<p>A neighbor told me to look into Costa Rica … any leads on resorts there that are appropriate for an 18-, 21-year-old and 2 parents? </p>
<p>Also, if anyone has opinions on all-inclusive versus buy as you go meals/drinks, I’d be interested, especially if you tried the all-inclusive.</p>
<p>I like all-inclusive, especially at a nice resort hotel. I don’t like to put my young adult kids on a budget on how much they could eat or drink. Food and drinks could cost you easily $100+/person/day. We do all inclusives when we are with my extended families, no worries about where to eat and who is to pay.</p>
<p>We will be going to Playa Mujeres (near Cancun) for few days in March:
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<p>I have done few all inclusives in Mexico, and have found food to be very good, and they are quite generous with drinks.</p>
<p>Thanks, oldfort … it seems you have traveled a lot and I appreciate you sharing what you know. Southern Cancun is looking interesting. Enjoy your trip in March!</p>
<p>Cozumel, Mexico</p>
<p>We did an all-inclusive in jamaica at a family resort. The worm was young at the time, but he quickly got involved in water ski lessons, boat trips, and other activities for young people. Every day we hiked and toured. Our friends, with 4 kids, went to this resort for many years.</p>
<p>^There is one limitation in Jamaica, there is no off shore snorkeling, you have to take a boat to snorkel, cannot just go in a water from the beach and be in a soup of fish. Other than that Jamaican food and entertainment are awesome. But our main entertainment is to watch all these fish in a water many times a day…so Jamaica was only one trip.</p>
<p>bookworm, I get a kick every time I read about ‘the worm.’ You crack me up.</p>
<p>Snow, I sent you a PM re: Costa Rica…</p>
<p>My husband and I went to Puerto Rico just a couple of years ago. I’ll see if I can find my thread about it. We stayed at a couple of different locations in different parts of the island. San Juan is a really neat city, sort of like New Orleans with a Spanish Accent!</p>
<p>Here’s the thread <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/671293-puerto-rico.html?highlight=puerto+rico[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/671293-puerto-rico.html?highlight=puerto+rico</a></p>
<p>Kathiep, thanks for that link … since I’m not able to book yet I can explore all of these locations. Looks great!</p>
<p>Snowflake:</p>
<p>I’ve done extensive travel and I apologize to all the posters ahead time for my remarks about Mexico.</p>
<p>In my own humble opinion, I would avoid Mexico as much as possible. I have been to different parts of Mexico around 6 or 7 times. The first two times were quite enjoyable, but that was back in the late 70’s and early 80’s. The last few times I went were as part of cruises. Maybe because I was there only for the one day on a cruise, but I felt that the Mexicans were con-artists and ripped you off with purchases, and I felt more unsafe in recent years there.</p>
<p>Puerto Rico is gorgeous…and so are so many other islands. I just try to steer clear of Mexico as best as I can these days. Again, my own opinion.</p>
<p>Are there parts of Mexico to avoid (even if I get a good deal)? Someone at work told me I want to avoid ‘old Cancun’ and work my way to southern Cancun or south Cancun. </p>
<p>In a quick search, I did see that there are more inexpensive choices in Mexico than Puerto Rico, but I hope I don’t use price to sway me. The practical part of me is trying to sneak in however.</p>
<p>Honestly, I have never been to an all-inclusive in Mexico. Perhaps that would be a viable option. If the posters here have had good luck with all-inclusives in Mexico, then go for it! </p>
<p>I would suggest that you are extremely careful leaving that resort to go into town shopping or sightseeing. Ask ahead of time the price of a taxi BEFORE you get in. They like to haggle on prices. Look very carefully at the merchandise you buy BEFORE you pay for it and leave. Be aware of your surroundings at all times and keep very little money on you. We experienced the biggest rip-offs in the quality of merchandise they were selling after we got home. Mostly in the Costa Maya sections of the country.</p>
<p>Funny, we were in Cancun for our honeymoon when they were building all those hotels on the strip and now that’s considered Old Cancun? :)</p>
<p>I was really looking for just the right place when I chose PR. A few things really made it an easy decision. 1) It’s still the USA, no customs or money changes 2) Same time zone 3) Direct flights at a good price 4) A blend of relaxing, shopping and history.</p>
