All Inclusive - Good Resorts for Kids?

[wdaveo]

I am considering taking at least one All Inclusive trip with my kids before the oldest turns 13 (so he is still discounted or free).

Looking for suggestions because I really am not too familiar with Mexico or the Caribbean, etc.

Hubby is not interested in Mexico (he is uncomfortable with all the people there trying to sell him stuff on the street) but I think if we had a good all-inclusive, with bus tours available (and didn't need to go into town on our own) I might be able to talk him into it.

Any recommendations for an All-Inclusive resort with kids 10 and 12 would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks!

Dawn

[Kay H]

My son and DIL left this AM for the Dominican Republic, where many of the resorts are all inclusive. They took my grandson when he was 5 and 6 and this year they are also taking my grandaughter who is 5. They go for about 4 days and do not leave the resorts and like it very nuch. They have gone to a different resort each time, are happy with the children's programs and the food.

It is a relatively inexpensive vacation for them. This is the first year that they have a flight layover, Used to be straight thru.

[hibbert6]

We really enjoyed our stay at the VIVA resort - now Wyndham Viva - on Grand Bahama Island. (Fly or cruise into Freeport.) This is a 2 1/2 star type of place. Nothing fancy, but the food is OK and the beach & pool are great. Prices are quite reasonable, about $300 per day for a family of 4, less in August. Check out reviews on TripAdvisor.com or some other site. The entertainment is fun, amateur, done by the staff who are mostly American college students, with audience participation. The clientele is mostly families, with many Italians in the mix. We took our 2 sons who were 18 and 4 at the time, and they both loved it. There is a "Kids' Club" for the under 10 year olds. You might want to do some research on the tween activities for your kids.

I don't know where you live, but be sure to check out the "Air + Hotel" rates on Travelocity, etc. The packages really bring the price down. There is another option that we enjoyed tremendously. We flew into Ft. Lauderdale, then took a "Cruise" to the Bahamas. It's about 5 hours each way, but you get 2 meals served "cruise style" on board the ship. You pretty much need a travel agent to put that into a package for you. Worth checking out, as we got it "free" (we had to pay only the 'port charges' of $160 per adult, $110 per child.) If you fly directly, you pay some taxes that do the same thing. Make sure that your airfare includes them!

Good luck!

Dave

[andrea t]

We enjoyed Club Med/ Port St Luce and Beaches /Turks and Caicos with our son. I wouldn't say they were cheap but we loved the times we spent there.

[jlfernandez5]

I would recomend Palace resorts. There in Mexico but really upscale and totaly all-inclusive. Eveything is included from the roundtrip airport transfers to all meals both Buffet as well as allacart. One of the nicest things they include are trips to about 6 to 8 different locations in Mexico included with their all-inclusive fees. We went to the Moon Palace last summer with our two sons ages 10 and 13 and they really enjoyed the vacation. Thier favorite things were both the swim up bars where the felt like hot stuff and the huge in room jacuzzies. They also enjoyed seeing the ruins and pyramids.I looked and they have availability this summer through RCI.You may also want to check with them as the summer we went they had airfair available through them for 329 from Newark to Cancun
Good Luck

[capjak]

My family is going to moon palace resort next week in Cancun Mexico. We researched All inclusives on Tripadvisor.com

It looks nice some very good reviews and some not so good.

Let you know when we get back. We got a decent deal since we are COSTCO members. Have DD12 and DS15.

[Andi]

In my humble opinion the best all inclusive vacation is a cruise.

Andi

[jlfernandez5]

If your going to Moon palace make sure you bring shoes, dress pants, shirt and tie as the couple of upscale restaurants on property don't cost extra but you have to dress right to enter. This also applies to kids as well shoes long pants and dress shirt. Have a great time! We wenjoyed the Isla Muheras trip the best but the one to see the Inca Pyramids was very interesting.

[Cat]

Originally Posted by Andi

In my humble opinion the best all inclusive vacation is a cruise.

Andi

A cruise doesn't cover the bar bill, which usually ends up being exorbitant. So cruises are "inclusive" but not "all-inclusive."

[charford]

I will second the cruise suggestion.

Children generally don't run up bar bills.

Royal Caribbean offers a soda pass for just under $50/week which allows the holder all the soda they can drink all week. I believe some of the other cruise lines include soda.

[michelle]

Another vote for the Moon Palace. What I like about the Palace resorts is that you can go to any of the other Palace resorts and eat there or use their facilities. That means that if you go into Cancun from the Moon Palace, you can easily stop at the Sun Palace or any of the others to have a meal/swim.

And I agree, the extra day trips are excellent, and we also thought the Isla Mujeres trip was the most fun!

Dont worry too much about the t/s sellers on the streets: In Cancun, they are only in certain areas, definately not on the streets in front of the hotels! So you can easily avoid them, or deal with then only once or twice during your stay. Yes, they are still trying to sell Palace resorts, but we declined once, and was not bothered by the Palace sales people after that.

[capjak]

Just back from moon palace and it was great, actually was interested in the vacation club but did not get chance to take tour.

Basically for $6000 1 free trip including air for two, 20 weeks (no MFs but pay for all inclusive rate which was about $500 less than costco) or you can spenc 37000 and get 8 free trips/4 free air fair and 400 weeks (no mfees).

Anyway tours are included went to wet and wild waterpark one day they give you tickets for food while at waterpark. Food was great and very abundant and yes men have to were long pants and collered shirts at the ala cart dining (5 of 10 dining options) eat food had water/ice no problems with illness however went to isla mureles island for beach/shopping ate the buffet and got sick the next day (our last day there).

[Patricia]

Hello:

We had a great vacation in Cancun, Mexico. In fact, we just
returned home last month.

First of all, I would like to clear up one misconception that your husband
may have ---- there are little or no street vendors in Cancun. We stayed
at Vacation Club Internacional (one of the Royal Resorts) and we travelled
everyday on the peoples' bus up and down the Main Strip. We do NOT
see one street vendor.

The best Mall is called, "La Isla" which means the Island. There are wonderful
Italian-style Gondolas and canals that meander throughout the Mall. All the
great stores are there: Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Zara, etc etc

AND--- the "Swim with the Dolphins" is located in the Aquarium.

Therefore, my recommendation is definitely Cancun.

Please tell your husband to do more research....he really is mistaken about
the street vendors. It would be sad to lose out on a great vacation due
to a misconception.

Regards,
and Good Luck,
Patricia