Family vacation to Allegro? Comments??

[DandyDon]

My daughter & I started taking summer trips 20 years ago, and now her family includes a great hubby, a wonderful 12 yo grandson, and a precious 3 yo granddaughter. She's heard so much about my trips and been asking if we could do Coz this year. I sent her the Allegro web site and this email...

:biggrinba This is not how I usually do Cozumel, as I go to stay in reasonable hotel, eat as needed, and dive. I have stayed at the Allegro, tho - and it was nice. For a family, probably be a lot of fun...

My initial look gave me these prices...
4 Nights, 4 adults & 1 child age 3, 2 rooms > $2,084
Continental Air: Jun. 14-18: 5 passengers > $2,116

It could be cheaper if we left at 10pm on the 13th and drove to Dallas-Ft.Worth. I'll check on how much, but - that airline is flaky.

I think that Van service to hotel is included. There are ways to spend money there, but not needed - the free stuff would be fun as long we agree on sticking to it. Nice beach when I was there before, and I bet they've rebuilt it since the hurricane, too. Even tho "gratuities are included," figure on tipping some anyway.

We might rent a car one day, spray with insect repellent, and drive around the wild side of the island, then go to town souvenir shopping. I'd go dive a couple of mornings, but spend afternoons with y'all.

<edit> The above is figured out of Lubbock, 4 nights.

She likes the idea & plan. Anyone have any suggestions on how I might make it better for a family trip, - or cheaper...?

 

[ReefHound]

You didn't say how many nights or what city you are departing. Obviously, much cheaper to fly from a gateway city like Dallas or Houston.

For the rate for 2 rooms, I think you all would do better to rent a nice 2BR condo/villa. Some even come with cook service.

 

[DandyDon]

You didn't say how many nights or what city you are departing. Obviously, much cheaper to fly from a gateway city like Dallas or Houston.

For the rate for 2 rooms, I think you all would do better to rent a nice 2BR condo/villa. Some even come with cook service.

Thanks - I went back and edited the original post to include "The above is figured out of Lubbock, 4 nights."

I did look at one of the FunJet site to get some prices out of Dallas-Ft.Worth, with us driving thru the night to be there for the origin, then driving back from there after the return flight. It was a almost $800, but that's not enough for me to go to that much trouble.
>> 6 hard hours on the hiway thru the night on the way, get on the plane exhausted and off in Coz in need of sleep - or drive down the day before and book hotel rooms there, which I have done and hated.
>> 6 dangerous hours driving back at the end of the trip;
>> Real costs of driving 700 miles RT to DFW; {I'd rather fly to DFW than drive, but then we lose any money saved and the connections are not appealing.}
>> Aeromexico is not nearly as appealing to me as Continental Air; and
>> Dealing with FunJet in case of any problems.

Tempting, but not very.

 

[ReefHound]

There are pros and cons of living isolated from the major metropolitan centers, and this is one of the cons. Personally, I'd drive the 6 hours to save $800 because I don't consider interstate driving to be dangerous or exhausting, but then I'm in Houston and used to driving a lot.

If all you would save for 5 people is $800 then I guess they are only charging $160 add-on for the connection. Not too bad really. You might save a bit by booking $49 Internet fares on Southwest to cover the Lubbock <> Dallas segment. Doubt it's worth the hassle though.

If you're not hardset on certain dates, play around with different days of the week. Thurs/Fri departures and Sun/Mon returns can sometimes cost $60 more each way than a Tue/Wed departure or return. Continental's website has a feature to search +/- 1 day for better fares.

If you're feelin' lucky, the best deals are the last-minute specials that are usually released two to four weeks before departure. There's almost always "something" on special but you gotta be very flexible.

 

[DandyDon]

There are pros and cons of living isolated from the major metropolitan centers, and this is one of the cons. Personally, I'd drive the 6 hours to save $800 because I don't consider interstate driving to be dangerous or exhausting, but then I'm in Houston and used to driving a lot.

Ah, but there is a 12 yo and a 3 yo involved. Would you like to drive 700 miles RT with them? And there's the $300 real cost of driving the trip.

