All Inclusive Vacation Help

lilbilly · May 11, 2015

Hey Guys, figuring with the many members here I could get some good advice on this. Done quite a bit of researching so far, but thought maybe some of you could give a short thought or advice on where you've been.

It'll be 10 years for the wife and I in early December. We've only had 1 trip away from the kids, and that was last year for 2 nights when I took her with me on a business trip.

That being said, we're looking to spend 4-5 nights somewhere this December to celebrate our 10th. I'd like to go all inclusive and to spend the time with white sand, blue water and relaxation.

Here's some particulars to help with advice:

Budget of around $3000 (+/-) including airfare and stay
Prefer AI so there's no worry or thinking about $$
Early December
Looking at Mexico or the Caribbean Islands (DR, Jamaica, USVI, Bahamas, etc)

Things we'd like:

Nice beach free of seaweed and rocks
Modern room or at least recently updated
Good restaurants

Wonton · May 11, 2015

Maybe a Caribbean Cruise?

Sox_Fan · May 11, 2015

Jamaica! My wife and I were married there on an all-inclusive and went back for our 5 year anniversary. Great accommodations, insanely good food, free flowing spirits, etc. I would think you could easily get 3 or maybe 4 nights with airfare and stay within your budget.

sposey013168 · May 11, 2015

Check out Punta Cana area in Dominican Republic

Drumdog · May 11, 2015

The wife and I spent a week at the Moon Palace in Cancun a couple of years ago.
It was our first all inclusive stay of any kind and we loved it.

Bcape9 · May 11, 2015

My wife and I went to Aruba for our honeymoon and stayed at the Tamarijn; AI, low rise hotel with walk out rooms to the beach. The Divi AI next door is owned by the same company and is a little more modern. If you stay at one, you have access to the amenities at both.

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dhartmann34 · May 11, 2015

Cancun has some incredible sandy beaches and great all-inclusive resorts. We stayed at the GR Solaris which was nice. Moon Palace is a really nice one we visited I would really consider checking out. Resorts on the lagoon side do not have as great of beaches. If u search on Expedia you can find lots of great places with reviews and pictures. You can also visit Chitchen Itza and Xelha which are fantastic times.

lilbilly · May 11, 2015

Thanks guys... I've been spending way too much time on Trip Advisor, lol. Very helpful with actual traveler photos to get a real view instead of the perfect hotel photos.

I'll update by clarifying about "modern"... More so just saying we prefer a resort that's had some recent updates.

For example, personally, I think alot of the Sandals resorts look outdated and overpriced.

lilbilly · May 11, 2015

dhartmann34 said:
Cancun has some incredible sandy beaches and great all-inclusive resorts. We stayed at the GR Solaris which was nice. Moon Palace is a really nice one we visited I would really consider checking out. Resorts on the lagoon side do not have as great of beaches. If u search on Expedia you can find lots of great places with reviews and pictures. You can also visit Chitchen Itza and Xelha which are fantastic times.

Yeah, we're looking at some in the general Cancun area but not the hotel zone. Not sure if we want to be packed in among all the hotels.

azrsx · May 11, 2015

-cancun, Excellence - Playa Mujeres
-adult only (highly recommended)
-beaches are super super clean and no seaweed junk
-did i mention no kids, super quiet and relaxing
-i stayed there a full week and didnt even have enough time to try out all the restaurants. the food was awesome and the staff was very nice. the shows at night are entertaining. you cant get bored if you want to stay active or if you just want to relax its great too

http://www.excellence-resorts.com/caribbean-and-mexico-destinations/excellence-playa-mujeres

dhartmann34 · May 11, 2015

lilbilly said:
Yeah, we're looking at some in the general Cancun area but not the hotel zone. Not sure if we want to be packed in among all the hotels.

Yeah stay south of downtown Cancun. GR Solaris was south but a 15 minute bus ride got us down there just fine. Really enjoyed our stay there. The water is so blue and Sun so bright

lilbilly · May 11, 2015

azrsx said:
-cancun, Excellence - Playa Mujeres
-adult only (highly recommended)
-beaches are super super clean and no seaweed junk
-did i mention no kids, super quiet and relaxing
-i stayed there a full week and didnt even have enough time to try out all the restaurants. the food was awesome and the staff was very nice. the shows at night are entertaining. you cant get bored if you want to stay active or if you just want to relax its great too

http://www.excellence-resorts.com/caribbean-and-mexico-destinations/excellence-playa-mujeres

Sweet, this one is actually high on our list right now.

A few traveler photos show some seaweed but doesn't seem to overwhelming.

For the money, this place looks stellar. Rooms look super nice and the resort looks incredible.

Did you upgrade to the Excellence Club?

azrsx · May 11, 2015

lilbilly said:
Sweet, this one is actually high on our list right now.

A few traveler photos show some seaweed but doesn't seem to overwhelming.

For the money, this place looks stellar. Rooms look super nice and the resort looks incredible.

Did you upgrade to the Excellence Club?

