All inclusive Family resorts

[Sue Sullivan]

Now that the cruise is over, we are thinking of trying one of those All Inclusive resorts next, maybe Beaches or something like that. I hear they are quite pricey. Have any of you ever gone to one? Cruising is just not my husbands thing I'm afraid.

 

[adisneymama]

Hi Sue! It was fun cruising with you. We are looking for other options as well and I would like to know the answer to this one myself. Great Meeting you!

 

[wintermom]

We love to vacation, this past June we tried the Iberostar Lindo in Playa
del Carmen (south of Cancun). I was rather worried about the all inclusive
resort but this one was great. We went the first week of June and got a
great deal on the price. Everything was great -even the food was good.
Not fantastic but good. I did a lot of reseach and read a lot of reviews and
settled on the Iberostar Lindo, it was on the beach and had lots of pools
for the kids, a wave pool , a lazy river, waterfalls . The resort was very
beautiful and brand new, it opened last Nov. I think. There were 7 of us
with two families and kids age 7 to 15. Everyone had a wonderful time and
paying one fee up front was great.

Wintermom

 

[TheWog]

We did an all-inclusive in Jamaica. It was adults only (Couples Resort). It was a good deal and to have everything included, including drinks and excursions, was real nice. The price was not that bad including airfare. There are Beaches on Jamaica as well. Good luck.

 

[kaseyC]

We did an All-Inclusive Family resort in Jamaica in spring of 2000. It was called Franklyn D. Resort. We had a great time. It is a very nice family oriented resort. They have "vacation nannies", who are assigned to each family. I do not have their website link, just Google it, you should get alot of info.

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

With kids, beaches; without kids sandals--they are both wondereful! We plan on doing beaches again in winter of 2007 for our tenth year anniversary.

 

[Sue Sullivan]

Thanks for the info. We are looking at 2006 or 2007 depending on how fast we can save. I think the airfare is what really makes these trips expensive. We are thinking of summber since it is harder to take the kids out of school as they get older. Is it much more expensive in the summer?

Adisneymama, it was great seeing you and Buddy and Aubrey on board. We loved the cruise but my husband is prone to seasickness and feels a bit uncomfortable in crowded spaces. The day at CC we decided that his perfect cuise would be to sail to cc and park for the week. So we figured a beach vacation would be the next best thing. I have done a little research and the prices seem much higher than cruise prices, so we'll see.

 

[adisneymama]

Hi Sue! We didn't have a problem with sea sickness but was getting tired of not being able to stand up straight! We were also disappointed with the programming for Aubrey's age. We loved CC and decided that if we could stay there we would be in heaven! We had fun, but not the vacation of a lifetime. I have read reports that some of the bigger ships don't feel the movement as much. May try one of those down the road when Aubrey is older, but I don't think we'll be cruising any time soon.

Let me know what you find out. I agree it seems to be the airfare that is so expensive.

Talk to you soon!

 

[Sue Sullivan]

I did a google for the Iberostar Lindo in Playo del Carmen and got a website. Don't think I can post it here though, so PM me if you want me to e-mail it to you. It is pretty pricey but there are several other resorts shown at the bottom at the page, and you can get an instant quote from any of them. Some compare pretty evenly to a Disney cruise on price and some are higher. I am keeping in mind that we will need to fly there, but that there will be no extra $ needed for tips, shore excursions etc. They all look just beautiful. Of course, here I am planning for a trip 2 or 3 years from now. Call me obsessive!! We had such a great time on our cruise, partly because the ship was great but also because we were with extended family that we don't get to see very often. My brothers family agreed that they would like to try a land based family resort next time too.

 

[chrisn]

We stayed 5 days at the Iberostar Tucan right on on the beautiful turqoise beach. The resort was outstanding! So beautiful. Great food. Fun activities. Wonderful staff. The resort is cut into the middle of jungle. We had monkeys in the trees. One of the best times we've ever had. I highly recommend Playa. We look forward to going back to Barcelo in a few years!

