Beaches Resort or a cruise??

[MacFam4]

Being the mega-planner that I am, I'm alreay thinking of next summer's vacation. We're not really taking a vacation this summer, maybe just a long weekend somewhere. So I want next summer to be nice. It will be DH and myself, along with DS11 and DS15.

I'm looking at visiting one of the Beaches Resorts. Anyone been to any of them and can give me some feedback? I would love to go to Turks and Caicos. It's more costly than Jamaica, but I do have over a year to save.

My hubby and I visited Sandals Whitehouse in Jamaica back in october and loved it. Loved the all inclusive. My hubby is a diver so this worked out perfect, since dives are included.

Or we're thinking of going on a cruise. It would be our first time. We live within a few hours from both Galveston and New Orleans, so that automatically eliminates airfare. My boys say they would like to go on a cruise. I think the huge ship just looks intriguing.

The cruise would be cheaper, BUT by the time we figure in tipping and the shore excursions, I'm not so sure.

What do you guys think??

 

[mjkacmom]

Hmm, we went to Beaches our 2 oldest 10 years ago, and it cost us about $10,000, including airfare. We took a NCL out of NYC, and it cost us about $3,000 (airfare not needed). We book excursions on our own, sometimes just doing a day at a local hotel to use the beach and pool. Most mass market cruise lines do a daily service charge instead of tipping, $10 - $12 per person, per day. We did love Beaches, but could never justify the cost again, especially with 7 of us (and the cruise cost was for 7 of us, compared to the 4 of us for Beaches). My kids love cruising! I love driving 20 minutes to the port, instead of the hassle of flying!

 

[rubato]

I think it depends on your budget and your likes. We cruise because it is soooo affordable. But, if I had my way, I'd rather do a resort. Instead, I cruise and I book my own excursions that are always all-inclusive beach days at each port. I've cruised out of Galveston 3 times and don't like the western caribbean ports, so I will probably have to go to New Orleans, or Mobile, or all the way to Florida from now on. I really want to do a southern caribbean cruise, but can only do that by flying to Puerto Rico, which would add a lot to the cost.

 

[Texan]

My two cents, for what its worth; our family of four plus friends of oldest DS, love to cruise; have cruised out of Galveston, Fort Lauderdale and this June out of Baltimore, and yes, we have a cruise already booked for June 2012; we go wherever the ports we are interested are at that time; DS's are now 15and 20; you should get onto the boards at cruisecritics.com and you will find a wealth of info there; cruising for us is a no brainer; we love to snorkel, so we have that at ports; we love the beach, so we have that at ports; we love to eat, and that is a 24/7 opportunity on cruising, and no, we never, ever pay for the specialty restaurants and have had ample good food; our tab at the end of the week is pretty boring, bingo, a few beers, a few drinks of the day, and maybe some jewelry on their sale days; we find for the group of 5 for cruise, air fare and a hotel stay the night before runs about $5,000; you should look at all that is available for the time period you want to go from both NO and Galveston; I cannot remember off the top of my head which Royal Caribbean ship is going to go out of NO soon, but everyone is excited about it; I would definitely look into itl

 

[MrsHockey]

love all inclusives! A cruise is a good choice as long as you DONT get an inside cabin...upgrade to an ocean view. And if you like to drink alcohol, then be cautious of how much you do drink...the tab at the end of the week can add up. If you don't drink alcohol then you will be fine.

 

[AlixaLock]

We love, love Beaches Turks and Caicos ... Can't recommend it highly enough. We go every year with a 2, 3 and 5 year old and this will be our 4th year back coming up. Can't beat it for young children, say under 9 or 10, but we often say that in a few years we'll be on the look out for another resort, because there doesn't seem to be much to do for those young tweens and certainly not for teens. Obviously, every family is different, but I just wanted to throw this caution out there. If you want some more details on the resort, feel free to ask any questions you may have ... I'm pretty much a Beaches T&C expert at this point!

 

[msminniemouse]

We love, love Beaches Turks and Caicos ... Can't recommend it highly enough. We go every year with a 2, 3 and 5 year old and this will be our 4th year back coming up. Can't beat it for young children, say under 9 or 10, but we often say that in a few years we'll be on the look out for another resort, because there doesn't seem to be much to do for those young tweens and certainly not for teens. Obviously, every family is different, but I just wanted to throw this caution out there. If you want some more details on the resort, feel free to ask any questions you may have ... I'm pretty much a Beaches T&C expert at this point!

I thought that had a teen club with lots of activities for tweens/teens?

 

[HeatherC]

We love to cruise! BUT...I would really really love to try Beaches. Unfortunately, I have not been able to come even remotely close to the cost of cruising for our family of five.

At Beaches we would either be crammed into one room for a price of like $10,000 for a week or a cruise for around $3000-$4000.

