Cruise V.S. All Inclusive

[bigdawg86]

Trying to convince my mother in law that cruising is better than an all inclusive and i need some help (ammunition). thanks

[Cruisin' Ron VA]

Trying to convince my mother in law that cruising is better than an all inclusive and i need some help (ammunition). thanks

 

Cruising in a way is all inclusive.

 

How many hotels can you check into where you wake up in a new place every day?

 

How many hotels provide entertainment and meals without a bill at the end?

 

Those are just a couple of points.

 

I am sure others will have more.

[izzyvet]

I am someone who has done quite a bit of All-Inclusive vacationing, then started going on more and more cruises and have not done an AI for about 10 years now.

 

Cruising just gets in your soul.....it has to do with the ocean, seeing the moon over the sea, being all alone out in that big blue water. Being on a land vacation just doesn't compare. Some people have that place in their soul, others don't. All I can say is that until you travel by ship, you'll never know if you are one of those affected. When it comes right down to it, I can have just as much fun on a land vacation, but it doesn't relax me or re-charge my batteries like a cruise does.

[ubouu]

Cruises offer one-stop-shopping. Variety. One flight plus one boat equals lots of different locations. It would be impossible to attempt to visit each port individually outside of a cruise line. It would be very expensive and much too time consuming. There would be no time for fun. Once aboard the ship, you leave only to visit the places of port. No need to pack and unpack. No need for unnecessary travel. On the ship, you have any number of things to keep you entertained while waiting for the next docking.

Why do people choose to go on cruises, instead of booking a plane flight? One thing that attracts people to these large boats and cruises is the food. Not only does a cruise offer breakfast, lunch and dinner, they also offer midnight buffets, afternoon snack buffets, ice cream bars and 24-hour room service! There is a veritable open bar on food. You can eat casually or formally. You can have a large meal or a small meal. You can eat with hundreds of people or privately.

[rnnw62]

I absolutely loved my all inclusive vacations...that is until I cruised for

the first time. Now I look at cruises as previews to places I might want

to spend more time later on. Instead of being stuck someplace you

might hate for a week you get to try it out for a day. And like the above

poster already pointed out it really is like a floating all inclusive resort.

[soon to cruise]

Oh my gosh....you have just captured what I have been feeling since summer before last. I have that "place in my soul" but I dont think DH has it. He liked the cruise and had fun, but he just didnt feel about it the way I did. I could stand out on deck at night forever and just gaze out at the ocean. There was a full moon on our first cruise...MAGICAL!!

[seashell36]

I, too, loved my AI vacations! But, several of those vacations with bad experiences and bad weather put a damper on those. Then we found cruising! Oh Joy!!:D Our last cruise *last week* had some bad weather - we tendered in to Grand Cayman in a nasty rain storm and we waded through Roatan in another rain storm. But, we had a blast! We didn't stay in one place too long. We had a great room with an ever changing view from the balcony. We will not consider a different type of vacation - except the occassional trip to visit the "Mouse".

[BooBooMonkey]

DH and I have been looking at land-based all-inclusives for about 3 years now, in addition to our cruise habit. We actually had one booked once at RIU in Cancun, but work prevented us from being able to go :(.

 

Anyway, we have never since found an all-inclusive plan that was attractive enough to make us want to do it. Cruising is absolutely the best vacation value out there. Plus, like someone else said, you can scope out different places you might want to visit later.

 

We have dear friends who joined us on our cruise last spring who are "all-inclusive" people. They prefer to drink to excess all night and sleep all day and party all night again. They made only one of our three ports on the cruise last spring, but did close down the piano bar every night..LOL! :cool:. We luv them to death, but that is not our idea of vacation! Don't get me wrong, our s&S bill is always way higher than we plan...which is a good reason to do the all-inclusive, I guess...:o

 

I think it depends on what you're looking for...

[Relli1231]

I am someone who has done many upscale AI's and love it! Here are my reasons to cruise over AI and vi sa versa.

 

Bottom line if you like to eat....cruising has much better food

 

If you like to drink cheap liquor or beer, AI is a much better value.

