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Parenting
Can we discuss vacations?
I'm totally overwhelmed with all of the ways you can book vacations. Our honeymoon we did through a travel agent and our Ireland trips we spent hours and hours researching places to go and planned out our itinerary ourselves. However, we had no child so were totally flexible to make last minute changes.
Now I just want to go take my kid somewhere all-inclusive with a beach, a friendly staff, family-friendly facilities and plenty for my kid to do. And booze. I would prefer two rooms, especially since I'm considering inviting my college-age sister to come on a free vacation in return for helping out a little with her godson.
I think where I'm really getting caught up is I can't tell which places are truly child-friendly or if my kid is included in the pricing. And I'm not sure if I can get a better deal booking all together (hotel, airfare, etc. for one lump sum price).
Please advise.
Tl: dr.
ETA: By two rooms I mean maybe a small suite or something. Although it's not required if it jacks the price way up.
How much should I expect to pay? Haaaalp!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Can we discuss vacations?
Have you thought about doing something thru like Funjet or Apple Vacations? My mom always books thru them and speaks really highly of them. That way you can talk to a person and get a better idea of what's included and what's not. I'm not much help with all inclusives otherwise since I've only been on one for our honeymoon. Occidental down in Costa Rica nice place but the beds sucked.
I love vacations!
I just did an all inclusive with my sister and my mom in May and the best bang for your buck is definitely Playa del Carmen/Riviera Maya, Mexico. I looked everywhere else and it was crazy expensive. And the flights out of Chicago weren't that bad.
As far as kid friendly, most resorts are family friendly (the one we went to had an entire play area for kids) unless they say "adult only".
We stayed at the Grand Palladium Colonial (https://www.fiestahotelgroup.com/en/hotels/destination/america/mexico/riviera-maya/grand-palladium-colonial-resort-spa/resort-home/) and I thought it was nice. Not 5 stars, but definitely a great price for what you got.
ETA: And while I'm somewhat of a food snob as well Irish, I looked at pricing for the Gourmet all inclusive resorts and it was 3-4 times as expensive.
I guess it all depends on your budget.
My friends used cheapcarribbean.com for a trip a couple weeks before mine and they got screwed on the hotel. It gave it 3-4 stars and they got there and said it was disgusting. They ended up leaving a finding another hotel on a whim and later got a credit back from them.
I booked the trip for my sister, mom and I and I did everything separately. Mainly because we were all flying from different places and most travel agents won't do that for you.
I get that. I just mentioned it because I did a ton of research to find the best deal for our trip in May and Mexico was the best deal.
PR doesn't have any AIs.
St. Thomas does, but they are around $500/night just for a regular room.
Jamaica is kind of the same in regards to safety as Mexico or at least I've heard.
I don't know anything about the Bahamas, but you could check that out.
Or Florida? What about Key West?
Yeah to Wine's point I don't know if I would go into an all inclusive expecting amazing food. Good sustance yes, amazing food probably not unless like she said you are going to pony up for more of a gourmet meal style all inclusive. Honestly that's part of the reason we haven't done another all inclusive, in theory I like the idea. In reality I am also a total food snob and while the food was good enough at the Occidential we stayed at it didn't wow me and I want to be able to go off resort for good food (or local cuisine) and not feel like I just wasted a meal that I could have had for free. Honestly for what we paid for a nice all inclusive we probably could have almost done it as just a hotel and food seperately, but we arent really heavy drinkers either.
Key West was fun when I went there a couple years ago. I was obviously not with any children though. The beaches kind of suck and are very rocky. Or at least the ones we were at.
And yeah, take the girl somewhere she can legally drink!
When are you planning on going? What season?
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Virgin IL's I dont know just throwing stuff out there.
I know St. Lucia's supposed to be awesome but pricey if you need two rooms probably.
Honestly the Bahamas may fit all your requirements pretty well. Plus it would be a very short plane ride, which with a toddler is not a bad thing ever.
So this is me totally being nosy but when are you guys thinking about starting to try? Sorry I know we've compared notes on the whole kids plans before and I thought you were holding off so I'm excited, I might (God willing) have a pregnancy buddy on here.
Ummmmmmm....look at my ticker! St. Thomas would be a great place for you to go in February.
Personally I'm not a huge fan of AIs. We only did one because well, my dad paid for my sister and I and we didn't want to break the bank.
Look at this place. 2 bedrooms/2 bathrooms. It's not right on the beach, but it's up the hill from a beautiful beach (my ILs stayed there for our wedding).
https://www.vrbo.com/134380
Atlantis Bahamas
https://www.familyfunatatlantis.com/?gclid=COSgscbPpLICFYUWMgodny4AEg
I think the drinking age is 18. And there is a casino.
This is what I would do. It's pretty much awesome. I am planning on taking the kids in a few years.
My sister went there on her honeymoon about 7 years ago and said it was nice. I thought it was nice for the price. Lots to do.
It's huge and there are 4 hotels and a tram to get around. And it's a natural habitat for animals. I'd go back again.
There is a lovely beach, 2 pools, and you can take him off the resort to coral world or to another island.
It's not the best resort because it is dated, but it's a fantastic beach. I had all of our guests stay there for the wedding and they loved it. And it's inexpensive, with a kitchen and a great location on the island.
Message me if you want to talk more. We are most likely staying at one of the properties when we go.