Back to Cruising - All-Inclusive Not For Me!

[elaineb]

I do realize that not all AI's are creating equal. And no, we didn't stay at a bottom of the barrel resort. The food was wonderful and the staff was attentive and service was very good. Because this was my son's wedding, we did not have much leisure time to go and explore the area. There was paperwork to sign and things to plan. However, we did charter a private catamaran for a snorkel excursion, but the seas whipped up and the sky was black and we had to abort. :(

I am not painting a picture of all AI's and saying that cruising is much better. I just think a cruise is a better fit for me. I have had skin cancer 2X, so lying around in the sun all day is quite a feat for me. I am always looking for shade and umbrellas and I am allergic to most sunscreens. On a cruise I can do a little beach time then off to shop or back on the ship for some activities. At an AI the activities are poolside which I can't spend much time at. I won't say I will never try an AI again, but this gave me a taste of it and I don't think it is a good fit.

A girl at work is an AI exclusive gal and she tried a cruise once and HATED it. She will not consider going ever again. So there are people for various reasons who love AI's and hate cruises and visa versa. That is what makes the world go round, I guess!

And yes, if our finances allowed, I would love to just go to a boutique hotel and do it our way.....A cruise seems to be the best value for us for what we like to do at this point.

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

It depends on the AI you choose too. We had our honeymoon at Sandals in Jamaica and it was wow across the board. There were scheduled beach volleyball games every day, we beach certified scuba and could have dove as much as we wanted that week (but my honey had problems with masks/pressure) so instead, we snorkeled as much as we wanted. I actually went out on my own at least once. We sailed in the personal catamaran sail boats, walked next door to Beaches and played pool volleyball with the singles over there, we went to a very night Italian restaurant, had no problem with the quality of drinks (they made them in front you, so no mystery low quality filler), there was a night time beach dance party, karaoke and plenty of hammocks and awesome pools etc. It also included our bus excursion to Dunns River Falls. Included tips, we even got a dish set and $250 to use on site, so we got couples massages, hair cut, souvenirs.

 

There was nothing wrong with that trip, but I really can't get my honey to book another all inclusive. We certainly weren't bored, but my guy likes to be on the go constantly. He loves cruising. Its just more his style. We liked it for our honeymoon because we could spend half a day sleeping in if we wanted and not miss a port adventure (unlike cruising, you are tied to a specific schedule or you miss out). Our package included airfare and everything. It was SO nice not to have to sign a paper receipt for EVERYTHING!

 

But we like cruising. So we have a Land & Sea WDW trip planned for our anniversary in May, yay! On the other hand, my sis got a few days at an AI in Mexico and was bored to death and said the drinks weren't good either. I think it does depend on which ones you go to...?

[elaineb]

Yes, TWM, I, like your husband, like to be on the go constantly! I guess the AI was too laid back for me. I want to go or be entertained from morning until I drop at night! We have also been known to open and close the parks at WDW with barely a break for lunch and dinner. :)

[psyllie]

I love cruises, and I love AI! I agree, it depends on which AI you choose. The resorts we prefer offer so much that we are never bored, and we never have enough time to do everything we thought we would do. We have always had very good drinks and very good food, with fun experiences like tepanyaki tables, brazilian churascaria (sp?) and GREAT steaks - none of which incur an upcharge. They also include a ton of "resort credits" that you can use for massages, facials, activities like swimming with dolphins, excursions to historical sites, all of which cost more on a cruise than the actual cost of our cabin. We are on the go way more with our AI vacations, and look at the cruise vacations as the more lazy and laid-back trips. Also, after cruising frequently, we've explored most of the ports (we travel east coast) and sometimes don't even get off the ship anymore. We've always enjoyed the shows with both venues, but are concerned over what we've been reading on the new Carnival offerings - we shall see on our upcoming cruise, and compare them to our AI trip that follows a month later lol.

[Cruizinman]

AI's for what it's worth tend to bore me after a few days. More than happy to do AI's for a day off a cruise ship .

[Midwestgal]

Land vacations and cruises are hard to compare since their just different .

