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Just nutting a few things out. DH and I have never been on a proper holiday. We'd love to go with DD before bubs arrives. We'd like to go somewhere beachy, family friendly and cheapish, so Thailand, Bali etc. my Internet is terrible right now otherwise I'd be looking at prices myself. We'd want to go for around 7 days, nothing fancy room wise but in a family friendly resort. Around how much did you pay all up for a holiday like this, including food, spending, flights etc?
Can't remember but Yay!!! Thailand is awesome.
DS2 still talks about the elephant he met.
Thailand is quite a long flight so keep that in mind. We did Fiji a few years ago for our honeymoon and that was $5000 all up in a pretty fancy room, but they had cheaper rooms too. Flight was short so that was helpful. We are going to the Gold Coast in September as that was cheap. If you want to PM me dates I'll have a look for you. I'm at work and pretty bored ;) Would love to help research a holiday :D
$5000 would be our absolute max all up. We were thinking early September or late August. DD will be about 25 months. Good point on the flight length, plus I'm deathly scared of flying (which I'll need to get over cos I'm not letting that stop me!). Oooh didn't even think about Fiji!
We did Club Med on Bintan Island September 2010 and it was fantastic - definitely much better for everyone choosing a resort that specifically caters for kids. We got one of their deals, which they seem to have frequently - just check their website. Kids under 4 stay free in a connecting room. I think we paid about $1800 for 6 days, which includes absolutely everything including some alcohol. Flights were FF points so can't help with that. It would be a long flight for you guys from east coast, so maybe look at their Queensland resort.
Fiji is great too, and they seem to have a lot of kid friendly resorts. We stayed for our honeymoon at an adults only resort so can't help with specifics.
ETA: just did a quick search on Club Med. 7 nights for the three of you, all inclusive (kids club extra) for first week of September will cost:
Thailand $2,418
Bintan (technically Indonesia but you take the ferry from Singapore) $3,260
Bali $2,840
Can't find the Qld one so maybe renos or something.
You can get flights through CM for about $2,000 but probably better deals out there
HTH
You could definately do Fiji or Vanuatu for that. our $5000 was in a beachfront spa room so dearest room, but it included all of our meals as well.
From memory up to October is the wet/monsoon season in Thailand.
It's still lovely but expect rain.
You could easily do Thailand, Fiji, Vanuatu for that money. We went to Bali in March and spent half that amount for 4 of us for 8 nights (and we stayed in a 2 bed apartment in a 4.5 star resort).
Queenland has some lovely spots if you are worried about flying for too long!
Queensland Club Med is no longer. Only a very recent thing though.
DF and I spent 5 days in Singapore and 11 in Bali. Cost us about $10,000 all up but that included quite a bit of spending money and 'sightseeing' stuff, as well as tickets to the Singapore GP so could definitely be done cheaper.
If you head to Bali I'd recommend somewhere other than Kuta. I only spent 6 hours there before our flight home but hated every second of it. We stayed in Ubud up in the mountains, but there's plenty of other beachy places in Bali that are gorgeous.
Wherever you go a couple of things to take into consideration.
1. travel insurance & what they cover since you're pregnant
2. airline restrictions on pregnant women flying
3. is your DH prepared to have Miss I sitting on his lap the whole time since you'll have belly
I had a look and found 6 nights in Fiji with all meals and flights for $3419 that was leaving on the 1st of September.
If choosing between Thailand etc and a South Pacific island, I'd choose the South Pacific. So warm and friendly and relaxed. Maybe not as many historical things to see, but if you just want to chill out, then it's perfect. Lie on a beach, go snorkelling, eat, drink, lie in a hammock with a drink., lie in the pool with a drink..... If you want history, temples etc, then South East Asia has more of that but they also have more people, traffic and ways to get ripped off.
Fiji and Vanuatu etc also have no death penalty, which I always think is a bonus (but then I'm a paranoid traveller).
Tempting.... Oh wait, this isn't my thread :):
where did you go again lovely?:
DD would be an airfare if she is 24mths or older, just something to think about.
Flying international you have to budget in passports and travel insurance which can be a fair whack (I'm assuming you dont' already have passports though)... and the fact that you can't get travel insurance to cover pregnancy. So Queensland may be a better deal?
When are you thinking PZ? Dd isn't 2 yet is she?
I was chatting to a friend about it the other day and she raves about Fiji. Very child friendly and safe with reasonable prices. Apparently.
You can get pregnancy travel cover, but if you went into labour and birthed abroad, this new little person is not covered by insurance so your hospital stay would be covered - but not theirs.
New Zealand has a reciprocal health agreement although there would be out of pocket charges. And it's lovely.
Health care | Australians in New Zealand | Relationship between New Zealand and Australia | Australia | NZEmbassy.com
Look, as much as I love NZ, it's not really the tropical holiday island we all need in winter.
Perhaps you were more thinking of the white powdery stuff, Onyx.
I went with my best friend a couple of years ago around mid November for 10 nights. We went with Malaysian airlines and stayed in the Novotel and probably spent about $5000 on airfares, travel insurance, accom, an overnight stay on phi phi island, all the touristy things ie: elephant rides etc, food and shopping. My advice to you is make sure you barter!!! You can get things so much cheaper, and the locals expect it. Hope u get to go, it'll be great!!
By September you would most likely strike warm enough weather up in the far north - beyond Auckland. There are some stunning beaches around, and you can hire a bach off websites like book a bach which can work out pretty cheap.
Worth looking into, since you can get el cheapo flights.
