All inclusive family resort?

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

We stayed at the Occidental Grand Xcaret 3 years ago. It is a beautiful resort with a lot of amenities. We stayed in a regular room so I can not comment on the suites. The beach is man-made but that did not bother us at all. We snorkeled in the inlet and saw numerous fish and even an octopus. We spent the day at Xcaret park next door and swam with the dolphins.
There were many activites around the resort. We saw lots of animals including monkeys running around. My favorite activity was painting Mexican pottery by the pool. It was a relaxing way to spend the day plus I had a souvenior that I made.
It is about an hour south of the airport but on a highway so it was not a bad drive. I would definitely recommend the resort. It is beautiful and clean.

Dh and I vacationed at the OGX in 2007. We had a great trip. I personally loved the little inlet beach. I loved snorkleing there and saw lots of fish. Dh and I commented many times during our week there what a great place it would be to bring the kids. I loved the painting on the beach too! We hope to plan a trip with the kids in the next couple years to return. I am disappointed to hear the park tickets won't be included any longer though. The trip from the airport was easy and seemed pretty quick. We got the free shuttle when we booked our package through American Airlines vacations.

 

[polkadotminnie]

Dh and I vacationed at the OGX in 2007. We had a great trip. I personally loved the little inlet beach. I loved snorkleing there and saw lots of fish. Dh and I commented many times during our week there what a great place it would be to bring the kids. I loved the painting on the beach too! We hope to plan a trip with the kids in the next couple years to return. I am disappointed to hear the park tickets won't be included any longer though. The trip from the airport was easy and seemed pretty quick. We got the free shuttle when we booked our package through American Airlines vacations.

My oldest DD was nine at the time and loved that she could get as many smoothies as she wanted. She had won the trip by winning an essay contest so it was a very special trip for us. I didn't know people actually won those contests.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

My oldest DD was nine at the time and loved that she could get as many smoothies as she wanted. She had won the trip by winning an essay contest so it was a very special trip for us. I didn't know people actually won those contests.

This was truly the best vacation we have ever had. I felt so safe with my children being at the beach. I am surprised park tickets are no longer included...that just doesn't sound right??
This is really a FAMILY resort. I would love to go back someday. Everyone was so nice.

 

[maggiew]

OP here.......thank you all so much, I've spent the last 3-4 days on the computer, comparing and contrasting. Haven't quite brought out the spreadsheet yet, but.....

can't cruise. I get seasick. Or I have to be knocked out on Dramamine which makes it no fun. So cruises are out.

But the Occidental Xcaret is the front runner.....WOW! It looks great and I can get us there, good flights, etc, for about $4000 for 5 nights.

Although DH wants to upgrade to a club-level jr suite, adding another $1000. Anyone who has stayed there....difference between concierge jr suite and club jr suite? (One room with 2 beds, not so good. Our kids won't sleep, we need a separate area for them to at least try to fall asleep in)

Have you been on a cruise before? How do you know you will get seasick? I get seasick on little boats so I thought I would get seasick on our Royal Caribbean cruise. So I started to take dramamine BEFORE the cruise. Unfortunately I had a reaction to it (my tongue got all weird). So I stopped taking it on the cruise and I was surprised to find out I didn't get seasick! And we were on the smallest ship in the fleet (Sovereign). The bigger ships are even better. The ships are so big that you don't really feel the movement. (Granted, we didn't cruise during a hurricane or bad weather, so just normal seas.) We have cruised 5 times since then!

Just a thought.

Maggie

 

[nilseks]

It looks like you got a lot of great suggestions so I'm not really going to chime in on location, however, just wanted to give you a little tip...

I saw a few people mentioned cheapcaribbean.com . I have used that site myself, just used it for a trip we're doing to Riviera Maya in 2 weeks. The thing about cheapcaribbean is part of the reason it's so cheap is the flight times are usually garbage. You always have a layover or two, and usually it's long. We found a great price on cheapcaribbean, then called a travel agent we know and had her price shop it against Apple. Apple's price for 4 nights was over $400 more than cheapcaribbean, but Apple price matched it for us! So instead of having a layover and spending 11 hours traveling, we got on a 4 hour direct flight on an airline we had actually heard of. Just something to keep in mind.

Happy travels!

 

[esk]

I read a review on Trip Advisor that people who book through Apple get different colored wristbands....and poor service from the staff?

Anyone who has been to the Grand Xcaret, can you tell me about the wristbands?

(and on the cruises....been on 2...I'm fine in the islands but on the open water, or to/from the island areas like Greek Isles or Bahamas, sicker than a dog)

 

[polkadotminnie]

I read a review on Trip Advisor that people who book through Apple get different colored wristbands....and poor service from the staff?

Anyone who has been to the Grand Xcaret, can you tell me about the wristbands?

(and on the cruises....been on 2...I'm fine in the islands but on the open water, or to/from the island areas like Greek Isles or Bahamas, sicker than a dog)

I looked back at pictures and my dd is wearing a yellow wrist band but that was several years ago.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

How about one of the Palace Resorts in Mexico? We just visited the Spa Palace in Riveria Maya and loved it!

