Tell me about the Sandals resorts

[yetti78]

Hello,

 

I know this is a cruise forum, but everyone here seems to share my feelings about vacations, so I am wondering if there are opinions on the Sandals resorts.

 

It seems to be that they include most everything that I like about cruising, and was wondering if anyone has done both and can provide feedback.

 

And which ones are best, there are so many to choose from.

 

Thanks

[mringenoldus]

We bought a day pass on St Lucia for Sandals Grande while on RCCL. It was a very pretty resort with a lot of fun water activities. The crowd was mainly youger adults. The food and drinks were very acceptable for this age group, but if food quality is important to you on a cruise, you may find Sandals lacking.

[showdog]

We went to the sandals at Dunns River Falls in Jamaica for 7 nights. I've been on over 15 cruises. When I saw the cruise ships off in the distance when I was standing on the very small beach I wished I was on it so bad I couldn't stand it.

 

We went at the end of May. The food was nothing to write home about. There were flies every where on the food for breakfast and lunch buffetts. The drinks were watered down. There were people selling drugs on both sides of the very small beach. They called it the Jamaican Wal-mart. It was nice to get to try scuba diving for free. That was the highlight of the trip.

 

We also ate dinner at the sandals in Ocho Rios on the beach. This was nice. I wished we had staid at this resort because I thought the beach was a little better.

 

Basically I felt like I was in prison the whole week because you really couldn't go out of the fence of the resort.

 

We did manage to walk across the street to the Beaches resort in Ocho Rios. Sandals looked a lot nicer than this place.

 

Lot's of younger people getting married there. I just felt like for the price a cruise was a better deal. But if you're the type that gets sea sick maybe it's for you.

[dog]

I have stayed at the St. Lucia Sandals/Golf/Spa Resort....I felt it was much better than the other 2 Sandals properties I visited on St.Lucia. Food did very in quality.

Drinks were excellent

I loved it for a week's land vacation and will return.

 

But, I get much more for my money in a balcony cabin on a Princess ship. The cruise is really inexpensive but sometimes the air fare is ridiculous.

[kandtq]

I've never stayed at Sandals, but I've been to Couples Reorts in Jamaica which is very much like Sandals and absolutely loved it. They have outstanding food/drink/service.

[mozfoz]

Stayed at Jamaica's Sandle in Dunns River Falls for 5 days. Its good for about 3 days. As a all-inclusive, land based vacation it's OK, but definitely not as good as a cruise.

[Tracy1]

We've been on 9 cruises and we've stayed for a week at Sandals Negril (Jamaica) and Grand Lido Braco (a superclub all-inclusive near Montego Bay Jamaica http://www.superclubs.com) and twice while on a cruise we have gotten a day pass at Sandals St. Lucia Regency.

 

For us cruises have been a little cheaper than our all-inclusive experiences even when you take into account that we have to pay for our drinks and scuba diving and other excursions on a cruise. But sometimes we'll spend the extra money to have a different vacation experience (scuba diving everyday, being on the island at night) and just to relax more.

 

Our favorite all-inclusive was Grand Lido Braco in Negril. Beautiful Resort, good scuba diving, great food (loved the French Restaurant, the Japanese Restaurant, and the Suishi Restaurant was faboulous). We took an excursion to the Luminous Lagoon (organisms in the water glow when agitated - amazing!). (Excursions are offered at every all-inclusive but you pay extra for them.) We took a cab to Dunn's River Falls and a craft market.

 

 

Advantages of a cruise over an All-Inclusive:

1. If the weather is bad the ship moves and can even change itinerary to miss bad weather (especially a hurricane!) if you get bad weather on a land vacation you're stuck with it (it rained on us in Jamaica 5 out of 7 days at Sandals Negril). A nice perk of the superclubs resorts is their rain policy, you get a free nights stay for another vacation within a year for every day it rains and the sun doesn't come out.

 

2. You get to go to different ports and there's much more to choose from to do. There's no chance you'll get bored.

 

3. Generallly the food is better on a cruise unless you go to a more expensive all-inclusive.

 

4. The entertainment is better on cruises.

 

5. Gym is usually better on a cruise and the exercise classes are usually better on a cruise.

 

6. 24 hour food. Some all-inclusives only offer this for the more expensive rooms. The buffet's on a cruise ship are open much longer than at a resort.

 

Advantages of an all-inclusive over a cruise:

1. No kids!

 

2. You get to be on an island at night whether you like to go into town to experience the nightlife, go on a night dive, or listen to the crickets and frogs.

