Cruising vs All Inclusive Resort

[Seville2Cabo]

41 minutes ago, topnole said:

One takes on some significant risks exploring in Mexico nowadays.  

I'm sure there are parts of Mexico that are not safe, just like the US and most countries.  We feel very safe  in Cabo and have never had an issue.  Most of the stories you hear are people where they should not be doing something they should not be doing.  

[FastShip24]

1 hour ago, topnole said:

That’s the whole point.  Everyone is giving their opinion.  But for some reason you were objecting to someone else’s opinion and saying they were off topic as if their point wasn’t valid.  But entertainment is clearly part of the value, albeit obviously subjective, so the comment clearly was relevant.  

No I'm not objecting to anyone's opinion.  

[topnole]

18 hours ago, FastShip24 said:

We were talking about value for money, not because you were bored. You can get bored on any trip

This was your reply to her comment about a lack of entertainment at AI resorts.  It’s her opinion on entertainment value.  But for some reason you told her that her opinion was off topic because she feels bored at AI due to lack of entertainment.  But that’s her opinion on the value it provides with regards to energy.  This guess you just didn’t understand her point.  

[topnole]

49 minutes ago, Seville2Cabo said:

I'm sure there are parts of Mexico that are not safe, just like the US and most countries.  We feel very safe  in Cabo and have never had an issue.  Most of the stories you hear are people where they should not be doing something they should not be doing.  

There are a lot of places in Mexico that are very unsafe.  Comparing it to the risk in the US is nonsense.  If you got caught up in the middle of a drug cartel war, good luck.  If you accidentally wondered into their territory and they don’t believe you are accidentally there, you are mince meat in the most literal sense.  Sure, there are problems in the US, but they are vastly different and no where near the risk at a beach hotel.  I would not let my kids out of sight at an AI in Mexico.   I would be fine doing so on a ship or a land based resort in the US.   

[Seville2Cabo]

23 minutes ago, topnole said:

There are a lot of places in Mexico that are very unsafe.  Comparing it to the risk in the US is nonsense.  If you got caught up in the middle of a drug cartel war, good luck.  If you accidentally wondered into their territory and they don’t believe you are accidentally there, you are mince meat in the most literal sense.  Sure, there are problems in the US, but they are vastly different and no where near the risk at a beach hotel.  I would not let my kids out of sight at an AI in Mexico.   I would be fine doing so on a ship or a land based resort in the US.   

Have to disagree.  Feel much safer walking around the local area of Cabo then I would walking around some cities in the US.  It is really not so hard to figure out where not to go in Mexico.  Yes, there were 75 Americans killed in Mexico last year (all of Mexico), but there were about 30 million visitors, to me, that seems pretty safe odds.  BTW - I would bet most of the 75 were doing something wrong.

[topnole]

1 hour ago, Seville2Cabo said:

Have to disagree.  Feel much safer walking around the local area of Cabo then I would walking around some cities in the US.  It is really not so hard to figure out where not to go in Mexico.  Yes, there were 75 Americans killed in Mexico last year (all of Mexico), but there were about 30 million visitors, to me, that seems pretty safe odds.  BTW - I would bet most of the 75 were doing something wrong.

Would you let your kids?   I sure wouldn’t.   I’m just saying it is very different than going to a beach city or on a cruise.  There are obvious places in the US that one should flat out stay away from.  But these are also pretty obvious and are usually very different than beach towns where folks vacation.  
 

I’ve been to Cabo.  I know what it is like and for Mexico it is obviously relatively affluent given it is such a hub for all of the west coast US tourism.  It’s been a few years now and dangers in Mexico have obviously increased a lot in the more recent past.  I’m glad to hear Cabo feels safe to you.  It’s very sad what the drug industry does to so many places.  

[LivLove2Cruise]

Thank you, everyone, However, the purpose of this thread was solely to have some idea of the cost of the drink package before making a reservation so that my brother could make an informed whether to book a cruise or an all-inclusive based on his budget and what he wants from his vacation experience. Ourusualbeach provided me with the information that I needed.

