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$7.95 Room Service Charge

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rimmit Great Review Rare

rimmit

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So originally my wife and I were planning on taking a kid free(for the first time ever) cruise in July on RCI, which is our long preferred cruise line, however, after the room service fee we decided to take our money elsewhere. We decided on an all inclusive resort in Cancun, Mexico named Secrets The Vine. The following is my comparison of the resort in comparison to a RCI cruise. I have been on all classes of RCI ships currently in service except the Empress and Oasis just as a basic background. I have never been to an all inclusive resort, but have been all major American Cruise Lines and some expedition ships as well. I have never been on MSC, Costa, or any luxury cruise lines.

 

I apologize for the length but wanted to be as thorough as possible.

 

Cost: The total cost of our Secrets The Vine for 6 nights accommodation July 23-29th in a Preferred Club Junior Suite Ocean View Room that is 712 Sq Ft with Balcony including Air Fare, Transfers, Bag Fees, Gratuities (which were automatically included in the price of our trip as is standard for all inclusives), Food (Including Room Service 24/7), and Alcoholic Beverages was 3127 or 521 per night. The "Get In the Door" for the resort which would have gotten us all of the above in the 400 Sq Ft. room with a balcony was 2812. Keep in mind there are no specialty restaurants here, and this is a five star Luxury resort currently rated #5 out of 175 hotels in Cancun. In full disclosure, I have never purchased a beverage package or been to a specialty restaurant.

 

In Comparison, the Liberty of the Seas for the same week for 7 nights for an inside stateroom guarantee at the time I started booking was $1744. Roundtrip Airfare with Luggage fees for 1 luggage and transfer from IAH to Galveston was $620. Gratuities for 2 for 7 days of $189. So a total of $2553 or $360/night total to "Get on the Boat." This does not include a beverage package or specialty restaurants. For a D1 Balcony with sq ft of 199 the price was $2435 or $3244 total after airfare and gratuties. This equates to $463 per night and this is without a beverage package.

 

So in summary, the "Get onto the Resort" price for a Secrets The Vine, a 5 star Adult Only All Inclusive Resort was

$468/day and the a Two Class Upgrade room from getting in the door was a total of $521/night. This upgrade would be about the equivalent of going from a Inside Guarantee to a D1.

 

The IG on the Liberty was $360/night and for a D1 was $463/night.

 

The "Get in the Door" price is a $108/day difference between a Luxury Five Star Resort and the Freedom of the Seas. It levels off fast, in that if you want a D1 it is $463/day and to get in the door of a Luxury five Star Resort it is $468 or a 5 dollar per day difference. This is the difference between a 400 Sq Ft room vs a 150 Sq Ft. inside guarantee. If you upgrade to an even more impressive room and access to the preferred club(VIP area for the resort) the difference is $58 dollars. However, now you have a 700 sq ft. Room.

 

In short, it is cheaper to just "Get on the Boat" than just "Get in the Door" of an All Inclusive, however, this was a Luxury resort, and had we picked a cheaper resort, the "Get in the door" would have been equivalent if not cheaper than the cruise.

 

Accommodations: We stayed in room 2539, a Preferred Club Honeymoon Ocean View Suite. We were originally booked in a Preferred Club Junior Suite Ocean View, but without asking, they upgraded us to a corner Honeymoon suite. This room was spotless, modern and just flat out amazing. The room itself is a master class in lighting architecture. It was beautifully lit with dimmer controls which controlled a total if eight different zones throughout the room. The minibar was stocked with tequila, rum, and scotch, m&ms, pringles, and a variety of beverages such as beer, coke, diet coke, etc. It was refreshed daily or whenever we asked. The mini bar was included in the price. The room had a beautiful tub in the middle of the room, and a balcony good for 20-30 people. It was massive. Approximately 770 sq ft, with a balcony bigger than anything cruise ship, outside of maybe the largest of suites.

 

Compared to an Inside Stateroom or D1 Balcony, this room absolutely crushed it. Even if we had had our original room, at 700 sq ft. less than the upgraded room of 770 sq ft. It would have crushed a D1.

