V-Flyer

I'm considering doing an ex DUB about christmas time. Doesn't have to be VS or BA particularly, however, I'm short of ideas.

Has to be somewhere hot. We've done Vegas to death now, but even it was a bit nippy early last December...

So somewhere hot, and what to do. BA is doing Miami in first for 1600 quid ex DUB, and I did consider this with the aim to driving down to Key West over the Keys for christmas. But then I saw the 500 quid a night hotels for that sort of time, and thought, "Erm no". Anything much to do around there, I've heard a lot of people say Miami isn't the greatest... But heard good things about West Coast of florida. NOT interested in the theme parks, and Orlando might as well be Butlins to me...

Carribean could be a possibility too, though Montego Bay, which we went to before and loved, wasn't particularly discounted. Never really sure of the other islands, though Barbados looked nice but a little pricey considering for accomodation...

Thoughts?

Hi Smid, have you considered South Africa? a 12 hour overnight flight is easy peasy and a good excuse to sit, do nothing then sleep.
Lovely coastal route, the most amazing Guest Houses and food and lovely service. it is their Summer so prices will be a bit high, it can be best to wait until their School Hols are over - however - the SA Rand is at 17.42 to the £ and only 3 years ago it was only 13.00 - so great value .

lots of rental houses too which are also generally very high spec. The main roads are really good and the wineries are a bonus obviously .

not sure of the ex Dub possibilities and flights are via Jo'burg now I seem to recall, but as there is minimal time diff, travelling is pretty relaxing anyway.

Gulf coast of Florida is beautiful, however for the time of year you're looking Barbados would be perfect. Again the West coast is the best, although priciest option and is leagues ahead of Jamaica in our opinion.

Another vote for either the Gulf coast of Florida or South Africa.

I've never been to either of these destinations, but what about Cancun or Cuba?

honey lamb wrote:Another vote for either the Gulf coast of Florida or South Africa.

I've never been to either of these destinations, but what about Cancun or Cuba?

Same vote for me too . Barbados is lovely in the winter but accommodation prices will be very high at Christmas.
I personally don't see the appeal of Cancun - when I was there ( some years ago) it was full of young drunk Americans, and was like a Carribean Blackpool ( without the Blackpool charm),
DL

My votes would be Rio, South Africa, Mauritius and for Caribbean I would have to recommend Grenada (going back for the 4th time in July) although I would suspect being the Christmas holidays most populat destinations will tend to be more on the pricey side.

Dec to Feb is the best time to visit the Maldives. Direct flight with BA from LGW.

Mauritius would be very hot in December and it is a great place to go. BA fly there direct so you might get a good deal ex-EU. Plus it has the bonus of being only a couple hours time difference.

Fly to Miami. Spend a couple of days there then drive across to the Gulf. Marco Island is good, or consider a bit further up the coast to Sanibel. Both very relaxing places.

Dick D

Hmmmn, Maldives...

Never really considered South Africa. I know there are plenty of places in the US which aren't safe, but it feels safe. Not sure if I'd have the knowledge to not book anywhere unsafe...

We did Cancun off season, and it actually rained for 6 of the 9 days we were there. Also felt a bit american anyway, though same could be said of Jamaica, except that in Negril we didn't book an all inclusive and ate a lot of Jamaican food. Doing both Cancun and Playa Del Carmen, all inclusive, still felt like a US version of spain... Still, might consider it.

Might certainly consider the other Carribean Islands. Grenada sounds good. I heard Cuba was welcoming but very poverty striken.

Come to Dubai, VS have a direct flight and it's only 7hrs away.

We've got beaches, snow, some of the best hotels in the world and fountains which will make you feel at home like in Vegas (but a little bit better).

Temps are perfect around Christmas, great for eating outdoors.

We've got so many expats here too, it will feel like Christmas too. Malls decorated, hotels decorated and massive brunches on the big day.

Smid wrote:I heard Cuba was welcoming but very poverty striken.

In my experience Cuba overall was no worse than any other Caribbean island in terms of poverty. What it doesn't have is the high end level of luxury that attend tourism on other islands.

I'd go to Cuba and experience it now before it changes with the relaxed relations with the USA. Do a twin stay at somewhere like this http://www.royalhicacosresort.com/hotel_details.asp or out on one of the islands like Cayo Coco or Cayo largo and then stay in Havana for 3 or 4 days

Sadly I think Cuba isn't on one the type of competing routes from Dublin which is flown by a lot of airlines (though I think Air France does).

The BA board on FT seemed to be all excited by the idea of a new flight to Cuba. I didn't even realise that BA didn't fly there, its been an option for VS since I've been flying them...

Ah, good point, I forgot that the HAV flights cannot be booked with Expedia.

There has been talk for a while of BA reinstating its flights to Cuba, it would be good to have some competition on the route

Hi we are planning Barbados again all in we paid £945 for hotel and flights , however this was using points for the flights . A good cheap hotel is the Butterfly beach near Oistens and close to St Lawerence Gap.

Rooms adequate and pool not bad but the beach is 5 metres away and transport links outside the hotel. We had Bed and continental breakfast which was ok but I would suggest don't Pay for half board as the restaurants are excellent in St Lawerence Gap.

The dates we went last year was 22-28 Dec
Hope this helps

j

After all that talk of holidays I ended up booking to go to Cuba in April 2016 this afternoon :-/

Its another vote for Dubai from me. Relaxing on the beach, great shopping, skiing in the indoor mall, lots of choices for eating out and fantastic fireworks on New Years Eve. Best of all no jetlag on returning home.

MoJoJo wrote:After all that talk of holidays I ended up booking to go to Cuba in April 2016 this afternoon :-/

And why not? Seems like a very sensible response to reading a holiday thread y)

How about the Seychelles? You can fly there with Emirates and Etihad.
y)

Cape Town. No jet lag and gorgeous weather at that time of year. (Although there's usually a lovely mistfall over Table Mountain)