by Cristy Hebert

Created on: July 13, 2008

I will most probably be on the losing side of the debate because lots of people in my family and at work swear only with all-inclusive vacations. I am the lone voice in saying that I did it once and most probably won't do it again. We all know the reasons why people love the all-inclusive vacations...Here a couple of them:

*Everything is plentiful from activities, alcohol, food

*You don't have to have money on you
*Everything is taken care of for you

I am the lone voice in saying that I did not like my experience in an all-inclusive. I went to Cartagena in Colombia (South America) for a week. The hotel's name was De Cameron. I was young at the time and went with a girlfriend of mine for a week. The hotel was located right on the beach and about 5 minutes by taxi from the old city. The hotel's room was clean and I did not have any complaints about that. The food was not too bad also.

So why did I not like my week there? Here are the reasons:

*There were 3 restaurants in the hotel that you could choose from. The first 2 nights were buffet style near the pool so you could not eat in the restaurants. Eating by the pool on plastic chairs is not my idea of fun, but it was only 2 nights so I had was anxious to try the restaurants. It was not what I had hoped for. You had to choose from the first service at 6 o'clock or the second at 8 o'clock. We thought that eating at 8 would be better but after having eaten your dinner, they showed you the way out. You could not stay and enjoy a glass of wine, probably because the wine was free they did not want you to enjoy it too much!
*There was no table for 2 so you had to sit with whomever they decided to sit you with. We ended up with a couple that did not utter a word all through dinner...God that was a long dinner, even if it was only an hour long!
*Unlimited alcohol...need I say more? Well, I will anyway! People don't know when to stop when there is free booze. I saw some astonishing things happen. I saw a couple argue, they were both inebriated, and the man sent a glass of water in the face of his girlfriend! Unlimited alcohol is not the way to go on vacation. I prefer the concept of the cruises where the food is free but you pay for the alcohol you drink. That makes for a more enjoyable vacation. I would consider going on a cruise and I would not consider going on an all-inclusive vacation ever again and the alcohol is one of the major factors.
*Unlimited food...People react the same way to free food as they do with free alcohol..they abuse it. I saw people, at the buffet table (for breakfast, lunch and 2 dinners in the week), grab a plate full of food and then not eating half of it and throwing it in the garbage. When you think of all-inclusive vacations, you think of countries like Republic Dominican, Cuba and other countries where people don't always eat full plates of food, and yet the tourists throw away food. It is scandalous to see this and I was outraged!

I could go on and on about the exploitation of the people in these countries. I heard people I know say that they gave a bottle of shampoo to the cleaning lady as a tip for the whole week and they were saying that and convincing themselves that they were being generous to the natives! Those are the reasons I intensely disliked my vacation in an all-inclusive.

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