How Inclusive is All-Inclusive?

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More and more resorts are jumping on the all-inclusive bandwagon. The cruise lines have been doing it for years, so it makes sense that the resorts would want to give it a go. To me, it sounds awesome: You go on vacation and money is one less thing you have to worry about. Or is it? I have heard a hundred horror stories about a guest booking an all-inclusive vacation just to find out they had to pay for all of the upgrades. So do your research wisely and here are a few things to watch out for.

Alcohol

Most all-inclusive resorts are going to give you all of your liquor for free. There are a few caveats that you want to watch out for. If you drink high-end booze, they probably aren't going to have it. I have heard stories about them keeping the expensive booze below the bar and only breaking them out for the big tippers, special VIPS, etc., but for the most part you are getting the rail or house beverages and maybe one step up from that.

On cruise ships that offer an alcohol package, some cruise lines track your drinking and limit you to ten drinks a day. I know that sounds like a lot, but if you have two mimosas with breakfast, a fru fru drink at the pool, a beer with lunch, hit happy hour trivia with a rum punch or two and then have a couple of glasses of wine with dinner, you are getting close and you haven't even gone to the casino, club or onboard show yet.

Carnival charges $50 a day for the unlimited package and limits you to ten drinks, so that works out to $5 a drink. You may be able to track down drinks right around the same price depending what you normally quaff.

Food

If you like to eat (and boy do I like to eat) then this is a great option for you. Like a cruise ship, all-inclusive resorts offer up food almost 24 hours a day. Some resorts offer foods in buffet style, some others have sit-down restaurants or walk-up quick serve places. Either way, there is plenty of food to eat.

Some pitfalls to watch out for: some resorts have an extra fee for certain specialty restaurants and some charge extra for specialty cocktails or upgraded wine service. Now even the cruise lines are charging extra for steak. Read more on the Great Steak Debate here.

Transportation

This is another calculated move to make here. Again, if price is of no consequence, and the hotel / resort offers to handle the transportation reservations for you, go right ahead. However, if you are looking for the cheapest / fastest / safest way to get where you are going, do a little research.

Although I am 99.9 percent sure that the resort-booked transportation is going to be safe, it may not be the most direct. Oftentimes, there are multiple stops and additional pickups and you may even have a wait for someone to come in on a different flight. Just find out if the resort includes the transportation in the cost and what the details are.

This is also a great time to ask about the availability of getting a taxi/car from the resort to go out on the town. Sandals in St. Lucia has three resorts and offers a free shuttle between them so you can experience the dining and recreation at all of them.

Activities

Most of the name-brand all-inclusive resorts have some sort of daily activities paper that comes into your room at turndown the night before. These are great because they not only let you plan your day, they explain the details of reservations, cost, transportation, etc. At the smaller resorts, you may want to ask. Many will offer free kayaking all day long, but if you want a guided tour or beginner class, you have to pay a little extra.

Most resorts also offer staffed excursion desks to help you plan out a day away from the resort. Most of these services have additional costs associated with them. It is possible to plan these on your own, but there may be certain advantages by going with the resort.

For instance, if you take a fishing trip and want to have what you caught for dinner, the resort probably has that already set up with the kitchen so that you don't even have to carry the fish. You may have a hard time trying to transport four fish from the taxi into the resort and then trying to find someone to get it to the kitchen, get instructions, etc.

Rarely Included

Spa treatments are often not included at any of the resorts, unless you book a package that includes them. Normally, if you do, then you are getting some sort of a deal, so do some research.

Internet access is a whole thing unto itself. In my experience, you pay for it at most resorts and it is still ridiculously slow. (Take a vacation with a writer and you will know how awful it is). More and more hotels are offering it up for free, but a slow speeds and then charging more money for the faster speeds. Eventually, the resorts will figure out the marketing value here.

Resort fees are even more rarely included. These are fees that the resort tacks on at the end to cover the "incidentals." Funny, but those incidentals haven't changed in 50 years but now all of a sudden we need a fee for them. This is a product of our own doing as we as a whole are looking for the lowest room rate and so resorts keep their rates low and tag on fees to get the prices back where they should be.

In Conclusion

The question you need to ask yourself here is, "Why am I booking the all-inclusive?" If it is because you are looking for a deal, you need to really crunch your numbers ahead of time. The price isn't always a better deal, especially in the smaller resorts. The real value in the all-inclusive isn't in the price, it's in the way you can enjoy your vacation stress-free. Every time I say all-inclusive I hear it in the booming voice of the great and powerful Wizard of Oz. Not unlike the movie, just ignore the costs behind the curtain.

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