[Seville2Cabo]

22 minutes ago, topnole said:

Would you let your kids?   I sure wouldn’t.   I’m just saying it is very different than going to a beach city or on a cruise.  There are obvious places in the US that one should flat out stay away from.  But these are also pretty obvious and are usually very different than beach towns where folks vacation.  
 

I’ve been to Cabo.  I know what it is like and for Mexico it is obviously relatively affluent given it is such a hub for all of the west coast US tourism.  It’s been a few years now and dangers in Mexico have obviously increased a lot in the more recent past.  I’m glad to hear Cabo feels safe to you.  It’s very sad what the drug industry does to so many places.  

Our kids do go to Cabo alone and use our car to drive around  - but they are older (so not your point) .  Grandkids too young to go anywhere alone.  I don't think I would let my kids go alone into town if they were under 18.  My wife will walk around alone and even go to the bank for a withdraw by herself.  

 

We also had to stops on Mexico after our PC cruise and felt very comfortable walking around.  But there are certainly parts of Mexico (even beach areas) that we would not want to go to.  

[GetToLivin]

19 minutes ago, LivLove2Cruise said:

 the purpose of this thread 

...sticking to the purpose of a thread rarely happens on the Royal Caribbean board 😉

[topnole]

3 hours ago, LivLove2Cruise said:

Thank you, everyone, However, the purpose of this thread was solely to have some idea of the cost of the drink package before making a reservation so that my brother could make an informed whether to book a cruise or an all-inclusive based on his budget and what he wants from his vacation experience. Ourusualbeach provided me with the information that I needed.

Did you find out how much the drink package is?   Curious how the cruise plus that cost compares to the all inclusive cost?

[Tatka]

8 hours ago, topnole said:

There are a lot of places in Mexico that are very unsafe.  Comparing it to the risk in the US is nonsense.  If you got caught up in the middle of a drug cartel war, good luck.  If you accidentally wondered into their territory and they don’t believe you are accidentally there, you are mince meat in the most literal sense.  Sure, there are problems in the US, but they are vastly different and no where near the risk at a beach hotel.  I would not let my kids out of sight at an AI in Mexico.   I would be fine doing so on a ship or a land based resort in the US.   

No stranger can get on grounds of decent AI hotels in Mexico, DR etc. They are well protected.

[KSprite01]

I've been to 2 groups of all-Inclusives (in 4 different locations), and on 3 different cruise lines. My 2 cents:

 

Rooms: Cruise has more variety in room and more disparity. All-inclusive have a substantially large "basic" room, though the very upper tier rooms on a cruise are substantially larger than an AI top room.

Price: This is the one that's really tough to compare, because there is more variation on AIs. Given the room disparity above, you'll likely find cheapest and most expensive rooms on cruises, but middle/common rooms (e.g. balcony) somewhat comparable. AIs don't have nearly as many "sales" and price fluctuations. Though they do have some sales, prices are far more stable.

Hotel space: Cruises are MUCH more crowded per square foot. No jammed elevators, dining on top of each other 6 inches away. Pools are FAR more crowded on a cruise. While chair hogging happens at both places, loungers are generally in far shorter supply on cruises. AIs are more spread out, but as they serve fewer people, it's probably a shorter distance to walk from end to end compared to a cruise ship on the whole. At the more spread out all-inclusives, they've offered golf carts to get around.

Entertainment: Cruises have Cruise Director to entertain, there's no AI equivalent. Cruises have far more entertainment offerings throughout the entire day, such as bingo, talks, exercise classes, contests, performances (bands, comedy, ice/dance shows, magician). AI will generally offer one evening performance each night from local talent: e.g. fire show, circus style, music, tribal performance, etc. They also offer some classes throughout the day, but it's not nearly as much as on a cruise (e.g. cooking class, exercise, sports game).