We had a lovely trip to Fiji last year for a friends wedding, very relaxed! Most of the resorts seemed very family friendly. We stayed in a five star resort where the wedding was held but there was a lot of nice, cheaper accommodation available. We stayed on Denaru so were able to access supermarkets which helped save $$ I went on a cruise to Vanuatu a few years ago and that was another very relaxed easy going holiday destination, although I would never do a cruise with young kids a flying holiday would be great
As the others have said beware of pregnancy and travel insurance costs and that vaccinations recommended for travellers in those areas may not be suitable when pregnant. We didn't get vaccinated after speaking to a health travel service and touch wood were fine.
We also stayed at Paradise resort on the gold coast a couple of years ago which was very family friendly, although not as layer back as Fiji or Vanuatu.
When we travel now I try and find accommodation with all or some meals included or somewhere with facilities that you can make your own meals, like holiday apartments etc as it can save a stack of money
Have a wonderful holiday, and passports with babies photos in them are super cute!
Wow thanks guys! And thanks MM for doing that for me! :)
DD will be 15 months so no probs with airfare. Fiji is sounding good. Honestly, we're not looking for a cultural experience, just to hang around by the beach or pool, buy cheap nick nacs and have a nice time. I have a valid passport but DH needs his renewed and DD needs one. I'd be around 24-25 weeks, so regardless of where I am, going into labour would be a disaster. I'm not worried I will though, and I think we'll be able to find an insurance to cover me.
We may or may not be receiving a little bit of money in the next month or two, and if we do then we'd love to get away as the 3 of us before Kiefey gets here and just relax. We'll see. It's exciting thinking about it all though! :)
Novotel Nusa Dua!:
Thought this might interest you PZ?
(sorry if Im not supposed to post the link here)
Sent from the land of "iSomethings" so forgive me for any spelking misstaks ;)
There's a deal on Spreets today as well.
:
It’s the perfect escape for you and your partner, or the entire family, with this at the grand Baan Yuree Resort in Phuket, Thailand!
Just $398 for 7 nights at this 4.5 star resort in a Deluxe Room with every amenity and service at your fingertips plus free WIFI , normally valued at $1,565
You and your partner will score a welcome drink each on arrival to toast to your holiday
Full buffet breakfast included each day!
Plus there's room for up to TWO children to stay as well!
Your deluxe room has Wi-Fi access and LCD TV with satellite channels so you can stay in touch with reality if you need to
PLUS you'll have your very own private balcony overlooking the beautiful mountains of Phuket or the stunning Andaman Sea
Located on a picturesque hillside just 45km from Phuket International Airport
A 15 minute walk to Patong Beach and the amazing Andaman Sea!
Minutes away from the nightlife and Junceylon Shopping Centre, with the town of Phuket a short 20km drive away
It’s a week in Phuket that you’ll find is a welcome package of pure, pampering pleasure!
Did you end up deciding anything further PZ?
We went to Thailand for 2 weeks for $2000. It was 2006, so things might have changed a little. We did heaps - some beach lounging (including marriage proposal!) and some exploring, a cooking class, sunrise hikes, touristy stuff in Bangkok. We were without child then, obviously, so we could rough it a bit more, but it was easy to do. Where DH proposed was a beautiful family friendly fairly quiet island. Huge, plenty of tourist facilities, but not that wild vomit-in-the-gutter party type place that other islands are. Really nice.
I'd also rate Malaysia. A little bit more exxy, but so much easier to get around too.
I'm on the Fiji or Vanuatu team - I have been to both those, Bali and Thailand and especially while pregnant, I would be going the shorter flights. I went to the Maldives 13 weeks pregnant which was very long and uncomfortable so any more pregnant than that would be even worse I am sure! Fiji flights are on sale some times, I went about a year and a half ago and paid $200 one way, was very happy! And the flight is only about 4-5 hours from memory? I don't know if I would want to do more than that, but stayed at a gorgeous, beautiful place and lots of blue water and powder sand - just like you'd hope for on a relaxing holiday. You also need to worry less about food and water issues like they have in Thailand and Bali. I was very vigilant in Bali, brushed teeth with bottled water etc but still ended up with an upset stomach by the end of the trip!
Audax - wow that sounds amazing. What a lucky woman.
We went to Thailand for our honeymoon and that was around $4000. My parents just got back from Bali and payed $2000 for flights, accom, daily breaky etc for the 2 of them. Bali is cheaper and closer. I've been to Bali and Thailand, they're both great!
We took DD1 to Thailand when she was 2.5 and it was fabulous - it cost around $5000 all up for 2 weeks. We did a lot for that (and a lot of shopping). The flights were 8 hours and a bit fraught as DD1 screamed for 2 hours straight on the flight over and we couldn't work out why :(
Have you looked at the Northern beaches in FNQ? We had the most awesome holiday in Trinity Beach and it was only a 3hr flight, which suited DD2 much better as she was about 2.5 as well.
You will have to get needles wont you for your dd to travel to some places...this was a big reason why we didn't go to Thailand this yer with family.
Why not just fly up to cairns or whitsundays if you are just wanting to lie on a beach? Cape tribulation is amazing!
Hope you get the holiday Hun you guys deresve it xx
Oh yeah - we all had to have Hep A vax for Thailand. DD1 was not impressed!
If you come to cairns I know a certain BB family you could visit ;)
We travel very cheap.
Had a week in Bali in Feb, budgeted $1k for the trip, including flights, but ended up spending an extra $200, as DD was too out of sorts to sit properly in the local cafes, so we mainly ate in the western places which had highchairs, but cost 2/3 times the price!