Steelersfan

<i> Like it's any of his business why they don't want to vacation there. Maybe they don't like leaving the airport and going thru a military check point with guys with ski masks and assault rifles waiting...maybe its the guys with guns patrolling the beach as you lay there with your special someone..."Oh look honey, a dolphin".."oh look over there, 2 mexican military officers with AR-15s..get the camera!" Maybe they don't want to get sick from drinking water...Who really cares why they said no to Mexico?</i>


I recently returned from an all inclusive vacation in the Riviera Maya, south of Cancun. We flew into Cancun airport.
No signs of the 'scary military' you described.
As to the water, Cancun/riv Maya area has it's own water system for the resorts and restaurants.
Of course anyone who has traveled knows that any change in water may cause stomach upset, but at the all inclusives bottled water is included and available all over the resort.
Have vacationed at AIs in Cancun, and Riviera Maya about six times and never had any problem with the water.
Now I am very aware that the OP said Mexico was not their choice of destinations, but this board is read by many travelers and I would not be a good Fodorite if I left your comments go without a response, which could benefit other travelers.
For the record, we stayed at Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya this time, and the service was EXCELLENT, the property very modern and the rooms very spacious, even without an upgrade.
I agree also that Jamaica is a place with some very nice AI resorts, but you don't want to venture off the resort property.
Also agree that August is a very 'iffy' month to visit the areas mentioned due to hurricane season.
There's a reason the prices are lowest August and September.

Steelersfan

Jen, some resorts are huge, but some of the huge ones have accomodations that are more like small cottages of four or six or eight suites. Some have private pools or hot tubs for each room. There are ALL kinds of different properties.
I would suggest that you explore the apple vacations website to get an idea of the many ALL INCLUSIVE OPTIONS.
And since that is the kind of trip you want, you should know that these include not only your room, meals, and drinks, but also your ground transport from/to the airport.
So that is not something extra you'd have to arrange ahead of time.
Since your fiance is not interested in Mexico, you might consider the Dominican Republic, specifically the Bavaro area of Punta Cana. There are many beautiful places there.
Apple also does packages to Aruba and Jamaica, but I'd not recommend Jamaica.

doug_stallings

JenR seems to have disappeared, but I do still think this thread has some merit if only because of her question regarding whether all AIs are big resorts. KVR has posted in another thread on this very subject and give a nice list of some smaller resorts that offer an AI plan. If the goal here is to have a one-price vacation (or at least almost a one-price vacation), then a small or medium-size resort that offers an AI plan for meals and drinks might work for JenR, but most of these resorts don't offer the kind of cruise-ship atmosphere that a real AI resort offers, with lots of activities and entertainment on site.

The recommendation of the Reef Resort is probably the best one made here. It's a small resort on Grand Cayman (albeit on a rather isolated beach area). But it's really nice and offers an AI meal/drinks plan. But again, August is the top month for hurricanes, so there's some danger in booking in August.

KVR

JenR has started a new thread. Appears she has picked St. Lucia as her honeymoon destination.

I agree with SteelersFan, even though the OP has not chosen Mexico as her destination, other people will read this thread and many comments made regarding Mexico are inaccurate and overly exaggerated. For those people who are interested in traveling to Mexico they should make a decison to travel there based on real information.