2009 Brides Can you help the 2010 Brides with Prices

Amarillis · April 29, 2009

I posted this recently in the Cuba section... and this may help explain the big difference...

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t41145-2

From my planning experience - here is the #1 question to ask your potential TA...

HAVE THE RATES BEEN CONTRACTED ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ??

Otherwise, they are estimating price. Once the contracted rates were available I liked the #'s even better!

On the aside regarding rates:

Last year our group had the benefit of booking when the CAD$ was low. This year, although we are in "an economic downturn" many people will expect prices to drop. I have been told that this is not the case for two reasons,

a) the CAD$ is not as strong

the tour operators contract in US$ therefore we are seeing up to a 22-25% increase over last year in rates.

Good Luck! Happy Planning Cuban Brides!

~Nicole~ · April 30, 2009

Here's what I'm paying...hope it helps you out.

Departing from Toronto, Ontario

Departure Date: Oct 31, 2009

Resort: Azul Sensatori

Location: RM Mexico

Length of stay - 1 week

Price including tax per adult - $1727

BillysBride · May 1, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by svetayasofiya

Great thread idea!
I am not in such a rush to book like everyone else here seems to be. I thought DW were supposed to relieve the pressure of local weddings and having to book everything one year in advance! Anyway....... I am reluctant to book my wedding without travel pricing out because if the resort I want is too expensive I will go elsewhere. To secure a date with the WC at a resort, is there money involved? 2010 wedding packages aren't even out yet so I don't know how people can be booking dates. It's rare that a resort has more than a 10% increase from one year to the next; thats why peeps are ok with estimating what they can afford for a venue based on previous year's pricing. You can't go in blind, thats for sure. You have to have some idea of what type of place you can afford, then work from there.

Anyway.... I am planning a Feb 2010 wedding and the resort of choice does up to 6 weddings a day. I would like to think that that many weddings already occurring before I am willing to book the trip in August / September is highly unlikely. And if they are all booked, I am fairly flexible with my dates (week before or week after). It's all good. Got a West Coast attitude here. BC transplant living in Montreal.

See, thing is its quite common for the resorts to book wedding dates a year in advance. So regardless of how the individual couple may feel about not being rushed, if you have a true preference in terms of resort or even SEASON, sometimes you need to be proactive to ensure you get your foot in the door. I've seen so many brides want a date (or even a month) and end up having to go with something else because they waited not knowing the resort would allow them to reserve. Maybe it's job related, or something to do with when your family can most easily travel...getting it done sooner rather than later is just something a lot of people HAVE to do to make things work. So, if you're flexible enough not to care whether it's high season or low, spring, summer, winter or fall....then ofcourse you can be a little more lax about booking.

Even with packages not being out yet, many resorts will note your name in their scheduling calendars so that when prices ARE available and they are open to booking, they have a point of reference in terms of which couples expressed interest first. It's worth looking into if you have a resort(s) that you are really wanting.