TRYING THIS AGAIN!

any help would be appreciated!

anyone???

well, to save on airfare--you'll need to think of where you are flying from--obviously, if you are in or around Florida--then flights are cheaper--If there are only 2 of you--you should be able to do this for 2500--Jamaica is the best value I think--inexpensive and you can go somewhere like the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort in Montego Bay--try the all-inclusive package (more money though) and you will have all food and drinks included--small beach on this hotel--but you can hire a local taxi and do a day trip to Negril--or just stay in Negril--where the hotels are most reasonable--stay along 7 mile beach and you never need transportation--you have a very long stretch of beach to hang out on all day

It looks like you are from MD? So are we. I'm assuming your budget of $2500 is for a couple? If so $2500 is plenty for a nice week, unless you are looking for 5 star extreme luxury. My husband and I are going somewhere soon, hopefully in early February, and I have been voraciously researching "where to go". We've been on two cruises to the Caribbean, but never been just to stay on an island. So I've been doing a lot of research. I sorta excluded anything under the US Virgin Islands, just because the flying time is SOO long (like St. Lucia looks really nice, but flying time looks like 9 hours from Baltimore). And I didn't include Bahamas, because it looks like 70's there right now, but we did find a few good deals in between. Make sure to check out www.travelzoo.com and www.cheapcaribbean.com . They have great deals. I LOVE Travelzoo and have found many great deals on there, as well as our cruise. This is the direct link to the Caribbean Vacation section: http://dir.travelzoo.com/Vacations.asp?

intCategory=54

Like we found this deal: LA ROMANA - 7 All Inclusive Nights in a Suite at the Santana Beach Resort with Air --> Price Reduced!

Sale ends - Jan 22, 2005! Travel Dates: Now ��� March 31, 2005

7 nights from $799.00 per person! (based on double occupancy) Great price -everything, all food & drink included!

(This is the dominican republic.) Add $100 p.p. for air from BWI. Still comes to about $1000 per person w/ tax and transfers. I would still always come back here to Tripadvisor and make sure the hotel looks decent to most people. It's not really a "deal" if it's nasty or unsafe. My dear husband is a little nervous about this, so we are considering others.

Oh, also we are considering Wyndham El Conquistador resort in Puerto Rico. There's a lot to do in PR: the old fort, Old San Juan, El Yunque rain forest (waterfalls, lush greenery), lots of pretty beach (some not, but some great secluded ones, too). With air & hotel, it will be $700+ p.p. including air & hotel for 5 days for the two of us, but NOT meals. They have golf pkgs, spa pkgs, etc. I can't remember for sure, but think I found this deal directly on the www.Wyndham.com site. Just go there and type in El conquistador, then click on "Special Offers" up top. Like this is one of the offers we may do (for 5 nights):

wyndham.com/specialoffers/…2elcon.wnt but not sure.

A Plus is that you can get there in 4 hours from Baltimore if you book a non-stop flight. I think I have rattled on endlessly, but I greatly encourage you to look up Travelzoo.com and/or Cheapcaribbean.com for some good packages. HTH.... Tricia

St. John (USVI) is, IMHO, one of the most beatiful islands in the Caribbean, and St. Thomas (closest airport) tends too be one of the less expensive islands to fly to. You can camp on St. John, which helps to save money. If you bring your own gear, I think it's as little as $30 a night, and it goes up from there (canvas tents, tent cottages, tent cottages with private showers, and so forth). This option would offer more character and nature than the typical all-inclusive.

Go to cheaptickets.com and search for vacation packages - I found one to Jamaica from PHL for 1200 approx - for 2 people!

And my son and his girlfriend just went to Runaway Bay in Jamaica for 1700 for 2 - all inclusive.

Look at http://www.caribbeanvilla.com for condo and villa rates on St. John and Tortola. You can find some nice 1-2 bedroom villas for $1400/week and the 1 BR condos are available for $800-900/week. They aren't as private, but then you don't go to Caribbean to stay inside.

The owners of caribbeanvilla.com are located in Maine. Payment is made to them, so you are not dealing with someone offshore until you get there. I would highly recommend them.

St. John is accessible by flying to St. Thomas, Charlotte Amalie, and then taking the ferry over. Air fare from Atlanta to St. Thomas via Miami runs anywhere from $390 to $700 depending on numerous factors. Delta and American fly to St. Thomas daily.

I have been to St. John twice, Grand Cayman and Providenciales and all three trips were wonderful.

Enjoy!