Anonymous wrote:Most of the all-inclusives have OK but not great food. One exception would be the Club Meds, which have great food (must be the French thing). However, they are a great deal if you have teens or pre-teens (especially if they fit under the age of an adult rate), who eat a ton and like to do activities. At the Beaches resorts for example, ALL activities, including scuba dives, are included. The kids can order as many smoothies, as they like, as many meals as they like, go on unlimited banana boat rides etc. without ringing up a huge tab.

+1

For couples only, here would be my recommendations (in no particular order):

La Source Grenada
Any of the non-family Club Meds (except Florida)
Grand Lido Negril
Couples San Souci
Couples Swept Away

I stayed at Couples Swept Away 20 years ago. It was quiet, had a great fitness facility, and a beautiful beach. Food was so-so. It's adults only, so that's a different vibe than Beaches Negril, which is also nice.

Most of the all-inclusives have OK but not great food. One exception would be the Club Meds, which have great food (must be the French thing). However, they are a great deal if you have teens or pre-teens (especially if they fit under the age of an adult rate), who eat a ton and like to do activities. At the Beaches resorts for example, ALL activities, including scuba dives, are included. The kids can order as many smoothies, as they like, as many meals as they like, go on unlimited banana boat rides etc. without ringing up a huge tab.

Anonymous wrote:I don't drink OP and I've found the all-inclusives to be generally good deals because once you've been to some islands like the Caymaans (you don't want to know how much you have to spend for everything). We've been to all inclusives in Jamaica, FL, and Costa Rica. Enjoyed all of them and took the time when we arrived to make reservations in the on-site restaurants (that had better food always than the buffett troughs (which I hate!) Have a blast -- Jamaica is a ton of fun...esp. when your MIL is paying...lucky!

What was the name of the resort in FL?

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside whether you will 'get your money's worth' - there is something (big) to be said for paying for your vacation up front and not thinking about it again. No matter how hard I try to just relax, I am one of those people who cringes to spend $9 on a latte at a resort, and I get majorly grumpy when I buy my 4YO a $19 hamburger poolside. Possibly if I added all of these little things up it wouldn't cost any more than what we pay for all-inclusive, but the not having to think twice about ordering the burger is priceless. YMMV.

OP, this was exactly my point a few days ago.

Anonymous wrote:I don't drink OP and I've found the all-inclusives to be generally good deals because once you've been to some islands like the Caymaans (you don't want to know how much you have to spend for everything). We've been to all inclusives in Jamaica, FL, and Costa Rica. Enjoyed all of them and took the time when we arrived to make reservations in the on-site restaurants (that had better food always than the buffett troughs (which I hate!) Have a blast -- Jamaica is a ton of fun...esp. when your MIL is paying...lucky!

I guess that was my question - I just don't know how much things cost in a resort to know if inclusive packages are worth it. A friend was telling me that a pool side hamburger was like $19. So, do I want to spend a nice tropical vacation worrying debating whether or not I'm really hungry enough to justify an expensive hamburger while lounging at the pool or just pay for the inclusive package and be worry-free the whole time (and indulge on anything and everthing). I wasn't sure about portion size either, but even if the portions are small, I can always just get a second order with the inclusive package, right?

I don't drink OP and I've found the all-inclusives to be generally good deals because once you've been to some islands like the Caymaans (you don't want to know how much you have to spend for everything). We've been to all inclusives in Jamaica, FL, and Costa Rica. Enjoyed all of them and took the time when we arrived to make reservations in the on-site restaurants (that had better food always than the buffett troughs (which I hate!) Have a blast -- Jamaica is a ton of fun...esp. when your MIL is paying...lucky!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been to all inclusives in Mexico, DR and Jamaica. Hands down, the food was best at the Jamaican resorts - if you like Jamaican food! Not so good if you want American food. You have to consider that travelling with kids - my kids were not eating curry anything! LOL!!

As far as it being worth it, it was for us. We uhhh enjoy our adult beverages so we were able to get full value for our package.

I loved the food at our Jamaican resort, but afterwards I resolved to neer eat pork again! Too fattening.

Can you share the name of your resort?

Earlier PP here. I have been to 2 of them. Rose Hall and Royal Decameron Club Caribbean

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been to all inclusives in Mexico, DR and Jamaica. Hands down, the food was best at the Jamaican resorts - if you like Jamaican food! Not so good if you want American food. You have to consider that travelling with kids - my kids were not eating curry anything! LOL!!

As far as it being worth it, it was for us. We uhhh enjoy our adult beverages so we were able to get full value for our package.

I loved the food at our Jamaican resort, but afterwards I resolved to neer eat pork again! Too fattening.

Can you share the name of your resort?

Anonymous wrote:I have been to all inclusives in Mexico, DR and Jamaica. Hands down, the food was best at the Jamaican resorts - if you like Jamaican food! Not so good if you want American food. You have to consider that travelling with kids - my kids were not eating curry anything! LOL!!

As far as it being worth it, it was for us. We uhhh enjoy our adult beverages so we were able to get full value for our package.

I loved the food at our Jamaican resort, but afterwards I resolved to neer eat pork again! Too fattening.

Anonymous wrote:I have been to:

Beaches Turks and Caicos: had food poisoning for days. Food all tastes the same. All the drinks are watery and shelf liquor is dubious. Great if you love processed food and beer from bottles & cans. Local fish is slightly tastier than opting for cheeseburgers.

A few independently managed resorts in

Roatan

and Fiji, both with less than 25 rooms. Food was excellent and worth it in both settings as locations were remote.

We are thinking of a trip to Roatan in December. Could you share the name of the resort?

We got a phone call tonight from my MIL and much to our surprise, she offered to take the kids so DH and I can go alone. So, now we are thinking couples-only type places.
Probably Jamaica.

Great comments so far - thank you!

-the OP

Anonymous wrote:OP,

It varies from resort to resort. Do you know where you want to go?

We are thinking Couples Swept Away

-The OP

Staying outside the resort at a comparable hotel/B&B to the resort didn't save much money in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. I don't drink much (I drank maybe 5 alcohol drinks during the 4 day stay) and it's true that the food is mediocre in the all inclusives. But it's a hassle to try to find good food outside. We ventured out one day and still got mediocre food because we just popped into one in the touristy area.

I have been to the RIU chain resorts in Mexico (Hotel Riu Palace Mexico and the others in the area) and to the Secrets Silversands Riviera in Mexico. The Secrets was a higher end place than the RIU resorts and pricier too. Secrets was adults only. I do not remember seeing tattoos. My husband and I went with my parents. Secrets was much quieter and the food better than the RIU resorts. But the downside was that it was pricier. In terms of value, I think even if you don't drink much, the resorts are able to price things that cheap because of their scale.

All in all, I would go all inclusive again. Which is what I did after the first one (we returned to the same area, just another chain!)

Check tripadvisor.com for a ton of review of particular all inclusive resorts.