all inclusive cruise???

[JohnnyN]

My family has gone on all inclusives before but never on a cruise. We've been to Beaches Negril, Turks & Caicos, Cancun, and this past year went to the Dominican Republic. But all those times it was just my family(not cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, etc.). This year we're trying to plan a WHOLE FAMILY "all inclusive" and we would like to try a cruise. Anyone have any comments/suggestions.

 

 

Thanks in advance,

Johnny

[johnql]

Bear in mind that most mainstream cruises are NOT all-inclusive. There are many extras that will cost you, primarily drinks (soda, bottled water and alcohol) and tips. Other expenses might include excursions, alternative dining, photos, bingo, gambling, art auctions, some gym classes, spa treatments, internet access, etc. As long as you are aware of the extra expenses and build it into your budget, you can make a reasoned judgment as to whether a particular cruise is worthwhile.

[SanFranBayCruiser]

Exactly - cruise lines like Princess, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Celebrity, NCL are mostly all inclusive - most figure it is 85% inclusive. You will pay extra for tips, some restaurants, most drinks (except for tea, coffee, some juices), and shore tours which can range from $25 per person for a city tour that lasts for 2 hours and it can go as high as several hundred dollars. It's still an excellent deal and you'll probably be hooked like the rest of us once you give cruising a try so don't let the fact that it isn't 100% inclusive stop you.

[Cuizer2]

The two posters above are correct. However, if you can live without soda or "drinks" you will not have to spend any extra for normal drinks [water (not bottled), juice, tea, coffee, milk ... are all free). You don't have to buy the excurisions either. There will be tips ($10 per person per day). You can charge the tips to your room on most ships.

 

What is the age range? If your family includes children, adults and seniors, then a cruise is great, because each can do what they want during the day, then meet up again for dinner and share the memories from the day. Also, if your family includes children, the best lines are Carnival, Disney (if the adults can put up with Disney 24/7) Royal Carribean and Norwegian (though I don't recommend Norwegian for large group because of the Freestyle dining). Otherwise, other good lines include Princess, Holland America and Celebrity.

[serene56]

Because the SO and I dont drink a cruise for us IS all inclusive. But like a land vacation we do have to pay for any gambling that is done on the ship.

Also for an all inclusive--if you wanted to leave the compound and visit any site you will need to pay for an excursion. same thing with a cruise. You dont have to get off the ship to do an excursion.

[karen2cruz]

Agree with the above with two clarifications:

 

Disney includes soft drinks in cruise price (but it is higher pp for the cruise). There are plenty of non-Disney things to do on their cruiseships. They do have the best private island in the Bahamas. They dredged the dock area-so no tendering like all the others. They have pagers for parents of young children.

 

NCL (Norwegian) does have freestyle dining, but you can make reservations for dinner for large parties without much of a problem. Our cruise critic group did that to hook up at the end of the cruise.

 

RCCL - has great things for teens -rock climbing wall (and Voyager class has the promenades mall area & ice skating)

 

You could get by with just tips and souvenirs as extras.... if you dont drink, gamble or do shore excursions. If you work with a good TA and get a cruise with specials, some come with as much as a $100-200 on board credit per cabin.

 

Good luck with your planning.

[1cat4jan]

I never consider the tips an extra cost because it is a fixed - known - amount and I just add it to the price of the cruise when deciding whether a cruise is right for me.

 

All-inclusive to me means one thing - drinking. If drinking is a big part of your vacation, then a cruise may not be the most cost effective vacation.

 

However, for a large group - the variety offered by a cruise cannot be beat.

 

When doing a cruise - each member of your group can decide for themselves if excursions are worth the price and if they decide not to spend the extra money, they will still find things to do on the ship while others tour which is unlike a land based vacation - where when you leave people behind - you feel like you're abandoning them to a boring day with nothing to do.

 

For alot of people, the ship itself is the destination. And look at it this way. If cost is a big factor, one can leave the ship - walk around the port - at no additional cost.