For me it just depends on my mood but a cruise is the best way to see what places you want to go back to for a land vacation .

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

I want to go or be entertained from morning until I drop at night! We have also been known to open and close the parks at WDW with barely a break for lunch and dinner. :)

 

Sounds like we would be peas in a pod! Our last 2 different visits, we had single day hoppers (a gift) and did all four parks PLUS two parks twice in one day (AND one day had a full sit down dinner at the Contemporary! I will say EPCOT was just a dash in and on Spaceship Earth and head to dinner, but we still got it in! Stupid bus from Animal Kingdom took 8 decades to come....) Anyway, Love that place. If you see two blonde twins with Tiaras and mermaid shirts in May, be sure to wave hello! :D

Edited December 27, 2013 by TwinPrincessMermaids

[missouri mike]

All I can say is "One and Done"! We went with friends and had a good time, but, not a great time. Whoever was sailing that AI forgot to steer around the storms...lol. I was bored after the 2nd day, I can only sit, drink, and watch waves and rain for so long then I have to move. At night the place just died, never had that problem on a cruise...always something to do. If I don't want to do anything at all, there is plenty of that as well on a cruise.

[Lace]

We are the opposite.

 

We grew up going to AI's, and just rediscovered them when we started cruising.

 

After doing most runs, and many times repeating itineraries, we did spread out, but most new ports looked like the old ports.

 

For a third time, we rediscovered AI's, and now find them even more enjoyable, and certainly cheaper than a cruise, with everything pretty much still intact.

[kristy29]

I spent 10 days at an AI in Jamaica (Sandals) for my honeymoon 10 years ago. We loved it, and were never bored. They did have activities and shows. They had a contest with different teams and activities, like darts, they had a ping pong tournament, they had reggae dancing lessons, they had a casino night with table games and prizes, and it also included a trip to Dunn's River Falls, and we paid for two other excursions off the property, plus we went to their other resort down the road one day and DH golfed while I hung out on their beach. We were never bored, unless we wanted to be, which trust me, after the stress of a wedding, I definitely wanted to be sometimes! I mean, I love cruising, but AI's have their place. The reason I choose to cruise now is because of price, the AI's are much more expensive, especially when you include airfare, which we don't need when cruising out of Florida.

[elaineb]

The reason I choose to cruise now is because of price, the AI's are much more expensive, especially when you include airfare, which we don't need when cruising out of Florida.

 

Kristy - LOL, the AI's are a much cheaper option when you live in New England! We have to fly, no matter what. You can get good pricing on AI's which include airfare. Unfortunately, adding the airfare and alcohol onto the cruise fare really adds up. But we don't mind paying for what we want.

[Mommzie]

I've never been crazy about the AI's in Cancun. Then we did one to Punta Cana, DR last year and it was 10x more fun with more things to do than the ones in Cancun. Still a cruiser at heart, but planning another trip to the DR for May. Probably will never do another one to Cancun unless it's for our annual girls trip and the person whose turn it is to pick picks Cancun.

 

 

Where did you stay in Punta Cana?

[Blk_Amish]

I've never been crazy about the AI's in Cancun. Then we did one to Punta Cana, DR last year and it was 10x more fun with more things to do than the ones in Cancun. Still a cruiser at heart, but planning another trip to the DR for May. Probably will never do another one to Cancun unless it's for our annual girls trip and the person whose turn it is to pick picks Cancun.

 

Where did you stay? We have done Jamaica to many times and Mexico not far behind but was hoping to try DR. How was the food. I keep reading the food was not good from most who have done DR. I thought about trying an A/I in Cabo next. We have done a couple of cruises recently so time to move on to firmer ground.

