Cruise or AI Resort with kids?

[scoutdog]

I posted this question on a Mexico vacation board (mostly AI's), so it will be interesting to see how the opinions differ on here:

 

Any advice on choosing between a cruise or All-Inclusive resort in Mexico or Jamaica with a 2-1/2 and 5 year old?

[crusinmama06]

My TA keeps TRYING to talk me into an AI. I just won't do it. Here's why. On a cruise, you wake up every morning in a different country. You could see Mexico AND Jamaica on one cruise instead of being stuck at one or the other for the week.

 

The kids clubs on cruise ships are the BEST.

 

You have everything you need on that ship and you have chances to do excursions that you may not be able to do at an AI.

 

And the final reason is price. I am usually not one to worry about price. But when I see that I can pay one price for an AI or pay the SAME price for a suite on a cruise ship...you'll see me pick the cruise ship everytime. :D

 

Edited to say...

I'll even add another one. Look what's going on RIGHT now. The weather (tropical storms/hurricanes) are heading toward Western Carib. If you were stuck on one of those islands...what would you do? You couldn't do anything but bring an umbrella. Those are cruise ships will be diverted away from the storms :)

[Eclipsepearl]

We used to be AI fans, especially Club Med but we just did our first cruise and think it's a better option.

 

Club Med has fantastic kids' clubs but the cruise came pretty darned close. Now I'm comparing Celebrity with CM so other cruise companies might have even better clubs. My children loved both and the differences were minimal.

 

If you're a big beach fan, you might prefer the AI. I'm not and the whole sun and sand thing tricky with little ones. But we actually were in the Med and never touched a beach. Might be a different story in the Caribbean...

 

Also, it depends on if you are leaning more towards getting out and seeing things or relaxing. I get a little itchy on AI's, even Club Med (the best of the bunch IMHO) since hanging out on loungers drives me batty. The cruise was much better for me, heading out the door with camera and comfortable shoes for walking, while it also allowed my workaholic dh to simply lounge by the pool. I've been to almost 60 countries and had my first child at 35 so I tend to get cabin fevor quickly. He travels with his work so he was happy as a clam, sitting by the pool, not moving an inch and having the scenery change around him. Yet we could still spend time together in the evening.

 

I felt also that it was less crowded on the ship than at the AI. Doesn't sound logical but you actually can roam like crazy all over the ship and there's always a table or a quiet spot. Too many people on one deck? Just climb up a level while on the AI, there were people around all the time without any break. My dh complained that he couldn't find a lounger when we were at sea but on our port-intensive cruise, he had the whole place to himself when we were docked.

 

My only warning is that your youngest is 2 1/2. Only a few cruise companies take care of under-3's. We waited specifically till our youngest was 3 so that we'd have more choice. I will admit that this is a very active child who is difficult to take places. Leaving the house means I never relax, am constantly disaplining her and watching that she isn't getting into trouble. A calmer child might do just fine without the clubs but if I had gone a year earlier, I would never have been able to see anything on shore, or very little with her in tow.

 

This, of course, would be solved by your picking a cruise line that does watch the smaller ones. You have more choice of companies in the Caribbean. The 3 year age minimum really limited us in the Med, plus other considerations we had for our trip (had to be August, starting ports, etc.) Get the details on how it works, changing diapers, babysitting etc. Start another thread on the subject here when you have specific questions or look through the old threads.

 

Have fun researching!

[Ellanora]

Funny, I just posted in a similar thread yesterday. Here is what I posted before. I'd be happy to answer any questions:

 

 

In Sept 2005, I took my son (8 years old) to Beaches Negril, a family all-inclusive in Jamaica for 4 nights. In Sept 2006, I took my son (now 9) for a 4 night cruise on the Sensation. We LOVED both vacations, but felt that Beaches was just a smidge better than the cruise, but not by much. However, that may have to do with the novelty of the all inclusive - it was just so different from anything we had ever done, and so wonderful. We have more cruises planned, but they are much cheaper to budget for. We are hoping to make another trip to Beaches within a couple years.

 

Food - the buffet at Beaches gets the nod over Carnival - more varied and better tasting overall. However, for sit down dining, Carnival wins hands down. Either way, there was plenty of good food in both places.

