I made my cruise packing favorites post, so now I wanted to talk about what I pack with an all-inclusive resort in mind! Packing for an all-inclusive versus a cruise isn't much different for me, because I tend to go to the same types of places for both. But, on a cruise I'm anticipating being on a boat all day for a few days, and being away from my room for an extended period of time on port days, so what I pack is centered on those factors. At an all-inclusive, I'm betting that I'll always be within a few minutes of my room, and that my room will be a bigger size to work with than a cruise.
Insulated Cups
For me, the biggest difference between an all-inclusive and a cruise is that "pace yourself" is not a concept that I consider when it comes to my drinks. So, I need something that will keep me from always asking for a refill either because I ran out of my drink or my drink got too hot. For bottled or canned beers, my favorite is the BruMate Hopsulator Trio. I love that it fits both drinks and it is the easiest koozie I've ever used for a canned beer because the beers just slide right out without you having to twist the lid off to remove. It's also great that it has a wide non-slid bottom to help your drink not spill over so easily, and it's indented on the sides to make it more comfortable to hold. These won my husband over when he was able to take a beach nap and wake up to a still-cold beer that wasn't sweating all over the table.
A lot of resorts are going straw free, or are only offering paper straws or weird candy straws, all which aren't great options, so I prefer to bring a cup that has a straw built in rather than try to keep up with a reusable straw. While the Hopsulator trio comes with a lid so you can actually turn your koozie into a sealed cup (which we have done for many years), the problem with using it for mixed drinks is that it doesn't hold all that much so you have to get a lot of refills. That's why we've added the Brumate Era cups into our packing list. We got the 30 ounces which is a good-sized drink, and it's completely leak-proof which is always great.
Yes, the resort will have cups so you technically don't have to bring your own, but I personally think it's a much better experience. Their cups won't have a lid so you'll risk your drink spilling and if it's a sweet drink, you might spend all day fighting bugs to stay out of your drink. When you're in the pool or ocean, you'll inevitably end up with water in your cup if there's not a lid. Personally I think it's preferred by the waitstaff because it's less often that they have to come by for refills, there's no empty cups that are left behind for them to pick up at the end of the day, and it's less dishwashing they have to do. It feels like a win-win for me. More and more people are BYOC their all-inclusive stays.
Insulated Water Bottle
Okay, you have to drink something non-alcoholic on your trip, too! Your hotel will probably leave water bottles in your room daily (remember, it's all free here so raid that mini bar). Personally, I prefer to keep mine in my
insulated straw bottle. I don't feel comfortable using ice in foreign countries, so I just pop the plastic water bottles in the fridge for a few hours to chill them, and then pour them into my insulated drink to keep them cold all day. I love my water bottle because it has a straw to make it easy to drink while you're reclined on a beach lounger, but it still doesn't spill if I toss it into my beach bag.
Hangover Remedies
I always pack two things when I know I'm going to be doing a lot of drinking and being out in the sun all day:
hangover prevention pills for before I drink and
liquid IV for after I drink. These two help out a LOT more than you'd think! Don't forget that being in the sun dehydrates you, and drinking dehydrates you, so if you're not careful then you can get in a bad shape really easily!
Travel Sun Hat
Normal sun hats are a pain to travel with because you have to carefully revolve all of your belongings around the whole hat, or have it dangle from a bag, or have to wear it through the airport. I have two travel sun hats that I absolutely love because I can pack them up really small, and being crumpled doesn't bother them one bit. I have the more
traditional straw hat that is perfect for days when all I want to do is park in a chair and read while I stay dry, and then I have a
sporty sun hat that is made to get wet so it's perfect to wear if I'm spending all day floating in the ocean or the pool.
One thing about these though, is they both are open on the top, so if you have thin or light hair, you will want to put your hair in a top not to keep your scalp extra protected. I have thick hair, so I actually like the open tops so I can have my hair in any style and it works great. Oh, and these make great gifts for the family member that is hard to buy for.
Solar Phone Chargers
I won't go down to the beach without a
solar phone charger. It's so nice that you can charge up your phone and then just sit this out by your chair when it's dead, and then it's good to go again! The one I have comes with the cords built in, so this is all I have to remember to bring. And, it can do wireless charging too! Lastly, it has a flashlight so if you're coming back to your room after watching the sunset, you can have a little light to help you find your way back.
Beach Shoes
Flip flops and strappy sandals will technically work, but there's better options. I prefer
beach sandals instead. The ones I wear have a small platform to keep your feet from being buried in the sand, which is how most people tear their sandals when walking on the beach because the sand will weigh down their shoe and as they pull their leg to get their foot unburied, the shoe rips. Other shoes can also easily get ripped away from your feet by the current of the waves if you get in the water. And barefoot is a no-go because you'll burn your feet on the sand, and sometimes the shores will have sharp shells that can cut your feet. Beach sandals are made to go in the water so you can wear them straight from the pool to the beach to the ocean, and then because these are so cute I just wear them all day and to dinner as well.
Towel Clips
There is nothing worse than burning your calves on a hot lounge chair because your towel doesn't cover the whole chair since half of it is draped over the back to keep the towel in place. Well, I guess maybe your towel blowing away and landing in the water leaving you without a towel might be worse. So, I bring
towel clips. We actually just have a little vacation bag that we keep our Brumates and towel clips together so that we can always remember to bring them both!
Pool Float
One of my favorite things to do on vacation is just float in the water and chill with a drink in my hand. You can bring
inflatable pool floats that don't take up a lot of room, but allow you to relax in the pool without having to sit or stand the whole time. Depending on how calm the ocean is near your resort, you can chill in these out there too. You just need to be paying more attention if you're floating in the ocean, because the tide can take you away without you even noticing. My husband prefers to stand instead of float, so he'll just keep an arm on my float to keep me nearby.
I've also taken a
whale tail float to sit on in the water. These are for when you don't necessarily want to be reclining, but you don't want to be sitting either. It's great for situations when you're with several people and you want to be involved in the conversation, but still sitting down.
Sunscreen
I saved the most important for last. Even if you want to get a vacation tan, still
wear sunscreen! Trust me when I say that even with sunscreen, you probably won't re-apply it often enough so you'll still get a tan. But I once had an entire vacation ruined because I got a second-degree sunburn on day 1 and will never forget how miserable I was with bubbling and peeling skin (use cool tea bags if this happens to you).
I really recommend you do your first layer with sunscreen lotion, and then you can follow up with the spray if you're covered in sand and can't re-apply with lotion. I recommend starting with lotion (per my derm) because the breeze off the ocean usually will blow away of lot of the spray sunscreen, leaving you with basically no coverage. Starting off with the lotion at least gives you a good base layer of protection. I also use sunscreen
stickers that change color to let me know when to reapply so I won't burn.
Resort Wear
Lastly, I pack a
swimsuit for each day, a
coverup,
comfy outfits for the day and a
dinner outfit for each night. That's basically it! If we're planning on doing anything on the trip, I might pack more outfit. But mostly, I just live in bikinis and coverups for my trip, which makes for easy packing because like a true millennial I overpack on the drinkware.
