Pauline Frommer's Affordable Vacation Ideas

MYFOXNY.COM - Pauline Frommer is the creator of the Pauline Frommer's Travel Guides, the award-winning guidebook series aimed at adult budget travelers. She came to Good Day New York to help you plan an affordable vacation.

Pauline Frommer's New York City was named best guidebook of the year in the 2008 North American Travel Journalists Association awards.

She is the founding editor of frommers.com and her byline has appeared on hundreds of articles for Budget Travel, Marie Claire, the Dallas Morning News, and MSN.com.

Currently, she hosts a nationally syndicated radio show on travel and appears weekly on CNN.com. In addition, she has appeared on Live with Regis and Kelly, 20/20, the Today Show, the Early Show, the CBS Evening News, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and just about every local news station you can name.

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CARNIVAL CRUISES

You'll get the best deals on cruises for the months of February and March by flying to Florida. Those leaving from the NYC ports are pretty well-booked, not discounting that much, and are generally longer than 5 days (since it takes some time to cruise down the east coast to the Bahamas. But prices for cruises are so low, that even with airfare to FL added in you can have that vacation for under $500!

Examples: Carnival's Feb. 6 sailing of the Fascination from Jacksonville, Fla.: $299 for 5 nights. Airfare from NYC: $199. Carnival's Feb. 20 sailing from New Orleans for $309; airfare for $249 (so you're a hair over).

And there are MANY more options if you drop into the 4-night cruises (which is really 5 days), which come in at under$500 with airfare and cruise combined.

CANCUN

From BookIt.com, I found a $497 five-night package which included airfare, and 5 nights at the Radisson hotel Hacienda (the compromise here is that the hotel is in downtown Cancun, so it has a pool, but to reach the beach, you'll have to take the hotel's shuttle. But hey, the shuttle's free. And downtown Cancun actually has more authentic and more affordable eating options than the Hotel Zone does.

Cheapest beachfront I found was from Expedia: The Flamingo Cancun. With air from NYC and 5 nights it was $448.

LAS VEGAS

OK, it will be a bit chilly at night, but temperate during the day. And such a good bargain right now. Here's how your costs for 5 nights would break down: Round-trip air: About $250. 5 Nights Hotel: From $18 a night off-Strip, or $25 a night on-Strip. So your 5-night total, not counting what you lose at the craps tables: between $350 and $400 for the basics.

EVERGLADE NATIONAL PARK: CAMPING/OUTDOOR

Or if you're a more outdoorsy type, how about camping out in a national park? Everglades is the largest sub-tropical wilderness in the U.S. and a very beautiful place to explore. You can fly into Fort Myers for $189 round-trip on JetBlue, camping fees are $14 a night. So this vacation could cost as little as $259 if you have camping gear you can bring (perhaps add another $50 for the baggage fee on that).