May 11, 2000
With one hour of sleep, and great anticipation, we awoke at 3:30am
hoping to get an early start on the beginning of our vacation. We left
the house about 5 am headed for the airport and made great timing -
got there in half an hour. I guess Brad's excitement gave him a case of
the lead foot. I called the night before and got exact directions to the
shuttle parking at DFW airport. We followed the directions just as I had
written them. Take "north shuttle parking exit and follow the yellow
signs. Get in your right hand lane- turn before you get to the main toll
booth". Right hand lane - ok - good to go. We're still driving at this
point. Still driving...where's the toll booth? Still driving... What does
that sign say? South airport exit? What?!? Flip a u-turn and let's do
this again. So, we flip around and what do we see? South airport long
term shuttle parking - written in yellow!
We find a parking space way out in the middle of nowhere, load up our
7 suitcases (we pack light) and head to the shuttle terminal with about
2 minutes to spare. Once again, we loaded up our suitcases and had
quite an eventful ride to the airport (all airport buses are interesting
rides). BP about 250 over 150, we unloaded, headed up the escalator
and waited in line at the Funjet counter. You'd think with so many
people traveling and such a large company, they'd come up with a
little more organized system for passenger check-in. But the people
are very friendly and everything went smooth (women just have to be
sure to take along a marriage certificate if the driver's license has the
maiden name on it). Six thirty rolls around and we're finally through
baggage check and off to the gate. Thirty minutes until we're in the air
headed for 8 days in paradise.
The flight is uneventful - not too much turbulence. Just the same as
always - cheesy airplane food, and that one obnoxious group that
accompanies every flight. We landed a few minutes ahead of schedule
- no complaints there. I guess the flight attendants could sense
everyones impatience - they opened up the doors on both ends of the
plane and we all filed out as fast as we could. They say there are
advantages to taking early flights. Being about the tenth coupe in line
for customs, I understand why. It didn't take long at all to get through
the line. I occupied myself with all the free tourists books and maps
available as you first walk into the customs area - very handy indeed.
The books included maps of the Cancun/Mayan Riviera, free coupons
good for tours, restaurants, and car rentals. The customs process was
pretty painless. We showed them our birth certificates and driver's
licenses - a few clomps of stamps - and we were finished. They have
this system when you walk through with your luggage: a street light
with red and green lights. You push the button before you can walk
through. If it turns green - no problem, you just keep on walking. But
if it turns red, you have to stop and they search all your luggage.
Random - but effective I suppose. A short walk through the rest of the
airport and we headed for the Lomas representatives. Look for the
guys in the white shirts with green ties we are told. The big "Funjet"
sign they hold above their heads is a clue also.
Wonderfully helpful people! They whisked our suitcases away and
showed us to our bus.
The ride to the resort was overall pretty boring. Scenery on either
side of the bus was jungle and jungle. An occasional shack here and
there - but that was about all. The Lomas guide was very informative
and funny. He stressed to us the importance of keeping safe our
official documents; driver's license/ or passport, and the customs card
you were stamped and given at the airport. He told us to notify him
immediately if we lost these forms - this way he could get us a place to
live and a job. : )
Our first stop was the Iberostar Tucan where a few couples were
staying. The lobby of this resort was beautiful - it resembles a tropical
forest. I was very impressed. Next we passed the Riu Yucatan and
across the street sat the Riu Tequilla. When I turned to my right and
took my first glimpse of the Riu Palace - I was like a kid on Christmas
morning.
Wide eyed, I turned to my husband and we both just grinned. WOW -
that's all I can say.
The bell men came rushing outside with a cheerful greeting, hand
shake, and ready to take your bags.
This property is absolutely gorgeous! The lobby has a glass chandelier
about the size of a car. Cherry wood accents all throughout - even the
doors and furniture. Just beautiful.
Check-in was smooth. After a short briefing about the hotel and
restaurants, we were given our bracelets, room and safe keys. Just as
we were finishing up on signing the papers, and being told about our
meals, the manager walked up with a tray of welcome drinks. A nice
welcoming touch and very refreshing.
Our luggage was already on its way to our room before we left the
front desk. We made our way through the hallways to our room on the
first floor, number 0029. Like the rest of the hotel, the rooms are
beautiful too. Depending on which layout your room is (left or right)
you walk into a hallway with the bathroom off to your left. Once inside
the bathroom you open another door where there is a toilet and a
bidet. I would rather use the bidet as a foot soaker, but its real
functionality is pretty cool too. The shower/bathtub is nice. Sounds
kind of funny, but hey - sometimes these things really count. The
bathtub is very roomy - even has a marble sitting place at the end of
the tub. They have a shampoo/ body wash dispenser - oh that stuff
smells good!
