8 adults, 5 kids, where to go in December

[Anonymous]

We are trying to plan a trip for my ILs milestone birthday this year. 8 adults, two 4 year old girls, one 3 1/2 yo girl, a 15 mo old, an 8 mo old, and God willing, a 2 or 3 mo old... December 2010. The options on the table right now are Disney (I might shoot myself if we go that route -especially if I am lucky enough to have an infant by that time - mostly b/c I will have to do all the planning), and Atlantis in the Bahamas.

So, we are thinking warm climate, pools, spa, golf for the guys, not crazy expensive. Carribbean preferred. The point is to celebrate our ILs 60th birthdays, so I have a hard time justifying a trip to a place like Beaches, though I think it would be a lot easier.

Any ideas? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

You might try a cruise. I say this with the proviso that we took our toddler on a cruise just the 2 of us and wanted to shoot ourselves, but the large family groups on the cruise had a blast. Many had done a big group trip like that several times. Everyone does their own thing during the day and they are all together for dinner. Kids can go to the kids club and the adults can take turns passing around the infants. It seemed to work well and I wished that we had travelled with extended family.

Food and drink are all included in the price and there are cruises that leave out of Baltimore and Norfolk so no flying if you are local.

[Anonymous]

We've done a lot of family trips and also disney. I would not recommend disney especially with kids that young. Yeeks - can't imagine being in MK with that going on. I can see how a cruise would be nice but we've always done beach vacations with small kids.

We have a group of 11 (7 adults/4 kids) and here's a small list of places we've been - jamaica (3 years - in a very small resort on Negril beach). Gorgeous beach and you can walk to restaurants along the beach. Great with groups and wonderful beach for small kids. Negative is that it can be noisy and you are on jamaica time (slow service) and there is some nudity/drug issue that you just learn to politely ignore. It actually was funny for us adults and the kids never noticed it. Next was mexico for 2 years - carribean coast - Riviera Maya, Tulum, Playa del Carmen area. One year we rented a wonderful house on the beach near Tulum. Another year we stayed in Playa del carmen at a resort. Positives are mexican culture is more conservative, more family oriented, food is better than jamaica, generally quieter. Its much more developed - good and bad. Negatives - renting a car (such a pain and watch out for mexican police), beach not nearly as nice as jamaica but there is usually nice pools - watch rocks at beaches. We also stayed in cancun on our own by renting a time share unit (so nice and clean w/tons of pools) - the beach is terrible for young kids but gorgeous to look at - would not recommend it for your group. This year we are renting a huge house on the pacific coast of mexico.

Once you narrow down some choices, go on trip advisor - i found it to be a huge help. Also vrbo.com is fun and insightful on what you can rent housewise. One house we rented came with a cook and maid service daily. Heaven with a large group and it was cheaper than going out.

[Anonymous]

If it were me, the things I would want in this vacation would be:

ability to socialize and enjoy adult time together
ability for golfing and fun in the sun
ability to relax and not have to cook & clean
fun activities for the kids during the day

So... that sounds like either a cruise or renting a large house by the beach somewhere and hiring a cook, and possibly a babysitter for some days. You might also look into Club Med locations - they have wonderful activities for kids of ALL ages during the day, all-inclusive food, and large rooms with living areas.

Fun for you!!

[Anonymous]

I would look into Club Med resorts or you might also try The El Conquistador in Puerto Rico. You can get nonstop flights down to San Juan. Since Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the US, no need for passports, exchanging money and most people speak English.

The El Conquistador is beautiful, has an amazing spa, golf course, beach, a water park for the kids and you can either stay in hotel rooms or rent a casita (one, two or three bedrooms).

It might be a little pricey but without knowing your exact budget, it may fit the bill.

elconresort.com

[Anonymous]

I am not a big fan of Naussau/Atlantis. Naussau is a bit of a dump, just a few blocks of tourist shops set up for the big cruise ships. Atlantis itself is pretty posh, but it is very isolated, so you would have to do everything at the resort, including all food, which will get very, very expensive. Not sure if it is on the beach, I think it has a small bay area.

There are a lot of recent threads in the last few weeks about where to get direct flights to the Caribbean, maybe check those out.

Or maybe think about just going to Miami Beach and let the kids enjoy the beach? You can get a large house or a couple of apartments. The younger ones won't appreciate Disney, so wait a few more years when everyone is out of diapers.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks everyone for the ideas. Budget-wise, we have one family who is on a tight budget, one family for whom budget is no issue, and one who could handle a decent trip, with planning. So, yeah, there is no consistency in what we want, budget-wise.

Puerto Rico is out. FIL is a pilot and flies there all the time.

[Anonymous]

If you have a family who is concerned about costs, i doubt all inclusives or even cruises are going to work. At least that happened with us and our group. I think staying a big house or in a nice town where someone has a big gathering area would work. I would check out Isla de Mujers (near Cancun) and Playa Del Carmen (about an hour from cancun) - there is a variety of accomodations all in the same town. You can get a nice apartment if you want or a luxury hotel hut on the beach. Some of us stayed at Shangri-La in Playa del Carmen. They have beautiful huts on beach, nice pools, decent beach, good location, and at least a couple of apartments to rent out (i think they were $150 a night). Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Try FDR Resorts in Jamaica