I'm trying to plan a trip for the end of December. I'm considering a Caribbean cruise, all-inclusive resorts (Cancun, Sandals, etc) or we'll do it ourselves and visit Belize. Does anyone have any recommendations or tips? Right now I'm leaning toward a resort or Belize, I'd rather not be limited by being stuck on a cruise at sea for a whole day. TIA!
My brother and sister in law had a blast at the St. Lucia Sandals. The new one in Jamaica is supposed to be very nice as well. You have to be careful about Sandals, there are nice and not so nice ones.
Heading off to Grand Velas in Nuevo Vallarta Saturday. Great all-inclusive resort. http://vallarta.grandvelas.com/
DAMN YOU... you even included it in the opening post. Nice. "SANDALS... prrrrrrr*drum roll*prrrrrrrrr*Jamaica!!!" Fixed, sir. AND fixed again.
Except the one we are going to is located in Nuevo Vallarta, NOT Puerto Vallarta. Av. Cocoteros, 98 Sur, Nuevo Vallarta, Riviera Nayarit, Mexico C.P. 63735 Please fix it back.
My honeymoon was at Sandals in Negril. We never left the resort...probably because we were drunk pretty much 24/7 for 5 days. I could barely remember my own name when we got home. The food was great, too.
Spent last Christmas in Jamaica. We had a party of 8 so we rented a huge condo for a week up on a huge hill overlooking Lookout Bay. Although the stay was perfect we were far removed from any activities to walk to (sans beach). But we knew that going in so we planned for cab expense. This summer we went to an all-inclusive resort in the Bahamas for a wedding. It was really nice not having to pull out my walet and being catered to and having all my food and drink free. Again, though, our resort was within a cluster of resorts away from town. So, finding a cab, which is very easy, was our only option to get away. Summary: All-Inclusive is great if your comfortable hanging out in one place. Location, location, location when thinking about condos. This Christmas we're heading to Tobago. 6 of us going the condo route. I think we just find it more enjoyable away from a swarm of tourist. Never been on a cruise..can't help you there except by to say I WILL BE ON ONE SOON. Hope this helps.
We stayed at Xpu-Ha Palace and loved it. But its in Playa Del Carmen Mexico and not the Caribbean islands. They offer free shuttles to their other Palace resorts and you can enjoy their ammenities for free as well. Xpu Ha is very jungle-like. Your room even has a thatched roof, but its nice and has a 2 person jacuzzi.
I love cruises. They're fairly inexpensive compared to other vacations and it's like your on a floating Vegas Hotel. There's more to do than I had originally thought. Eating all day, drinking, laying out, shooting hoops, gambling, women, live comedy shows, College football/NBA games at the bar, clubbing at night etc.
NSFW links http://www.mywildvacation.com/ http://www.drnights.com/rates-a-packages/couples-packages Just something the wife & I would like to do.
Thanks for all the tips, I'll check all of them out. In case I was confusing anyone, I'm open to resorts in the Caribbean AND Mexico. It sounds like when you go to these resorts, it's usually in a secluded area and typically people don't explore the local area? Just wanted to clarify. I imagine I'd be bored staying on the same property for 5 days straight but I guess you don't know until you've tried it. Does anyone know of any good message boards or review sites to get more info? The market for this feels overwhelming.
When we were at Grand Velas, the resort took us into town where we rode ATVs into the Sierra Madres and then did zip lines. There were also off-site activities. Plenty of things to do, but those cost money. You're not "stuck" at the resort unless you choose to be.
We just went to the Riu Tequila resort in Playa Del Carmen, which was fun (although if I did an all-inclusive resort again I think I'd stay somewhere other than Riu). Playa is just beautiful and there are a lot of cool trips you can take near by. However, I prefer the cruise. You get more variety in where you go and I think the service and food are way better. It really depends on what you're looking for. If you want to sit on the beach and drink for hours, go to an all-inclusive resort. If you want to see different places and have top notch cuisine, go on a cruise. My wife and I aren't big drinkers so I'm sure we didn't get our money's worth at the resort. Both are fun, but I'd got on a cruise over a resort.
We went on our honeymoon to El Dorado Royale in Maya Riviera. It’s an all-inclusive ‘gourmet’ food resort. We stayed a week and never left the resort. Never had a reason to. They had all kinds of day trips to all kinds of places, but all we wanted to do was eat, drink, lay on the beach, and have a lot of sex (not necessarily in that order), so we didn’t leave at all. The Casitas are kind of pricey, but AMAZING. Spoiler As far as review sites and message boards, all you need is www.tripadvisor.com
FYI, a lot of the Sandals resorts are very close to each other on the various islands, and allow you to use the facilities at any of them as long as you are a guest at one of them.
We had 3 free excursions with our package with the Palace resorts. They bussed us to the Tulum, Cancun for a boat ride to the Isle de Mujeres (which included food), and I forget where our 3rd place was. The resorts usually have busses or shuttles to different places. We went on our own to the town of Playa Del Carmen (a 5 minute cab ride) and had a blast there as well. People only stay at the resort if they want to. Someone mentioned tripadvisor, that is a great place to start for reviews. I've stayed at 3 different all-inclusives & its the best way to go if your going to go to the caribbean or Mexico. Haven't done a cruise yet, but thats on the list.