Last Thanksgiving we did a nine night Royal Caribbean cruise and had two cabins and spent around $4000 total for five people including drinks, tips, excursions, etc..

I could never get that price at Beaches for nine nights.

We can literally take three cruises for the same price. So we cruise.

Have a wonderful time whatever you choose!

 

[cvjw]

We've been to both Beaches in Jamaica, and just returned Saturday from a week at Beaches in Turks and Caicos. Beaches in Turks and Caicos is so much better than either one in Jamaica. It is way more expensive though - but I think the cost is justified. We had 14 family members there - with 6 kids between the ages of 8 and 18. All of the kids had a fabulous time, and all agreed that it was our best family vacation ever. We had several teens/preteens, and all were entertained for the week. We have also been on several cruises. We enjoy cruising, but a week at Beaches is just on a level by itself. FYI, if you decide on the Beaches in Jamaica, pick Beaches Negril, not Beaches Sandy Bay. Feel free to PM me for any info on any of the Beaches resorts. To the PP, yes Beaches Turks and Caicos has a teen club, and planned preteen/teen activities each day.

 

[maggiew]

I've never been to an all-inclusive, but we love to cruise. The kids clubs on the cruise are really great.

The new Carnival Magic is going to be stationed in Galveston, I believe. So you could be on a brand new, big ship!

The poster above said not to get an inside room. I disagree. We had an oceanview the first time and I never looked out the window. So from then on I booked an inside room. Last year I booked a balcony for my DDs graduation cruise as a surprise, but I only went out on the balcony because I felt I HAD to to get my money's worth.

We have always done 2 cabins. It really isn't much more than all squeezing into 1. But I have girls and the extra bathroom is REALLY useful! Not sure how necessary it would be with boys, since I have no experience with them.

What I really like about cruising is seeing different islands. You get a little taste of a lot of places. If there is one place we really like, we take another cruise there someday and try something else.

Maggie

 

[MacFam4]

Thank you all for your comments! DH doesn't even really want to discuss a vacation a year out right now so I still don't know what we'll do. My heart tells me Turks and Caicos and I know that we would have a fabulous time. But when I run some numbers, it just doesn't look too good. Airfare is the biggie. BYW, Myself and DS11 are getting our disney fix in November

My boys are pretty relaxed kids, I think between the x box game garage and the pools and beach, they would be happy. My youngest doesn't hesitate voicing his opinion about the cruise though. He's wanted to go on one for some time now. My oldest is pretty OK with whatever we choose.

As far as cruising....everyone I've talked to says they either love them or hate them, there's usually not a middle. I think the shore excursions make me nervous. They're so expsensive to book through the ship, but I know they guarantee to get you back on the ship in time. I've started looking through cruisecritic.com so that helps. I think DH would def want to dive in Cozumel and Cayman Islands. I use diving as the preverbial carrot. We also don't drink, nor do we drink soda, so that would keep expenses down. We hardly ever gamble and we don't care to play bingo, so I think we would do pretty well on the ship, as far as costs.

 

[rigs32]

re: excursions

Let's say you're in port from 9am - 5pm. I would book an excursion on my own that had 1) good reviews on cruisecritic.com, 2) a good website for photos and infor, 3) good reviews on another site (ie tripadvisor). I also make sure that any excursions I book on my own are scheduled to return me to the ship by 3pm. That's a 2 hour window. Most islands are so small that you would have little trouble calling a cab or catching a bus back to the ship in those 2 hours.

I booked excursions through the ship on my first cruise. Double the price, double the people. I felt like I was cattle in a herd. On my own? Never felt that way. When I cruised with my family (6 or 8 adults), we hire a guide for the day to show us around, take us to 1 or 2 attractions, and it's just us. It's usually $20-30pp for the whole day.

There are also several places where you don't need a planned excursion. Some places you are within walking distance of a nice beach once you're off the ship. No need to spend more.

 

[maggiew]

I agree. Excursions don't have to be expensive! Many places you can just take a taxi to the beach.

Although, we like more active excursions, so we don't really do just the beach thing. We did zip lining, helmet diving, etc. But we did everything on our own, not through the ship. The only ship excursions we have done were the Tulum excursion because it is such a long trip and chances of getting back late are good. We also booked a cooking class on Cozumel through the ship because it was the only way to book it.

If you pick an itinerary and tell us the ports, we can give recommendations for excursions.

(Although, I think Diving is expensive anywhere.)

Maggie

 

[LynnTH]

I too love cruising. I just booked one for next spring break on the RCCL Allure of the Seas. My kids are so excited and so am I. This ship is huge and tons for the older kids ( Ice Skating, Rock Climbing, Flow Riders, Zip Line, Basketball, Arcade plus so much more). We are going during a peak time and got us an inside cabin ( I can't justify the cost of outside or balcony when we are not in the room but to change and sleep). So, the cost for the 4 of us was $3200 and this is on the biggest ship out there.

