I'm planning to take my two daughers to either the Bahama's or St. Thomas. They are 16 and 18. For those of you who have done the all inclusives in Bahama;s please give me your thoughts on the best resort. I understand Rui is good but there amenites are limited and Atlantis next door does not allow full use of their facilities. Breezes appears to have many negative reviews. The PI Harbor....who wants to look at a marina???
Now, Plan Two: St. Thomas...has anyone done an all inclusive there? There are plenty of options for heading out to see the sights, so this is high on my list.
Cruises seem to be getting a blackeye with all of the extra "charges"....no inclusions of soda, beer, wine or alcohol and the suggestions of tipping the stewards $10 per day to be sure your cabin in done early. The cost for the shore excursions is incredible. The ships appear to be older, dark and in need of TLC. We are in the Washington, DC area and the ones that leave from Baltimore are 10 years plus old. None leave from Norfolk, VA
So there's the additional flight supplement to consider.
Please share your thoughts and experiences. They are much appreciated. Thank you.
All Inclusive -vs- Cruise w/ 2 Teens
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www.riu.com and Paradisus have best teen programs
RIU light years better than Breezes might head there.
www.atlantis.com more but good sales now might consider that.
cheapcaribbean.com bookit.com
AIs in St Thomas are not great Secret Harbor is good there
also like www.magenspoint.com used to own a condo there
cheap and could prepare my own meals to save...
www.puntacana.com Jamaica MoBay and Cancun have best AIs
might also have a look there.
Have fun,
www.spirit.com has great cheap flights down might check on that
Cruises will be far more costly with a crew like yours figuring
all the extras and the experience will not be as good with
most of your time at sea... doubt you will save much
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Thank you for your time and great recommendations! We truly appreciate your input!
Have you consider Aruba? It is by far better value than Bahamas and the beaches are quite nice. I have been to St Thomas but not an all inclusive. Megan's beach by far, is the best there.
We have given up on all inclsuives and turned to cruising. There seems to be much more to do on cruising. We consider the cruise ship as a floating hotel, an all inclusive of sort. We are social drinkers and soda pop is not on our diet list so the added beverage expenses when compare to the all inclusives are not there. We cosnider the daily tips as part of the cost so it is factored in. Tips are optional anyway.
The way your openning remarks were written, it appears you have written off cruises as you will have additional expenses for air travel if you wanted the newer and better ships.
Cruise is defineitly an option. Best selection of Carribbean cruise departs from Florida and don't pick anything less than 7 days in length. 10 days to Soutehrn Carribbean would probably be the better ones.
Side trips in an all inclusive is extra anyway. Ship's shore excusions are optional. You can always just do you own persoanl things ashore (for free, except for cab or whatever) or just stay on the ship, or go back to the ship for food and drinks. Typical food on a cruise ship is definietly consistently better than all-inclusive reorts.
Crusie lines to consider would be RCL, Princess, Celebrity and Carnival.
Cruises are costly if you like your alcohol, or shopping. I like the included activities on cruises. your kids will meet more people as well if there is a teen or kids program.
The USVI aren't known for their all-inclusive resorts. And the best ones in the Bahamas are deluxe properties. If you want an AI resort on a beautiful beach, consider the following: Antigua, D.R., Jamaica, or Aruba, as Eschew suggests. Though even Aruba isn't really known for all-inclusives.
Now for the pros and cons. To be honest, I think a cruise might be a good option for you. It's a safer environment for teens than a resort since alcohol is more restricted, and teens have their own areas to interact on many of the larger ships. A cruise is not a cheap vacation by any means, but it's comparable to a good upscale all-inclusive resort and includes better entertainment. Plus you get to visit a variety of beaches in each port, and you don't have to spend a lot of money if you don't want to.
Look particularly at Allure or Oasis of the Seas, or Norwegian Epic for a big-ship experience. But as Eschew points out, it's not a good option for you unless you want a full week vacation. Depending on where you're leaving from, there are many options for departure ports for cruises. NCL and Carnival have ships that go to the Caribbean weekly year-round from NYC (well, Carnival will shortly). Other cruise lines sail from many other cities on the east coast, from Florida, and from ports along the Gulf. So you might save some money on airfare with a cruise depending on where you live.