What a celebration trip costs, and why we quote it

A private 14-day honeymoon can be built on a good five-star city hotel and a sea-view room at a resort, or on suites and a private pool villa. Same route, same guides, same car — and a total that can differ by several times. A single “from” figure on the page would either be too low to be true for most couples, or too high to be useful for the rest.

So every route on this site shows “On request”. When you send the form with your dates, party size and hotel level, we reply with a quote for that exact trip, broken down so you can see where the money goes.

1. The beach accommodation. On most of our routes the last four to six nights are in a single resort or villa. Moving from a room to a private pool villa is usually the largest single change in the quote.
2. The month. The Lunar New Year (late January or February) and the European and North American winter holidays are the busiest periods for hotels and domestic flights in Vietnam. The same trip in a shoulder month costs less, and the weather calendar decides which shoulder months are worth it.
3. The boat. Overnight boats in the bays range from large ships with dozens of cabins to small boats with a handful. A balcony cabin on a small boat is a different product from an inside cabin on a large one.
4. Party size. Car, guide and private boats are shared costs. For four friends the per-person share of those items is roughly half what it is for a couple; hotel rooms do not change per person.
5. Internal flights. One flight added or removed changes more than the fare: it changes a transfer, a waiting time and sometimes a night.
6. The celebration itself. A dinner on the sand with a set menu, flowers and a cake is a real line, but rarely a large one compared with the hotels.

• International flights. You will usually find better fares and keep your airline miles by booking them yourself. We plan the trip around the times you land and leave.
• Travel insurance. It has to match your health, your home country and the value of the trip. We are not the right people to sell it, but we ask for the policy details before travel.
• Visa fees. They are paid by you to each government through its official portal (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos each run one), and depend on your passport.
• Tips. Customary, not compulsory. We give you a written guide to what is usual for guides, drivers and boat crew so nobody has to guess on the day.
• Most meals. Breakfast is included; lunches and dinners are only where the itinerary says so, plus the celebration dinner. A honeymoon is a poor trip to spend eating set meals chosen months in advance.