The bedroom is very large and nicely decorated. Their beds are pretty
goofy though. It's two full sized beds pushed together to make the
biggest king size bed you've ever seen. I have yet to figure out the
reasoning behind this idea. At least I know where to look when I lose
the remote control - or my husband. :)
The closet is nice - roomy and has about 20 or more large garment
hangers. The safe is in the bottom of the closet. Alongside the closet
with a door of its own is the mini bar. Yet another very impressive
touch! Inside the refrigerator, they have huge bottles of water (4),
about 4 small bottles of seltzer water, then several bottles of
Squirt/lemon lime, orange drink, Pepsi, 6 bottles of Dos Equis (beer),
and some can drinks too. But what shocked me is the alcohol. I was
under the impression these bottles would be those tiny ones like you
see on the airplanes. Think again! These are full sized bottles upside
down in a drink dispenser - kind of like being on tap I guess. They
have gin (Ginebra La Paloma), scotch (Highland Mist), tequilla
(Crendian?), and some other type of liqueur called "Durado". All of
these are included and restocked periodically.
Opposite the bed, against the wall, there is a large bench type place to
sit your luggage. Beside the bench there is a large full size mirror
hanging in the wall. Inside the sunken living room you'll find a love
seat and coffee table. There is also a large dresser with plenty of
drawers to put your clothes in. Also in one of the drawers are plastic
bags for dirty clothes and laundry request forms. (They will launder
and press for a fee - comparable to dry cleaning fees.) A small TV
(about 17") sits on top of the dresser.
The sliding glass doors were very nice and very large. When you open
the doors the air conditioner turns off automatically - nifty. The terrace
is huge! I'd say about 8'X10'. They have two very large chairs which
recline and also have a piece on the bottom that pulls out to rest your
legs. A small table sits between the chairs. Another thoughtful feature
on the patio is a retractable garment hanger. Perfect for laying wet
swimsuits, trunks, and towels.
When we first arrived in our room, I thought it was very nice but was
displeased with the location. We had an "outside" room. Outside
meaning your room either faces the Riu Yukatan or the Viva Maya
resort. Our room on the first floor faced a long street type walkway
which went from the main road to the beach. Guests from the Riu
Tequilla use this road to get to the beach. They also have little train
type vehicles for transport. These run constantly. I'd say while sitting
on the patio one would pass by about every few minutes, no more
than 5 minutes apart. So this is great for those staying at the Tequilla.
After seeing the area and view of our room, I immediately called the
front desk and requested a room change. I told them I wanted a room
facing the main courtyard and fountains. This area is referred to as the
"inside" rooms. The front desk told us there were none available and to
call back at 1:00pm after some were cleaned and check availability. So
Brad and I decided to head down to the restaurant to grab a bite to
eat and kill time.
Down close to the beach area, past the pools are two restaurants - "El
Patio" and "La Traviata". Both are buffet style and have pretty much
the same foods. They are both open air with ceiling fans and
completely covered. The open air part is not a problem at all. For one,
you climitize pretty quickly, and two there's a constant ocean breeze.
Even at 90F you seem to stay cool enough. The buffets were pretty
typical. If you hit one at lunch hour, you'll find different foods like rice,
veggies, fried peppers, potatoes, beans, pasta - lunch type foods. If
you hit snack time you'd find hamburgers, french fries, hot dogs,
pizza, cold cuts, sandwiches, and always a salad bar. The dessert bar
was pretty much always the same. Kind of reminds me of a dessert
bar at a Chinese food restaurant. Little cakes, cake rolls, pudding,
pies, and finger food type desserts. They have a large selection of ice
cream too. Beware - vanilla color does not mean vanilla flavor! They
had flavors like coconut, banana, strawberry, fruit, and even coffee
flavor - mmm. They even had all the best toppings to add. There was
SO MUCH food. I dread having to describe dinner. You could also order
just about any drink you wanted. If you like lemonade - you have to
try theirs - pulp and all.
After we stuffed ourselves we went back to our room to call reception
to see if they had another room available. Reception told me they'd
have to call back in a few minutes. About two minutes later they called
back and said there was nothing available for that day and if we didn't
mind sleeping there our first night, they would get us a new room the
next day. To this I happily agreed. So we put on our swimsuits and
headed for the beach.
