DH and i's 10 year anniversary is in 2020. I'm totally planning way far ahead! Lol. But we're having a big trip in 2019 with my family for my parents 50th,so we're having to plan ahead to budget and save for both. At first, we wanted to do Disney but we've decided to wait until the girls are older to do that trip since it'll probably be a one time thing. So now, we want to do a trip by ourselves somewhere beachy. We'd probably be able to do a 7 day cruise on royal Caribbean or a shorter stay at an A-I resort. We've never been to either and I'm pretty sure we'd want to snorkel and lay on the beach. Dh wants to go to a mayan ruin if we go somewhere in Mexico. DH is usually a really busy vacationer, whereas I like to relax! I really want this to be relaxing since it will be the first trip longer than 2 nights away from the kids. And I only got 1 afternoon on the beach on our honeymoon! Anyway, I really can't decide on which one to go for. There's SO many options for all inclusive resorts that I'm overwhelmed by trying to choose an island, flights, which resort, etc. The cruise sounds simpler and definitely more affordable and we'd be able to stay away longer. Help?
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Tough call if you've never done either - a cruise is a pretty unique experience and a lot of people passionately love or loathe them. But the fact that you and DH have different vacationing styles sounds like a cruise would be a good fit for you, since you could do some high-energy excursions for your DH and some lay-by-the-pool days for you. Plus you could probably find a cruise itinerary that would allow you to see a Mayan ruin.
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@PawPrints: I think I'm leaning towards a cruise too. It'll be cheaper (lol) and I think being away longer from the kids will feel more luxurious, ha. Plus, as you said, we can do fun excursions for DH, and pool/beach time for me. I think we are going to get a room with a balcony too, so we can hang out there. DH told me tonight that his #1 goal is for me to have a great vacation, haha. I guess if I'm happy, he's happy.
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I've done both and preferred the cruise because I don't love being stuck in one spot the whole time. The cruise was the best of both worlds-- relaxing but with opportunities to see stuff. But research the ship and itinerary because I did once take a short carnival cruise that totally sucked. It was an old ship without much to do, we were at sea most of the time, and I was completely bored.
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Is a cruise really cheaper? I find that surprising. Is that factoring in drinks? Personally I would do an AI - I feel like on a cruise I would feel like I needed to explore all the ports.
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You could always cruise and on a shore excursion at a port spend the day at an AI resort
I have done both and both are great, I personally love cruises!
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We just stayed at secrets playa mujeres and it was excellent! We saw the ruins at tulum and chichen itza. Very cool. We stayed tues - sat and 1 more day would have been perfect. It was nice because we had a direct flight. We've never been on a cruise but would like to try, but having to the port first always turns me off - extra time/money. However we're not near any ports at all so location makes a difference. I think you can't go wrong with either!
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@erinbaderin: I didn't factor in drinks or cost of excursions yet. I don't think we'd drink all that much. The cost of an AI with flight and hotel is around $2500 (non Mexico ones) for 3 or 4 days. For some reason, an AI in Mexico doesn't sound appealing to me. A cruise for us would be about $1900 if we did the balcony room for a 7 day.
@travellingbee: Good to know. We'd cruise in october, so only royal Caribbean and carnival depart from Galveston that month so we'd only have a choice between those.
@gotkimchi: I don't think we'd be able to get a direct flight to anywhere with a AI, which is a major drawback for me because Galveston is only 3hr drive and flying would eat up most of the day to get to an Ai. I really don't think we can make a bad decision either. A vacation away from kids is good anywhere you go, haha.
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So I love the concept of a cruise. Even though we have a boat and I've never had a problem in a small vessel- I got super seasick and the meds made me so drowsy. I slept for like 12 hours a night. When I weaned off the pills one day I was on the floor as soon as we hit the ocean. It's been like 8 years but I likely will never do an ocean cruise again. The food was great on Princess.
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@abbydabbydoodlebug: so FYI a cruise out of Galveston means a lot more time at sea because it takes a while to get out of the gulf. Cruising out of Miami or similar, you are closer to carribean. It isn't necessarily a bad thing if you want more down time/ boat time but it does take a chunk out of your port time.
