Thinking of sun, sand & sea for your next vacation this winter ?

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With winter weather fast approaching, I thought it'd be timely to search out some more potential adults only, all-inclusive resorts easily & quickly reached from our west coast location - for 2020 booking.


For any of you folks in the western portion of the U.S. or Canada looking for, or at least thinking about, a possible wonderful vacation spot not too far from home, here's 3 that I found that meet with 4-5 star criteria expectations in most people's book:


I'm quite sure Linda & I will choose one of these, or some other among a few others we've found too, to go to later in 2020.


You might want to check these out -


- The Hacienda at Hilton - Puerto Vallarta, Mx.


- Casa Velas Boutique Hotel - also Puerto Vallarta- only 80 rooms


- And here's a real neat one - further away - but you'd love Jamaica - been there several times & love it:


- Excellence - Oyster Bay - Montego Bay, Jamaica


You folks in the east should check this one out - more easily reached, and less costly too from all mid-eastern - east coast locations.


Have a look - it's super just looking at the pics !


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Our subdivision has a sign at the entrance.. "We live where others vacation."


That is very true, and a wonderful area to live in.

I have friends in Florida though, who like to vacation away from home once in a while, say for example, to ski in Aspen or Vail, or even in B.C., Canada - to temporarily escape the heat & humidity.
 
Our subdivision has a sign at the entrance.. "We live where others vacation."

That's cute.. :)

Jeannie and I used to take a break from our home on Monterey Bay to travel a couple of hours south to Morro Bay, for long weekends.. :ermm:

Different places to explore, different restaurants, etc..

Ross
 
I thought it might be timely to refer you to post #10 above re: our impending vacation stay at Villa Premiere Boutique resort in Puerto Vallarta, Mx.


It's just a couple of weeks away & we're really looking forward to it - mainly because it's the first 5 star resort we've booked that is adults only - but only 80 rooms - small and presumably quiet, private and easy-going
- and with the best of food, service, and ambiance.


We shall see, and I'll be sure to give you our candid review of our experience there.


Who knows - based on the reviews - there may be some of you that feel this type of resort may be just what you're looking for, or that you need to really relax & enjoy !






This will be a relatively new experience for us
 
I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time Paul.

I've been wanting to mention in this thread that I know you must be aware of the tainted liquor problems in some of these Mexican all inclusive resorts. Please tell me you are aware of the ongoing problems as they are really concerning.
 
I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time Paul.

I've been wanting to mention in this thread that I know you must be aware of the tainted liquor problems in some of these Mexican all inclusive resorts. Please tell me you are aware of the ongoing problems as they are really concerning.

I hadn't heard of the tainted alcohol in Mexico, just the Dominican Republic. It appears to be spreading.
 
Serious tainted alcohol issues in Mexico are not widespread - in fact they are few and far between - The last well reported incident I read about was the decease of a young couple at a resort near Playa Del Carmen some 2 years ago. (The east side of Mexico near Cancun).
The couple were highly intoxicated, with overly excessive amounts of alcohol in their systems, and pure alcohol poisoning was said to be the cause of death. (Nothing toxic added to the alcohol).


From what I've gathered, a very few lower class (e.g. 2 stars) Mexican resorts checked out by Mexican authorities have been found to be carrying & serving poor quality, home-made liquor brews (particularly tequila) that in some cases could have caused discomfort/minor temporary health problems in some individuals. Apparently not a large problem by any means, as these resort types largely serve watered down drinks in any event.


Linda & I have travelled to Mexico extensively for at least 25 years, and have never heard of, or seen, any type of such an issue at any of the many resorts we've vacationed at.


The 3, 4 & 5 star resorts in Mexico are so very careful about maintaining their reputations to ensure repeat tourist business, that they police themselves extremely well in regard particularly to the alcoholic liquors they serve.
 
P.S.
I don't mean to appear to be making light of these occurrences - they can & do happen - at a number of different places around the world.
But they are not overly frequent - certainly not on the western- Pacific side of Mexico


The ones in Mexico though, are close to home and get reported widely in North America.
I often take what's repeated on google with a grain of salt - as many reports seem to be sensationalized, overly dramatized, exaggerated, or even lacking in facts or untrue.


