Renaissance all inclusive or non all-inclusive

[queenkim]

Hi, We are getting married at the Renaissance Isand August 2011. We chose the non-all-inclusive package, what do you think about this?

[jdoll]

To many great chef's on Aruba at fair prices to go all-inclusive in my opinion.

[Andrea J.]

i think it is a personal decision.
many folks love all inclusive, i being one of them.

sure if you want to break free of your all inclusive dinner one or 2 evenings, go for it.......a dinner at madam janettes or cooks or passions might be a great idea.

but all inclusive is fine for many.
my family and i have gone the all inclusive route at the tamarijn a number of times and were never disappointed.

to each his/her own.
congrats on your upcoming wedding.

Originally Posted by queenkim

Hi, We are getting married at the Renaissance Isand August 2011. We chose the non-all-inclusive package, what do you think about this?

[Sheree10]

I got married at the Renaissance in July and I did AI and non AI. We stayed at the Ren for the first half of our trip( non AI). There are plenty of food options in area/ onsite resort for various budgets. For the second part we stayed at the Divi Tam( all inclusive) and the food was very good.

I agree with Andrea that it's a personal choice. Our guests loved being able to travel all over the island to try out different places and food is delicious EVERYWHERE!

[Kenny]

They both have their ups and downs.

AI ups is everything is paid for and eat and drink as much as you want from the resort.
Down part is Aruba has a lot of great restaurants around to choose from and you wont get bored with the food the resort.

I hope this helps.

[cindyo]

Originally Posted by queenkim

Hi, We are getting married at the Renaissance Isand August 2011. We chose the non-all-inclusive package, what do you think about this?

There is NO WAY I would do a a AI at Rennaissance, its not worth it. The prices are way way to much, well, I should say if you could drink $75 worth of booze a day, then you would get your $$$ worth. There are way to many fine restaurants within walking distance to the Renn that you would miss if you got tied into some meal plan. AND, some of those plans add a surcharge if you add a better steak or something to your meanl
For a family of 4, 2 adults 2 kids, it comes to around $300+ for a day of meals, my niece priced it out and decided NO GO...
If I were getting married at the Renn and planned on staying there I would only go to Aquairus for one of their buffets, eat one lunch on the private island, have the breakfast buffet at Captains corner...and then hit Pinchos, Wacky Wahoo, Madame Jeannettes, Amadeus, CILO, Casa Tua, Mirandi's and be done with it..
We own at the Renn, gone 14 times so I feel I can pretty much say all of the above with confidence.
If you have any ?'s feel free to PM me.

[Sgroi135]

For me personally I liked the AI option. We stayed at the Occidental this year. Last year we stayed at the Radisson with no AI.

The food on the island is WONDERFUL, no complaints about it. But for me, it is no different than I get home in NJ. So the AI was better for me, since then my kids could have all the fronzen drinks they wanted vs 6 bucks a pop. At the Occidental at least, I thought that the food was very good for the most part. The buffet was ok, but the restaurants were great.

I guess it all comes down to what you want. If you want to go out every night "on the town" and eat out then don't do AI.

But if you want to just relax and hang at the resort, i would go with AI. When i go back, i will most likely go back to the Occidental and go AI again!

[Kim L]

We've done both the AI and non-AI at the Renn in the past. There are just too many good places to eat close by to do the AI. Unless you hang at the pool or island every day all day you really won't get your money's worth. We find that we never eat three meals a day when on vacation. Just too much to do. Many times when you book on line they will have specials such as free breakfast buffet, etc.