If you are looking for an all-inclusive holiday, two great options come to mind, both of which I have experienced first hand and enjoyed immensely. Cruise ships are one such option, while Club Med is another.
So what’s the difference between Club Med and cruise ships?
Club Med
Club Med is one of the most famous all-inclusive hotel brands, with properties around the world. If you stay at a Club Med property, all your meals are provided for. A basic selection of alcoholic drinks are also included within the price of the stay. It’s not eating and drinking all day because activities are inclusive as well. The activities are mainly sports-focussed.
For example if you were to stay at Club Med Bintan, there would be many watersport activities as well as popular land sports such as archery, tennis, rock-climbing etc. Needless to say, if you were to stay at one of Club Med’s ski resorts, skiing activities will be inclusive.
Cruise Ships
Similarly for cruise ships, all meals on board are free, but not alcoholic drinks. Most of the entertainment and activities are also free. There are beverage packages available for an additional top up should you wish to get alcoholic drinks.
For example, on the Royal Caribbean, it’s common to find 3 types of beverage packages. The most basic one would be for unlimited soft drinks and juices, a step higher would be the coffee package so that you can get espresso-based coffee such as lattes and cappuccinos, rather than just basic coffee. The ultimate indulgence would be the alcohol package which provides unlimited servings of alcohol from a fixed menu, plus premium coffee, juices and soft drinks.
For the purposes of this article, when I say cruise ships, I am referring to my personal experience with Royal Caribbean.
So why an all-inclusive holiday?
If you love the idea of buffets where you can eat to your heart’s content without having to worry about how much each dish costs, an all-inclusive holiday would be an extension of that. Imagine an unlimited buffet from morning, noon to night, of not just food and drink, but also activities.
Unlimited food is self-explanatory, who doesn’t love that? But what about the all-inclusive activities? Not only do you not have to worry about payment of the individual activities, such cruises/properties make it a point to make available a multitude of activities on site such that you never have to leave the property.
I find it extremely convenient not to have to think about logistics and transportation to and from activities, especially if you have a big family or young kids in tow. After breakfast, lunch or dinner, just saunter off to the activity that you have in mind, it is but a short walk away. There is also no need to further factor in costs because it’s all already included at the beginning.
Sure, it’s possible to cobble together activities to do if you stayed at a “normal” property, but that’ll require time and energy to curate. You’ll also be shaving off precious holiday time travelling to and fro from such activities. All-inclusive holidays are therefore great for people who value convenience and having a fuss-free holiday, and are willing to pay a premium for that.
So which is better? Club Med or Cruise Ship?
After having tried both, let me share with you the difference. With regards to Cruise ships, my experience is with Royal Caribbean, specifically on the 3N4D Spectrum of the Seas cruise sailing from Singapore to Penang and back (recently replaced with Anthem of the Seas vessel). With all-inclusive properties, it is with Club Med Bintan. Both trips, I brought my husband and 2 young kids along.
Food
Food-wise, the Royal Caribbean cruise provided a better experience. There were so many options to choose from, ranging from a huge buffet restaurant to an ala-carte dining restaurant as well as several cafes/pizza outlets on the cruise. The sheer scale of the vessel meant more variety to choose from. The ala-carte menu was also much more extensive.
What we had on board our Royal Caribbean Cruise
In terms of quality, I would say Royal Caribbean has the upper hand. Food quality is not that different from what I experience at Club Med Bintan. The buffet restaurant on the Royal Caribbean is comparable to the buffet restaurant at Club Med Bintan, and similarly the ala-carte dining restaurant at Royal Caribbean is comparable to the one at Club Med Bintan. However, because of the extensiveness of options on the cruise, it’s much easier to find something that suits your palate, or something that is of a bit better quality.
On both the cruise and at Club Med, I preferred to dine at the ala-carte restaurant, one of the reasons being it was rather cumbersome to be constantly getting out of my seat to get food for the kids at the buffet restaurant. I’m a steak lover so I found the Western selections on the cruise better than at Club Med, which had a very limited ala-carte menu.
On a separate note, Royal Caribbean also has specialty / exclusive restaurants. These are not included in the basic fare, and the food there is a notch higher. So there’s this option for tired diners who need variety, whereas it’s only the buffet restaurant, one ala-carte restaurant and a few bars with finger food options at Club Med Bintan.
Drinks
Royal Caribbean loses out to the Club Med experience if you don’t top up for the expensive beverage package for your cruise. Your options are basically plain water, and some orange juice drink or similar, and basic brewed coffee/tea. At Club Med, alcohol is included. The list is not extensive though and somewhat basic. There is only the house pour red wine, white wine and rose, plus some other spirits. It will do if you are not too fussy about types, for example if you don’t specifically need a Merlot vs a Cabernet Sauvignon. Espresso-based coffees brewed freshly on the spot, as well as hot chocolate are also available at Club Med.
I had the luxury of having the beverage package thrown in for free with my cruise. It was really great having the option of mimosas for breakfast and a selection of reds and whites to choose from anytime I wanted. And of course, my flat whites rather than just black coffee. The variety of alcohol is much larger than at Club Med Bintan. You have a choice of several reds and whites, amongst other drinks. It could be personal preference but I preferred the wines I had on my cruise.
