A Clownfish Honeymoon: Part I

Our honeymoon will be Mr. C and I's first ever solo vacation together and man, are we excited. Long before we ever got engaged, we would talk about our dream honeymoon and all the places we wanted to explore together as a married couple. The locations at the very top of our list were Ireland, England, and Spain...so much to see and explore, and who better to do it with than your brand spankin' new spouse? Of course, our hopes of visiting these dream destinations on our honeymoon were squashed when we decided to get married fresh 'outta college and realized our honeymoon budget is a *litte* too small to visit all of the foreign locations we had our hearts set on.

"Under the boardwalk...down by the seaaaa!" (personal photo)

Not one to let a small budget get us down, Mr. C and I set out to see what kind of honeymoon we could get without having to take a loan out or put it all on credit cards. Staying debt free (aside from school loans, of course) is really important to us, so we knew that whatever honeymoon we decided to take, it needed to be paid for with cash. Since we had a longer honeymoon (19 months) we decided to start saving up for our honeymoon right away, and vowed not to touch that money unless an emergency came up. Our goal was to have $2000 saved up for our honeymoon, and set that number as our budget. While this may seem like only enough cash to have a "minimoon" on to some couples, it was the number we both felt comfortable with. Even though it may seem like a small amount to spend on a honeymoon (I, for one, think $2000 is a lot of money, but I digress), we were both confident that we could plan an awesome honeymoon on two grand.

Because Mr. C has never been out of the country, we set our eyes on a honeymoon that would allow us to get out of the continental US. While a longer honeymoon would be ideal (don't all couples dream of this?), neither of us could afford to take 2 full weeks off of work right after the wedding. Even though we'd be incredibly appreciative for any length of a honeymoon, we knew we wanted to at least try and spring for a week-long trip.

Family beach trip, circa 2012 (personal photo)

With all of these factors considered (including our budget), the idea of going on a cruise for our honeymoon sounded like it may be our best option. Okay, I know what you're thinking...a cruise?? For a honeymoon? With all those people? And no privacy?! After weighing the pros and cons of doing a honeymoon cruise, the pros (inexpensive,  possibility of a week-long trip, all-inclusive, lots of food [double pro in my book], clear water in a tropical location, etc.) far outweighed the cons. Definitely not the most lavish or luxurious honeymoon but hey, we're fortunate to be going on any kind of post-wedding trip, and I'll have my brand new husband by my side. Nothing more I needed!

Bahamas cruise circa 2010 (personal photo) 

Mr. C is a cruise virgin, while I've been on exactly one cruise, and that was several years ago. The thought of boarding a huge boat immediately brought visions of the Titanic to Mr. C's mind, but I quickly calmed his fears and reassured him that a cruise ship disaster such as the Titanic in incredibly unlikely. I also mentioned to him that if we did happen to go down like Jack and Rose, I'd happily share my door with him so that we could both survive. Such a sweet new wife, right?

(personal photo)

After he got over his initial cruise ship apprehension Mr. C happily handed over honeymoon cruise planning duties to me, and I got to work doing research on possible cruise ship lines and destinations, and boy, were there a lot of options.

How did you decide on what type of honeymoon to take (road trip vs. cruise vs. resort vs. everything else)?