 

Rooms - totally depends on the type you book. Obviously a balcony cabin beats a standard resort room anytime, but we had a suite with a stocked refrigerator that was refilled every day (no extra charges) and concierge service which provided large bottles of many types of alcohol in your room, also no charge. The room was beautiful, with a balcony. It would be hard to beat unless you got the highest level categories on a ship.

 

Pools - Beaches is outstanding in this area; a huge main pool with a swim up bar, a family pool, a not-so-lazy river, waterslides and many huge hottubs/whirlpools. The swim up bars have tons of nonalcoholic frozen drinks available, and my son had a ball ordering them all while floating in the pool, and made great friends with the bartender.

 

Entertainment - Carnival probably wins here; some of the nightly entertainment at Beaches was rather cheesy, yet a lot of it was very fun, fireeaters, dancers, family-friendly battle of the sexes, etc. For nightclub-type entertainment, you would probably have to leave the resort to find the nightlife.

 

The Beach - so far, I have not been to a more beautiful beach than Negril. However, I have a trip coming up to Half Moon Cay, so I may have to revise that. :p However, for 24 hour access to a gorgeous beach, this place is awesome.

 

Kids Club/Camp - This is probably a draw, both have the usual scavenger hunts, pool activities, etc. Beaches has the advantage in that the XBoX room with many, many games is free, while the video arcade on board costs extra. I think Beaches also had more organized activities for the teens. My son enjoyed both, but had more excitement at Beaches.

 

At any rate, both options make for great vacations.

[PHXscuba]

We did an AI in Jamaica last year with our four kids and really liked it. We are waiting to do a family cruise until our youngest (2 now) is old enough to happily go to the kids' programs. DH and I have been on 2 cruises.

 

Pros for AI:

Not getting nickel-and dimed

Free liquor

Relaxing

Mostly free watersports

Bigger rooms

See one area in-depth

 

Cons for AI:

Might have to pay for child care

Longer, $$ flight to get there (cruises leave from US ports)

Single location

Less nightlife

Probably more expensive per night

 

I think you have to decide in advance what kid of experience you want. Lots of relaxing family time? Seeing lots of different sights/countries? Being entertained? Experiencing one area in depth? Spending couples' time while the kids are amused? Amount of money spent (and where: on drinks? excursions? childcare?)

 

For me, I slowed down more at the AI and we spent some good family time together. On a cruise ship I tend to be more go-go-go. And obviously, a week at a luxury AI is going to have a different vibe than a 4-day mass-market cruise (or the reverse).

 

So I'd go for what end result you want and work backward for price, location, amenities. The AI we went to had a specific set of factors that made us pick it over another resort or cruise at that time. We will probably do AIs again as well as cruise together.

 

PHXscuba

"You can't have everything -- besides, where woudl you put it all?":D

[TexasMommy]

We've done 5 cruises with babies or young children and just 1 All Inclusive. The AI was a great alternative. It was definitely more relaxing. We did FDR Pebbles in Jamaica which has vacation Nannies and a very nice kids program. We had a DS 2, and DD 7 in tow. My DD gave the slight edge to the AI but she said the cruises were a close 2nd. We've done (with Kids) 3 on Disney Cruise Line and 1 on Celebrity. We did other lines pre-Kids. We're doing a DCL next but I think I'd like to start alternating. Now that we've tried an AI and enjoyed it, I'm sure we'll keep them in the mix. We are talking about doing the other FDR location in Jamaica next summer. For us, the 7 night AI was almost $2000 cheaper than the DCL 7 night when you count in drinks, tips and exursions on a cruise.

[hockeywidow88]

We've got 3 boys (8, 5 & 2) and we've been travelling with our kids since our eldest was a year old. We've only done AI's (in Mexico, Jamaica & Turks & Caicos) in the past but we're anxiously looking forward to our first cruise (Mariner - Western Car.) next June!

 

I can't offer a different comparison between AIs & cruising, but there have been a two KEY reasons why we haven't cruised before:

1. Swimming - because of the whole issue of only allowing fully potty-trained kids in the pool. We love the water and couldn't imagine not enjoying the pools as a family.

2. Childcare - we've chosen AI's that will take care of the younger kids. Primarily so that when the baby was sleeping in the afternoon, we could have some time to ourselves.

 

But now that our last "baby" is fully potty-trained and will meet the 3-year old requirement for kids camp on RCCL, we're off to high seas!