Edited December 29, 2013 by Blk_Amish

[Sparky2]

Hi All -

We attended my son's wedding last month at an all-inclusive resort in Playa Del Carmen. The wedding was originally supposed to be on a cruise, but circumstances which I don't want to get into made us change plans on a dime and we booked the AI in Mexico instead. I am glad we did this because I wondered what I was missing. I can report that the answer is nothing! Give me a cruise any day! We had some rainy days leading up to the wedding and believe me, there was absolutely nothing to do. Nothing but the wedding plans to keep us occupied. When the weather turned nice (on the wedding day, thank God) we did do some water sports & spent some time at the pool. But I am not a drink and eat all day kind of gal. I like to go to trivia contests and dance lessons, Bingo, etc. At night the resort was dead - just a 3 pc. band in the lobby and very few people on folding chairs listening to them. I longingly though of the great nights at the piano bar on our last cruise.....So....I spent the day pricing cruises today and it looks as though we're in for a family cruise this summer with my brothers. YAY! Carnival we're coming back next summer - be ready for us!

 

Welcome back. I have not been to an AI, but I think I'd agree with your assessment of it. Love cruisin'.

[Laurin612]

We love cruising, but we also love AI resorts. We've stayed at AI resorts by Sandals, Wyndham, Renaissance, Radisson, Dreams, iberostar and Riu. AIs are good if you just want to chill out and relax. My family finds cruising to be hectic sometimes with all the excursions and needing to be at point A at X time. Depending on the chain/resort, sometimes there are very solid shows and activities. Some, nothing at all. I prefer for there to be some activities available. Riu was the best in this regard, in our experience.

 

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[deborahjo]

Why I cruise over AIs-

 

Get to the Port and hand over my luggage.

Get on the ship and go to my home for the next 7 days.

Walk around the ship and get to know the lay out.

Eat

Meet some really great People.

Go enjoy all the ship offers

Eat

Go to the show.

Kareoka?\

Go to bed and wake up in a different place. Or sea day.

Explore

Eat

Do all over again tomorrow.

 

At AI same place everyday. Nothing new to see.

[oncruisecontrol]

Hi All -

We attended my son's wedding last month at an all-inclusive resort in Playa Del Carmen. The wedding was originally supposed to be on a cruise, but circumstances which I don't want to get into made us change plans on a dime and we booked the AI in Mexico instead. I am glad we did this because I wondered what I was missing. I can report that the answer is nothing! Give me a cruise any day! We had some rainy days leading up to the wedding and believe me, there was absolutely nothing to do. Nothing but the wedding plans to keep us occupied. When the weather turned nice (on the wedding day, thank God) we did do some water sports & spent some time at the pool. But I am not a drink and eat all day kind of gal. I like to go to trivia contests and dance lessons, Bingo, etc. At night the resort was dead - just a 3 pc. band in the lobby and very few people on folding chairs listening to them. I longingly though of the great nights at the piano bar on our last cruise.....So....I spent the day pricing cruises today and it looks as though we're in for a family cruise this summer with my brothers. YAY! Carnival we're coming back next summer - be ready for us!

Thanks for this report. I have done several all-inclusives mostly in the early 2000's. I prefer cruising. One thing I will say though, is that when we did AI's in Mexico, we always went to Cancun so it didn't matter that nothing was going on in the hotel at night because there was always some club downtown that was hopping until the wee hours. Playa del Carmen is a sleepy little town so I can see why you were bored.

[elaineb]

Actually Playa is really growing and there were lots of shops & restaurants. But why pay when it was included at the resort? Also, safety & food/water safety is a concern for us. We did have some, to put it politely intestinal issues for 7 to 10 days after our return & we took every precaution even brushing with bottled water. On a cruise I have never worried about food or water issues. Another plus for cruising.

There is such a special feeling when you are on deck & the ship starts moving and you know a wonderful week on the sea is beginning. R

Edited December 30, 2013 by elaineb

[Blk_Amish]

Actually Playa is really growing and there were lots of shops & restaurants. But why pay when it was included at the resort? Also, safety & food/water safety is a concern for us. We did have some, to put it politely intestinal issues for 7 to 10 days after our return & we took every precaution even brushing with bottled water. On a cruise I have never worried about food or water issues. Another plus for cruising.

There is such a special feeling when you are on deck & the ship starts moving and you know a wonderful week on the sea is beginning. R

 

For the same reason you go to the Steakhouse. Some vacations regardless of type can suck, had it on land and sea. Hope my next cruise will be better than my last but it's right for the occasion.

Edited December 30, 2013 by Blk_Amish