Toting Up the Extras on ‘All-Inclusive’ Vacations

The most seductive words in the English language, a wise old reporter once said, are “I’d like to hear your story.” But if it’s an American vacationer you’re looking to woo, you may be able to do it with just two words and a hyphen: “all-inclusive.”

The idea of a single price for an entire vacation is a powerful lure. It has been a key to success for many resorts, beginning with Club Med and continuing with more than a dozen Caribbean getaways. It’s also a factor in the cruise industry’s spectacular growth in the last two decades.

But travelers need to remember that “all-inclusive” means different things in different places. Also, these holidays may be much cheaper than a custom itinerary in Hawaii or the Caribbean, but they’re still likely to cost more than a modest domestic car trip.

Many Americans first heard of the all-inclusive vacation concept from Club Med (telephone [800] CLUB-MED). The France-based chain was founded soon after World War II and became widely popular in the 1970s and ‘80s. It emphasized sports, meeting opportunities for singles and a network of sun-splashed resorts around the world.

In recent years, the company has lost money and shuffled executives in a still-incomplete quest to carve out a new public identity. But Club Med endures, serving singles, couples and families with 112 “villages” worldwide. The company has cut prices aggressively in the last two years. For travelers flying from LAX, package prices for a one-week vacation generally run $900 to $1,500, air fare included--about $130 to $210 per person per day.

At most of those villages, guests’ basic fees include all meals and snacks, beer and wine with lunch and dinner, entertainment and some sports equipment rentals. There’s no tipping. But Club Meds do charge extra for liquor and drinks between meals, for out-of-village excursions and often for horseback riding and rentals of scuba and golf equipment.

Club Med’s competition is led by Caribbean-based SuperClubs (tel. [800] GO-SUPER) and Sandals (tel. [888] SANDALS). Both offer plenty of sports and all kinds of alcoholic drinks, all the time, for no extra charge. As with Club Med, which aims some clubs at singles and others at families, atmospheres at these resorts vary widely from location to location.

SuperClubs, founded in 1976 on Jamaica, has grown to nine resorts in Jamaica and the Bahamas. Except for its family getaway in Boscobel Beach, near Ocho Rios, Jamaica, the resorts are adults only. That’s doubly true for Hedonism, two Jamaican resorts brimming with single “pleasure-seekers” (no guests younger than 16 are permitted). A second company sub-brand, priced lower than the others, is Breezes, a pair of resorts (one in the Bahamas, one in Jamaica) aimed at singles and couples on more modest budgets.

SuperClubs sell themselves as “super-inclusive”--free equipment rentals and instruction, even free weddings. Still, it pays to scan brochures closely and ask sales agents about what’s free and what isn’t. There’s always something not covered, whether it’s tennis balls or caddy fees or off-site snorkeling.

Some sample SuperClubs prices for a three-day stay in February 2000: At Hedonism II, about $200 per person per day, double occupancy. At Hedonism III, about $265. At Breezes Montego Bay, about $180. At Boscobel Beach, about $240 and up.

Sandals, founded in 1981, has found great success on the all-inclusive bandwagon--or, in that company’s vocabulary, “ultra-all-inclusive.” This despite a narrow demographic: Sandals resorts are open only to male-female couples older than 16, which would be illegal in the United States but poses no problems in Jamaica, Antigua, St. Lucia and the Bahamas.

Sample rates: At Sandals Ocho Rios, rates for a three-night stay in February 2000 begin at $225 per person per night. At the chain’s more upscale Royal Bahamian resort, rates for the same period begin at about $375 per person.

Cruising is the other corner of the travel business where “all-inclusive” exerts a mighty pull. More than 5 million Americans took cruises last year, including about 1 million who sailed from Los Angeles, and virtually all paid a single price for room, meals and a variety of activities. “One price covers it all,” says a brochure from Carnival Cruise Lines, the largest in the North American market.

The cruise trade’s idea of “all-inclusive” is more limited than what travelers find on land. Generally not included: tips, shore excursions, alcohol and all waiter-delivered drinks (alcoholic or not). Port fees, which can reach $150 or more, are sometimes included, sometimes not. Together, these items can easily swell your “all-inclusive” price by 50% or more.

Still, cruises can be remarkably affordable. Consider, for instance, the seven-night cruise on the Carnival ship Elation that I completed Oct. 24. It went from L.A. to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. Three heaping meals each day, plus a nonstop buffet, free floor shows, three swimming pools, two whirlpools, weight room and sauna--I got all that for a base price of a little less than $100 per day.

Granted, not every Elation customer paid so little. Many got fancier cabins, and some bought their tickets months ahead and missed out on discounting as departure drew near (which is not a given). On most Carnival cruises, cabins (not suites) go for $100 to $200 per person per day. (Alaska itineraries tend to be costlier, Panama Canal itineraries cheaper.)

I paid a base price of $675. Port fees and taxes added $139, tips about $100. Three shore excursions ran $80; these are usually far cheaper if travelers make their own arrangements on shore. One beer and one soft drink each day added about $45 total, including the built-in 15% tip. I evaded most of the ship’s other spending opportunities, from casino gambling to bingo to the gift shop to the photographer to the commemorative video to the art auction. But even so, my $675 cruise actually cost slightly more than $1,000. That’s still a good deal, but not what a first-timer might expect.

Christopher Reynolds welcomes comments and suggestions, but cannot respond individually to letters and calls. Write Travel Insider, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053, or send e-mail to chris.reynolds@latimes.com.