Puerto Rico Honeymoon: An In-Depth Review

When you think "honeymoon," you typically think "romantic getaway." And that's exactly what my honeymoon was. When my husband and I were in the planning process of our wedding, we almost overlooked planning our honeymoon! At about five or six weeks prior to the big day, we gasped in horror as we realized we'd forgotten to book our honeymoon. We didn't have passports, so we knew we'd be limited to the U.S. and Canada. As we began our quest to book a honeymoon, we stumbled upon Puerto Rico as a destination. Puerto Rico? Really? I'd always imagined Bora Bora or Fiji or Mexico. What's in Puerto Rico?

Well, I'll tell you what. I was stunned by Puerto Rico's beauty and amazed at how clueless I'd been about this gorgeous island and all it had to offer. I would re-do my honeymoon in an instant, because it was that memorable. There were many pros and cons to our decision to honeymoon in Puerto Rico, and I'll detail them all here.

We made our reservations online, through Orbitz, and we made sure to make it known that we were honeymooners (mainly so the airlines would know to seat us together, which they did). We booked everything together: the airfare, the rental car and the resort. We got our tickets at the check-in counter at the airport on the day we left for Puerto Rico. We were given our boarding passes with no problems and were seated next to each other, with no problems. The flight was relaxing and exciting.

We landed in Puerto Rico and took an airport shuttle to the rental car company to pick up our car. We were shocked and disappointed to learn that, because we were under 25, that we would be charged an additional $25 per day, as liability insurance, on the vehicle. Whatever, we paid it and were on our merry way.

We were given a road map and began our drive to the resort. Because we were unfamiliar with the area, we had a few stops and detours, but after making a phone call to the resort concierge, we were led in the right direction.

We drove up the winding road toward our resort. We loved how secluded it was. It was like driving through a jungle, with all of the lush green plants and tall leafy trees everywhere. We parked our car, and once again, were disappointed to learn that we would be charged $15 per day to use the resort's parking structure. We chose that option over paying $20 per day to park valet. When we parked our car and realized how far we had to walk to get to our room, we probably would have paid the extra $5, but we were on our honeymoon! So it was okay. The reason we had to walk so far is because, at the time we were there (09/2007), a casino in the resort was under construction, so the normal walking path to the parking garage was closed off. That led us to take a massive detour and walk all the way around the building or do zig zags in the building to get there.

Because we checked in on a Monday, it was quiet and peaceful. When we left, that Saturday, it was packed. My husband and I liked the ghost-town feel earlier in the week, better than the large crowds of people on the weekend. If we ever stay again, we'll check in on a Sunday/Monday and leave on a Thursday, before crowds get there. We stayed at the Rio Mar Beach Resort, which is absolutely stunning. This resort is big and beautiful and romantic. It is as grand and gorgeous in person as it is on its website.

We were slightly discouraged by all of these extra charges, but didn't let that get us down. We checked in and were given the key to our room. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that the resort had upgraded us to an Ocean Front suite because we were honeymooners. Yes, a suite, instead of a regular room. They did this free of charge. Let me put it this way, our suite was about three times larger and more luxurious than a regular room. It would have cost us twice as much for the suite as it did for a regular room. We let the disappointment of the extra fees for the rental car and parking melt away.

Our balcony had gorgeous views of the pools, palm trees and the Atlantic Ocean. We woke up every morning and sat on the balcony, taking in the warm, salty air. It was magnificent, and so romantic.

We unpacked and took a tour of the resort, which was beautiful beyond words. We loved how warm it was outside, especially for September. The grounds were marvelously kept up and clean. The pools were sparkling and blue. And the best part? The iguanas all over the property. Some were as small as six inches, while others were around five feet long. But don't worry, they were totally harmless.

After walking the grounds, we went back to our suite to get ready for dinner. At the time, there were only a few restaurants within the resort, (there are a few more now) so we considered eating dinner there. We looked at the Welcome brochure that was provided for us, to look at descriptions of the restaurants, including menu and prices. We were excited to have a variety of places to choose from. We were shocked to see how expensive they all were. And when I say expensive, I mean expensive. One place had breakfast with prices as follows: For two eggs, bacon or sausage, toast and orange juice or coffee, it was a steep $17. We dined at a restaurant at the resort once, called Palio, and it cost us around $125. That included two glasses of house red wine, an appetizer and two dinners. If I'm not mistaken the $125 did not include the $20 tip we left our waiter, who was awesome. The food, was also awesome. It was probably the best meal I've ever eaten, it was that good. I ate a pasta dish with Italian sausage and my husband ordered a Filet mignon.

The rest of our meals were obtained outside of the resort. We dined at Chili's two or three times, an authentic Puerto Rican restaurant, visited local Burger King's and McDonalds, Subway once and the local grocery store four or five times.

The eating situation was less than ideal. We would rather have dined at our resort every day, for convenience, but it didn't work out that way, and it was fine. We ate just as good elsewhere, for much cheaper.Plus, we got to do sight-seeing on our quest for a meal.

Most of our days were spent lounging at our resort, either by the pool, Tiki Tiki (outdoor pub right on the beach), swimming in the ocean, jet-skiing (we rented a jet ski from a beach-front rental shop, also a part of the resort) traveling around the Rio Grande area by car and searching for fresh coconuts.

On our third day there, we went on a tour of El Yunque National Forest, a rainforest. Talk about breathtaking. We booked that tour online as well, and were so glad to have planned it in advance. We drove to the entrance, were picked up by a tour bus and then hiked all the way to the top of the mountain. We swam under waterfalls, got to see tarantula burrows and shopped in a gift shop. Oh, and halfway up the mountain, we ate at a little Puerto Rican mountainside restaurant. It was a wonderful excursion.

When our departing day came, we were not happy to leave. We could have stayed there forever. When we checked out, we were disappointed to be informed that we would be charged a $30 per day resort fee that wasn't covered by Orbitz. The resort manager (he's the one who checked us out) was not very pleasant in the way he "informed" us of how we should have checked that out before booking through a third party company. Eh, whatever, we thought. We paid yet another fee, not covered by the third-party company, and were on our merry way back home. We were not happy about all of the extra fees, which were expensive. We spent hundreds more than we anticipated, which put an unexpected hole in our honeymoon budget, but it was all worth it in the end. We got a great deal on the airfare/rental car/resort price we paid online. Even with all of the extra fees, we still got a better deal booking through Orbitz than booking through the resort, air port and rental car place separately.

We loved every moment of our Puerto Rican honeymoon, the good and the bad. Even though there are things we would do differently the next time around, we would stay in the Rio Mar Beach Resort again, and again, and again. It was stunning.

The advice I'd give to all honeymooners is to plan ahead and make sure you read all of the small print when you are making reservations. Make sure to call ahead and let the resort or hotel know that you are honeymooning, because more often than not, they will upgrade your room at no extra charge. Make sure that you let the airline you're flying with know that you're honeymooning, so they'll know to seat you next to each other. Make sure you know exactly what you're being charged for and ask if there will be any hidden fees, so you're not surprised when you reach your destination.

Also, dress light! We honeymooned in mid-September and it was HOT. I was thankful for all of my light sundresses. Even in the middle of the night, it is hot and humid.

And most importantly, HAVE FUN! Regardless of where you stay or what you're doing, enjoy yourselves and make the most of your honeymoon. For many, it is a once-in-a-lifetime trip, so make it memorable!