We went to the buffet for dinner, the above picture was my "appetizer" for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. Well, not the prawn, I don't eat things that still have their eyes attached, but I did plan on trying one the day I took this picture. The tomato was on top of cucumber and then the dressing was an oil & vinegar with spices and onions. I tossed on some crumbled feta and added a hunk of soft, creamy cheese and a piece of fresh baguette. mmmm, so good.

The drinks were all included, and contrary to what I had heard, all drinks were free. We had been told that it was only the local beers and a few hard liquors, rum and rye. But, any drink you could think of was gratis. It's a shame that we don't really drink. We did try a few (to us) exotic drinks. Above is a Tequila Sunrise (left) and a Brandy Alexander (right) and below is a Strawberry Daquiri. We had some champagne one night, and of course some Mojito's and Pina Colada's.

There were 4 or 5 bars scattered around the resort, including a nice one in a little straw hut right on the beach. There were restaurants galore as well, three fancy ones that you needed to make reservations for (free, but quite la-di-dah) and a huge buffet as well as various ice cream bars and hamburger type cafes. You couldn't go hungry, that's for sure.

I can see how this would be a good vacation for families with young kids. I remember how my kids would eat a huge breakfast, be "starving" two hours later, and when you bought them lunch they were suddenly not hungry at all, until it was mid-afternoon, then they were "dying of hunger" and you had to spend another $20 on snacks to tide them over the two hours until dinner. And of course they needed an evening snack and a before bedtime snack as well. These all inclusive resorts would be great for that.

There was also entertainment every night, a different sort of show each evening, a troupe of singers and dancers. One night was movie themes, one night was classic Cuban blues type, they were all "OK". Nothing to really write home about, but a fun way to spend an evening.

There was a hop-on, hop off bus that left every half hour or so and took you to the other resorts and then town of Varadero. Our resort was at the end of the peninsula so it was a longish ride, about 45 minutes I think, but it was interesting to see the other resorts. They all looked quite similar to ours (the Iberostar Playa Alameda). And, I imagine, similar to any resorts at any Caribbean island anywhere.

Do I sound jaded? I don't think I am, I can see why an All-Inclusive would work for some people, it's just not for me. It's relaxing, you don't have to worry about food, drink, travel arrangements, there are a multitude of tourist package day trip to do, but it's all in an insulated tourist bubble. You only see what they want you to see.

It's better than seeing nothing at all, by far, but then again, you don't know if you're in Mexico, Barbados, Bahamas, or Jamaica. It's all ticky-tacky. (youtube has the original ticky-tacky song, if you're so inclined to check it out.)

So, we passed on the day excursions, they didn't really interest us. There was snorkeling and catamaran trips, a swimming with dolphins thing, a booze-cruise, a boat trip to a small nearby island for a BBQ and a few other things of that nature.