 

I like great food and brand name liquor so cruising suits me well for these two items but it is more expensive once you add in the hotel stay the night before (even though we do get a longer vacaiton because of this)

The sign and sail card and the Casino. My husband on the other hand likes to be able to get up early and go down to the beach to dip his toes in the sand while i'm still asleep. so he prefers the AI.

 

AI's are a less expensive vacaiton even if you stay at a more expensive AI

because: no liquor expense no hidden costs and we usally go to places that don't have a casino. such as Jamica, Cozumel etc.

I checked out of sandals in st lucia with a 38.00 charge to my room for sunglasses and a few trinkets. we ate and drank for 5days and my husband played golf that was included in our AI stay. very resonable vacation. So if you are on a budget great way to go this 4night trip was about 2200.00 per couple total

 

on the other hand a 4nt trip on the Fantasy with a day in new orleans prior to the cruise. we spent about a total of 2900.00 for cruise air, hotel, 24hrs in new orleans and casino expenses. so it is not much difference when you add it up that way.

 

while my cruise during holiday week in Feb is a bit more with air than an AI trip would be I plan to controll my spending and gaming a bit more.

 

so to wrap up if it is quality food and liquor , like more than one port of call go Cruise but you will pay a bit more in the long run.

If you don't care about food and like to drink large amounts of lower quality liquor and and want to wake up early and be on the beach while your spouse sleeps go AI

 

wow i'm rambeling sorry. I hope this helps:rolleyes:

[bigdawg86]

thanks for all the info!!

[mdma03]

I have done both and I really don't know the one that I like best. You can't really compare them, in my opinion, as they are very different vacations. I like the cruises because you are travelling to different ports, mainly ports that are more expensive to travel to if just going for a week. You also have great service and great food. The shopping is excellent. Then I like the all inclusive, because you know that if you don't plan to shop or do excursions, basically you can leave home with 0$ and be ok for the week. The cruises, you always have the extras you have to pay for, such as gratuities, you will shop more and most importantly, the drinks (sodas or alcoholic beverages) are extra. Not that we drink a whole lot while on vacation but it's nice to know that you go to the bar, order that drink and don't have to pay 5$ for it.

[dan40]

If an AI floats, you are in BIG trouble.

 

Dan

[beach410]

I feel thats there is a lot more to do on a cruise, various bars, bands, shows, bingo, etc and like going to different ports to experience each. We didnt like the food as well at the AI, gets old after the 2nd day. I also like how pampered I am on a cruise and the phenomenal service in the DR. I could probably do an I/A again without the kids, not much to do for them, but would prefer a cruise for the same cost or less.

[ladyd11933]

I've only done one AI and one cruise so not much experience but I definately enjoyed the cruise more. We gave our two 15-year-olds the choice this year of what they wanted to do, a cruise or an AI and the cruise won. They don't care where they go or even if they get off the ship, they just loved our last cruise.

[pe4all]

If an AI floats, you are in BIG trouble.

 

Dan

 

So funny, but so true!! We had done the AI "thing" for many years - about 14 different AI's in all, on many different islands. Then I booked an AI for Christmas a few years ago. Unfortunately, a hurricane destroyed Cancun/Riveria Maya, and the AI we had booked DID float away.(Paradisus Riviera Maya) We had 6 weeks to find another vacation. The Liberty had just come over to the U.S., and we got the last balcony cabin on her. Since then, we have not done one AI. We love waking up in different ports, not being stuck on one island. So many different excursions to chose from. Sitting on a balcony or deck, watching flying fish, sunrises, sunsets, etc.- nothing beats that. So many different things to do each day for entertainment. For some reason, the kids make more friends on board than at an AI. (and keep in touch after each cruise) They refuse to go back to AI's - they found them "boring" being stuck on one island for a week. And if my kids are happy... we are happy! Cruising also gives us more bang for our buck.

[shippmates]

We have done AI and would much rather cruise. We can do with out the drinks and had a problem paying for the people that sat at the bars from morning to night and on a cruise if you don't drink you don't have to pay for it. To me a cruise is just so much more relaxing. I would rather cruise but then I know that there are many people who do not like to cruise. This is a decision that you must make for yourself.