Food: In my experience the basic food is better at AI than the main dining room. The cruise specialty dining was better than most AI dining, except the upcharge AI dining which was substantially better (more specifically, cooking theater/beach are equivalent, but the avant garde dining was substantially better).

Attire: AI tends to be resort casual at dinners. Attire for cruises has more variation - some go all out for formal night and others wear t-shirts. Meanwhile, I've never seen a tux outside of a rare wedding that has it at an AI. (Even the grooms don't tend to wear them.)

Service: On the whole, we've found service better at the all inclusive, but I imagine this varies based on the resort you choose. We've had a room category/membership that offers concierge and butler service and we've only just booked our first suite room with concierge service, but even aside from the butler/genie/concierge service question, the service has tended to be better at the AI. Part of that is the cruise is more crowded. But people don't walk around taking my drink order on a cruise! The genie service would be far superior to AI though.  

Transportation: You generally need to take a flight to an AI. Some people are within driving distance of a cruise and can avoid it. But, the bonus is you can start your good weather sooner at an AI, than on cruises that need to travel from cold to warmer weather 

Excursions: AI offer excursions through third-party vendors. While it may seem fewer choices, mostly that's if you compare all of the excursions for an entire cruise (multiple locations due to multiple ports) rather than one cruise day for a true comparison. One AI virtue is they can go longer - so you can explore further away sites such as more distant Mexican ruins. No fear of missing the boat on an AI trip. Both places will offer a variety of similar things such as: wildlife encounters (e.g. swim with dolphins), horseback riding, kid themed "pirate" trips, boat trips, ATV tours, adventure trips (e.g. ziplining, scuba diving), etc. Cruises will promote more "drive/train/bus" around town with a talk than AIs. It can be easier to walk off and explore on your own with a cruise. Although some cruise ports are not very safe, a number of them are. AIs are often a bit distant from town.

Tipping: Cruises have mandatory gratuities which are quite substantial and people frequently tip extra for drinks on a package, tips to genie, extra tips to room stewards, tips to porters, etc. Due to the lack of mandatory gratuities you'll tip less at an AI, but you still usually tip for baggage handling, butler (although less than genie and none for the concierge), housekeeping, drinks, etc. We tend to tip at meals too, but it's not expected/required. Both tip at spa.

Add-ons: At first blush I thought cruises have more add-ons, which is still true, but I think it's more that they push the add-ons while AIs don't (except spa and membership). Both offer upcharge meals items (e.g. tomahawk steak at AI), upcharge meals (e.g. AIs might have beach dinner, avant garde dining, cooking theater) but cruises have far more specialty dining options. Charge for starbucks coffee/equivalent at both places. Both offer photography and spa sessions. Where there is less: AI don't sell bottles of alcohol to rooms, though some memberships you'll get it for free (e.g. with our membership you get a welcome sparkling wine, 4 bottles in the room you get to choose from a list including alcohol and wine, and they'll replace what you finish). And no AI charges for towels, even at places that make you give in your room number! No mystery rooms, North Star, bridge tours, charge for a cooking class, etc. for an AI.

Kid's club: Both offer it for free for kids 3/4+ with similar limited daytime hours. Some AIs offer evening hours, but not all.

Wildlife: You may see iguanas, wild cats, and raccoon- like animals at an all-inclusive. My children love the cats in particular though we worry about diseases on attempting to pet wild animals. I've been fortunate not to see any intruders on my cruises. 

Other: The AI doesn't leave without you if you return late. More visible weddings at AIs. You can smoke on your balcony at an AI (unfortunately for non-smokers). It's difficult to book things in advance at an AI, though my mother does try to do the dinners half the time she has to fix when she gets there. You can book everything but dinners and headliners ahead of time on a cruise. 