I have heard reports, read reviews, and been told the Riu's beach -
and the whole area of Playa del Carmen are known for having
gorgeous beaches. I just say - I don't think I'll ever see a more
beautiful beach. Having originally booked at the Aventura Palace, my
husband and I agreed the beach was no big deal. After staying here
and being on this beach every day - I'm spoiled for life! The beach
goes on for miles. The sand is soft and white - just gorgeous. I'm such
a weenie when it comes to walking bare foot - especially in the water.
I made sure the first thing I bought for the trip was water shoes. I
didn?ven need them... You also hear stories of the water having alot
of gunk like seaweed - at the Riu Palace I hardly ever saw any. Maybe
a seldom stray piece but that was it. There are tons of chairs out on
the beach - and palm trees too. That was the nice thing - you could lay
in a chair under the palm trees or you could lay out in the beach area.
The beach area also has several umbrellas for shade. I have read
reports of people saying the chairs were real hot. The chairs at the
pool area are all plastic but they have full-length chair pads in each
chair - comfy and keeps you from getting that grilled look. The chairs
at the beach have a plastic frame but are covered by a net type
material - this keeps you from toasting but also lets the water and
sand fall through. These chairs are very comfy because they seem to
contour to your body - perfect for sleeping (which most people out
there were doing).
A few hours later we headed back to the beach restaurant for a snack
and then went to our room for a light nap.
Later that evening reception called to check and see how the room was
and I explained the request for another room and other than that was
very pleased. A few minutes later the head of reception called very
concerned with my thoughts of the room. I guess he was under the
impression I was ticked off. He said he called to confirm the room
change tomorrow morning and I thanked him. I was pretty impressed
he called and was so quick to get us another room to the best of his
capabilities - given the room availability.
Around 8:45pm we headed for a restaurant called "Don Julian". You
only need to call once to make a reservation for this restaurant. Every
night after that you eat at the same table at the same time. There are
two sittings: one at 6:45, the other at 8:45. This was nice because it
cuts down on confusion and waiting for a table, or even waiting to be
seated. This place is one HUGE buffet. Everything from grilled fish,
pasta and sauce, beef, pork, grilled veggies, a pizza buffet, and even a
Mexican food buffet with beef, pork and chicken. There are two large
salad bars with all the typical salad toppings, hourderves, cold cuts,
cheeses, shrimp, prawn, and squid. There are fresh made soups (two
kinds) every evening - I don't think I ever saw the same soup twice.
The dessert bar consists of pretty much the same as what I described
at lunch. In addition, there are also fresh fruits, ice cream, and a large
variety of cheese (for the champagne drinkers). Wine and champagne
is served with dinner - or every meal for that matter (even breakfast!)
My husband always drank Pepsi (we're classy, aren't we?)
I had wine occasionally but mostly ice water. A tip for future travelers:
ask for ice. They never serve ice. A waiter will come around during
dinner with a cheese cart and coffee, cappuccino, and espresso
available after dinner - I guess you can have cheese with that too! :)
After all that - we headed to bed - what a busy first day.
Day 2
This day was pretty simple. After one hour of sleep and a busy day, we
were exhausted. So we decided to be lazy and sleep most of the day. I
know that sounds pathetic but hey, we're on vacation.
Some time in the early afternoon we headed out to the beach
restaurant to have a nice lunch and went to the beach for a few hours.
Later that night we went to "Don Julian's" again and had a great
dinner. I love their zucchini. After dinner we went to the bar/theater
where they had a mini Broadway type musical going on. After the play
they do a grand finale by singing a song and getting the audience to
participate by coming down to the dance floor and dancing with them.
We stepped over to the bar for a few drinks, listened to some live
music and headed off to bed.
Day 3
Today we headed down to Playa del Carmen to do some shopping. The
taxi fare was 40 pesos ($4 USD). That's another thing I like about the
area where the Riu resorts are - you never had to wait more than a
minute or two to get a taxi. Executive car rental is actually in the
parking lot and lobby of the Riu Palace. The taxi ride to Playa del
Carmen is only 5 minutes. We asked our driver to drop us off where
we could do some shopping. Boy, was that a simple request. The
shopping area in Playa del Carmen is huge. Shops, markets,
McDonald's, a bank, jewelry stores, barber shop - you name it. The
people are a bit pushy - no worse than Jamaica. Everybody wants you
to come into their shop. One guy gets you to come into his shop by
saying, "hey rich people - come into my shop so I can rip you off". We thought
that was pretty funny. After an hour or so of shopping we stopped off
at a cart in the plaza and bought a "Ladatel" phone card. The cost is
100 pesos ($10 USD) and gives you 10 minutes of talk time back to
the U.S. A quick call home and we headed off again to buy souvenirs
for the family. About an hour or so later we headed back to the resort
to grab a quick nap and shower. That night we did the usual - ate at
"Don Julian's" and called it a night.
