Travel
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Talk me into (or out of) Ireland
My mom and I found a Living Social deal for Ireland. My mom has been there once and loved it, and I've never been. We LOVE traveling together, but this is a slightly financially tight year for both of us. However, I will be TTC soon and we likely won't get to go to Europe together for quite awhile if we don't go now. I've only ever been outside of the US once, and it was for a very brief work trip.
Here is the deal: http://www.livingsocial.com/escapes/324156-8-day-ireland-trip?msdc_id=326-chicago-north-suburbs
What do you think? Is this a good price? Good places to go?
KrysteeKess
Re: Talk me into (or out of) Ireland
Here are the details:
You'll visit four cities and receive round-trip airfare, including departure taxes, via Aer Lingus and a standard rental car for the duration of your trip. Depart from New York's JFK airport ($1,349), Boston's Logan airport ($1,374), or Chicago's O'Hare airport ($1,399) to arrive in Dublin. Six nights in luxurious, five-star accommodations await you no matter when you visit, but you can avoid crowds by traveling in November.
Your first stop is County Laois in the Emerald Isle's Midlands Region. An overnight stay at The Heritage Golf & Spa Resort?one of the area's premier properties?will get your trip off to an auspicious start. Hit the links at the on-site par-72, championship-caliber golf course, then take an included tour of the nearby House of Waterford Crystal.
The next day, head for southwestern Ireland, where fortune will smile on you with two nights at the Muckross Park Hotel in Killarney National Park. Ride a horse-drawn carriage through town, or breathe in the cool air from the world-famous Lakes of Killarney, which cover nearly a quarter of the park's area.
Keep your lucky streak going in Galway with two nights at Glenlo Abbey Hotel on the edge of the pristine Connemara wilderness. No need to cross your fingers here?the lush mountain trails Connemara National Park, the nightlife in vibrant Galway city, and the blissful banks of the River Corrib snaking past your hotel are all you could wish for.
The last leg of your serendipitous journey brings you to Wicklow on the east coast, where you'll spend a night at The Ritz-Carlton Powerscourt. Fortuitously set on the rolling hills of a scenic estate, the hotel boasts a luxury spa and a Gordon Ramsay signature restaurant. Instead of hunting for four-leaf clovers, visit the enchanting Gardens at Powerscourt, dating back to 1731. The next day you'll return to Dublin for a flight back to the US.
Here's your chance, so leave the charms at home and make your own luck with this week's Escape to Ireland.
My weight loss blog
I've never been to Ireland, but in general I rarely turn down a good opportunity to travel. Sometimes I'll have short-term guilt (like after booking a trip when we reaaallly should use the money to get our house painted) but I have never, ever regretted a trip yet.
If it's a trip you're interested in and it's a good deal, I'd do it. Six nights for 1300-1400 (I'm reading this as it includes airfare and accommodations) sounds good to me.
H found that too! We thought about doing it however we just spent $3,000 on a vacation that we are taking next week. Plus it would cost us more because we would have to pay to fly from Detroit to JFK.
How long to you have to use these things. Like could we buy now and use it next year?
At any right to answer your post. It is up to you. If you can afford it I would say go for it. If you can't then obviously you should wait, there will be more deals in the future.
Never mind, I read the fine print.
DH and I did Ireland a few years back and had a great time. I would go if you can manage it, sounds like a great package. A few things to keep in mind though (not sure if these are all still true, so you may want to look into them before you book):
1. This indicates you get a "standard" rental car. If that means manual stick shift, I'd highly recommend looking into an automatic. Not only is the steering wheel on the opposite side, but you'll be driving on the opposite side of the road too.
2. You need to be comfortable driving on the opposite side of the road. DH, thankfully, did all the driving when we went. Roads are NARROW there and even with the smallest car we could rent I got a little nervous on some of the roads. We brushed some hedges on one road that knocked out a rearview (able to pop it back in).
3. Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) - if you have a credit card that will cover you in Ireland, you can waive the fee that the car rental agency will charge you (it's significant). We had to book with our MasterCard (the only card we carried that covered us) when we went so we were able to decline the fee. Just understand how it works before you book - here's some more info: http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/carrental_cdw.htm
4. Check gas prices...that may factor in to your total. And you'll want to factor in food and any entrance fees you may need to pay.
I really enjoyed the Irish countryside when we went last fall. The west coast was my favorite (Killarney and Connemara). My least favorite party of Ireland was Dublin (it wasn't terrible, but nothing special, IMO). So personally, I like that the package has you out and about.
As far as pricing: I think the deal is good for in season, ok for off (not bad but not amazing). Aer Lingus often runs off-season specials from East Coast departure cities, for good rates ($600rt NY to Dub).
For comparison purposes here's a rough idea of costs from our trip in late oct/early Nov '11: lodging, I was more interested in touring than spa/luxury, so we stayed primarily at tourist-class hotels-- prices were, ball parking it, 100euro/night. Our rental car (excluding gas/tolls--Dub) was approximately 25euro/day. HTHs
That's an amazing price! We paid almost as much for a shorter trip & we stayed at lesser hotels. If I wasn't jonesing for a warm beach vacation next winter I'd book it right now.
Ireland is lovely. The west coast is magnificent. The people are so nice. It's not even all that expensive if you watch where you are spending your money.
Ireland is magical & Guiness claims "there's a baby in every bottle" so it's a great place to go before TTC.
Slainte!