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I was at the Sol Luna Mares for Easter. There is a good amount of shade but lots of people are up and saving their spots early in the morning – I have never seen that in Cuba before! On one day we couldn’t get a chair (sunny or shady) and just put our towels on the sand and enjoyed the day.
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I just got back from the Sol Luna Mares after visiting over Easter and have been to Jibacoa a few years ago. Jibacoa by far the better place – I am sure you will enjoy it again.
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Google ‘Certified Translators’ in your area and you should find something. I think I had mine done for about $45 in Ottawa.
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After a few trips and lots of snorkeling I have finally found out that Hawaiian Tropic has a Biodegradable sunscreen for just $9.99 at Zellers.
Thought I would share with everyone that it is available and affordable.
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Less than a week to go before we head off to Holguin for our vacation and I am starting to think about packing. Do the rooms have shampoo and body wash in them? Also, should I bring a hairdryer or will the one in the room do the trick? Any other packing tips for this particular resort?
Thanks!
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We have just booked our 3rd visit to Cuba and our first to Holguin. I’m looking for suggestions for visiting over Easter regarding things to bring as gifts. Also, should we look at buying our own mask & snorkel our just use the things at the hotel? We are so excited to visit Cuba again after a couple of visits to Mexico! Any other tips on the area and the resort are welcome!
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We are heading to the Riu Santa Fe and meeting friends there. Any recommended tours to take, adventures to go on, things to see, places to eat? I am very excited to visit a new part of Mexico!
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Hi! My husband and I are taking a (late) honeymoon at the end of February to the Viva Wyndham Azteca in Playa del Carmen. Any tips about the area and trips to take would be great! We were married at the Breezes Varadero resort in Cuba last May, so this is our first time to Mexico so we are looking for lots of things to do to make this trip really fun and exciting, especially to see all the ruins.Thanks! |
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Hi Jayneb – We have the same plan with our trip in February – How was the flight?
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So we have been all set and there is now 6 weeks until our fabulous wedding at Breezes Varadero. We found out today that Signature Vacations is changing the flight times out of Calgary! And actually, not just the times, but the days! Our original dates were Saturday May 19 until the 26, and now we fly on Monday May 21 until the following Monday!! This means that we now need to call all of our guests and hope that they can get 2 extra days off work (we don’t get in until midnight, so they will also need part of Tuesday off too!).
Not only that but we will also probably have to change the date of our wedding so that we have enough time to get organized once we are there! We have it planned for Wednesday the 23rd but may have to change to either the Thursday or Friday.
If you read some other posts in the Cuba section this has happened to other people with different carriers, but everyone has a great outlook – In the end, you still get a vacation! |
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I know we have covered the Cuban vows that are exchanged, but I am wondering when/how other brides have included their own personal vows in the ceremony. Also, does the ceremony go similarly to a traditional wedding (i.e. bride walks down isle, is ‘given away’ to groom, vows, ring exchange, you may now kiss, etc.).Thanks! |
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For us it is the Superclubs line – Breezes Varadero and Breezes Jibacoa (they have also just recently acquired Breezes Bella Costa). This company has great resorts and great service (we were at Jibacoa in 2005) and the wedding is only $300 for legal fees. Since we have 21+ people attending as part of our group we also get one person free, so between the two of us we are only paying for one vacation (plus taxes on the ‘free’ trip). Our Toronto guests are leaving for only $1220, so there is a difference but still not cheaper for everyone from the West to go to Toronto. If money is too much of an issue remember that you can always do a reception in Canada afterwards with those who cannot make it (we are doing two, one in Calgary and one in Newfoundland for all of our family).
I will let you know how things go in Varadero once we get back!
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December is prime time for vacationers so the prices will be higher. Look into Cuba and the Dominican Republic as they tend to be cheaper than Mexico and Jamaica (mostly). We chose to do our DW in May because it is after the March Break and real winter times so it is a lot cheaper, but out of Calgary with taxes it is still $1550. Maybe try to narrow down some resorts and then have your travel agent see what they can find for prices at those locations to narrow it down a little.
Good luck!
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I went to an expensive boutique I found in WeddingBells magazine in Ottawa. I found an amazing dress by Watters & Watters and loved it, but not the price tag. Debating about it, I went to Ebay. I found it in ivory and in my size and I did the whole down to the wire bidding and won for $365, and an extra $100 to get it over the border from Texas. I think that if you try it on and it is the dress is will honestly come to you somehow. I also really loved a dress by Alfred Angelo but am much happier with the dress I miraculously got on Ebay. Try on everything, even if it isn’t your style, just see how it fits and how you feel in it. When the dress comes along, you just know.
