My dh and I are trying to decide where we'd like to go for our 5th anniversary. We'd be traveling in mid-november. We've come up w/ a great list but we haven't been able to decide yet. Where would you go (w/ time of year figured in) and why? We went to Maui for our honeymoon and considered going back but we thought it would be nice to go somewhere different.

Dh and I were just discussing this last night (our 5 yr. is in 2 yrs. though). Out of your particular list, I voted for Sandals Bahamas. Because I've had a wonderful experience with 2 other Sandals resorts (St. Lucia & Montego Bay, Jamaica), is why I would definately choose another Sandals without question... :)

Is your 5 yr. coming up in this Nov.? Have fun planning and let us know what you decide! :) (We went to Hawaii too for our honeymoon and are contemplating in going there again for our 5 yr. or somewhere else).

IMHO - that time of year is not that fun in Paris. Sandals resorts are really nice and romantic and perfect for this type of vacation. It's carefree and fun and your biggest decision of the day is what to eat for dinner - that'd be my vote!

I'm not a big fan of the Bahamas so I would pick St. Thomas.

Great choices!

I would pick ALL your choices except for Sandals in the Bahamas. I've never been to a Sandals but they all look really nice. We stayed at the Marriott in the Bahamas which is down the street from the Sandals resort. I wasn't that impressed with the beach where we were so I'm not sure how much nicer the beach is up the street! (I'm really picky about my beaches)

I'm a huge fan of St. Thomas! (but an even bigger fan of St. John). If you're looking for a cross between excursions and being laid back, this is a really good choice. There's shopping, nightlife, good restaurants, the most beautiful beaches, and even excursions to other islands (like the British Virgin Islands-- which is a different country so bring your passport). We've been there twice in November and it's a great time because it's right before high season and right after hurricane season. The weather and the water was just perfect.

Atlantis resort is awesome!! Would be a good place to stay for a few days but I didn't find enough interesting excursions in Nassau to last me for a whole week. Really really nice beach! (I'd pick this one over Sandals in Bahamas)

Paris is great but when we select our destinations, we first decide if we want an "busy" or "laid back" vacation. We tend to run ourselves ragged when we're in Europe because there's just so much to see and do. It's definitely not a laid back vacation unless you just plant yourself in some French countryside and drink wine!

A cruise sounds lovely too! If you can swing taking a really long cruise- like a 10 or 12 day, I'd go for that! I don't know if you have any kids yet but in retrospect, an ultra-long cruise was something I wish we had done back when we had the time!

Goodluck!

Thank you so much for all of your feedback. I really appreciate it. lysabu.. you've been all over the place, huh? I appreciate you sharing your experiences w/ me. :) We're also considering going back to hawaii again now... We're thinking about adding another island besides maui just so we see something different as well. We're also looking into the cruises there...

I voted PARIS because since I was there for the first time I immediately fell in love with everything. I don't think there's a more romantic place in the world :)

My parents were told to do this: when you go to Paris take the subway at any station and stay there until it reaches the end of the line. You get off and you'll see you're at a beautiful place you would had never imagined to be. So they did it and they reccommend the experience a lot, they say they knew so many little towns they didn't even knew that existed :aok:

I'd like to go to Sandals.. Somewhere warm, sunshine, couples only no children... Sand, pools and island fun........What more could you ask for!?!?!?

I voted Mediterranean cruise. I just think that would be fabulous!!

My second choice would be Paris. I don't really care for the other choices. If I was going to go to an island it would probably be Bermuda or Jamaica.

I would go back to Maui and add another island. Are you looking at any particular island ??

Thank you for your input everyone. We've decided to go back to hawaii... We're going to go back to maui but before that we're going to spend a couple of days in oahu. We loved it so much..why not go back and relive our memories from 5 years ago? :) thanks again...

OH Jenn!

I'm so glad you chose Hawaii. :banana: It's SO worth it in my opinion! :)

I chose Sandals in the Bahamas............because my DH and I have been there and absolutely LOVED it! You can still go visit the Atlantis (you can see it from the Sandals resort). Even though Sandals is all inclusive, they offer some offsite adventures. We did "swim with the dolphins" and a "catamaran ride with snorkling" both highly recommended.

We always say we want to go back. It was so much fun.

OH Jenn!

I'm so glad you chose Hawaii. :banana: It's SO worth it in my opinion! :):nod: Ditto! :jump:

thanks lette and dawn! I can't wait although I'm sure its going to be hard leaving the girls and going so far away but they'll be w/ dh's parents. Who better to leave them w/ right?

Christina- Sandals does sound nice and I was actually leaning towards that if we didn't go back to hawaii.. The "couples only" is VERY appealing! :)

How long will you be going for?

Your right....at least you know your girls will be in good hands. :nod: Although it would be hard not to miss them. :)

hi dawn! I didn't realize you posted in here. :) We'll be going for a week. my friend just recently went to hawaii w/ her dh and left her dd for the first time for that long. it took her awhile to adjust and she missed her a ton... i'm sure i'll be the same way but dh and i need that time desperately! :)

St. Thomas is so pretty and the ocean is great. :) I would pick all of them if I could. :lol: Did you ever think of a cruise to the caribbean??? That way you could spend a little time at multiple places and have fun on the boat as well. I have done that and I loved it. :)

I voted Mediterrenean cruise - that's definitely one of my dreams :nod:

okay.... we changed our minds.... dh just booked us on a southern caribbean cruise on princess cruiselines for mid-nov. I don't really care WHERE we go... I know we'll have a great time... but I'm a little concerned I might feel confined on a boat? Anyone have any input on this? :) We'll be hitting st. thomas, st. john, st. maarten and barbados. I'm excited about it... i've never been on a cruise before and at least it won't be as far away as hawaii. I just hope I'm able to call back home and check on my girls.

Jenn - I have been on 3 cruises and you won't feel confined at all. There is so much stuff to do on the boat and it is so big that you might not even be able to do everything on the boat before you have to get off. :lol: St. Thomas is beautiful. I loved it there. I don't know if princess has excersions through them that you can take when you get to those places. If they do...I suggest taking them through the boat and you will go to some neat places. Have fun...I am jealous. :lol:

Thanks Cindi :) I appreciate hearing about your experiences... I love the ocean and they probably hit an island just about every day once you get going right? Its just a little weird for me to think we won't be seeing land at times? or is that really not the case?

thanks again. :)

Jenn - The ones that I have been on only had two days that you are on the boat all day long. The other days you are at an island having fun off the boat. I didn't even think about not seeing land. You mostly wake up and you are at an island and then only two days you wake up and you are at sea. If you have anymore questions let me know. :)

Thanks cindi.. i'm sure i will as we look into it even more. :)