Day 4
Today we headed down to the local shopping plaza (less than 5 minute
walk) shopped around for a bit then stopped into the Avis car rental
agency and rented a jeep for about $70 USD. This price included rental
fee, insurance, tax and unlimited mileage. We hopped in and headed
for Playa del Carmen right up the road to gas up and then to Xel-Ha.
We found out pretty quickly gas stations are pretty scarce in this
place. One in Playa del Carmen and one in Tulum. After a while driving
around we pulled over to the side of the road where we talked to a
policeman and a lady on a scooter. They started explaining where we
could find a gas station and the lady said she would just take us. So
thanked them and followed her several blocks to a gas station and
fueled up for the trip. The gas attendants will pump your gas for you (I
don't think there's such thing as self serve) and another guy washed
our mirrors and windshield (for a tip of course!) 150 pesos later we
were on our way. Highway 307 is the main route and will take you one
way (North I believe) to
Cancun and heading south will take you to Xcaret, Xel-Ha, and Tulum.
The traffic was little to none most of the way. The speed limit is 110km
(70 mph) although the locals drive faster. People are courteous and
will get on the shoulder to let you pass. My husband and I were a bit
nervous to drive on our own but it really was no big deal. We never
even saw a cop the whole time. Xel-Ha is about a 35 minute drive from
Playa del Carmen. The entrance fee is $19 USD. This includes
entrance, snorkel gear, use of beaches, chairs, bathrooms, ect. If you
go with the all inclusive plan, you get all the above plus drinks and
meals at 5 restaurants for $45 USD per person. Not bad, but we didn't
want to eat there, plus we had our own snorkel gear and life jackets.
Once inside we rented a locker for $2 USD and $2 USD deposit. Tip:
Don't rent from the first set of lockers you come to. There is another
locker rental place right by the water and chairs - much more
convenient.
We crammed all our junk in and headed for the lagoon to snorkel. We
passed by the dolphin tanks where you can do the "interactive swim".
One guy had a net out to retrieve some of the pool toys from the
water which attracted the dolphins - they wanted to play. We took
advantage of this time and managed to get some great close up
pictures.
Just down the walkway there are a couple dozen hammocks hanging
from palm trees - oh did they look comfy. We found some chairs to sit
our things and geared up to snorkel. Tip: We HIGHLY recommend you
bring your own snorkel gear. You can get a mask and snorkel from
Wal-Mart for about $10. This way when you go on a trip or are at your
hotel - you always have them and don't have to rent. And one more
thing - while you're there - buy yourself some cheap water shoes. My
husband and I didn't spend over $5 for our water shoes. They were
great to have. Especially when you go on excursions like Xel-Ha where
it's real rocky when you first get in. Also, water shoes are great to
have if the resort you are staying at - the water is real rocky or has a
bunch of reefs.
At first - the water is really chilly. The best thing to do is just jump on
in. The visibility was pretty good. Had it been sunny we probably could
have seen better. It was really clouding up and looked as if it wanted
to rain. We discovered the best place to find fish is around the large
reefs. I guess this is where they like to hide and also like to nip at the
reefs, in search of a snack.
After about 2 hours of snorkeling we began to hear thunder in the
distance. Brad said it was about time to pack up and head back
because we had about a half an hour drive back to the resort. On the
way home it seemed to get darker and darker. I looked over and just
happened to notice the Jeep had no windows and no back window!! My
husband assured me we wouldn't get that wet. Think again.
The light sprinkle that dusted our windshield turned into a downpour.
Some people pulled over, others turned on their hazard lights. Not my
husband - he's a man! Hear him roar! So we cruised on ahead, getting
rained on, and laughing the whole way...
Once we got back to the hotel, we got out of our soggy clothes,
showered and headed for - you guessed it - Don Julian's restaurant for
a nice buffet dinner.
That night around midnight, still raining, we headed down to the beach
restaurant before they closed to grab some of that mystery ice-cream.
