rosemickey

Husband and i are looking for all inclusive crusies. any help

RoamsAround

Regent Seven Seas
Crystal
Silver Seas
Seabourn
Viking Ocean Cruises

Also, Azamara and Oceania have "All inclusive" options that can be purchased in advanced.

Kathie

All-inclusive means different things to different people. Two that meet my criteria for all-inclusive are Regent Seven Seas and Seabourn.

tenthumbs

I'll second what Kathie said. By "all-inclusive, to you mean meals? beverages? alcohol? excursions? spa treatments?

rosemickey

From my experience cruises include meals, we are looking for drinks. just to compare to a trip to Jamaica.

Sassafrass

If you see a cruise you like, on a ship you like, why not just add on a drink package. Create you own cruise, inclusive of the things you want rather than a bunch of stuff you may or may not want.

jacketwatch

Drink packages can be purchased. However you still have to pay gratuities unless you use say Regent or Seabourn but those cruise lines are very expensive. If all you want is drinks then most lines have drink packages.

mlgb

All cruises have food of some sort, and beverages of some sort (the cheaper lines that means bad coffee, tea, juice at breakfast only, and usually some kind of flavored beverage and ice tea at lunch dinner. And they all include entertainment.

Beverage packages are addressed above Are you talking about the ones that include excursions and menu upgrades?

There are also wifi packages to purchase although if you REALLY need to stay in touch for more than email and Facebook etc be aware that speeds are very slow (and your own WiFi is apparently blocked until you get far enough away from the ship).

Where are you planning to go?

Many of the mass market lines eg Princess, also have bonus picks included if you book a certain cabin or early enough during a promo

wunderbar2

Viking Oceans does include house wines at lunch and dinner but they also have a drink package for purchase. Also, they do have an included excursion in each port but offer several paid optional excursions in ports. We enjoy the included excursions as they’re usually only a few hours in length and give you a good overview of how you might want to spend the remainder of your time.

Sassafrass

I do not think you can make a valid comparison between a cruise and a trip to Jamaica unless you try to compare each thing on the Jamaica trip with each thing on the cruise. There are so many things to consider. Cost alone is no comparison. The best you can do is look at your trip to Jamaica, think about what you liked and what you did not. Then look for a cruise you might like, choose what you like from the offerings and see what things cost.
Cruises, ships and itineraries vary so much, you have to find one that duplicates your Jamaica trip and that is not likely. Have you been on a cruise?
On the Jamaica trip did you stay in an all inclusive resort? If so, then at least you have a few things for comparison. Were you on a tour where you moved to different places to see things? The itinerary might be a comparison.
Were absolutely all drinks included or were some extra?
With food, was it served buffet style or were there sit-down dinners with personal service?
Did you have choices of restaurants?
Did you take excursions and were they included or did you do things on your own? Were there many places of interest nearby that you could see?
Etc., etc., etc.

aliced

We took an Azamara Greek Island cruise in October; in our price, all gratuities were included, as well as all alcoholic beverages which consisted of numerous cocktails poolside and at dinner and in the lounges after dinner. At dinner, every night we were offered limitless wine: two whites and two reds which definitely were not "house" brands -- they varied from South African, French, Chilean, California, New Zealand, etc. They were fabulous. Every night the selection changed along with our dinner menus. The caliber of entertainment and dining was excellent. The only extra charges were at the spa, and for extra top shelf liquors, such as Grand Marnier, Cognacs, and certain vodka/gin/whiskey brands that we felt no inclination to order. Wi-fi was included, but believe this was part of our deal from our best-quote travel agent with their trip quote. I hope you know never to book a cruise with a cruiseline!

doug_stallings

Virtually all "all-inclusive" cruises are luxury cruises and will cost 2 to 6 times the cost of a typical cruise on Carnival or Royal Caribbean. Viking and Azamara are probably the most moderately priced and may run about 1.5 times the cost of a typical mass-market cruise, but it's possible that their itineraries will not include Jamaica, which is generally popular primarily with mass-market cruise lines. The fact that you are focused price tells me you may not be in the market for a luxury cruise that costs $5000 or more per person for one week.

Your best bet might be to compare the mainstream and premium cruises that stop in Jamaica (Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Celebrity, MSC) and add the cost of a typical drinks package to see how they compare on price. All of the major cruise lines now offer some kind of drinks package, and in some cases you can get it as a free or reduced-price add-on if you buy a higher-priced cabin.

mlgb

If it isn't necessary to go to Jamaica, but are just looking for a cheap "booze cruise" then there is also Carnival

https://help.carnival.com/app/answer...verage-program

Sassafrass

When comparing anything, you have to compare like with like. Doug is correct. Itineraries, time of year, number of nights, type of cabin, excursions, departure port, etc. have to be nearly the same for it to be a valid comparison. Azamara Greek Island cruises start at 3,500 and above, including taxes, etc. Mainstream cruise lines are about half that or even less. If you are a wine connoisseur, you may want to spend the extra for a high end cruise. If you are not, or you enjoy other things a mainstream ship offers, the highend may not be worth it.

You mentioned Jamaica, so perhaps you are looking for the Caribbean, which is certainly a more valid comparison than a Greek Island cruise.

As to who to book with. An agent who specializes in cruises can be very helpful. Big cruise consolidators like vacationstogo is an easy place to book cheap or to book exactly what you want, if you know what that is. It is also easy on that site to see exact itineraries for comparisons. Some people like the bidding sites where you say what cruise you want and agents will return with their best offer. Cruise critic and other sites with reviews are good for both picking the ship and reviews. Asking questions on a forum like Fodors is also a good way to get opinions based on personal, though limited, experience.

I used to book with discounters and agencies, but felt I needed to be knowledgeable about what I wanted. I never got bids that were less than discounters or cruise line rates. IMHO, there is absolutely no problem booking directly with the cruise line. I have now done it several times, with Princess, with Royal Caribbean and with Carnival. I received excellent service and great advice and cost was actually cheaper than the discounters or bidding offers. Advice on cabins has been spot on from the cruise line. They have also given some extras for family traveling with us. I do check and compare though.

There are tons tons of variables. You could get a balcony on some ships for the cost of an inside on another ship with the same itinerary. You could take a simple ship with a fabulous itinerary or a big ship with lots to do on the ship, but no interesting ports.

So, to the OP, if you think you would like a cruise, why don't you tell us what your exact total cost was to Jamaica, the number of nights, cost of any excursions you took, where you are coming from for airfare and port comparison, you budget, etc., and posters here could give you suggestions on a cruise to compare with.

dsquared

I'll just co-sign everything Sassafrass said above.

You'd pay considerably more for a true all-inclusive cruise line than you'd pay for a mass-market line plus a beverage package. If you figure out what it is that really matters to you on a cruise (spa treatments? drinks? internet? shore excursions? exceptional food?) and you come back and post about that here, people can help you determine what line might work best for you.

jacketwatch

The OP posted on the Caribbean forum they’ve decided on an AI in DR:

Sassafrass

Rosemickey, since you first posted here after your questions about dress for an AI, are you still in planning mode or still considering?
I have not stayed at an AI in the Caribbean, but DD has in the DR, and said many people dressed up in the evening in long, light weight dresses or pants and low heeled sandals.
On most cruises, dress will be very casual to very dressy, depending on the ship. You could certainly dress up in the evening for dinner and shows and not be out of place.