 

3. Your room at the resort seems huge compared to a stateroom on a cruise ship

 

4. It can be more relaxing because you can lounge around without feeling like you're missing something.

 

5. If you're bar bill is really high on a cruise you might save money at an all-inclusive (especially if you get the cheapest room)

 

6. Free use of water sports (we like to scuba dive - but make sure the scuba diving is included).

 

7. If you dive or would like to do other watersports everyday, you'll get to do it more often at an all-inclusive.

 

8. Larger beautiful freshwater swimming pools

 

If you're not sure:

1. go on a cruise and while on the cruise visit the all-inclusive you're considering either to get a tour or buy a day pass ($75-$100+ per person) to try it out.

2. go to an all-inclusive for a 3-4 night stay first to try it out

[fntsysprtswidow]

Twelve years ago, my husband and I spent our honeymoon at Sandals Montego Bay. We had a wonderful time. And it was perfect for us, then.

 

I think Sandals is a wonderful place for people who like alot of activities like water sports to choose from. Also, it's a big plus that alcoholic drinks are included.

 

However, twelve years later, I will choose cruising every time over all inclusive resorts. Where I used to love water sports, I now enjoy sitting on my balcony and taking in the sights. Also, as a previous poster stated, there is a vast difference in the quality of food. Not only the quality, but I also had a problem with flies all over the food.

 

I think resorts are more oriented to people who are very active. Although, I'm certain there are differences in them as well. Montego Bay catered to a crowd of which we were two of the oldest, at 35 & 40. Most were in their late 20's to early 30's.

 

However, last summer we cruised with friends in their mid fifties, who were very disappointed in Princess' night life. I, on the other hand, had a great time.

 

So, as with everything, it's a personal choice. At this point in my life - I choose cruising!

[tex_toby]

My wife and I were married at Sandals Negril 2 years ago. We were in our late 20's, and felt that the crowd was much older than ourselves. I don't mind experiencing different types of people/age groups on vacation because who would want to be around a bunch of people JUST LIKE YOU, but honestly most of the people at our resort were either too good to talk to us, or were too busy looking for their canes or going to their rooms to see if Wheel of Fortune/Matlock was on. Although the resort itself was nice, the nightlife was absolutly NIL. 10:00PM would come around and everybody was in bed. I would agree that once you stepped 10 feet off of the private Sandal's beach, you would get swamped with people trying to sell you any and every kind of drug known to man. So much for our romantic walk down the beach..we made it about 100 yards before we gave it up and came back to the resort. The gentleman working the security gate at Sandals just laughed when we came right back. I felt like I was in some sort of prison as well. The food was less than impressive to say the least. We went on one excursion to Dunn's River Falls, and that was probably the most fun thing we did. Other than that, we sat on the beach most all of the rest of the time. We had fun, but we had fun because WE made it fun. We have never been on a cruise, but we have our first booked that leaves in two weeks. WoooHoo! I'm hoping that our first cruise will bring a whole new way to see the world. it seems much more up our alley!

 

tex :cool:

[desiro]

We went to the Sandals Royal Bahamian about 5 years ago and really like cruising so much better. It was really very expensive and food - even though you had choices of quite a few restaurants - wasn't that great. Yes - all drinks are included - but my husband doesn't drink - and though it sounds great - there are only so many frozen type colada drinks you can have before you're full and sick of them.....

 

We only went for 5 nights and really did get kind of bored of it.....but it's still a nice vacation - any chance to get away is always good!

[Clubber]

We have also been thinking about an all inclusive for our next trip. The price of the Sandals Grande for a week ends up being the same price we payed for our Golden cruise two weeks ago. Below is a list that we are considering for an all inclusive. Just some more options in addition to the Sandals that you are considering.

 

 

All Inclusives

• St. Lucia
  • Sandals Grande St. Lucian - very nice, costs similiar to total cruise costs

  [*]Dominican Republic

  • Sunscape the Beach Punta Cana
    
  • Iberostar Bavaro Punta Cana
    
  • Secrets Excellence Punta Cana
    
  • Riu Palace Punta Cana - opening Summer 2006

  [*]Riviera Maya

  • Riu Palace Riviera Maya
    
  • Secrets Capri Riviera Cancun
    
  • Secrets Excellence Riviera Cancun
    
  • Iberostar Paraiso Lindo - this one looks awesome, but may be too many youngsters.