Hi everyone! I have been stalking this board for about 2 weeks before I finally joined. We were up in the air on where we were going to stay. This forum has been the most helpful at making our decision. Especially all the post from HammieJ :icon_lol: We have not booked yet, we are waiting until i get my taxes back next month before we can book. We are paying for our honeymoon ourselves and then hoping making family and friends will give us money for the honeymoon at the wedding that will help to reimburse us. However, we are not counting on it. We know better than that. We are planning to go April 7th- April 14th. Should we be worried about the prices going up a drastic amount or them booking up before I can book? We also need to get our passports and will be applying for them the first of February surely we will get them back by April 7th? Right?
Congrats to you both. Well I too am a newbie and will be going up in a few weeks. Stalking hmmmm well I guess we are all stalkers then lol. I have found from my experience that this site is great for getting information and everyone is wonderful at giving you their experience to what ever your question may be. We booked our vacation about the middle of December when it was lower for the same date now it has gone up like $200.00 per person. From what I have been reading there is a number of CCC members that get together in April might want to contact one of them from the April Roll call thread...just a suggestion
Thank you for the advice. I did post in a thread April 2013 I am not sure if that was an April 2013 roll call thread or just a standard thread? Anyone else with any experience with last minute booking?
Heyyy!!! Welcome! We are glad to have you guys here! Passports: Your thingy says "Georgia". As long as that is Georgia, USA(like the state and not a country) hehe, you have two options. You can apply for your passports at your local post office and they get mailed it. They take I believe it says 6-8 weeks. Option B) Once you have your trip booked, google passport and it should bring up the government site with all types of info. You can find your local "regional post office". I live in south Jersey and the closest for me is in Philly. On the site there will be a number to call to set up an appt. Fill out your passport forms in advance, make sure you have proof of travel with dates(like the confirmation page of travel documents) and I think you need your Driver's License, SS card, your passport pictures, and possibly your birth certificate. It's kind of like the driver's license point system. You report into your regional passport agency on the date of your appt, just don't be late because they are strict about that. You apply and have a seat. My appt was at 10:30am. There was a line so we left at 11:30 and were able to pick up our passports at the same place at 1:30pm. Since it was Philly, we just walked around and had lunch. The price for mail in is about 100 while the same day procedure i believe was 160. Although it was more, it gave me more peace of mind to know that I was definitely getting my passport that day and didn't have to wait for it to be mailed back to me, not knowing if it'd get it back in time. Rates: We have not booked yet either but we are looking around March 19th-April 3rd. The whole time or anytime in between no less than a week. I did post in another thread on here approximately when i booked, my approx. travel dates, and the approx amount I paid(some I remember exactly but some are a close estimate) Based on what I have seen.... which I'm kinda-sorta-not really depending on this year, lol..... It's like this: The prices are cheap if you book in advance, then they go up-down-up-down- and then around february they seem to drop. I'm not sure why. Maybe the dates are getting close and they want to make sure it sells? Who knows! I have been checking almost daily and while the trips for me(end of march) are like 1240/p/wk right now... I know just a few weeks ago it was about 1500 and a month ago I saw them for 1000. So it's just pretty crazy how it changes. I made an orbitz name so orbitz will send me promo codes. I recommend signing up also if you are into saving some $$$ I will keep checking and as soon as it gets to an amount I'm happy with I will book. I'm just worried if I find an "okay" rate now..... what happens if in Feb there is an AWESOME rate and I'm like Ohhhh man!!! lol Hope this helps! <3
Thanks for the response HammieJ! I had no idea you could get your passport in one day. I may have to look into that. I am in Georgia, USA Also, we actually both have a passport but they will expire in May and I have seen so many people that say they have had problems if they expire in less than 6 months and I do not want to chance this happening to us for our honeymoon of all vacations. Another thing- in order to apply for the passport I have to have already booked the vacation? Was planning on booking mid February and sending off to get the passports beginning of February. So I guess that wouldnt work Right now for our week it is around $1700 airfare included which we can swing if we need to but it would be really nice to see the prices drop even lower. Especially because we are paying for a $10,000+ wedding on our own!!! We are in our late 20's so although we like some relaxation we also like to party it up while we still can. Plus I have two daughters from a previous marriage and therefore, its only on vacations that I can act totally myself and not worry about what my kids would think GP seems to have a little bit of both worlds and now im almost thinking im looking more forward to the honeymoon than the wedding (well except for the vows of course, those are important)!
You are most welcome! You certainly can get it in one day. You only need to be already booked if you will be doing the "same-day" procedure. You must be traveling within 14 days of issue and have proof of travel. If you are mailing it you do not need to be booked or even have a vacation in mind! Hahah! Yes vows are important! GP is not the Ritz.... but it is a small, older, quaint hotel.... and the majority of the guests know one another before the week is over. I exchanged information with so many people last year that I had a whole pile of little papers to take home to add to my address book/facebook. Some people don't like the GP because they choose to find things wrong with it. For me, once I find good food... I could eat it every single day for a month and not get tired of it. Some people need to eat something different every meal and not repeat that meal during their stay. I think they have plenty of a variety but some people are just picky! I'm in my late mid 20's myself. I really do hope you guys have a blast! And just think if you ever want to go back you can go to the sister resort. They have a kids club so you still can have mommy and daddy time I am staying at the Great this year but hopefully daddy is coming so that I can go to the golden and have some fun! The beaches are public so maybe we will hangout on the beach and come up the steps for food/potty breaks!
You can get your passport without having vacation planned if mailing it in - but you do the overnight method is when you need to have vacation confirmation- I am from South Dakota and noone has waited more than 6 weeks to get there passport snail mail- but then again we get ours at the post office and no appointments taken it is just first come first serve- our town is only 11,000 people. You can send in for your passport first part of Feb. and you should be OK with getting back for travel in April. We go in January and have both worlds usually party and relaxing hoping for the same this year as well