Carnival Amber Cove Excursion Lifestyle Resort

Hi was wondering if anyone could help with this.../

There are 2 excursion on Carnival's site for Amber Cove that appear to be the same resort and I can't really tell what the differences are.

One is Lifestyle Resort Experience for $49.99. The other is the Lifestyle Serenity VIP Resort Getaway for $79.99. Some of the photos are the same, it looks like the same resort, both say food and drinks and use of resort are included.

So I can't figure out what the difference for $30 more is. Has anyone gone on either of these? Or does anyone know what's included with the $79.99 one that is not with the $49.99 one?

Thanks!

My cruise line only offers the less expensive one, and I'm looking for information on that one, too.

Could the $79.99 one last longer? I think the one we're offered lasts about four and a half hours.

Based on what I can tell, it appears the VIP is more of secluded option. Has the nice lounge chairs, hammocks, etc. The resort one is just the basic resort amenities (such as pool, loungers). I have been looking at these and am debating on the VIP Serenity or the Private Villa.

I have been looking at both also and can't figure it out so I emailed carnival 2 days ago and still havnt got s reply

The Lifestyle VIP excursion is the all inclusive experience...food, drinks, etc. The other Lifestyle excursion doesn't include food or drinks. It only gives you access to the resorts bars and restaurants so that you can purchase those.

I have done some research on this and I believe both are "all inclusive" including food and drinks and the Lifestyle Beach. However the VIP package apparently gives you access(by wristband) to a more secluded Serenity beach area and also to VIP bars and restaurants and pool. According to the limited reviews, it sounds very nice.

I hope its worth it, we'll find out in September.

We're going with HAL, and their only Lifestyles excursion is listed as VIP and offered at about $49.99. Now I'm really confused.

According to reviews on TripAdvisor, apparently the entire resort is ran according to a wristband system. Different colors based on the experience you purchase with Gold and Black being the highest. And, these colors did give you access to VIP areas not available to others. So, as jonboy9756 said, maybe that is the difference in the vip experience vs the regular one. It'd be nice if the descriptions were a bit more clear.

We go in April with Carnival so we'll find out then. Our VIP price was $59.99 when we purchased last weekend...now the price has went up to $79.99. Glad we bought ours earlier. The regular experience is still $49.99.

So let me see if I have this right...the $49.99 DOES NOT include all-you-can-eat food and drinks versus the $79.99 one that DOES include the all-you-can-eat food and drink???

What I'm seeing here is that the $49.99 excursion gets you onto the same resort property, but does not entitle you to the FREE food and drink. The $79.99 excursion allows you to enjoy the resort PLUS eat and drink for free

Someone please tell me I'm right, as we want to do the ALL-INCLUSIVE excursion for $79.99 each.

Thanks to all who posted on this thread. I am also trying to figure out the resort and the excursions provided by the cruise lines. Holland America offers only one version, for $49.95, and states the excursion is all-inclusive...

From HAL's website:

About the Excursion

Looking for freedom from care and stress? This is the experience for you.

Spend your day at the Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Resort -- a place where the midday siesta is still a time-honored tradition and the free-spirited merengue is the national dance of choice.

Your day-pass gives you all-inclusive access to the many restaurants and bars at the resort. You will have access to white sandy beaches, ocean waves and beach lounging areas to soak up the rays.

Enjoy cocktails as you lounge by the pool or explore the other facilities of the resort, including gift shops, sports areas, playgrounds and more -- ideal for the entire family.

Notes:

Bring your swimsuit, a towel, sunscreen and a hat.

I'm going to book this now, just in case the price jumps as it did with Carnival's excursions. I would assume one could cancel prior to embarkation.

Below is how the Lifestyle Serenity VIP Resort Getaway is described on Carnival's page. It states that "drinks and food (buffet lunch) is included in this experience" which is what led me to originally think that the other Lifestyle Resort experience may not include food and drinks. The other experience states that you have "all-inclusive access" which made me think that you only have access to the food and drink but may have to pay.

After researching the resort's website and tripadvisor reviews, I'm beginning to think that both experiences may include food and drinks with the VIP experience giving one access to more exclusive bars, restaurants, pools, and beaches on the property. Honestly, I'm still confused, but, we booked the VIP experience for $10 more just in case. We just want to relax on the beach so as long as we get that then we're ok.

"Have an exclusive experience at the Serenity VIP Private Beach. Relax on a beach bed or in a hammock and enjoy the warmth of the Dominican Republic. Take a walk along on the golden sand to explore the beach bars, restaurant, crepe bar and oyster bar. No day at the beach is complete without a dip in the warm Carib-bean Sea. You will have access to sandy white beaches and beach lounging areas to soak up the rays. Enjoy cocktails as you lounge by the pool or explore the other facilities of the resort, including gift shops, sports areas and more. A variety of drinks and food (buffet lunch) are included in this experience and will be available at your leisure. This is an all-inclusive experience of the highest quality."

I also found out that they will probably try to get you to take a tour to buy into their timeshares. Reviewers warned to stay away from the ones in khaki/brown pants, shirts, and hats. They say that some are persistent and some will take a "no thanks" and not bother you again.

Thanks to all who posted on this thread. I am also trying to figure out the resort and the excursions provided by the cruise lines. Holland America offers only one version, for $49.95, and states the excursion is all-inclusive...

 

From HAL's website:

 

About the Excursion

Looking for freedom from care and stress? This is the experience for you.

 

Spend your day at the Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Resort -- a place where the midday siesta is still a time-honored tradition and the free-spirited merengue is the national dance of choice.

 

Your day-pass gives you all-inclusive access to the many restaurants and bars at the resort. You will have access to white sandy beaches, ocean waves and beach lounging areas to soak up the rays.

