When planning your Caribbean vacation, you will undoubtedly see many attractive and compelling offers aboard cruise ships and at all-inclusive resorts. While these offers may seem like prudent choices, buyer beware: they're not all they're cracked up to be. Much like sleeping with a cheap, disease-infested hooker, what seems like a good idea at the time can often turn out to be a huge mistake several months down the road.
Taking a cruise to six different islands over the period of a week is the cultural equivalent of going to Disney World, hitting up the world showcase at Epcot, and then telling all of your friends you went to China, Mexico, and Italy--- all for only 67 dollars! My hatred for all things Disney aside (but seriously, if i had a list of evil corporations, Disney would easily be #1. I have more respect for Phillip Morris, the merchants of death behind the Marlboro brand, than I do Disney), taking a cruise to an island is not the same thing as actually spending time there. By the end of the trip, most travelers who opt for the cruising experience could regurgitate the entire safety procedure for evacuating the vessel before they could recall even half the names of the various islands they went to.
All-inclusive resorts are designed to keep tourists within the hotel walls and away from all but the most conspicuously mandatory attractions. While eating all three meals at the one or two restaurants on hotel property may be an economically sound decision, it isn't the most savory option. After all, restaurants at all-inclusive hotels have a built-in customer base and don't have to worry as much about sub-par food or service driving away customers. Wouldn't you rather have the option to eat wherever you like or perhaps sample some of the local cuisine? Wouldn't you feel better about using your money to support local businesses rather than colossal hotel conglomerates like Marriot and Hilton?
In my mind cruise ships are little more than floating strip malls, and all-inclusive hotels are just exceptionally picturesque prisons. Those who vacation through these methods might save a few dollars, but they are also robbing themselves of some truly unique experiences.
Forex Education
17 years ago
