Cruise or all inclusive

With the cruise lines charging for more and more items, paintball, restaurants, cold drinks etc I am wondering if maybe we should start looking at all inclusive instead. Single mom cruising with 2 and we have cruised for years, however with the added cost on-board it just isn't the same.

I looked at several all-inclusive resorts for my family of four in different areas. They were all more expensive than a cruise for the four of us. Plus, we are a 9 hr drive from the port we generally seem to go to. It is a long day of driving and one night of hotel, but it is still cheaper than flying four of us. I also enjoy the fact that we are seeing different locations throughout the trip rather than remaining in one spot.

Now, I will keep looking at all-inclusive resorts to keep choices open. But, at this time, cruises are the better bargain for us. It is a completely individual choice. A lot of it will depend on what you are interested in doing and what your kids are up to.

We have done the Caribbean so my kids don't even care if we get off the ship anymore. They will be 16 and 22 on this next cruise. We may look at Alaska, I am waiting on Joy's itin to open up.

I have priced a few all inclusive and with sales they are coming up about the same. We have airfare no matter for the most part, again watch for sales.

Thank you for your input!

The big advantage of a cruise versus an all inclusive for my family is the ability to see different ports, so I can understand your frustration if costs are going up and you've already visited the ports that are an easy flight from you. Have you considered the 10 day partial transit through the Panama Canal on Princess (that would let you see Cartagena and Aruba and Costa Rica), or a cruise to Cuba? Alaska is amazing, and a very special trip. There is also a cruise timetable site that can help you find cruises that visit new ports if there's anywhere you'd like to go you haven't visited yet.

I've recently looked up some all inclusive trips and they were all sooo much more expensive than cruises we take. Am I looking in the wrong places? Some didn't include food and they were still more expensive than the cruise.

With the cruise lines charging for more and more items, paintball, restaurants, cold drinks etc I am wondering if maybe we should start looking at all inclusive instead. Single mom cruising with 2 and we have cruised for years, however with the added cost on-board it just isn't the same.

Also no tension of rushing back to the port before the ship departs on every port day that you go sightseeing.

But I enjoy cruises for the shows, entertainment, activities and gourmet food. And I am willing to pay substantially more for that.

I do not agree that land based vacations are cheaper - we have spent far more doing Disney, Universal or national parks by the time you added up all the costs. We have not tried an AI because we always get 2 rooms - one for us and one for the kids and that sends us out of a reasonable price range.

We have stuck with Carnival with the kids because pretty much everything is included and they don’t have all the bells and whistles that you pay out of pocket for. We don’t even get them the soda package - One doesn’t drink soda and the other, a 14 year old growing athlete doesn’t need unlimited access - lol. One of their favorite cruises to date was Alaska on Princess.

We have seen most of the Caribbean so are mixing it up with a Mexican Riviera which was surprisingly reasonable with princess’ ez air for $350 pp to fly to west coast from dc. We will add in Cuba soon but still take cruises to repeat ports like the Bahamas for easy getaways.

For all of us it is nice just to get on the ship and relax. We enjoy the relaxation of a cruise even if we aren’t exploring someplace new as was our original reason for cruising.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I do not agree that land based vacations are cheaper - we have spent far more doing Disney, Universal or national parks by the time you added up all the costs.]

Try land tours in Asia for great value

Sadly with kids school schedules we only have a week for vacation at any given time and I can’t see losing 2-3 days of that traveling half way around the world...

Sent from my iPhone using Forums