Our experience at all Mexican resorts to date has been nothing short of very good - we do take care and are quite careful with what we eat and drink.
All of our vacations have been well researched and all the reviews taken note of.
I seldom have more than 1 cocktail a day - and usually stick to a beer or glass of wine from a freshly opened bottle.
We drink only bottled water, and not much of that, and check that it was properly capped, and the source known if we can determine that.


Nuff said though - we remain aware & wary.
 
I don't want to sound like an alarmist Paul and now I'm assured you know that Mexico has always had it's problems with bad water, and now bad liquor.

On our final trip to Mexico, my late husband and I enjoyed an upscale all inclusive resort and I became deathly ill the day after getting back home. I was hospitalized for three days on IV's and it turned out to be the milk I enjoyed with my meals there. My husband hated milk. Once you have been poisoned (and live) you never forget it.
 
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I don't want to sound like an alarmist Paul and now I'm assured you know that Mexico has always had it's problems with bad water, and now bad liquor.

On our final trip to Mexico, my late husband and I enjoyed an upscale all inclusive resort and I became deathly ill the day after getting back home. I was hospitalized for three days on IV's and it turned out to be the milk I enjoyed with my meals there. My husband hated milk. Once you have been poisoned (and live) you never forget it.


Your concern is appreciated Kay - thank you.
Very sorry to hear of your terrible experience with milk turned bad - an occurrence which can be experienced from time to time at vacation spots anywhere.
 
I much prefer cruising to land based trips. It's the benefits of an all inclusive resort, but you get to wake up in another location every day or two.
 
I much prefer cruising to land based trips. It's the benefits of an all inclusive resort, but you get to wake up in another location every day or two.

We've done that too, many times, and agree with you - to a certain extent.

But now we find that getting to & from the departure and return cruise ports can be somewhat of a hassle, not to mention the extra cost of flights thereto & back, and the higher cost of most cruises, depending on where to & from, and for how many days, over & above what the overall cost is for an oceanfront all-inclusive resort.

Besides that, yes, you get to wake up in a different location every day or two, but a lot of them are rather blah, and easily forgotten about. I don't think that's any advantage.

Having said that, different strokes for different folks, right ?:)
 
Paul, have you cruised to Hawaii round trip from Vancouver? Traveling without any airports at all is a wonderful thing. There are few places (if any) in the world as beautiful as Hawaii. We will be doing our second round trip out of Los Angeles in March we loved it so much the first time. We'll have a full two room suite, and all the perks that go along with this 15 day cruise. You really should check it out...
https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/details?voyageCode=A032
 
Paul, have you cruised to Hawaii round trip from Vancouver? Traveling without any airports at all is a wonderful thing. There are few places (if any) in the world as beautiful as Hawaii. We will be doing our second round trip out of Los Angeles in March we loved it so much the first time. We'll have a full two room suite, and all the perks that go along with this 15 day cruise. You really should check it out...
https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/details?voyageCode=A032

Have vacationed on one or another Hawaiian island several times over the years, but not ever cruised there. (doing so from Vancouver & return would be very pleasant, I'm sure)

Thanks for the link Kay - very interesting - we'll look into that cruise for 2020 at around this time of year.
 
We've done that too, many times, and agree with you - to a certain extent.

But now we find that getting to & from the departure and return cruise ports can be somewhat of a hassle, not to mention the extra cost of flights thereto & back, and the higher cost of most cruises, depending on where to & from, and for how many days, over & above what the overall cost is for an oceanfront all-inclusive resort.

Besides that, yes, you get to wake up in a different location every day or two, but a lot of them are rather blah, and easily forgotten about. I don't think that's any advantage.

Having said that, different strokes for different folks, right ?:)

I guess being close to a terminal does help. Even for our transatlantics, it's only a 3 hour train to NYC...or a 6 hour flight, but last 2 time, air has been under $300 (through the cruise line) so a bargain.

I guess depends on the locale. We still think of Iceland, the Shetland isles, Belgium, France, The UK, The Azores, Barcelona, Portugal and many many more, and can't wait to get back. The Bahamas are the only place I would still go back to if it was on an itinerary, but be meh about. One of the reasons we actually prefer it over a land based all inclusive, especially in areas where they don't recommend going off campus.

The HI circuit from BC is really quite an awesome trip. Looking to go out of BC for our first Alaskan cruise maybe next year, or the year after. I quite like BC, lived/worked at Whistler for 2 seasons, and fell in love with the whole Pacific NW.
 

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