Hey guys have you missed the blogs the last couple weeks? I’m sorry but I’m back and ready to share why we took a brief break. I was deep undercover doing some pretty intense research to write this blog. My subject? Getting the skinny on all-inclusive resorts. You’re welcome for taking one for the team 😉

So yes I was gone for 6 days and 7 nights in St. Lucia. We took 2 flights to get there and then once we got through customs we had a car contracted to take us the short distance to the resort. Our flights and accommodations were bundled into one price when we booked online so booking was super easy peasy. We stayed at a property that offered a couple different accommodations. One part was adult only bungalows, more upscale like if you’re celebrating your honeymoon and that was on a completely different part of the property. Then on my side was adult only hotel style rooms and then the family hotel rooms. Due to watching my pennies, I stayed in the family section and it wasn’t all that bad. The rooms were well insulated so I didn’t hear any crying or kids being loud and only had a couple early mornings with little feet running around in the room above me. The food and pools were all mixed anyway so for me, not a big deal.

Which brings me to the food situation. So the resort had a main dining room that served buffet style breakfast, lunch, and dinner with different themes and interactive stations for each meal. Generally the food was pretty good if lacking a little seasoning, which makes sense when making mass quantities of food for a wide variety of people with different dietary needs. For lunch, they also had two other places open by the pools serving burgers and personal pizzas and traditional Caribbean fare. These were very convenient for just grabbing something quick and then getting back to sunbathing. At dinner the resort had three finer dining restaurants that were reservation only and had a dress code. Me being a girl and over packing I would’ve been fine with the dress code with what I brought, but unfortunately my boyfriend didn’t bring any close toed shoes or dressy pants (hello we’re going to the Caribbean, not a lot of need for long pants and loafers). We tried getting reservations but they told us they were all booked so I’m not sure how strictly enforced the dress code was. In their gift shop, they did have long pants and dressier shirts for men to purchase, but I didn’t see any shoes available.

Another perk of all-inclusive life is the drink package was included in the pricing when we booked. I have gone on a cruise before and at least when I went, that was an additional add-on that we paid for when we boarded the ship. So paying for it up front was nice to not worry about it and it was nice that we could choose from beer and wine and all different levels of liquor. I did wish there were a couple more cocktail servers taking drink orders just for convenience sake, but it was not a huge deal to get up and grab a drink since there was basically a bar within spitting distance no matter where you were at. Surprisingly to me the drinks were not weak, but made how I was expecting or a little stronger.

Our resort also offered different types of excursions, a la carte activities, and spa services. I loved the spa. If I woulda had deeper pockets I would’ve done at least a treatment a day because relaxing and being pampered is my thing. The massage was exactly what I needed to de-stress once we got there and the day before we left, I did an aloe treatment that made my sun soaked skin feel rejuvenated and fresh. My boyfriend on the other hand was all about the excursions and he convinced me to do the sail and snorkel day. It was super fun and great value for what the price tag was; I just get motion sickness so the driving aspect of the day was a little rough on me personally. But the overall experience is one I’m so happy to have. From tours of various aspects of the island to kite surfing and ATV driving and hiking in the Pitons, the excursions could be as relaxed or as active as you are looking for. Talking to other couples and visitors who did more excursions the consensus seemed to be that they were worth the extra money and they were pleased with the choices they made.

Overall, I am so happy for the all-inclusive experience. In terms of ease of making preparations and navigating the resort, this was one of the easiest vacations I’ve ever planned. I do kinda wish it were easier to leave the resort without doing an excursion just to experience different parts of the island a bit more. Honestly, I didn’t even ask if that was an option so it may have been way easier than even I thought. If thinking about making plans for your honeymoon I would definitely consider the all-inclusive route. It may be a little pricier upfront, but if you bundle and pay one price for flight, accommodations, food, and beverage then all you have to budget more for is any extra excursions or spa services. Check it out when looking into honeymoon ideas!