Membership: You pay for membership at an all-inclusive rather than being based on the number of times you go. You can't pass it down/sideways, but you can pay to add members. My folks upgraded their membership in order to add us kids to it so we have membership status. However, this isn't commonly done so there were a lot of implementation issues. With an all-inclusive, membership gets you: substantially discounted rooms, reserved beach spaces, invites to member only events (e.g. most recent trip this was: gala dinner with entertainment, special dinner with live music, elevated late luncheon/snack with local live music, tequila tasting, mexican handicraft making event), discounted spa packages. I can't remember if the free beach dinner is a membership perk or a room-based perk. Guests of AI members can get the discounted room prices though not necessarily all of the member-only event invites (seems to depend a bit on the resort). See add-ons section, the AI I have a membership at also offers alcohol in room. Both can change the membership perks, though the all-inclusive has not done so. Royal has removed diamond lounges, for example, replacing with drink vouchers.  One confusing item: With our membership, many perks only come if you get the premium room. So you get a discount on rooms, making the lowest premium ones cheaper than the regular rooms, but to get the most of the membership benefits you need to book a higher category premium rooms. Ones above apply to the lowest level membership room. For example, with the lowest level room at some resorts you get 3 hours free babysitting if you book the lowest premium room, 6/9/12 for the next up rooms. So even though I have the top membership, I would only get 3 hrs if I book the lowest premium room.

 

Please feel free to ask other questions.  TL; DR? AIs offer bigger rooms, less crowded while cruises offer more entertainment. Many other things are somewhat comparable or not as significant to your enjoyment.

[Joseph2017China]

AI = Artificial Intellegence.  

 

[KSprite01]

Yeah, I started to type it out as all-inclusive and got tired at the lengthiness. I assumed people could figure it out in the context on a post on "cruising vs all inclusive resort", but for you I can make a key:

All-Inclusive = AI

[cruisefoodie1946]

My wife and I have been cruising on RCI twice a year since 1993 on our first cruise on the Majesty of the Seas, since 20 years ago we cruise twice a year with our 2 sons,1 daughter,2 daughters in law,1 son in law  and all our grandsons, but it is time for a change, since this year we will cruise only once a year and do All Included Resort also once a year, this year we have been on Radiance in March,and

will go to a Village for all 13  of us ,in Pueblo Bonito Resort in Mazatlan,Mexico, the Village

incudes 3 large bedrooms, 4 baths,large living room,dinning room,kitchen  a private pool an spa, maid service at our convenience, premium drinks, 6 all included

restaurants, the resort has 6 swimming pools and several spas, free room service 24 hs a day,a beautifull beach, and large shows every night, all of this cheaper than 4 balcony cabins in an RCI cruise, we will do something different 

[Jasukkie]

I just priced Sandals as that had been mentioned. I guess I'm a bargain cruiser but I usually get balconies and it's substantially more for Sandals than any cruise I've taken. Not even close. Y'all are really paying $400 per person per night? That's a 7 night $5600 cruise for two? I've never paid close to that.

[not-enough-cruising]

9 hours ago, Jasukkie said:

I just priced Sandals as that had been mentioned. I guess I'm a bargain cruiser but I usually get balconies and it's substantially more for Sandals than any cruise I've taken. Not even close. Y'all are really paying $400 per person per night? That's a 7 night $5600 cruise for two? I've never paid close to that.

Sandals is ridiculously expensive. Like you, I am very hard pressed to find an AI for a week that is anywhere close to what I pay for a week long cruise. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

The cruising shut down forced us to look at AI's in Playa Mujeres, Cancun.  We stayed at a couple different, high-end resorts that were a very nice alternative to cruising.  We stayed at an adults only as well as one that was more family-centric.  The pools, bars, beach access and all dining were included.  Additionally, bar set up in the room was included and replenished.  At the time, they were even accommodating anyone who tested positive for C-19 and were unable to fly home...for free.  

