Original Message:
Re: Mandatory Meal Plans- Can you get away from them? (by Bryan W.):
jeffw129 wrote:bryanw21 wrote:I'm sorry but i don't know where you've been doing your all incs but maybe you should look up palaceresorts.com and try one of them. Cause i can guarantee you can not go to Cancun and do everything they offer for the same price or cheaper on your own!! Seriously i strongly recommend Either the moon palace or Spa palace if ya go with out kids.jeffw129 wrote:darcy54 wrote:Most of them are not just meal plans. they are all inclusive. Which means meals, drinks,non- motorized water sports activities, alot of resorts in Mexico include tours and room service and oh ya i almost forgot to mention premium brand drinks!!!! Lot's and lot's of drinks!! lolI agree with you. I find the meal plans are extremely over-priced, and why should certain weeks of the year cost even more , the food and drinks don't change just because it's a high season week. When I compare the cost of my meal plan, airfare, maintenance fee, and exchange fee, I usually haven't saved anything over going on a pre-packaged holiday. If I travel in low season I usually would end up paying even more than a last minute special. Do owners at these all-inclusive resorts get any breaks on the meal plan?That is nice if that is what you WANT to do, not what the resort FORCES you to do. You may feel you get your money's worth, I don't and I don't like not having the choice. For me I think I can do better exploring the local eateries and culture.
Personally, I don't drink that much, so the drinks are not going to justify the all inclusive, I also like a little variety in what and where I eat, plus I get a chance to experience the local life. If you want to go somewhere and never leave the compound, then an all inclusive probably will make sense to you. "non-motorized water sports" ? I have seen some beat up windsurfers, but have never been able to take out a sailboat as part of any plan, pool floats maybe. Perhaps I am not easy to impress, but tours to shopping districts and places like Xcaret (total synthetic fabrication for tourists, including fake ruins of all things) don't interest me.
I want to be able to chose.
I gotta admit, the Palace has much to offer. I don't know what the "all inclusive" price is for everything, so it is impossible to say whether or not it can be done cheaper with the all-inclusive. I do know that the prices they quote on the tours can easily be beaten. The snorkeling, the ruins, even the golf. I own at a golf resort, but don't play, I've seen more ruins at more remote locations in the Yucatan than most visitors even know about and I have snorkeled at Cozumel. I am doing all of the above this May so I have a pretty good feel for what it costs to get around and do things in that part of Mexico.
I don't like cruise ships because everything is so "planned", it sounds like the Moon resort is following the cruise ship busines plan. What is a good deal for you, is too restrictive for me. Going on pre-planned trips with english speaking guides with a bunch of gringos does not give anyone the real flavor of the country. I'm sure could replicate the Moon Resorts offerings in Miami.