<p>I really don’t like just laying around on vacations. I like to go to local markets, maybe do a zip line, snorkel, sleep in, stay up late reading, etc. I loved the vibe of San Juan and how we felt welcomed all over PR and the fact that even though it seemed very exotic because of the Spanish (many people in PR are NOT bi-lingual) it really was American. I would like to go back with my kids because I know they would like it too.</p>
<p>We’ve never been to an all inclusive resort, unless you count cruises, because I don’t want to just stay with people like me. I want to see a new country if I’m going to take the time to travel there. I always thought if I just wanted a beach, we could do many of the nice places along the Gulf, or on the Outer Banks here at a lot less cost.</p>
<p>OMG, Kathiep…I couldn’t have said it better myself. We do the same type of vacations where we love to tour the island and get to know the customs, eat their food, shop in areas not touristy (except when you get off a cruise ship) and really get to know local people, their industry and their history.</p>
<p>Very rarely do we sit on the beaches. We love to explore the islands and visit the architechtural buildings. We do enjoy snorkeling and water activities, but mostly we go and explore the islands, look for the waterfalls and natural beauty. We were in Puerto Rico @2 1/2 years ago and toured the Fort and now we’re going again in a few months and can’t wait to go the El Yunque Rainforest!</p>
<p>There must be some places, Snowflake, that appeal to you that’s also affordable besides Mexico! The Bahamas are wonderful…I guess it depends on the type of vacation you want. If it’s beaches, then many parts of Florida will satisfy that!</p>
<p>kathie and choc … you should come with me! My H is the one that suggested we consider all inclusive, I think partly because he doesn’t want to deal with buying food each day, but I’m kind of with you two as we like to try different food and do different things and don’t want to be stuffed in a boxed vacation. We would definitely be more active, but also will spend a few afternoons just relaxing on the beach and body surfing and whatever. My H likes to go for runs so he doesn’t get fat on vacation, so I try to do the same, or at least go for walks while he’s running. I love shopping in a new town on vacation, but at the same time I can’t shop every day, so have other things to do with the family is ideal, including maybe a deep-sea fishing day for the guys. My D is the music person so a place with live latin music or jazz is desirable over a place that plays canned pop music, which is why I like the idea of San Juan and Cuba.</p>
<p>Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and Cuba all sound interesting yet close enough to not waste too much time traveling to get there.</p>
<p>snowflake:</p>
<p>If your kids are in college and you can plan this vacation for AFTER New years in Jan. then I would suggest going on a cruise. What about through the Panama Canal? The weather should be great at that time…any type of cruise would be great! In my opinion, better than an all-inclusive because you still get all meals included, but you go to different islands without packing and repacking. You do pay for excursions, but if you do a bit of work & research on your own you can pick & choose a few bigger excursions and then spend the rest of the time exploring the islands. They have taxi’s parked outside cruise ships and for one small flat rate they will take you and show you the sights of the island. You definitely don’t need to take the excursions that the ship offers since those are usually top dollar. Go to cruise critic dot com to look over some options there. Feel free to pm me if you want the travel agent that we’ve used. Maybe they can recommend some choices for you! Cruise do have on-board gyms and we always see people jogging on the decks…</p>
<p>Or you can fly to an island and rent a villa with a kitchen and have breakfast at your villa and pack a lunch some days and go to local places some days. I would recommend that for Puerto Rico since that’s a larger island. You can rent a place to “base” out of and prepare some meals for yourself and go out to eat for the rest. Maybe rent a car and each day plan to sightsee in the mornings and come back & hit the beach in the afternoons…or a place where you can walk to the shopping area…lots of options!</p>
<p>I’ve done a few cruises and cruisecritic was a huge help. I found private tours that were wonderful. We did a large family cruise of the Western Caribbean and stopped at Belize and Roatan, Cozumel and Cancun. It left from New Orleans, which was itself fun! Our favorite stops were Belize and Roatan. </p>
<p>My SIL and some friends have since gone to Belize for a week a couple of times. They just rent a small place and do things from there.</p>
<p>Snowflake:</p>
<p>I’m anxious to hear what type of trip you decided on! :)</p>
<p>How funny, I was just wondering the same thing this morning and came here to bump the thread myself! Must be the warm weather - time for vacations!</p>