First off I will say the cruise was awesome. We had a great time. We new a lot of people from the resort and that added to the fun. We partied with two other couples most of the time and it made the trip awesome. First the room. We had a balcony room. Hard to compare a cruise ship room to a hotel . But house keeping was better than the resort. They cleaned the room twice a day and they were always right there in your hallway if you needed anything. Other than that the hotel room is way nicer. The food. We liked the food. We didn't have a meal that wasn't good. But you had to eat in the main dinning room or the buffet to use the all inclusive package. The other restaurants you had to pay extra for. We ate breakfast at the buffet every day. We ate lunch at the buffet most days. They also had a small area to get sandwiches and pizza by the quiet pool that had really good prime rib that mad an excellent sandwich. We ate in the main dinning room all but one dinner and then we ate at the buffet. It took about an hour and a half to eat in the main dinning room but we actually liked that. It was a good time to relax and wind down and just visit with friends. Even though we liked the food I think the resort is better. The resort has more options. The drinks. The resort wins this one hands down. The drinks were good but getting them not so much. To get a drink you had to give them your key card that they ran through the computer slowing down the process. Making it even worse you could only get one drink per order. Making it even worse they were understaffed on bartenders. So even though the drinks were good, getting them was a hassle. The music. The cruise wins this one hands down. Great dj s, not the same stuff night after night and a really good mix which helped make for some really great parties during the day and at night. The entertainment. Having Chinos out at the pool is hard to beat. The playmakers were a lot of fun and always out keeping the party moving. We went to both shows by the comedian Rob Little and he was hilarious. I think the entertainment on the cruise was a little better. The people. Both had the most amazing crowd to party with you will ever find. The cruise was more of a lifestyle crowd than the resort, but still pretty similar. One of the big things I like about staying at the resort is not being on a schedule. But this is not a slam on the cruise. You have so much time at port and you are there on their schedule. Its hard to party all night and then be up for shore excursions ant 8:00 AM. At the resort if you want to do something off resort you can come and go whenever you like. Not so much on a cruise. We are happy with the cruise and glad we went, but will be back at the resort for our next trip. We might do the cruise every few years but will be at the resort every year.