 

The things we missed about cruising included visiting ports of call and the casino.  Our accommodation was far superior to any cruise ship cabin we've reserved, with a rooftop terrace and plunge pool.  And the price was either comparable or less than being on a cruise for the same number of nights.

 

Having said all that, nothing takes the place of cruising IMO.  There are close seconds but if one truly has the cruise bug, it's more about the kinship with the water and the ocean environment than all of the bells and whistles offered on a cruise ship.  For us, that's why we will always look to being on a cruise over an AI vacation.  

 

If it's just about the drinks, then I'd book the AI because it will be cheaper.

 

 

Edited July 11, 2023 by Georgia_Peaches

[Cruise a holic]

On 7/8/2023 at 11:36 PM, Jasukkie said:

Maybe I've looked in the wrong places but when I've looked at AI resorts the price has always been higher than cruising. Any recommendations?

Depends.  If you stay in inside cabins- and don't get extras a cruise could be cheaper.  We LOVE the resorts in Playa Mujeres-  not sure if we are allowed to say- but our family favorite is F---st resorts. Truly all inclusive.  Airfare additional. But we do not live in florida so airfare always additional for us.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

On 7/10/2023 at 10:16 PM, Jasukkie said:

I just priced Sandals as that had been mentioned. I guess I'm a bargain cruiser but I usually get balconies and it's substantially more for Sandals than any cruise I've taken. Not even close. Y'all are really paying $400 per person per night? That's a 7 night $5600 cruise for two? I've never paid close to that.

Don't forget to account for a drink package (included in the AI rate) and a larger room (unless you're in a suite on a cruise, which changes the math).  

 

While both are similar, there are differences.  @KSprite01 did an EXCELLENT job comparing the two.  

[Ret MP]

I, for one, have been struggling with the choice of a cruise or an AI, for years.  I haven't pulled the trigger and gone to an AI, yet.  For me, it's all about flying!  I hate to fly for several reasons!  I have always driven to my cruise ports (except one) and like it that way.  To go to an AI, I'd HAVE to fly.  So, to fly or not to fly, that is the question, for me.  And it's an easy answer. 

 

My opinion/reasons have nothing to do with economics or entertainment, as you can tell.  

 

The only way I'd do an AI is if my whole family or any majority portion thereof decided they wanted to do a get-together at an AI.  I'd do anything for the family, even fly.  My family includes my Army buddy and his veteran wife whom we usually cruise with.

 

We all have different reasons and opinions about doing an AI or not, the above is mine, it doesn't have to be anyone else's.

Edited July 12, 2023 by Ret MP

[cruisefoodie1946]

Additionaly, the price of a flight to Miami from where I live in Mexico is 1200 dll pp rt, and to 

Cancun,Puerto Vallarta or Mazatlan in a low cost airline like Viva in brand new planes is 120 dlls pp rt

10 times less

[schlimazel_traveler]

My family tried an all-inclusive in Cancun once. The weather was bad, and there was truly nothing to do but sit in the room. We don't go to many shows in the theater on cruises, but we enjoy listening to the bands and the piano player, watching some of the game shows, or even just people -watching in the lounges. We may have chosen the wrong AI, but there weren't lounges or venues to gather. 

 

I wish I could find a land vacation that offers the cruise experience with the flexibility of going when and however long we prefer! I have looked at "dude ranch" type options as well and they were very expensive!

 

(We aren't big drinkers so that aspect of the AI isn't important to me.)

[Magicat]

If you are or were military, there is a program that offers amazing deals for all sorts of vacations.  DW got our neighbours a tremendous deal for an El Cid in Cancun for a suite with their own hot tub and access to the other 3 or 4 properties for $1400 for the week all in.   

[KSprite01]

On 7/12/2023 at 7:52 AM, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Don't forget to account for a drink package (included in the AI rate) and a larger room (unless you're in a suite on a cruise, which changes the math).  

 

While both are similar, there are differences.  @KSprite01 did an EXCELLENT job comparing the two.  

 

Thanks!