All,

Hoping for some recommendations or any reviews. I am in my mid 30’s and my dad in his late 60’s and looking to take a trip at end of January to an all inclusive either in San Juan or Cayman Islands for about 4 days.
We would like to stay in safe area but a resort that has good food options , and activities or excursions if we decide to do that.

My questions would you vote San Juan or Cayman?
Second , any recommendations for either of these places?

Thanks for the help!
Ryan.

I can't make a side by side comparison as I have only been twice to Jamaica on cruise ships (and didn't even get off the ship the second time), however, I have stayed at the Marriott on GCM and it was excellent.

Been to many all inclusives all over the place. If you are all for sticking to the resort with only the odd excursion or two out of the gates then it makes little difference where you go, so pick based on the weather or the quality of your favourite activity (scuba etc).

For that part of the world, Cuba is still a favourite of mine although it might not be a choice for you.

EDIT: forgot to add, and please ignore if you have experience off all inclusive anyway but... my experience has been that, even at the $2000 per day type resorts, an all inclusive is a compromise. Whether that be a limitation of the number of times you can visit a certain restaurant, or pre-booking restrictions meaning that it's just as much of a restriction anyway. Best case scenario is often that if you want to eat at a time to suit you rather than based on what slots are left, you'd likely need to book all 4 night's cuisine options on the day you arrive. They have a captive market!

I'm really fussy with my food, not just the cuisine itself, but the hygiene. Many all inclusives, even the better ones, had people at "buffet" style eateries who seemed to lack certain standards that I'd expect to see even at McDonalds. Call me a snob, but I'm probably all done with AI.

Virtual737 wrote:

Been to many all inclusives all over the place. If you are all for sticking to the resort with only the odd excursion or two out of the gates then it makes little difference where you go, so pick based on the weather or the quality of your favourite activity (scuba etc).

For that part of the world, Cuba is still a favourite of mine although it might not be a choice for you.

We are leaning more towards San Juan......
Do you have any recommendations for that one ?

ryanrap1 wrote:

Virtual737 wrote:

Been to many all inclusives all over the place. If you are all for sticking to the resort with only the odd excursion or two out of the gates then it makes little difference where you go, so pick based on the weather or the quality of your favourite activity (scuba etc).

For that part of the world, Cuba is still a favourite of mine although it might not be a choice for you.

We are leaning more towards San Juan......
Do you have any recommendations for that one ?

Was just adding a whinging rant edit to my reply above ^^^^

Full disclosure, I've not been to either of those places, so feel free to completely ignore. My experiences in that part of the world would be Jamaica, St Lucia, Barbados, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and a few others i can't remember off the top of my head. Cuba and Dominican Republic would be at the top of my list even before PR or GC, for reasons that probably aren't too relevant.

In your shoes (and assuming not too many specific replies here), I'd spend an hour or two looking at agodo / booking.com reviews (trying to find and ignore the fake reviews) and form an opinion that way, following up by a decent scan on Google Earth.

A vacation should be looked forward to with all positives, so ignore my ramblings anyway)

....and to answer your specific vote question.... if you are from the US, I'd go to the Cayman Islands, just because it's fully international and to me that makes it feel more of a holiday. If not and the choice remained... I'd flip a coin.

ryanrap1 wrote:

All, Hoping for some recommendations or any reviews. I am in my mid 30’s and my dad in his late 60’s and looking to take a trip at end of January to an all inclusive either in San Juan or Cayman Islands for about 4 days.
We would like to stay in safe area but a resort that has good food options , and activities or excursions if we decide to do that.
My questions would you vote San Juan or Cayman?
Second , any recommendations for either of these places?

First, let me admit that I am not a fan of "all inclusives"; when I travel overseas, I like to sample the local food, visit with local people, and soak-up as much of the local culture as I can - something you cannot do inside a walled resort just tangentially related to the outside surroundings. If you want an all-inclusive, why bother to spend the money to go overseas?

Having said that... are you a diver? If not, you will probably find Grand Cayman boring after a day or two. Puerto Rico offers-up many more options - El Yunque National Forest is fantastic for hikers; the Islands of Culebra and Veiques are fascinating day (or overnight) trips, and Old San Juan is a great cultural experience. Of course, all of that requires you escape the walls of your enclosed compound. I would definitely suggest you do that.

ryanrap1 wrote:

Virtual737 wrote:

Been to many all inclusives all over the place. If you are all for sticking to the resort with only the odd excursion or two out of the gates then it makes little difference where you go, so pick based on the weather or the quality of your favourite activity (scuba etc).

For that part of the world, Cuba is still a favourite of mine although it might not be a choice for you.

We are leaning more towards San Juan......
Do you have any recommendations for that one ?

It’s not all inclusive, but the Embassy Suites Doroado Del Mar would be worth looking at. I’ve stayed there and it was nice, has its own beach. Decent restaurants on site (breakfast included) and there are a couple local restaurants just outside the hotel grounds.

alfa164 wrote:

ryanrap1 wrote:

All, Hoping for some recommendations or any reviews. I am in my mid 30’s and my dad in his late 60’s and looking to take a trip at end of January to an all inclusive either in San Juan or Cayman Islands for about 4 days.
We would like to stay in safe area but a resort that has good food options , and activities or excursions if we decide to do that.
My questions would you vote San Juan or Cayman?
Second , any recommendations for either of these places?

First, let me admit that I am not a fan of "all inclusives"; when I travel overseas, I like to sample the local food, visit with local people, and soak-up as much of the local culture as I can - something you cannot do inside a walled resort just tangentially related to the outside surroundings. If you want an all-inclusive, why bother to spend the money to go overseas?

Having said that... are you a diver? If not, you will probably find Grand Cayman boring after a day or two. Puerto Rico offers-up many more options - El Yunque National Forest is fantastic for hikers; the Islands of Culebra and Veiques are fascinating day (or overnight) trips, and Old San Juan is a great cultural experience. Of course, all of that requires you escape the walls of your enclosed compound. I would definitely suggest you do that.

This makes sense. I have been to both places and I prefer Grand Cayman but I was never at an all inclusive. Both places I only spent a day or two it just depends on what you want to do. If you are into exploring Alfa is right San Juan will give you more of what you're looking for. In reality most all inclusives most people stay within the resorts. I would compare the all inclusives themselves rather than the particular island.

Price range and interests ?

I've been to both islands many times, personally I prefer Grand Cayam, but neither island would be my first choice.

I prefer the Dominican Republic and St Lucia.

Puerto Rico is not an "all-inclusive" resort destination. For that, I would recommend the Dominican Republic, specifically PUJ (Bavaro area).

I just came back last week from two weeks in Puerto Rico. Got to say, three or four days was enough of San Juan. We were in the tourist area of Condado and we’re ready to go to our resort after three our four days here of our first week in San Juan. It was just a big city and you didn’t have to walk far to get into questionable areas. Lots of trash and graffiti everywhere. Ugly buildings. Near shanty towns.

The fact there is a COVID curfew of 10pm, everythiing closes at 9pm and restaurants and activities are limited to 30% capacity right now kind of sucked, too.

If you’re going to go to PR, go somewhere besides San Juan. It was ok for a few days, but not a whole vacation.