I went to the beach everyday and can't remember there being any seaweed but if there was it wasn't like the pacific ocean where it's everywhere! or that nasty kelp that gets all over you in san diego lol

i'm not familiar with the excellence club so i'm guessing we didn't get it but i can tell you our room and service was top notch and always clean. one thing i was worried about was bugs and stuff being in the rooms but that never happened. views from the rooms are all outstanding. also all the rooms are stocked with top notch bottles of alcohol which we never opened once cause we already had enough from being served on the beach hah

not to show off my incredible bod but here is the beach, very clean

rooms are nice and the views are sweet

checking out the mini bar

TheDoctor · May 12, 2015

I can only speak from our personal experiences, but I didn't enjoy Punta Cana that much when we were there a few years ago, although it was a family resort we stayed at, not adults only

We have been to Sandals Ocho Rios a couple of times and wouldn't hesitate to go back there, and we have some friends who go there 2-3 times a year. The staff are great, you have plenty of choice for food (13-14 restaurants) and the beach area is almost like 3 separate beaches because of how it is laid out. I know you said you feel they look outdated, but in comparison to what? Rooms are more than big enough and the resort has plenty to offer if you want to partake in activities (including golf)

DevRickus · May 12, 2015

My wife and I went to Punta Cana and stayed at Excellence Punta Cana. It's an adult only resort so there were no kids or anything. We went for a week and had absolutely the best time of our lives. They had 5 or 6 restaurants, 2 pools, a casino, swim up pool bars, grill on the beach and tons of activities. The amenities were very nice as well. It was such an amazing time that we almost booked a return trip before we left. Here are a few pics:

sparksjr · May 12, 2015

azrsx said:
-cancun, Excellence - Playa Mujeres
-adult only (highly recommended)
-beaches are super super clean and no seaweed junk
-did i mention no kids, super quiet and relaxing
-i stayed there a full week and didnt even have enough time to try out all the restaurants. the food was awesome and the staff was very nice. the shows at night are entertaining. you cant get bored if you want to stay active or if you just want to relax its great too

http://www.excellence-resorts.com/caribbean-and-mexico-destinations/excellence-playa-mujeres

I second this. Wife and I went back in 2009 and it was awesome! we did upgrade to the excellence club and got the room with a rooftop terrace. couldn't have had a better time. tell them it is for an anniversary and they will give you a little upgrade package (used to anyway). One of my buddies is about to get married and he is looking into this place for his honeymoon as well. you can hit the $3k budget with airfare pretty easily based on what room you choose.

I have a ton of pictures on flickr I can share if you want, just let me know and I can post some later today

Honestly, you probably cant go wrong with any of the top all inclusive resorts.

Cjgolf25 · May 12, 2015

I have heard some great things about Punta Caña. I have friends that go there every year and they love it. All incisive and it doesn't really break the bank. Not sure if they go to a specific resort every year though.

DevRickus · May 12, 2015

lilbilly said:
Cool! This has been high on our list.

What time of year did you go?

We went in mid January.

lilbilly · May 12, 2015

DevRickus said:
We went in mid January.

How was the weather? What about sea/pool temps? We're going in early December and this has been one of my fears that the water in the pools would be chilly.

I don't think we're going to go for the rooftop terrace room, but we are thinking of upgrading to excellence club so we have access to 2 more pools that are heated.

leftyrighty · May 12, 2015

My wife and I went to Puerto Vallarata for our honeymoon. It is on the west coast of Mexico but it was awesome. We stayed at the Dreams resort and it was right at the base of the mountains and right on the ocean. We are going to Cabo this summer and I am looking forward to that. I have good experiences with the Dreams/Secrets resorts.

captaincaution · May 12, 2015

Drumdog said:
The wife and I spent a week at the Moon Palace in Cancun a couple of years ago.
It was our first all inclusive stay of any kind and we loved it.

We went to moon palace for our honeymoon in July. Awesome resort! 27 hole Nicklaus signature course on site. Rooms were very nice, and the food was excellent. Spent a lot of time on the beach while we were there. It isn't adults only, but we found ways to get away from all the kids.

DevRickus · May 12, 2015

lilbilly said:
How was the weather? What about sea/pool temps? We're going in early December and this has been one of my fears that the water in the pools would be chilly.

I don't think we're going to go for the rooftop terrace room, but we are thinking of upgrading to excellence club so we have access to 2 more pools that are heated.

Weather was in the high 80's to mid 90's the whole time.Rained for like an hour the last day we were there. Ocean and pool water were great Probably High 70's to low 80's. We spent an entire day in the ocean one day and the every other day in the pools.

sposey013168 · May 12, 2015

DevRickus said:
My wife and I went to Punta Cana and stayed at Excellence Punta Cana. It's an adult only resort so there were no kids or anything. We went for a week and had absolutely the best time of our lives. They had 5 or 6 restaurants, 2 pools, a casino, swim up pool bars, grill on the beach and tons of activities. The amenities were very nice as well. It was such an amazing time that we almost booked a return trip before we left. Here are a few pics:

I have been to cancun, riviera Maya and Punta cana. Punta Cana was my favorite by a mile.
We stayed at iberostar grand Bavaro adults only. I am ready to go back.

Rusty Dave · May 12, 2015

lilbilly said:
Thanks guys... I've been spending way too much time on Trip Advisor, lol. Very helpful with actual traveler photos to get a real view instead of the perfect hotel photos.

I'll update by clarifying about "modern"... More so just saying we prefer a resort that's had some recent updates.

For example, personally, I think alot of the Sandals resorts look outdated and overpriced.

I've done probably a dozen all inclusives. We've done Sandals a few times. For us, it's the best way to go. The level of service and pampering from the moment you step off the airplane is second to none. The food is excellent. No limit on a la carte restaurants. Everything is included including tips. You get pampered. That is why there is a premium on this service. We got the butler service last time and it was second to none. The resorts might not be as modern looking as the new mega ones however they take amazing care of the grounds and the rooms are the best kept and supplied of anywhere in the Caribbean.

IMHO, if you are looking for a nice getaway than any 5 star resort would do. If you are looking for a truly VIP experience, go Sandals. I won't do another all inclusive unless it's Sandals.

Good luck.

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