 

Service: The resort is top notch. Despite the fact that gratuities are included and they do not expect any additional gratuity, the staff truly goes above and beyond in making sure you are satisfied. When you check in they give you a cold cloth and a glass of champagne. The drinks come fast and furious. The poolside waiters in the preferred pool area were amazing. Despite the 105 degree heat index, and them dripping in sweat, they always smiled, and asked if we wanted a drink any time we even remotely came low on our beverages. They were work horses. Despite gratuities being included I did tip them extra at the end because they were just so amazing. At the preferred pool (pool for those with preferred access) when you check in, the pool butler sets up your chair, and brings an ice bucket with water in which they continually refresh the ice daily. The preferred pool is much quieter than the pools on the main level, playing spa music. You can order food from your chair. We used the 3 main pools sparingly, but based on our experience there, they were just as fast and efficient and happy as the ones in the preferred pool.

 

Compared to RCI, the service is on par with the "olden days" of cruising. In all honesty, maybe even a smudge better. They tried SOO hard to make sure you were happy. EVERY SINGLE EMPLOYEE I met on an elevator asked how my day was and what they could do to improve our stay. I think they must have had training on what to do in an elevator with a guest. They never looked overworked like the cruise staff. Unlike on a cruise where ever since the beverage packages came about and all the pool staff and dining and bar waiters seem to avoid offering drinks, they nearly force feed you drinks. The moment you had a 1/4 left a new one arrived as if on autopilot.

 

Food: I am not a foodie and in all honesty prefer McDonalds hotdogs and hamburgers. That being said, the food was amazing. The buffet was not quite to my liking as it was super fancy, and in all honesty, I prefer Windjammer to the buffet at the resort due to the fact that Windjammer is a little lower quality. Their were 6 different restaurants and none of the them cost extra. There were no reservations required and no set seating times. Each had a different theme, from Asian, Italian, Grill/seafood, Peruvian, etc. Among the dishes that had some overlap with RCI, I did believe the Braised Short Ribs were slightly better on RCI, but overall nearly all the other dishes were better at Secrets The Vine. There was a 24/7 cafe that was the equivalent of Sorrento's/Cafe Promenade that served Pretzels, finger sandwiches, deserts, etc. In terms of comfort food, Sorrento's/Cafe' Promenade is better, if not just because after many drinks you just want some pizza. However, there was 24/7 room service that did not cost extra that had an extensive menu too long to list. Needless to say it ranged from pizza, burgers, ribs, salads, sandwiches, soup, deserts, cold and warm beverages including alcoholic ones. The cookies are Notably better on RCI, and this is the one area where I sorely missed RCI. I love me some cookies, and the cookies here were miserable.

 

Overall, the presentation of the food was spectacular and the service was unbelievable. The waiters truly wanted you to be happy. We never waited for a restaurant, but we ate between 6:30-7:45 all nights. I think the waits start at 8:00PM. The waiters despite likely never seeing you again smile continuously and actually take time to chat with you about your day. Much like in the "olden days" of cruising.

 

Entertainment: This is the one area that RCI CRUSHES this place. No competition. The entertainment was marginal at best. I haven't been to any other all inclusive resorts and from what I hear there are some pretty good acts and shows at other resorts, but for Secrets The Vine, compared to a cruise ship, even the worst cruise ship entertainment is better than the best entertainment here. That being said, there was some entertainment, and quite honestly, if you are considering this resort, you weren't likely going for the entertainment. You are going for a luxury relaxing experience, which this resort provides in spades. There were a couple singers, a mentalist (who was actually quite impressive and the best thing we saw) and some live music. There was also an aquatic show, and light show which was somewhat sub par. A baton twirler in a local marching band could do just as well as the light show.

 

The daytime entertainment consisted of primarily beach games, blackjack and texas holdem. There was no trivia, which I love and was super disappointed. There was no music trivia or name that tune. The Pilates, Yoga and Spin classes were included, however which compared to RCI was really nice.

 

Final Impressions: It truly was all Inclusive. We spent 37 dollars on a hat and that was it while on the property. We also gave some tips on the last 3 days to people just because they were working so hard, we felt the need to reward them, but it was NEVER expected, and they are super gracious when we did. I honestly don't know how you could spend money on the property other than the spa, or an upgraded bottle of wine. All the restaurants are included.

 

In general this was a top notch vacation. 5/5. The entertainment was marginal, Food was spectacular, and the service and accommodations have only been beat by a handful of hotels in my life which cost double the cost of this place.