The heat lamps were turned off, food put away, and the kitchen closed
for the night. Just one lonely waiter in peace and quiet finishing up
clearing tables, polishing the silverware, and completing his duties. We
snuck in and asked if we could fix ourselves a bowl of ice cream. He
apologized because of the rain, they closed early that evening but told
us with a smile to help ourselves to the ice cream. Then, he went to
the kitchen to get us bowls and spoons.
This is just one example of the great service provided by the Riu
Palace.
After the ice cream, it was time to call it a day.
Day 5
Today we actually started out early. We packed up some of our things,
hopped in the Jeep and headed for Tulum. It was about a 45 minute
drive from the hotel. Smooth sailing the whole way (and not a rain
cloud in sight!)
When you arrive at the main gate, they make you take a ticket to park
(payable when you leave.) After you park your car, an attendant will
great you and ask you to fill out some information on the card
provided (supposedly for a raffle) then you are free to go. We learned
later on that afternoon from a call to our hotel, this "raffle" was a
personal info collector for time share. They told us through the phone
call we had won a 7 day/6 night stay at the "Fisherman's Village"
resort. We were to go to the hotel the following day between 8am and
3pm to claim our prize. We called our Lomas representative downstairs
and confirmed, sure enough it was time share. We decided not to go,
besides we had something planned for the next day.
Before we could pay for the train which takes you to the ruins and
admission, they request you to convert your money to pesos. Tip:
Convert almost all your money to pesos. With the exchange rate being
at an odd amount, unless you take a calculator EVERYWHERE with
you, you WILL get cheated on the price you pay when you are quoted
USD, pesos, and the change you are given back when you purchase
something. We almost always did and I knew it, but didn't ever say
anything because I didn't have a calculator with me.
But the money exchange was no big deal - we converted and went on
to buy tickets for the train. Tickets are $3 USD per person.
Tip: About half the people there rode the train, the other half walked.
On the map, they make it look like the ruins are miles from the
entrance to the park. After riding 30 seconds or less on the train, we
were there and couldn't believe we spent the money and didn't walk
the quarter mile or less in the first place.
Tulum is absolutely spectacular. Being that neither one of us had ever
seen the ruins, we thought that was something to behold. The small
buildings are
very spread out over a few acres. Tip: Although my husband and I
didn't get a guide (we used maps and he just wanted to tag along with
a paying group),
it really is worth it to spend $20 USD and get a guide. They are very
knowledgeable and will make it worth your trip. Most people just think
they are standing in front of rock structures. When you learn you are
actually standing in front of a funerary building or a house and how old
it is, you'll have more appreciation for what you are witnessing.
We walked around and even climbed on a few of the buildings and got
some really great pictures. We made our way around the other side of
the buildings to overlook the cliff and just stood in awe. How nice it
must have been to wake up to that view every day.
After an hour and a half of exploring and exhausting 2 rolls of film, we
headed back to the resort to go to the shopping plaza near by to buy
some sea shells I'd had my eye on for several days.
Later that night around 8:45 we dressed for dinner at La Bodega.
Tip: This restaurant needs definite reservations. They are on a first come,
first serve basis and fill quickly. This restaurant is small and they even
hold private dinners for large parties.
When we first got in the restaurant we were seated, served wine, and
then told to go to the salad bar and make our own salad. You are then
given enough time to enjoy your salad before they take your plate
away and bring to the table a
a basket of bread along with three dishes of dipping sauces (basil type
spice with olive oil and butter - mmm) and a flat terra-cotta dish with a
variety of fresh vegetables. Tip: These are not an appetizer like
everyone in the restaurant thought - so don't eat them all. After that,
the waiters come out one at a time with these 4ft. swords to bring to
each person with a meat. They brought out beef brisket, Italian
sausage, rabbit, pork, and ostrich. Tip: Vegetarians - beware!
Then after the main course, they have a dessert cart/table with all the
typical deserts and also after dinner coffee. Completely stuffed and
miserable, we headed off to bed and prepared for an early rise for a
full day at Cozumel.
Day 6
We woke up pretty early the next morning to the knock of room
service outside the door. Tip: "Light breakfast" menus are in the top
dresser drawer. You just check off what you want, if there are special
instructions, and leave it on the door. Items include: Eggs, toast and
jam, cereal, fresh fruit, cold cuts, orange juice, chocolate milk, and
coffee. This is great if you have to go somewhere early the next
morning.
