Need your opinion on all inclusive vacation packages...

I%26#39;ve found 2 companies that offer vacation packages (no airfare). Includes theatre tickets, nice dinner, tickets for the tour bus, etc. Anyone taken this route before? I need to do something soon because I%26#39;m planning to be in NYC Oct 20-23. Thanks in advance!

Need your opinion on all inclusive vacation packages...

I%26#39;m not a fan of packages. Without giving us specifics on price and what%26#39;s included it%26#39;s hard to judge but you can certainly find this stuff on your own with our help. Restaurants included in these pkgs. tend either to be tourist traps or unnecessarily high priced. But there are definitely some reasons to do it. If it includes a hotel you can%26#39;t get otherwise, that%26#39;s a reason. If not, if it%26#39;s just what you describe, unless it includes tickets to a sold out show like Spamalot, I%26#39;d ask why are you considering it?

Need your opinion on all inclusive vacation packages...

My only excuse is that I%26#39;m a first time visitor to NY (very excited) and am trying to work within a budget. Am new to the forum as well and am totally enjoying reading all of the posts.

Try working with a trusted travel agent. The package deals can be risky. A good travel agent can help weed out the nonsense money and get you to where you want to go. Or, if you are into project planning, do research and book the trip yourself. I usually blend my ideas with my travel agent and together we come up with a great trip. I use Carson Wagonlit, but there may be others out there with the same level of service.

If you give us the details, maybe someone will have a better opinion. But in general, I agree with whiz that these packages tend to not be good value. On the other hand, I have found air and hotel inclusive packages to generally be pretty decent value.

I feel there%26#39;s too much fluff in a NYC ';all-inclusive';. I also feel that if you defined your budget people on this forum could do a better job and save you a lot of money.

When you examine these things you%26#39;ll often see a considerable amount of time is usually set aside for the tourist to go it alone anyway, i.e., ';Spend the afternoon shopping on Fifth Avenue.'; or ';Tonight is yours to visit Times Square or take in a show.';

Frequently, one is also not told what restaurants they will dine at, what shows they will see, or what hotel they will be staying at.

I%26#39;m not a big fan.

I don鈥檛 like packages either. They are rarely the bargain they appear to be. Make sure you do some division and decide how much you鈥檙e being charged for all your items individually. A free breakfast is nice, but how much are they charging you for that extra vs. how much it would cost to just eat out. And don鈥檛 count things like 鈥榝ree passes to the Intrepid鈥?if you don鈥檛 want to go to the Intrepid 鈥?no matter how it鈥檚 phrased that鈥檚 not any sort of deal. Also check on the reviews on the hotels and restaurant they choose 鈥?that鈥檚 going to be really telling. I鈥檝e been looking into booking a trip to Paris and I鈥檝e yet to find a package deal that is any sort of deal or authentic experience (who wants to stay at a Holiday Inn in Paris?).

I鈥檇 rather spend $20 on a couple of travel guides and choose the things that appeal most to me 鈥?it鈥檚 my trip after all. But I enjoy planning. For me half the fun really is reading and highlighting and packing and dreaming.

I%26#39;d be curious to see the packages also..

I don%26#39;t know anything about NYC packages. But I frequent the Caribbean quite a bit, and those all inclusives tend to be grossly inflated with limited options. Even the package deal specials on Travelocity, Expedia etc, can be done cheaper with a little research and legwork.

I think they are good for certain types of people though. I am just not one of them. In major cities you have so many dining and entertainment options that I would hate to be locked into anything, without seeing everything first.

If you do go the package route, I suggest you read hotel reviews on this site before booking. I think you%26#39;ll often find poorly regarded hotels offered, particularly the Pennsylvania, New Yorker, Milford Plaza and Carter.

Here are two of the websites that I found:

http://www.nynytours.com/

http://www.nycvp.com/

My sister and I are planning this trip. We would like to keep the budget around $1000 - $1200.

The nice hotels seem so expensive. What do you know about the LaQuinta Manhattan?

I%26#39;m not opposed to making my own itinerary, but could really use some guidance.

Thanks for all of your comments!!!!!!!

Your best source of reviews is the tripadvisor.com site. Since most of the frequent contributors on this forum live here, we don%26#39;t get to see many hotel rooms.

You might want to compare the cost of your package with what it%26#39;d be if you booked separately.

I didn%26#39;t spend a lot of time reading the material you sent, but just scanning it, I see that they don%26#39;t tell you the hotel name, and they include ';dinner at a restaurant on Restaurant Row'; -- that could be anything! One of their packages offers Sardi%26#39;s or Tavern on the Green, and neither are highly regarded.