 

The place just felt so much more luxurious than RCI. We will still cruise as we like the destinations, and changing scenery. For Europe, Australia, or any cruise that is port heavy in which sight seeing is involved, cruising is still the most efficient way to go. However, these days, going to the Caribbean is really more about the ship than it is the destinations. One can only go to Nassau and Grand Cayman so many times. In that case, an all inclusive definitely becomes a value proposition. For minimally more than the a "Get on the Boat" price of a D1 balcony, one can go to an all inclusive resort, be totally pampered and have drinks included. It truly was an all inclusive price as everything was included in the quoted price that I booked, and I never spent another dime except for some minor tips at the end. A cruise is still a cheaper option if you only get an inside guarantee and spending nothing, however, one could also get a cheaper all inclusive resort with a much cheaper "Get in the Door" price.

 

What's sad is I never would have even considered this vacation if not for the room service fee, but once you nickel and dime someone enough you start to look at other options. RCI will always fill their ships as they are changing there demographics, however, if they aren't careful, they can slowly chip away at their loyal fanbase. While we will cruise RCI at some point in the future, it is no longer the only option, and after discovering the world of all inclusives, we are even expanding our horizon outside of cruising.

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CRUISEFAN0001

CRUISEFAN0001

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Posted
Thank-you very much for the detailed comparison of the land-based resort vs a cruise. You've got me seriously considering it now.:)

Then again...no mention of the Cancun crime rate against tourists was mentioned.

 

Also, comparing a cruise with a land vacation is like apples to pineapples...entirely different experiences.

 

As most of us know...the $7.95 original topic issue is pretty much a big joke...it would never make or break someone going on a cruise.

 

ygqVx.gif

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grapau27

grapau27

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So originally my wife and I were planning on taking a kid free(for the first time ever) cruise in July on RCI, which is our long preferred cruise line, however, after the room service fee we decided to take our money elsewhere. We decided on an all inclusive resort in Cancun, Mexico named Secrets The Vine. The following is my comparison of the resort in comparison to a RCI cruise. I have been on all classes of RCI ships currently in service except the Empress and Oasis just as a basic background. I have never been to an all inclusive resort, but have been all major American Cruise Lines and some expedition ships as well. I have never been on MSC, Costa, or any luxury cruise lines.

 

I apologize for the length but wanted to be as thorough as possible.

 

Cost: The total cost of our Secrets The Vine for 6 nights accommodation July 23-29th in a Preferred Club Junior Suite Ocean View Room that is 712 Sq Ft with Balcony including Air Fare, Transfers, Bag Fees, Gratuities (which were automatically included in the price of our trip as is standard for all inclusives), Food (Including Room Service 24/7), and Alcoholic Beverages was 3127 or 521 per night. The "Get In the Door" for the resort which would have gotten us all of the above in the 400 Sq Ft. room with a balcony was 2812. Keep in mind there are no specialty restaurants here, and this is a five star Luxury resort currently rated #5 out of 175 hotels in Cancun. In full disclosure, I have never purchased a beverage package or been to a specialty restaurant.

 

In Comparison, the Liberty of the Seas for the same week for 7 nights for an inside stateroom guarantee at the time I started booking was $1744. Roundtrip Airfare with Luggage fees for 1 luggage and transfer from IAH to Galveston was $620. Gratuities for 2 for 7 days of $189. So a total of $2553 or $360/night total to "Get on the Boat." This does not include a beverage package or specialty restaurants. For a D1 Balcony with sq ft of 199 the price was $2435 or $3244 total after airfare and gratuties. This equates to $463 per night and this is without a beverage package.

 

So in summary, the "Get onto the Resort" price for a Secrets The Vine, a 5 star Adult Only All Inclusive Resort was

$468/day and the a Two Class Upgrade room from getting in the door was a total of $521/night. This upgrade would be about the equivalent of going from a Inside Guarantee to a D1.

 

The IG on the Liberty was $360/night and for a D1 was $463/night.

 

The "Get in the Door" price is a $108/day difference between a Luxury Five Star Resort and the Freedom of the Seas. It levels off fast, in that if you want a D1 it is $463/day and to get in the door of a Luxury five Star Resort it is $468 or a 5 dollar per day difference. This is the difference between a 400 Sq Ft room vs a 150 Sq Ft. inside guarantee. If you upgrade to an even more impressive room and access to the preferred club(VIP area for the resort) the difference is $58 dollars. However, now you have a 700 sq ft. Room.

 

In short, it is cheaper to just "Get on the Boat" than just "Get in the Door" of an All Inclusive, however, this was a Luxury resort, and had we picked a cheaper resort, the "Get in the door" would have been equivalent if not cheaper than the cruise.

 

Accommodations: We stayed in room 2539, a Preferred Club Honeymoon Ocean View Suite. We were originally booked in a Preferred Club Junior Suite Ocean View, but without asking, they upgraded us to a corner Honeymoon suite. This room was spotless, modern and just flat out amazing. The room itself is a master class in lighting architecture. It was beautifully lit with dimmer controls which controlled a total if eight different zones throughout the room. The minibar was stocked with tequila, rum, and scotch, m&ms, pringles, and a variety of beverages such as beer, coke, diet coke, etc. It was refreshed daily or whenever we asked. The mini bar was included in the price. The room had a beautiful tub in the middle of the room, and a balcony good for 20-30 people. It was massive. Approximately 770 sq ft, with a balcony bigger than anything cruise ship, outside of maybe the largest of suites.

 

Compared to an Inside Stateroom or D1 Balcony, this room absolutely crushed it. Even if we had had our original room, at 700 sq ft. less than the upgraded room of 770 sq ft. It would have crushed a D1.

 

Service: The resort is top notch. Despite the fact that gratuities are included and they do not expect any additional gratuity, the staff truly goes above and beyond in making sure you are satisfied. When you check in they give you a cold cloth and a glass of champagne. The drinks come fast and furious. The poolside waiters in the preferred pool area were amazing. Despite the 105 degree heat index, and them dripping in sweat, they always smiled, and asked if we wanted a drink any time we even remotely came low on our beverages. They were work horses. Despite gratuities being included I did tip them extra at the end because they were just so amazing. At the preferred pool (pool for those with preferred access) when you check in, the pool butler sets up your chair, and brings an ice bucket with water in which they continually refresh the ice daily. The preferred pool is much quieter than the pools on the main level, playing spa music. You can order food from your chair. We used the 3 main pools sparingly, but based on our experience there, they were just as fast and efficient and happy as the ones in the preferred pool.

 

Compared to RCI, the service is on par with the "olden days" of cruising. In all honesty, maybe even a smudge better. They tried SOO hard to make sure you were happy. EVERY SINGLE EMPLOYEE I met on an elevator asked how my day was and what they could do to improve our stay. I think they must have had training on what to do in an elevator with a guest. They never looked overworked like the cruise staff. Unlike on a cruise where ever since the beverage packages came about and all the pool staff and dining and bar waiters seem to avoid offering drinks, they nearly force feed you drinks. The moment you had a 1/4 left a new one arrived as if on autopilot.

 

Food: I am not a foodie and in all honesty prefer McDonalds hotdogs and hamburgers. That being said, the food was amazing. The buffet was not quite to my liking as it was super fancy, and in all honesty, I prefer Windjammer to the buffet at the resort due to the fact that Windjammer is a little lower quality. Their were 6 different restaurants and none of the them cost extra. There were no reservations required and no set seating times. Each had a different theme, from Asian, Italian, Grill/seafood, Peruvian, etc. Among the dishes that had some overlap with RCI, I did believe the Braised Short Ribs were slightly better on RCI, but overall nearly all the other dishes were better at Secrets The Vine. There was a 24/7 cafe that was the equivalent of Sorrento's/Cafe Promenade that served Pretzels, finger sandwiches, deserts, etc. In terms of comfort food, Sorrento's/Cafe' Promenade is better, if not just because after many drinks you just want some pizza. However, there was 24/7 room service that did not cost extra that had an extensive menu too long to list. Needless to say it ranged from pizza, burgers, ribs, salads, sandwiches, soup, deserts, cold and warm beverages including alcoholic ones. The cookies are Notably better on RCI, and this is the one area where I sorely missed RCI. I love me some cookies, and the cookies here were miserable.

 

Overall, the presentation of the food was spectacular and the service was unbelievable. The waiters truly wanted you to be happy. We never waited for a restaurant, but we ate between 6:30-7:45 all nights. I think the waits start at 8:00PM. The waiters despite likely never seeing you again smile continuously and actually take time to chat with you about your day. Much like in the "olden days" of cruising.

