I don’t understand why it has to be an all inclusive thing. Why not pick a destination with a nice resort but not necessarily all inclusive, all you can eat. Every family gets their own rooms or room. You plan a few activities togethers and meals and then play it by ear.

One of the reasons a cruise or a beach rental sucks is because it forces everyone together too much. Yes, that’s the dream of the boomer who is always monitoring who is not in the room but its what causes most of the problems.

Anonymous wrote:To each their own but in our family, no one would ever take a cruise.

House rental for the win.

(And for those of us who don’t want to cook, they have these crazy things called restaurants where you can eat there or even take the food back!)

What about when Grandpa wants to eat at 4 pm; small kids need to eat at 6 pm; and the West Coast teens want to watch at 10 pm?

Anonymous wrote:To each their own but in our family, no one would ever take a cruise.

House rental for the win.

(And for those of us who don’t want to cook, they have these crazy things called restaurants where you can eat there or even take the food back!)

When we rent a house saying “oh the kitchen is just for easy breakfasts” there’s always those who don’t want to spent money to eat out often (understandably so) so it ends up being way more cooking. And none of the families eat the same way (health nuts, gourmets, vegetarians, picky eaters, allergies…) and the kitchen may have limited tools. So either it gets dumbed down to the most basic like pasta and burgers, or someone takes over and leaves out everyone else’s preferences and we spend a ton of time planning, cooking, and cleaning.

Cruise all day long. Just not an Alaska one. It sucks not really being able to use the pool.

Anonymous wrote:To each their own but in our family, no one would ever take a cruise.

House rental for the win.

(And for those of us who don’t want to cook, they have these crazy things called restaurants where you can eat there or even take the food back!)

Tell us more about this.

Anonymous wrote:Cruise. The meal planning and cleaning with lots of people in a vacation rental stresses me out.

Same. It’s not a vacation if I’m cooking and cleaning.

Anonymous wrote:To each their own but in our family, no one would ever take a cruise.

House rental for the win.

(And for those of us who don’t want to cook, they have these crazy things called restaurants where you can eat there or even take the food back!)

Yes, we know. Obviously.

But any decent restaurant in a popular vacation destination typically entails reservations and long waits for any family—and particularly for big families. And deciding where to eat or order takeout isn’t always fun or easy, and someone needs to pick it up (drive, find parking, etc.). It’s a hassle.

And some vacation destinations have hardly any decent restaurants.

If you haven’t cruised, then you can’t even begin to wrap your head around how easy and stress-free a cruise vacation is. If you know, you know.

To each their own but in our family, no one would ever take a cruise.

House rental for the win.

(And for those of us who don’t want to cook, they have these crazy things called restaurants where you can eat there or even take the food back!)

Grandpa will have a blast on a cruise.

Definitely a cruise. Hands down.

FTR, I’ve done house rentals and cruises. Anyone who has done both recognizes that only one is a real vacation for mom (who ultimately ends up cooking and cleaning and watching and entertaining the kids 24/7 at a rental house).

Anonymous wrote:The one (and only) time we did a house rental, all I did was cook and clean the entire time. That’s not a vacation to me.

+1. I’m not a boat person, but this is why we are cruising for our next extended family vacation. I’ve played the maid too many times.

Team house, but it needs to be a villa in a resort.

Anonymous wrote:Cruise. The meal planning and cleaning with lots of people in a vacation rental stresses me out.

I agree. And I don't actually like cruises. I know it's not on the table but I am with the other posters who suggested an all-inclusive resort.

I recommend a community where each nuclear family can rent their own condos and the kids can run around to each other's. You get to spend time together but you dont live together.

One good combo is - grandparents and any childless sibling in one house/condo. Kids with siblings and their kids in another condo/house.

-Childless sibling

For a nuclear family vacation, or one with just one set of grandparents, either option is fine. When we expand to a bigger group, I will no longer do one large house. Too much conflict/resentment/clashing priorities about supervision of small children, meal prep and cleanup, scheduling of activities and group participation in same.