Honeymoons and Hurricanes don’t seem like they go together, many couples honeymooning in the tropics from June 1 to November 30 should be aware of Mother Nature’s potential wrath, and how to best protect their honeymoon plans.
Know When to Go and What to Expect: Most tropical destinations will have a dry and rainy season, typically the dry season is from December thru May, remember that ‘dry’ is relative to the destination. Many islands have daily showers all-be-it brief, at least once a day even in the drier months, thus the beautiful flora and lush vegetation. These showers are quite often a welcome relief to the heat and while at the pool or beach, few people will do anything more than protect their book, magazine or cell phone from the quick moving moisture, usually takes a hearty, lengthy rain before vacationers head for cover.
The rainy season June thru November doesn’t need to be a deal breaker for the tropics, and the majority of couples have a wonderful honeymoon experience during this season. As travel consultants we always advise our couples of what to expect and what the “norm” is for the region you are considering traveling to.
Resorts will often go into their Rainy Day Activities mode bringing out board games, organizing ping-pong and billiards tournaments, karaoke contests, etc. With the right attitude you will have a great time, and your skin will thank you for the break from the sun. Rainy days are also great days to go shopping, enjoy a spa day, check out local areas of interests such as museums or other indoor activities, or just hang on your patio or balcony reading a good book and enjoying the down time.
But…what do you do as you are preparing for your honeymoon and three days before your departure you see on the news that a tropical depression or tropical storm is developing in the vicinity of your dream honeymoon destination that you have had planned for 6 months. This is your ultimate reward for you and your new spouse surviving the long months of wedding planning, and then you look at the projected path of the storm which is forecasted to turn into a full blown hurricane, and being an intelligent person you think this can’t be good, what should we do????….Well…. hopefully you have booked your honeymoon with All About Honeymoons and before you have to think too long about it, your consultant is calling or emailing you with a situation update and her recommendation. Hopefully you’ve purchased some type of travel protection so that the ball is in your court as to how to proceed. If you have travel protection you can decide to post pone, cancel or switch to an alternate destination without losing your investment. With the cancel for any reason policy purchased with the tour company you will receive a full refund back to your form of payment minus the cost of the protection, usually $140pp or less depending on the tour company and the cost of your trip. Or, if the airlines are still flying and the resort/hotels are still accepting guests you can proceed as planned and hope for the best.
However, if you do not have travel protection and you decide to cancel, change or postpone your honeymoon you are subject to airline, hotel/resort and tour company penalties/fees & risk losing thousands of dollars that you’ve invested in your honeymoon. Travel insurance is well worth the investment!