Cruise vs. All Inclusive

which do YOU like better and why

Re: Cruise vs. All Inclusive

I have tried both and I would say ALL INCLUSIVE.

Why:

1. I get seasick and got pretty sick on my cruise around the Caribbean. Yeah I took Bonine but I slept all day. Even the non-drowsy ones will make you drowsy and I'd rather not feel that way on vacation.

2. All inclusives are on land and can't sink.

3. I don't like the idea of being in the ocean for days. I feel that if I'm in an AI, or anywhere else on land, and if something awful happens at home and we have to leave we can book the earliest flight back. With a cruise, you can't go anywhere until you get to your next port.

Re: Cruise vs. All Inclusive

I've done both & definitely prefer all inclusive. With cruises you are often stopping at ports with minimal to do, except paying for the touristy excursions, & u are constantly on the cruises schedule (including meals)
And not to mention the smaller rooms, expensive drinks.

I just love the relaxing resort feel of laying by an infinity pool or beach.booking some excursions during the trip, or simply drinking & relaxing.

Re: Cruise vs. All Inclusive

I have done both and prefer the cruise because I need to be constantly entertained. I get bored easily at a resort after maybe 4 days.

Re: Cruise vs. All Inclusive

all inclusive

I did a cruise once and had an ok time but wish I went with a large group to have more fun. I have done several all inclusives and loved them all.

Re: Cruise vs. All Inclusive

For me it's a draw. I like both equally for different reasons and if possible I'd alternate between each for every Caribbean vacation.

DH, on the other hand, likes AIs but prefers cruises by a long shot. If it were up to him he'd always cruise. He likes visiting different ports all on one trip rather than staying in just one place, the food, the casinos, the variety of activities. Honestly, I think a lot of what he likes can also be said for AIs, but there's just something about cruising that's in his blood.

Re: Cruise vs. All Inclusive

I really like them both, but I actually find cruising more relaxing.

I'm the type of vacationer who overplans. I want to run and see and do EVERYTHING. On our trip to St. Lucia. We had an amazing suite with Butler service, which really made days at the resort relaxing and enjoyable, but not for me, i HAD to go ahead and plan something for EVERY day, so we were running. At the end I felt like I hadn't fully relaxed and I didn't enjoy the resort we'd paid so much for. Instead, we paid a fortune for all of these excursions, some of which were NOT worth leaving the resort for.

On our cruise, there was so much to do on the ship, but always gaps in between and I didn't feel pressure with scheduling. It was relatively inexpensiv to buy a cruise-long pass to the rainforest room at the spa and relax thre for part of each day. You have sea days where you're FORCED to enjoy the ship. We came back SO relaxed


ETA: We are not big drinkers. On our cruise we bought one bottle of wine that followed us to the different restaurants (gotta love Disney's dining), and we each had a drink one or two nights at the club and on the beach. We spent under $150 on alcohol, and that's with a $70 bottle of wine.

I feel like we're overpaying at an all inclusive for that reason. We DID drink more in St Lucia...it was a very "islands, rum punch" kind of vacation, but we can live without drinking

Message edited 3/22/2012 10:25:30 AM.

Re: Cruise vs. All Inclusive

Message edited 3/22/2012 11:02:39 AM.

Re: Cruise vs. All Inclusive

Cruise. I just love the feeling of being on a huge ship in the middle of the ocean, it's not for everyone though. Waking up in different places each morning, the casino at night, shows, the service, activities, the little cabin... I love it all.

Most ships have anytime dining now, we did it on our last cruise on carnival and it was great.

And to lessen the total bill at the end we actually bought carnival fun ship dollars prior to sailing. We would get $25 at a time each paycheck until a few weeks before we sailed so we had a nice on board credit to use.

Re: Cruise vs. All Inclusive

Re: Cruise vs. All Inclusive

I personally don't like cruises. went twice. Not for me. We tried all inclusive and really enjoyed it! The one we stayed at had like 5 a la carte restaurants and a buffet. No reservations needed. No wrist bands. No watching the clock and worrying about the time. There were quiet areas and more active areas. Rooms were just so much better and larger. Food was similar in quality to royal caribbean. The drinks in some instances were maybe not as good, but were limitless.

I personally found cruising to be stressful. And a tease. I enjoyed the islands so much more than the ship.
The ships are very neat and I am glad I have experienced a cruise. But my husband and I decided we enjoy a different style of vacation and don't feel the need to do another cruise.

Re: Cruise vs. All Inclusive

Not even close IMO: ALL INCLUSIVE!

DH and I love to drink when we're on vacation. From the moment we walk into an AI resort until we leave, we are able to drink as much as we want.

I do not like the idea of being in the middle of the ocean for more than a few hours, let alone days at a time with stops here and there.

You can do excursions at your own pace from the AI resort. If you want to do parasailing early in the morning, scuba after that and then head to a park for ziplining that afternoon, you can do that and schedule it however you want. Any land excursions on a cruise have to be done whenever you are in a port and it's on their schedule.

If I want to lay around all day on the beach, I can do that with AI. A cruise means you can only lay on a beach when you are in port.

Re: Cruise vs. All Inclusive

I thought I would find it scary to be in the middle of the ocean and feel trapped on the ship. I LOVED it and I'm hoping to do a transatlantic before we have kids.

What solidified it for me was sitting in the spa waiting room and seeing a pod of dolphins swimming alongside the ship


I really loved both and I'm currently emailing MY TA to figure out when we're getting back to Sandals

Re: Cruise vs. All Inclusive

DH and I prefer all inclusives. Mainly for the fact that the 1 cruise we went on (I believe it was 6 or 7 nights) our liquor bill was over $1k, and we aren't what I consider big drinkers.

Re: Cruise vs. All Inclusive

Re: Cruise vs. All Inclusive

Cruises hands down. I like that you can see several different islands while on the cruise, I find most of the resorts to get boring after a couple of days - but not the cruise.

I see some people mention the all you can drink - but many lines have a drink package you can get. And then drinks would be included. I don't drink my way through my vacations so that isn't a sticking point for me. We usually just have a pre dinner drink and wine with dinner. My friends that do drink a lot all prefer the cruises as well - but they do drink packages so they don't have to worry about the end bill.

I see cruises just as floating resorts but you aren't stuck on one island you get to have a different view everyday or almost everyday and get to do something completely different if that is what you want to do. I also like that they are a combination of relaxing and activities and you can be as relaxed as you want OR as active as you choose to be.

Re: Cruise vs. All Inclusive

Lillykat, have you done Disney cruises?

Re: Cruise vs. All Inclusive