I have to admit though, it can be difficult to break even if you pay for the beverage package, unless you are a heavy drinker. The alcohol package varies in price depending on when you book it, but on average it might cost about USD $60/day/adult (you have to pay for the entire trip and not just a specific day, and all adults sharing the same room have to get the package), whereas each alcoholic drink costs about USD$11-$15. You would need to drink at least 4 alcoholic drinks, or a ton of coffee per day. And this includes days when the ship is docked and you could be off for the bulk of the day sight-seeing somewhere.
If you are just a light drinker, it would make more sense to pay only when you need to have a drink. On the flip side, having the beverage package allows you to be more adventurous and try new drinks you would usually not order if you had to pay per glass.
Activities
The activities available on the Spectrum of the Seas include iFly by Ripcord, FlowRider, NorthStar ride, bumper cars as well as fringe activities like archery, foosball etc. It is like a mini amusement park floating on the water. Club Med Bintan has lots of sea sport activities such as Windsurfing, Snorkelling, and other sports such as golf range, archery, tennis, rock climbing, trapeze.
All the popular activities on the cruise had a long queue. I had to line up for 1 hour just to try out the FlowRider for a few minutes, which was kind of a bummer. Even though my son wanted to do the bumper cars, we could only do it on a couple of occasions because the wait was half hour long! It was a much better experience at Club Med where we basically had to turn up and wait a maximum of 5-10 minutes before we could commence the activity.
Nevertheless I am thankful for the opportunity to have tried the FlowRider and iFly, simply because they were conveniently located on the ship. Both were exhilarating and probably not something I would have taken the trouble to try in Singapore.
In terms of shows, the ones we watched on the cruise were more elaborate and with more theatrical effects, given the dedicated theatre and professional performers. At Club Med, the nightly shows are a tad more casual. Many of the performers have day jobs as sports coordinators or guest relations at the property. Not exactly a bad thing, because you feel the camaraderie and have an appreciation for their relentless energy after having seen the same people just a few hours ago.
The cruise does have a couple of plus points though. If you would like to visit the casino, there’s this option available on cruises. There are other amusements such as water slides (depending on the vessel you board). Also, there’s the fun factor of being on a cruise, sailing off to a potentially exotic location. It is an exciting way to travel to another location, with views along the way. Once the ship docks, you can have a change of scenery visiting a new town/city.
For Club Med, you’re on actual ground, doing actual sea sports activities instead of on a “simulator” so to speak. You can dig sandcastles and have the waves lap your feet, rather than view the beach in the distance on a ship. And let’s not forget everything is very much more spaciously spread out.
Kids Club
Both options have the all important Kids Club. For parents, this is a god send! Imagine the freedom of not having to chaperone your kids everywhere while on holiday, without the guilt factor of leaving them back home. It’s quite exhilarating suddenly having tons of time to spare, doing fun activities more suited to adults, or even just lying in bed, without having to constantly get up to watch the kids. And that’s not to say that the kids are not having fun. These kids clubs have got their act together and know what it takes to entertain the kids, even better that they get to enjoy activities with many other kids of their age.
I would say Club Med has got this aspect down perfectly. I’ve seen many reviews from parents raving about how much their kids enjoyed the kids club. My son says the same thing too. The kids club at Club Med is very much a signature and significant element of the whole Club Med experience. The kids even get to dine together during meal time and they are chaperoned around the property to the various sports activities.
The Kids club at Royal Caribbean can be viewed as more of a drop-off activity centre. Kids go to the Kids club room and the activities are all held there. You have to pick your kid up for meal times. We never did get to try the Kids Club on the Spectrum of the Seas. All the activities my son wanted to do were outside the the Kids Club, such as the bumper cars ride, so we had to take him there ourselves.
Conclusion
I definitely would recommend an all-inclusive holiday to anyone if you’ve never experienced one before. You will fall in love with the convenience of having everything on site without having to worry about additional cost or transportation and logistics. If you feel tired at any point and need a nap, your room is only a few minutes away.
If you have a young family or many dependents with you, you definitely need to check out this fuss-free option of holidaying. The kids club is also a lifesaver, giving parents the chance to actually relax while on holiday, for once!
So which to choose, Club Med or a Royal Caribbean cruise? Both have their pros and cons, so no matter which one you choose, you will probably have a very enjoyable holiday. If you relish the excitement of waking up in a new location every couple of days, go for the cruise. If swimming in the sea and touching actual sand/snow is more your thing, go for the Club Med holiday. I for one have been itching to go on yet another cruise, and it’s also on my bucket list to visit more Club Meds around the world, especially the ski properties!
Read my review of my Royal Caribbean cruise on the Spectrum of the Seas back in 2024 | Cruise Instastories
Read more about my stay with Club Med Bintan | Watch my Club Med Bintan Instastories
Click here to book Royal Caribbean Ovation of the Seas or Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas on Klook (the 2 cruise ships that are based in Singapore 2025/2026)
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