 

Entertainment: This is the one area that RCI CRUSHES this place. No competition. The entertainment was marginal at best. I haven't been to any other all inclusive resorts and from what I hear there are some pretty good acts and shows at other resorts, but for Secrets The Vine, compared to a cruise ship, even the worst cruise ship entertainment is better than the best entertainment here. That being said, there was some entertainment, and quite honestly, if you are considering this resort, you weren't likely going for the entertainment. You are going for a luxury relaxing experience, which this resort provides in spades. There were a couple singers, a mentalist (who was actually quite impressive and the best thing we saw) and some live music. There was also an aquatic show, and light show which was somewhat sub par. A baton twirler in a local marching band could do just as well as the light show.

 

The daytime entertainment consisted of primarily beach games, blackjack and texas holdem. There was no trivia, which I love and was super disappointed. There was no music trivia or name that tune. The Pilates, Yoga and Spin classes were included, however which compared to RCI was really nice.

 

Final Impressions: It truly was all Inclusive. We spent 37 dollars on a hat and that was it while on the property. We also gave some tips on the last 3 days to people just because they were working so hard, we felt the need to reward them, but it was NEVER expected, and they are super gracious when we did. I honestly don't know how you could spend money on the property other than the spa, or an upgraded bottle of wine. All the restaurants are included.

 

In general this was a top notch vacation. 5/5. The entertainment was marginal, Food was spectacular, and the service and accommodations have only been beat by a handful of hotels in my life which cost double the cost of this place.

 

The place just felt so much more luxurious than RCI. We will still cruise as we like the destinations, and changing scenery. For Europe, Australia, or any cruise that is port heavy in which sight seeing is involved, cruising is still the most efficient way to go. However, these days, going to the Caribbean is really more about the ship than it is the destinations. One can only go to Nassau and Grand Cayman so many times. In that case, an all inclusive definitely becomes a value proposition. For minimally more than the a "Get on the Boat" price of a D1 balcony, one can go to an all inclusive resort, be totally pampered and have drinks included. It truly was an all inclusive price as everything was included in the quoted price that I booked, and I never spent another dime except for some minor tips at the end. A cruise is still a cheaper option if you only get an inside guarantee and spending nothing, however, one could also get a cheaper all inclusive resort with a much cheaper "Get in the Door" price.

 

What's sad is I never would have even considered this vacation if not for the room service fee, but once you nickel and dime someone enough you start to look at other options. RCI will always fill their ships as they are changing there demographics, however, if they aren't careful, they can slowly chip away at their loyal fanbase. While we will cruise RCI at some point in the future, it is no longer the only option, and after discovering the world of all inclusives, we are even expanding our horizon outside of cruising.

Wow this was looking outside the box in a big way and your review composition and comparison made compulsive reading.

We cruise predominantly around Europe but the last couple of years we have started doing more land based quality holidays again because like you i feel the WOW factor is missing.

 

Sent from my Kestrel using Forums mobile app

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The_Big_M

The_Big_M

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Wow this was looking outside the box in a big way and your review composition and comparison made compulsive reading.

We cruise predominantly around Europe but the last couple of years we have started doing more land based quality holidays again because like you i feel the WOW factor is missing.

 

True. And if just going away for a relaxing vacation as many do (instead of sightseeing new destinations), the purpose is very similar between land and cruise.

 

Good to read a review and see that the grass hasn't been shorn so much its brown with land competition.

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travelplus

travelplus

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In the time it takes for the room service I can go up to the Windjammer and eat 3 plates of food or afternoon scones. Especially in an inside or Oceanview Cabin

If I were to pay $7.95 I would order 3 of every item to make it worth it.

 

Well I am one who enjoys the outdoor Windjammer seating on the Radiance Class ships for a sunrise breakfast or sunset dinner. I only ordered Room Service once on Royal but never again the bloody food was cold.

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bigque

bigque

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Posted

 

Also, comparing a cruise with a land vacation is like apples to pineapples...entirely different experiences.

 

 

I agree. We spent a week at a land based resort for a week once and by the end of that week we were ready to go. We just did not like being in the same place everyday. IMO everything is not always about cost but about what you enjoy doing more and for us we like to go on cruises. :cool:

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