Between a cruise and an all inclusive vacation package, which one would you go for? First of all, both are quite different but we have done both. But the thing is, it's hard to compare these two holiday options sometimes

Think of a cruise and an all-inclusive resort hotel that moves from place to place. The costs may be more cost effective now that the Caribbean seems to have more cruise capacity than they really need.

There is a place for both, we felt. On one hand, a cruise offers a blend of different ports of call, days at sea and entertainment, while the resort offers non-stop relaxation.

It's really pointless to compare a cruise to a land-based vacation sometimes because there are just so many variables involved. Both choices will have a range of amenities depending on the price range you are in. A Dolphin Cruise won't compare to a vacation at a Grand Lido in Jamaica; nor would a Seabourne cruise be comparable to a Club Med vacation. The similarities are that a cruise is also an all inclusive vacation...on the average a cruise with air will cost a little more for an all inclusive land vacation. But I think you would find the entertainment better, the food better than a Club Med vacation, the service a little better, and remember that you have a choice of seeing different ports as opposed to the all inclusive resort where they like to advertise that you never have to leave their property. A cruise is far more structured - meals at specific times, formal nights, shows, etc, whereas, an all inclusive is very unstructured, and far more casual - meals at almost any time with no real dress code.

Days in cruise ships are pretty similar (after all you are always in a ship!), in that we had a choice of staying on ship/hotel by the pool/beach, or sightseeing.

Evenings we tended to stay in the private pool by our villa with friends (the way the AI was set up, the pool was very private). Even the hot-tub, which served a few villas, was almost always empty. The two main pools and beach were always busy. I don't think it was as easy to get the privacy on a cruise. Not that either is better or worse - we enjoyed both - it's just different. It depends on what you're looking for in a particular vacation.

We've always enjoyed meeting folks on the cruises. One thing to remember is that different vacations has different criteria. For some reason, the cruises seemed "busier". We spent most of the days sightseeing, and by the time we got back, changed, had dinner, got changed out of the silly stuff into real clothes, checked out the midnight buffet (we had late seating - we couldn't eat much more), the day was over. At the AI, we sometimes did some sightseeing, but even at the hotel we were swimming, sailing, snorkeling, etc. Somehow, it just didn't feel as busy. Perhaps because we didn't do as much sightseeing.

Our personal choice? Both. We've done both, and we just cant wait to enjoy either a cruise or a land all-inclusive package, so long as we get to go for a holiday!