# Travel Destinations > Caribbean >  South Vacation over Christmas with Small Group?

## lifeonlake

Hi,I'm trying to orchestrate a vacation somewhere warm this Christmas (we are inflexible with our dates, and must leave Dec. 26th :s, which I know is a pricier time) with a group of friends.  I'm wondering what the best way to do this is.  The group is too small to get a group quote (most places do this for 10 or more people), and I don't want to be the money handler for everyone (I want each couple pay for their own, so I don't have to pay on their behalf), but I'm worried if we don't all book under one reservation, we may run into availability problems, or prices changing on us.I'm also trying to figure out the best place to go.  I'd love to find something around $1000 / person, but it doesn't look like we'll be able to get anywhere decent for that price (don't need a fancy place, but I don't want to starve on my vacation because of terrible food), so I'm aiming for around $1300/person, do you think this is reasonable?  Also, I see Varadero being very cheap, but I'm worried that may be a gamble with the weather.  So I'm leaning to trying for the south side of Dominican Republic.  Any thoughts?At this point I'm wondering if I should just go see a travel agent to try and work this all out.  It may be easier to let them book the whole party and then take our payments separately.  What are your thoughts on:1) How to work out booking/payments2) Location (Dominican, or take our chances with Cuba?)3) Star ratings (eg: In Dominican is 3 star going to be enough, or should we stick to 4 star or higher, and cuba I'm assuming no lower than 4 star)4) When's the best time to find deals?  Am I going to find < $1300 at a 4 star in dominican for 6 people yet?  I've been looking at various travel sites and that seems to be a decent price right now.Thanks!

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