If all you would save for 5 people is $800 then I guess they are only charging $160 add-on for the connection. Not too bad really. You might save a bit by booking $49 Internet fares on Southwest to cover the Lubbock <> Dallas segment. Doubt it's worth the hassle though.

Southwest flies to Love field, FunJet flies out of DFW.

If you're not hardset on certain dates, play around with different days of the week. Thurs/Fri departures and Sun/Mon returns can sometimes cost $60 more each way than a Tue/Wed departure or return. Continental's website has a feature to search +/- 1 day for better fares.

I tried that - couldn't find dates 4 days apart that fit, but I might look again. That +

feature is neat.
If you're feelin' lucky, the best deals are the last-minute specials that are usually released two to four weeks before departure. There's almost always "something" on special but you gotta be very flexible.

Let's see, stall my daughter's family up to the last minute, then tell them what's on special? I don't know - might try that, thanks.

 

[ReefHound]

The kids would sleep on the departure drive, wasn't that in the middle of the night? Just pop in an audio book on CD with headphones and cruise on. And despite the "real" cost of $300, that's still $500 saved. You can spend the 6 hours thinking of all the extra things you can do in Coz with $500.

I figured SWA used a different airport, that's why I said it's not likely worth the hassle. Plus trying to match up flight schedules and the fact if they are delayed for any reason they aren't going to be responsible for you missing the flight to Coz. Same risk applies to driving.

BTW, I just looked up prices on the Continental website (if you're looking at Expedia or such, Continental always offers the best prices on their own site) and I found for your dates for 5 people, a total cost of $1640. That's $328/person. That includes taxes. So there's $500 saved.

You could stay at Hotel Cozumel all-inclusive for about $1700, and that would include 3 days diving with Dive Paradise for you. ($577 diver x 1, $373 non-diver x 3, kids under 6 free). Not as good of a beach, a nicer pool area, close enough to town to walk to. There's another $400 saved.

 

[DandyDon]

BTW, I just looked up prices on the Continental website (if you're looking at Expedia or such, Continental always offers the best prices on their own site) and I found for your dates for 5 people, a total cost of $1640. That's $328/person. That includes taxes. So there's $500 saved.

I just looked at the Cont Air site and got $328 + taxes = $423.30 each = $2116.5, as listed in my first post.

You could stay at Hotel Cozumel all-inclusive for about $1700, and that would include 3 days diving with Dive Paradise for you. ($577 diver x 1, $373 non-diver x 3, kids under 6 free). Not as good of a beach, a nicer pool area, close enough to town to walk to. There's another $400 saved.

Never been to the hotel Coz. 2 rooms? I'll have to look - thanks.

 

[bnajdrovsky]

I just looked at the Cont Air site and got $328 + taxes = $423.30 each = $2116.5, as listed in my first post.


Never been to the hotel Coz. 2 rooms? I'll have to look - thanks.

The cheapest way to do Coz from DFW is booking with Adventure Tours/Worry Free/Funjet etc, and flying on one of their charter flights (Ryan Air or Champion or whatever else). Worry Free Vacations quite often has $79+taxes round trip flights from DFW to CZM. Matter of fact, I'm doing one of those on Monday.... wooohoo!

 

[ReefHound]

I just looked at the Cont Air site and got $328 + taxes = $423.30 each = $2116.5, as listed in my first post.


Never been to the hotel Coz. 2 rooms? I'll have to look - thanks.

A big DOH! on my part, you're right.

I figured Hotel Coz based on two rooms at double occupancy. I've never been there but based on a lot of research it seems to be fairly well received, certainly not a 5 star hotel but neither a dump. I'll be there 8/1 to 8/7.

 

[DandyDon]

You could stay at Hotel Cozumel all-inclusive for about $1700, and that would include 3 days diving with Dive Paradise for you. ($577 diver x 1, $373 non-diver x 3, kids under 6 free). Not as good of a beach, a nicer pool area, close enough to town to walk to. There's another $400 saved.

I'm not finding those prices for them. How did you book? :14: