end up disappointed with pricing of you compare group rates to last minute rates. That was super hard for me to wrap my head around, but once I got past that, I was able to commit! From calgary we paid $1700 all in for a week at the now Amber in puerto Vallarta in November. I got rates from a few agents, and a few suppliers and made sure I got the best rate I could find - I didn't have much flexibility with dates. Puerto Vallarta is getting more expensive.

 

Something else to consider (which a good Tavel agent will help you with) is the incentives from the different suppliers. Since you have 15ppl you may not qualify for huge incentive, but may get a room of two free.

You could always apply that incentive over everyone's package to make prices cheaper for your guests. Also pay very close attention to the wedding packages at each resort. Some offer way better packages than other and you don't want to screw yourself by choosing a cheaper package for your guests.

 

 

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[peachykeen159]

@@chelseapaige37 What airline did you use? Is that price with taxes included? That sounds like a good price! I'm in the process of getting Now Amber/Secrets Vallarta quoted for the week. What did you think of the beach area at Now Amber by the way? Thanks!

[chelseapaige37]

@@chelseapaige37 What airline did you use? Is that price with taxes included? That sounds like a good price! I'm in the process of getting Now Amber/Secrets Vallarta quoted for the week. What did you think of the beach area at Now Amber by the way? Thanks!

 

Yes that included taxes! We made sure everyone booked to get the early booking bonuses which helped. We went with Air Canada Vacations - you can always email their groups department - our agent has quoted us like $500 more for the same package. That may be sneaky of me but o didn't understand why it was so high. Your agent will have to price match it. We ended up getting $2750 back from the am resorts room comps.

 

The beach area isn't great but it didn't bother me. We actually stayed for 2 weeks and I didn't go into the ocean until the last day - it was beautiful! Wish k has spent more time in it. It was red flagged the entire two weeks but ppl swam almost every day. I personally didn't find the undertow that bad. There are vendors who will try to sell you goods and drugs - but they leave you alone if you say no. We are pool ppl so spent most of our time there - our friends are beach ppl and said it was fine. I absolutely LOVED the now amber. I think we will return for our anniversary next year!

 

 

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Edited December 3, 2014 by chelseapaige37