You said your husband doesn't really want to think about next years vacation yet - but you are going during prime time. If I were you I would get something booked soon as the prices are only going to go up for that time of year. We are going next March and the ship is already pretty full.

Also, once you figure out what ship and where you want to go and when. Go to cruisecompete.com. You will have different agencies competing for your business and can get lower rates that way. We have done that the last 2 cruises.

Also, don't feel like you have to do a shore excursion. They can get pretty spendy. Many times we will just walk around the islands (depending on the island) and go shopping or to the beach. We don't always do excursions.

 

[gracie1]

I did a 9 night eastern caribbean cruise on RCCL and loved it! I am looking into booking Bermuda next year, but may travel to a couple other places first. The best thing for us is, were not beach people. We like to go onto the beach, see the beauty of it, stick our feet in the water and be on our way. We like to sight see and learn about the island and meet and hang out with the locals.
But on our 1st cruise we didn't book any excursions on the cruise line. We went on our own and hired the locals. It was great. You should atleast give it a try!

 

[AlixaLock]

I thought that had a teen club with lots of activities for tweens/teens?

They do, but it's always been pretty deserted with only very small groups of kids hanging out and looking bored. BUT, this may very well be the time of year we go and if others who have first hand experience with the teen/tween club have enjoyed it, definitely go with what they say! All the Sesame Street stuff is so amazing for the little ones, I always thought older kids would be a little turned off by the atmosphere.

Like I said, we love Beaches T&C...

 

[WicketsMom]

We've done both cruises and all-inclusives, and I much prefer staying on the island to the cruise. My husband and I are also divers and it is so hard to see the water from the ship and not be able to get into it! The drinks can also add up quickly on a cruise.

We're trying our first Beaches in May in Curacao, however I generally stay away from the all-inclusives because I've found that I can book my own condo (try VRBO dot com), cook some meals in, and come out way ahead. We have done two all-inclusives in Cozumel, one quite pricey and one for $800/week for three of us (diving extra) that were nice. You can fly into Cancun fairly cheap, then take the bus to Playa del Carmen and ferry across for about $20/person (it takes about 1 1/2 hours, but is an interesting drive).

For divers, Turks and Caicos is the most beautiful water of any of the islands I've been to, and we dive alot. It is also the most expensive island I've been to, even food/drinks in the grocery store is high and there is no fast food on the island at all.

We're trying the all-inclusive again because we're taking our 4-year old with us and this time we're not taking someone along to watch him while we dive. There are kids' programs that he will do while we're on the boat, and he likes to ride on the boat with us when they let him (pay someone to watch him while we dive).

 

[girli565]

cruising for my husband and I is much more affordable because we live in Miami. Having someone drop us off to the port of Miami for a 7 day cruise that includes all meals , 3-4 different destinations and transportation is much cheaper than any all inclusive resort in the Caribbean. I wish we could fly somewhere like Jamaica or Santo Domingo and stay at an all inclusive resort but sometimes the flight is half of the cruise fare. It just doesn't add up for us.

So I would choose cruising. And think, you'd get several destinations on a cruise while at an all inclusive you'd only get 1.

We just booked a New years cruise on carnival. It was a bit pricey bc of the holiday but still cheaper than flying somewhere during xmas/new year.

 

[MacFam4]

So for those of you who cruise, how far in advance do you book your cruise? What's the shortest amount of time you've booked? I'm waiting for the school board to approve next years school schedule. If they approve what's been proposed, the boys spring break will be the last week of April, so pretty late for spring break. But it looks like I can get a much better deal that week than to wait for the summer. Plus I have no idea how far in advance my DH can put in a leave request. I can put one in now probably.

 

[MacFam4]

I've never been to an all-inclusive, but we love to cruise. The kids clubs on the cruise are really great.

The new Carnival Magic is going to be stationed in Galveston, I believe. So you could be on a brand new, big ship!

The poster above said not to get an inside room. I disagree. We had an oceanview the first time and I never looked out the window. So from then on I booked an inside room. Last year I booked a balcony for my DDs graduation cruise as a surprise, but I only went out on the balcony because I felt I HAD to to get my money's worth.

We have always done 2 cabins. It really isn't much more than all squeezing into 1. But I have girls and the extra bathroom is REALLY useful! Not sure how necessary it would be with boys, since I have no experience with them.

What I really like about cruising is seeing different islands. You get a little taste of a lot of places. If there is one place we really like, we take another cruise there someday and try something else.

Maggie

Carnival Magic will be in Galveston the time I'm looking at!!! It's very tempting to book on that nice new looking ship

I would love a balcony room, but we'll probably end up with an inside. DH isn't necessarily what I would call cheap, but he doesn't feel vacations are a necessity in life like I do, so I'll probably try to keep the costs down as much as possible. He's one of those people who would take a weeks vacation and hang out at home Not me!!!