Feel a bit sick at how much our one week trip cost

[smacke]

We had a one week trip over Christmas to Barbados. Never been away before at that time of year but for various reasons, DP and I wanted a week just us two.

We just finished paying our holiday credit card off and realise that on one week of food and reasonable excursions like museum tickets, we spent £2,000. We knew Barbados would be expensive and we didn’t eat out every day, but even mid range meals for two were coming back at £200+.

Our 7 night trip cost over £2,000 per person. Not staying anything luxury and flying economy!

Doesn’t sound too bad to me for a week tbh.

It doesn't seem too bad to be honest. It's a pricey destination and Christmas week is always a premium.

I went to St Lucia in 2024 (not Christmas but school summer hols). All inclusive but a nice resort. That was 12k for 4 of us for two weeks (including 4 excursions) so 4k for 2 people/1 week sounds comparable. If you want a nice holiday in the Caribbean that's what it costs. Most importantly, did you enjoy yourselves?

If you fancy winter sun again the Far East is much better value.

Barbados is not a low budget destination

Homework is a must before choosing a holiday. It's easier than ever to find out everything before you go.

I dunno.. we spent £4k on a week in Vegas for 2: flights, hotel and spending and we were delighted with that 🤷🏽‍♀️

We spent £3500 for a week at New Year in 2017 in Tenerife! So I would say it just costs that - probably more for Tenerife now!

Not cheap, but not that surprising either these days. Mind, I'm sure you could have dined well for less than £200+ a meal each ?!

I go to Barbados every year and that is about as cheap as you can make it, unless you ate in for absolutely every meal. It's an expensive place and you went peak season.

It's a lot of money but when we go to Greece for a week it's usually £3000.

Yeh …we spent 3k all in, for 6 nights in New York ….it is what it is

It will be expensive to go anywhere at Christmas. I think £2000 for the holiday is reasonable. £2000 on food is a lot but if you enjoyed it and can afford it then why not?

It sounds about right. We go to Barbados every February half term and budget around £500’a day for food for 4 of us. If you can afford it and enjoyed it don’t worry about it.

Well, you've done it now so just focus on your good memories, tighten your belts to pay off the credit cards and do more research next time! Any hot destination is going to be £££ at Christmas, even I know that.

What sort of restaurants were you at for £200+ per person? I know you said mid-range, but do you mind saying in what resort/location? Because my other half really wants to go to Barbados later in the year and that would definitely be way over our budget so we might need to rethink – though we're happy to stay in 2-3 star hotels/apartments as long as they're safe, clean and convenient.

Was it not 2k each plus spending?

We are been to Barbados lots, family of 5 and we don’t spend anything like that per person. We self catered for breakfast and lunch (or ate at beach bars) took snacks with us and drank a lot of mountgay which is pretty much their only non import.
when we ate out, we’d only have a main.

you let it cost that amount of money, which is fine-but it was your decision.

Check out sea view, large, very clean appartments and take as much food as you can as even food shopping is expensive (cereal, butter, part baked baguettes).

ive been about 5 times, it’s lovely and yes it is expensive if you let it be x

In sure it was worth it OP, great memories I'm sure for future Christmases

Did you enjoy it? Can you afford it? Would you do it again?

Dh and I just took an 8 day trip to the Caribbean (beginning of December). All in I think we spent about 7K. We enjoyed it and could afford it but wouldn’t do it again. The hotel was ‘luxurious’ but lacking for us. Just not our kind of vibe. Do I regret it? Not really, it was a lot of money but we always put a bit to one side for a holiday each year just for us, without the kids and we enjoyed the time with each other, the relaxing and the weather.

Holidays for us are all about experiencing new places, trying new food and getting a bit out of our comfort zone on trips. Enjoyable and a bit exhilarating. Having fun,
The money is incidental if you have it to spare. You can always earn more money.

Thank you, that's very helpful!

Tbh I think 2k for a week in Barbados over Xmas for flights and accommodation is really cheap? Is that for two? You've got to get all the way to Barbados and back!

Yes maybe you overspent on meals out and excursions but that's what I would expect a week in the carribean across Christmas to cost.

It’s not my neck of the woods at all but £4k for a week’s holiday over Christmas doesn’t sound unreasonable. It probably is a bit unusual to double up the overall cost with your living expenses, but I can see how it could happen with SC (or Center Parcs for that matter 🤪)

I've just booked for 2 weeks in Barbados next January. I knew it was expensive so have opted for All Inclusive which is far removed from my usual holiday choice and I hope I don't regret it.

I usually go to the likes of Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, India etc at this time of year which are very budget friendly and offer lots of choice but I fancied a change and my husband has never been to the Caribbean.

I'm still not sure I've made the right decision but I wanted a shorter flight and like trying new places.

£300 a day for food, drinks getting around & going out on trips doesn't seem unreasonable if you had a great time!

I can easily see how it would be easy to not realize how much you are spending at the time.

That’s a bargain for Barbados. We are going in feb, as we do every year. I’m not even going to admit the cost.

Barbados is beautiful but in all honesty the couple of times we have gone All Inclusive we have eaten out every night as standards were not great. This is 5 star West Coast resorts. It really was an expensive mistake twice.