Good luck and have fun! Most places don’t allow any photos, so maybe take notes on the dress and do a rough sketch to remember it so that you can look back on what you liked. Remember, for a Destination wedding, you want something that is light, airy, and beachy. Then worry about the bra and Spanx ![]("http://images.proboards.com/v5/smiley/smiley.png")
Good luck again!
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Old Navy right now has lots of linen shirts and casual or dressy flat front pants in lots of colours. Instead of matching my FH is wearing a tan suit and a brown or blue dress shirt (haven’t got that far yet), and the groomsmen are going to wear blue shirts with khakis. My bridesmaids are wearing brown dresses, and we feel like we are going with the colours of the island. My dress is also ivory, so my only rule is that no one can wear white! |
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We knew we only wanted to spend a whole week with some people in our families, so we were a little selective in our invites. We chose Cuba over other destinations also knowing that some of my American relatives would not join us there. It was a hard thing to tell people that they were not going to be invited to the wedding in Cuba, but we are also having a reception for those that cannot come. Also, that means the Moms get to have say over the receptions (we are actually getting two! One in Eastern Canada and one in the West) because we have all the control over the ceremony, and that seems to have worked out for everyone! We have 24 people coming to our wedding and we only got 3 Nos, so when sending out Save the Date cards remember that many people love the idea of getting away, especially in a group with family and friends.
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Melissa,If it will be just you and a few people it may be cheaper to do your wedding in Canada. For our friends and family who are all over Canada, it is actually cheaper for us to do the wedding in Cuba because everything is taken care of in the all-inclusive resort (we considered air, hotel, car rentals, meals etc. for everyone to fly from Newfoundland and Eastern and Western Canada to Calgary). The translations will cost a few extra dollars for us, but overall our wedding buget for ourselves is about $5500 (dress, suit, flight and hotel, photos etc.). Since we are doing a group booking we also get a free flight because we have 21 people coming, so that is basically going to offset all the costs associated with translation for our certificate. We both have not been previously married so I can’t tell you about divorce certificates. We are going to SuperClubs Breezes Varadero because we have previously gone to the SuperClubs Jibacoa and loved everything about it, and we have found the prices very reasonable. Cuba is the easiest country for Canadians to marry in as well, even though we had to leave out some of our American family members! Once we get back to Canada we are also having a reception here for those who could not come with us (and those we didn’t want to spend a whole week with!) Our Cuban wedding is going to be exactly what we want, and the recpetion is where the moms get to have their way and we won’t complain at all.Good luck to you and congratulations on your engagement!
Catty in Calgary
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When we were hunting for a travel agent we made sure to get quotes from at least 4 different agents and companies – Some were much higher than others (Maritime Travel). We ended up meeting our travel agent in a lineup at Starbucks on Mother’s Day and we found we have a great rapport and she is really caring about us. I think as long as the prices are right and the agent you deal with is friendly and caring it will make your planning much easier! We found that the carriers were actually pretty slow on getting flight information because we are doing it in the "off season" so we had to be patient, and we are still waiting on the actual times of the flights and it has been over 5 months now. We have people flying out of Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver and they are all arriving in Cuba within a day of each other.Our group booking allows one of us a free return flight as long as there are 21 or more people coming. Our wedding is in May 2007 so we are definitely very excited!
Good luck to you and congratulations!
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We just got our flight times this week and that was pretty exciting because now people can book their connecting flights. Our only real plan is the time and date of the ceremony (2pm on May 23rd on the beach). We expect to do all the planning once we are there. I am not worried about my flowers or cake or anything so I am ok with that. We know we are going to get the photographer, and I think that everyone else will have enough pictures to be great. We are also taking out laptop so that people can download their pictures on it so we don’t have to wait for them to email their pics to us after the trip (from what I know about other weddings people are pretty slow to send pics!).
So to answer your question, no, we don’t really have any plans! I am pretty relaxed about that. Anything I want to be in control of (groomsmen clothing, bridesmaid dresses, wedding dress, hair, rings, vows, groom’s suit etc.) I have done here.
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Congratulations! When in April are you going? Most of our planning is on hold until our date gets closer, but we have set out wedding for 2:00pm so that we get the sun and avoid any rain. We are also waiting on the departure times from our cities so that our guests can plan their connecting flights. We have a wedding website also for our guests so that we can keep in touch and keep everyone up to date once we know more!
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Hi! My fiancee Kevin and I are getting married at Breezes Varadero in May 2007. We have 23 people coming plus ourselves from all over Canada and we are very excited! Does anyone have any pictures of their own wedding at the resort to share? Also, any tips and hints for us to know? We are definitely getting the photographer and I would love to see some of the pics they take, and any other information from "insiders" who have done it already!Catty in Calgary, Alberta |
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