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@erinbaderin: our cruise was significantly cheaper but we aren't huge drinkers.
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@travellingbee: Yeah, I'd definitely prefer to leave from Miami so we could go to eastern Caribbean, rather than western, but I don't think I want to tack on a flight for a cruise.
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I'd maybe do a test three day cruise first before committing to a week long. I find cruises to be really love/hate. I don't mind them but they wouldn't be my first choice. My family used to do them quite a bit when my sister and I were in high school. However now that everyone has traveled a lot more, we rarely do them. My parents still do occasionally but have switched to higher end, very small ships. They did a random massive sized ship celebrity cruise recently because some friends convinced them and thought it was "meh". Like cattle being herded due to size, everyone worries about norovirus (legit concern), food was just ok, etc etc. like I said, love hate. Their cruise mates LOVED it.
My husband hates them.
You have a ton of time to do some serious research on AI resorts (i know there are a lot of them) -
We are hit AI people, but we are also more of the lay around and be beach bum type of people. I'd search for one on trip advisor and look at the reviews for one that offers more entertainment. I have found Dreams resorts to be a nice mix of quiet and fun. We went to Dreams Sands in Cancun where they had fun things going on (pool bubble party!) but if you wanted to be left alone, you were left alone.
I liked the idea of cruises, but it rained on ours so we were stuck inside, and I had terrible sea sickness. I'm afraid to try again, haha.
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I'd probably do an adults-only AI. There are some really nice ones in Mexico that are reasonably priced. When I'm on vacation without my kid I like to be away from other kids as well lol. Cruises are fun but are also a great way to travel with kids IMO so you could even save that for a family trip. We did a Disney cruise out of Galveston and it was amazing.
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I've had good and mediocre experiences on cruises so my vote is a good all inclusive.
ETA: DH and I can both tend to get boat sick (even on a cruise!) so that also colors my opinion. -
I would vote a nice all inclusive and they have excursions and stuff usually. But I'm biased against cruises because I never want to go on one. I'm afraid I would feel sick all the time...I also wouldn't want to be trapped with the germs and potentially get a stomach flu type bug which seems to happen a lot on cruises.
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I'd pick an adults onlay AI over a cruise. I didn't like being stuck on the boat and feeling like you were tied to a schedule (when to eat, when to be back on the boat, etc.).
That being said, if it's cheaper to do a 7 day cruise than a 4 night AI, go for the cruise -especially if you aren't big drinkers. I feel like part of the appeal of the AI for us was the ability to drink fun cocktails. It felt like a big splurge and something we never did at home. I know cruise alcohol is wildly expensive and we felt like we were always worrying about the prices. But if alcohol isn't an issue, then that would make a cruise more appealing.
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I have never been on an AI resort. We have taken several cruises including from Galveston. Carnival is more for the college drinking scene, just in case you are interested.
Cruises will have the following additional costs: mandatory gratuities for the staff, optional costs for drinks other than tea, lemonade, juice (in the morning), and coffee, and optional costs for tours. There are also nicer areas for dinners which are not included.
A possible additional cost for a cruise is a fuel surcharge.
If you want a quiet place to hang out in the sun, it will be difficult. There are often bands and other noises out on the pool decks. There is always something to do on the ship, but that doesn't mean you want to do that.
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I've done both and at this age and phase in life I prefer AI resorts!
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I just saw your comment that you live only a 3-hr drive from a major cruise port - but yet you've never been on a cruise! As far as I'm concerned that is enough reason alone that you HAVE to try one. I'm in the camp that I prefer AI over cruises but if I lived that close to Galveston I might feel very differently.
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I'd go on the cruise for the longer vacation. There are adult only pools and if you do the late dining you probably won't notice many kids. Also I've noticed most obnoxious drunk people stick to the dance club and casino, even on Carnival cruises (not sure what cruise line you are looking at). You can get room service for breakfast some days (or every day) and eat on your balcony. It's really peaceful and nice.
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Next year we're doing 3 days at a resort in Puerto Rico and then getting on a 5 day cruise. So it doesn't necessarily have to be one or the other.
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