I have heard wonderful things about the Palace resorts and I would love to stay there but really, it is our of our price range. We really try to stay under $3k for 2 nights - 2 people.

 

[4Seasons]

It looks like you got a lot of great suggestions so I'm not really going to chime in on location, however, just wanted to give you a little tip...

I saw a few people mentioned cheapcaribbean.com . I have used that site myself, just used it for a trip we're doing to Riviera Maya in 2 weeks. The thing about cheapcaribbean is part of the reason it's so cheap is the flight times are usually garbage. You always have a layover or two, and usually it's long. We found a great price on cheapcaribbean, then called a travel agent we know and had her price shop it against Apple. Apple's price for 4 nights was over $400 more than cheapcaribbean, but Apple price matched it for us! So instead of having a layover and spending 11 hours traveling, we got on a 4 hour direct flight on an airline we had actually heard of. Just something to keep in mind.

Happy travels!

Yes, a good agent will go to bat for you and work with one of their preferred tour operators to price match, PLUS give you better service and be there for you in case of any issues. Oh yeah, and they will actually KNOW who you are when you call!

 

[4Seasons]

I read a review on Trip Advisor that people who book through Apple get different colored wristbands....and poor service from the staff?

Anyone who has been to the Grand Xcaret, can you tell me about the wristbands?

(and on the cruises....been on 2...I'm fine in the islands but on the open water, or to/from the island areas like Greek Isles or Bahamas, sicker than a dog)

Most of the all inclusive resorts require guests to wear a wristband. Usually different colors denote what room category you are staying in. They also will denote whether you are a timeshare owner or not. Yes, most of these properties in Mexico are also timeshare.
Dreams and Secrets resorts in Mexico are some of the few who do not require
wristbands. I hate the tan lines those wristbands give you!

 

[ChickieToo]

How about one of the Palace Resorts in Mexico? We just visited the Spa Palace in Riveria Maya and loved it!

Yes, we stayed at the Moon Palace in Cancun. We loved it. We traveled with a large group of families and everyone had a great time. The rooms were gorgeous with large hot tubs right in the room--not the bathroom, the room. Of course DD10 was with us, so it was the three of us in the hot tub every day, but we all had a great time. Liquor was included, and there was a bar in the room, with full-sized liquor bottles so you could fix your own drinks.

We spent most days at the resort, and one day at a water park that I believe was part of the resort family, so it was no cost to us, we just showed our wristbands and got in. We did the swim with the dolphins thing too, but that had some cost associated with it. The hotel was able to arrange excursions which we did a couple of days. The hotel also had entertainment in the evenings.

The food was uneven--some really good, so just so-so. We went to an Asian restaurant one night and had tons of sushi. It would have cost hundreds of dollars, but it was AI, so that was a great value. There were a lot of restaurants to choose from, and the hotel had three sections, each with it's own style so we tried a lot of different restaurants throughout the complex. Some friends ordered room service a lot because they had a 2 yo with them and it was easier for breakfast. They also ordered desserts and beer at night. One day a chef cooked right out on the pool deck using a big wok with veggies, rice and seafood in it and just walked around and asked people if they wanted some.

I have to say, the pools were very relaxing and it was great having restaurants adjacent to the pools and beaches. It was a nice feature for the kids because they could pick up and go eat lunch together and we could watch them. Sometimes they put food in to-go containers and brought them back poolside and ate.

We used the beach some, and DH and I went sailing on a Hobie Cat that was part of the hotel boat fleet--it was a great time, the water warm and clean.

The grounds we lovely and very well kept. It is quite a large resort, but there were shuttles to take you between sections of the hotel, and golf carts to shuttle you from the rooms over to the main lobby where the restaurants were if you wanted one.

We plan on going back, it was a wonderful vacation.

 

[Mom_Rides]

DH and I attended my sisters wedding at Dreams La Romana in May of this year. It was a fantastic resort! Beautiful property, awesome food, great entertainment, etc. We did not take our kids, but there was just a ton of kids activities all week long that we likely would have not seen them! Good luck in your planning!!!

 

[littlele]

I have heard wonderful things about the Palace resorts and I would love to stay there but really, it is our of our price range. We really try to stay under $3k for 2 nights - 2 people.

Stayed at the Vallarta Palace in May 08 and it was well under this price. I believe it was around $1800 for three for 5 nights through Costco.

Anyhow, LOVE the Palace resort. The Vallarta Palace had all of the inclusions that PP mentioned regarding Palace resorts and we chose this one because it seemed smaller in size. Still had the great entertainment, good food, room service and all other things mentioned, but wasn't overwhelming for us first timers. Planning on going back sometime this year!

 

[ChickieToo]

I have heard wonderful things about the Palace resorts and I would love to stay there but really, it is our of our price range. We really try to stay under $3k for 2 nights - 2 people.

Actually, I think you would be pleasantly surprised by the relative cost. No where near the cost of Beaches Turks and Caicos which we plan on doing sometime. I believe the cost for the three of us for 5 nights was around $2000 give or take. Go to their website and check it out. Pick your dates and look it up on the price charts. We went during the last week of March. Our airfare out of NYC (can't honestly say I remember whether it was Kennedy or LaGuardia) was $198 RT pp.

We will definitely go again.