 

[mmouse37]

I great site to check prices for all types of vacations is

www.vacationstogo.com

You do have to sign up via e-mail but then you can sign in and check all types of vacations from all inclisives to cruises...put in your dates and type of vacation and it prices it with and without airfare.

My parents have used them several times and they were wonderful to work with.

MJ

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

Breezes is another all inclusive--some locations are adults only and some are family. We are looking into one of the family ones with four other families for June 2006. Right now Breezes is about $3,000 cheaper for a family of four.

I am going to look into Iberostar in Playa Del Carmen--thank you for the information on that one.

 

[kpgclark]

Haven't stayed at the Iberostar Bavaro in Punta Cana but I looked into it for this spring. I thought it looked very nice. Unfortunately we have to go to Texas to see relatives. Ugh. Another place I thought looked very nice is the Pointe South Mountain Resort in Phoenix. I know it isn't the Caribbean but it has a fantastic looking pool complex. Check it out.

 

[sweetheart2576]

Is there anyway you can pm the website to me for Iberostar Lindo in Playo del Carmen ? I found one but can't figure out how to get a price.TYIA

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

I also found Moon Palace Resort in Cancun Mexico. It really looks like another terrific option and also about $3,000 cheaper than beaches.

 

[my3kids]

We thought about one for this summer's vacation, but found the prices to be $$$$$$. We're doing a Royal Caribbean cruise instead. Where do you all find good prices on the resorts. They sound like they would be a lot of fun for a family.

 

[chasbos]

Not sure what type of resort you are looking for or where or when - but here is what I know!

We have only travelled to St. Maarten to stay at an all inclusive (I have yet been able to bring myself to stay in Mexico, Jamaica, Dominican) I like clean water, facilities and the freedom to travel all over the island with my 4 kids and feel safe. Now maybe I have just been told the bad stories of these other places, I don't know!

When we first planned on going to St. Maarten, DH was having a fit thinking it was going to be too expensive for all 6 of us to go all inclusive. Well, he is happy with what we spent going there for a week than what we are paying for our 4 night Disney cruise!

We paid $5750 for the Maho Resort in St. Maarten and that included everything - drinks, food and more food! We are paying $3400 for our cruise and only the cruise and food - no air fare, drinks or fruit smoothies for the girls! This could be a problem - my kids might break me on ordering fruit smoothies LOL!

Oh, we went the first week of December to St. Maarten.

 

[ladytampa]

What was the name of the all-inclusive resort where you stayed? What activities were available?

 

[chasbos]

We stayed at Maho Resort, now they call it Sonesta Maho Resort. They have a small kids club but mine only went for one morning. They have a great pool area, it is right on the beach. It is actually located by the runway of the airport, so the planes take off and land maybe 100 feet away when you are at the far end of the beach.

There were not many kids there but mine had a great time (DD's 12, 10, 8, & 6) We spent a few days touring the island, a day horse back riding, a day shopping in town. And a few days just lounging.

The food was amazing. There was a buffett every day for breakfast, lunch and supper. Supper was a different countries menu every night. There was a snack time restaurant where you could order shrimp cocktail, nachos supreme, pizza, hamburgers, fries ect. And they were open all day. And we got vouchers for the 3 other restaurants that were attached to resort. They were a lot fancier.

There is a bar across the road called Cheri's Cafe and they have a live band every night - very entertaining - the girls also really liked it there.

So, it is not a real Beaches type resort where there is all sorts of activities but it is very nice and relaxing and my family loved it there.

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

We have only travelled to St. Maarten to stay at an all inclusive (I have yet been able to bring myself to stay in Mexico, Jamaica, Dominican) I like clean water, facilities and the freedom to travel all over the island with my 4 kids and feel safe. Now maybe I have just been told the bad stories of these other places, I don't know!

We have traveled to Mexico several times and Jamaica once and have never encountered any problems. I was a bit anxious about going to Jamaica after also hearing stories, but we went and had a wonderful time. The key is picking the right resort and doing research. We also only stay in four or five star hotels so the facilities are wonderful. As far as traveling all over the islands and feeling safe, you can run into trouble anywhere.

I am just saying do not discount great islands and great prices. Cancun is a wonderful area and is very affordable.