I have just come back from a brilliant family holiday to Majorca. We didn’t cruise this time and just wanted a cheap week away in the sun. However it didn’t turn out to be as cheap as we hoped so maybe next time we will go back to cruising as this is always proves to be excellent value.

We did still have a lovely time. We booked a self catering apartment in Cala D’or on the South East coast. I had never been here before but as we were only going for a week we wanted somewhere with a short flight and good weather. This resort was perfect for us. The apartments were ok, quite spacious with a lovely swimming pool and good air conditioning which is all we really need. They were in a great location with just a few minutes walk from a beautiful sandy cove. The kids loved it here because they both love swimming and they could jump off the rocks into the sea and there were steps to get back out again so we knew it would be safe to do so.

About 10-15 minutes walk was the main resort centre which is packed with so many lovely restaurants and cocktail bars we were completely spoilt for choice. It was a really nice atmosphere here with everywhere being so busy and you could go for 2 months and still find somewhere different to eat each night.
About a 30 minute walk was the stunning marina. This was my favourite part. It was lovely to sit and enjoy a glass of wine and see how the other half live. We were surrounded by multi million pound yachts and the restaurants were very good here too.

You can take a resort train into the marina but this was 10 euros for a family of 4 and we found on the way back a taxi was only 6 euros. We did struggle to get a taxi one evening and did end up walking which didn’t seem too far even with my youngest daughter complaining all the way back !!
What I did notice was that the prices seem to have increased considerably since my last visit to Spain or the Balearics. The last few years we have spent in the Eastern Med so this was a bit of a shock especially as we are now paying for adult meals for our children. The drinks were expensive and most evenings averaged at around 100 euros for an evening meal and we were not pushing the boat out.
However we were on holiday so we just got on with it and did have a lovely time but next year I will reconsider my plans. Spain should be careful in the fact that tourists may start looking elsewhere especially with the new tourist tax has to be paid on arrival at your hotel.
I really prefer to go self catering or bed & breakfast but I can understand why so many families do choose to go all inclusive with prices still on the increase and the strength of the pound at least being all inclusive gives you the security of knowing how much your holiday will actually cost.
Earlier in the year we had an excellent cruise on Celebrity Eclipse. This was one of the best holidays we have had in a long time and with the free drinks package meant we were all inclusive. Not only that but we couldn’t have been better looked after and the quality of the food and drinks was first class. We all loved our cruise so now I am looking for a cruise for our family holiday next year.