 

Enjoy cocktails as you lounge by the pool or explore the other facilities of the resort, including gift shops, sports areas, playgrounds and more -- ideal for the entire family.

 

Notes:

 

Bring your swimsuit, a towel, sunscreen and a hat.

 

I'm going to book this now, just in case the price jumps as it did with Carnival's excursions. I would assume one could cancel prior to embarkation.

We just completed this excursion on HAL Feb 4th. We were bused to the Lifestyle Resort area and taken to the designated beach location. We picked our spots for loungers from what was available. We were told we could have all the drinks we wanted from any of the bars around.

As far as food went, we could get snacks from one of the bar/food areas. We didn't have anything there, but were told later by others that the food was terrible.

For lunch, we were bused to another part of the the resort where the unlimited Buffet lunch was provided including drinks. Unfortunately this took away from the experience at the beach and there were lots of stairs to walk down to get to the buffet (and back up again to leave). Not good for people who have some mobility issues. There was lots of food, but it wasn't good in our opinion. I wouldn't recommend this excursion to anyone.

I found out that the difference is that the Resort offers a VIP beach for members only and that is what the VIP experience includes.

Copied from their website:

As part of the Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Resort, members have access to an exclusive area of the Resorts pristine beach…V.I.P Beach…where they can relax on special loungers soaking up the sun and receive distinctive beachside refreshment services.

$105.00 per person/per day fee applies.

Carnival responded to my email saying:

"The difference is that on the VIP Resort Getaway you have an exclusive experience at the Serenity Private Beach area."

I booked the luxury (aka private) villa. Its 99 a person and had great reviews. It has its own pool, food served and booze. Its a bit of a walk I see from the beach but heard they have people on golf carts that can take you there. The villa has a bedroom and private full bath. Works for me. I figured, get there, check it out.. run to the beach for a quick dip and say I did, then chill by the villa pool until time to go. Head back toward the ship, find me a cheap Tshirt at a shop, and make our way back on to the ship.

Here is a map of the resort that I found showing the Serenity beach area separate from the other resort beach area.

I booked the luxury (aka private) villa. Its 99 a person and had great reviews. It has its own pool, food served and booze. Its a bit of a walk I see from the beach but heard they have people on golf carts that can take you there. The villa has a bedroom and private full bath. Works for me. I figured, get there, check it out.. run to the beach for a quick dip and say I did, then chill by the villa pool until time to go. Head back toward the ship, find me a cheap Tshirt at a shop, and make our way back on to the ship.

We looked into that excursion, also, but, we're not huge pool people so we decided to try the beach instead. You'll have to let us know how it was after you try it....

Carnival responded to another of my emails (I had sent 2 emails before getting my first response) today saying :

Thank you for contacting Carnival Cruise Line. We have received your email message and appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance.

The excursions are at the same location, however the VIP includes lunch and drinks. With the regular lifestyle serenity you would need to pay extra for any food or drinks.

Regards,

Tour Operations

Carnival Cruise Lines

Carnival responded to another of my emails (I had sent 2 emails before getting my first response) today saying :

 

Thank you for contacting Carnival Cruise Line. We have received your email message and appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance.

The excursions are at the same location' date=' however the VIP includes lunch and drinks. With the regular lifestyle serenity you would need to pay extra for any food or drinks.

Regards,

Tour Operations

Carnival Cruise Lines[/quote']

This is the correct answer! The cheaper one, lunch and drinks are not included, you have to pay for them. The more expensive one is all inclusive with drinks and food.

Not sure what to expect? I booked the 49.99 experience after Carnival sent me this email in response to my question "what is the difference"

Thank you for contacting Carnival Cruise Lines and giving us the opportunity to be of assistance to you.

Lifestyle Resort Experience and Lifestyle Serenity VIP is at the same location – a large all inclusive resort, located about 15 minutes drive away from the pier.

The only difference is the VIP option is based at the Serenity Beach.

Lifestyle Experience has use of all the pools and beach plus the food and bar outlets.

VIP guests don’t usually venture away from the Serenity beach as they have facilities there on the beach.

All Inclusive Riu is a slightly older property but also offering all inclusive food and drinks, again about 15 minutes away from the port.

Wishing you a pleasant cruise on the Carnival Valor.

Best Regards,

Tour Operations

Carnival Cruise Lines

Every email that is sent in is given a different response. I'm beginning to believe that the shore excursion people are just reading the description (just as we are), and, instead of actually researching it, they are each interpreting it differently (just as we are).

I've spent quite a bit of time researching this resort on their personal website and through independent reviews on tripadvisor, yelp, etc. After all my research, I PERSONALLY believe that both experiences are inclusive of food and drinks. The VIP experience just gives you access to all of the VIP areas (beaches, pool, exclusive vip restaurants, etc.) If you look on the map of the resort, you can see the Serenity beach area which is where the VIP experience will take you. Then, there is the Cofresi beach area where the other experience will take you. On either experience, we will be able to have access to any area of the resort including any open restaurants, however, only the VIP experience will give us access to any VIP areas shown on the map. The resort operates on a colored armband system so I'd assume that we will be given an armband that correlates with the experience that we purchase. Again, this is just my personal opinion based on all the research that I've done.

Anyone done this yet? Interested for our upcoming trip

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I know right we booked this for May reviews look good all 5 star so we will see

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We'll be going on April 25 so I'll be sure to come back here and let you all know how our experience was. Hoping someone goes sooner than that and posts about it so I'll know beforehand though. :)

We'll be going on April 25 so I'll be sure to come back here and let you all know how our experience was. Hoping someone goes sooner than that and posts about it so I'll know beforehand though. :)

Ok Thanks

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Thank you

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