After the light breakfast, we strolled down to the lobby and got a taxi
to take to the ferry dock at Playa del Carmen. We stopped at the ATM
machine for some cash to do some shopping later that day in Cozumel.
About 15 minutes later we boarded the ferry for our 40 minute ride.
Suprisingly, the ferry was pretty nice. The seats were cushioned (they
reminded me of airplane seats) and there were TV's throughout, and
even refreshments available (for a fee). Both the upper and lower
decks are air-conditioned.
Once we docked, there was another boat waiting for us. In all, 4 other
couples were on the private snorkeling excursion. We sailed along the
shoreline, passing hotels, and even a large cruise ship. One of the
guides on the boat told us it's better to cruise along the coastline
because not to far off the shore, there is a long valley which runs
several thousand feet deep along the ocean floor. This causes some
sort of updarft and very strong current which tosses small boats all
over the place.
After a few short minutes, the boat stopped in an area along the
shoreline now known to be a national park. We were given the
appropriate snorkel gear and jumped in the water. The guide stays
ahead of everyone, letting you know which way to go and also carries
along a bag of food to attract the fish. This makes for some impressive
underwater pictures. After about half an hour to 45 minutes of
snorkeling the boat met us down current and we loaded up again to go
to a different spot and catch some more great pictures.
Once again, we snorkeled around and captured some more great
pictures of fish you couldn't even see at the local pet store. They even
had an underwater photographer who took a great picture of us
surrounded by dozens of fish he attracted by feeding. (He had the
picture ready by the time we returned to the dock along with the
negative for $8 USD.)
After a while we returned to the boat and headed for a private resort
where they had a great buffet and drinks waiting for us. We spent
about an hour and a half there. We rested out on the chairs and took a
walk through the resort. There was a couple sitting at a nearby table
talking to a guy about timeshare. They say there are no sharks in
Cancun. There actually are - they're called timeshare salesmen.
Tip: Stay away from these people.
Some time later, we headed back to the boat and sailed down to the
end of the island. The guides on the boat baited their fishing poles and
cast them out into the water hoping to catch some action. Just as I
told them I saw the line jiggle, the slack of the fishing line took off
screaming into the water. The two men up top on the boat came flying
down, not even touching the stairs after the fishing pole. The two poles
became entangled, and the guys looked like the were playing Twister
trying to get the lines untangled. After a few seconds, one of the lines
snapped in half. They said it was a monster of a blue Marlin at the
other end determined to get away with our anchovy. He certainly was
successful. The guys gave up, reeled in what was left of the line and
we headed back for the dock and to do some shopping before we
caught the ferry back to Playa del Carmen.
Cozumel is a great little island. Shoppers and cars buzzing about. We
decided to rent a locker for our things right at the dock and headed
into the plaza hoping to find some good shopping deals. We shopped
around for a while and then stopped off at Fat Tuesday's for a huge
strawberry and banana daiquiri. Sipping away and enjoying our drinks,
a young boy names Emilio approached our table, where I bought some
ankle bracelets for $5 USD.
We paid for our drinks and then headed over to an old man who had a
cart full of sea shells for sale. I bought a huge conk for $4 USD and
some smaller coral and shells. About this time, the ferry was docking
and we started off to board and get back to Playa. After a very
stomach churning 40 minute boat ride back, we found a taxi and
returned to the hotel with enough time to rest, shower, and head for
Don Julian's for dinner. Then we called it a day - sunburned and worn
out.
Day 7
This day was pretty much spent just lazing around, enjoying our last
full day of sun, and reminiscing about the past week.
Brad actually got up the nerve to parasail - so off we went.
There is a sport shop right on the property. There you can book a parasailing
adventure or a jetski - or two. What a blast! We even saw a sea turtle
(most are endangered now). We enjoyed one last night
at Don Julain's and headed back to the room to pack and get
ready to return home.
Day 8
Our last day of paradise. It's funny how you can be depressed about
leaving, and anxious to get back all at the same time. We double
checked to make sure we didn't leave anything behind, and called the
bellman to come get our luggage. Check-out was smooth. We only had
to pay $5 USD for the minute and 45 second call we made home. Half
an hour later, we loaded onto the bus and waved goodbye to the great
place we called home for a week. The ride to the airport was smooth.
Everyone was quiet and rested the way there. Baggage check in was
smooth. Our Lomas rep, Israel, was there, and we said our last
good-byes and headed for our gate. We loaded into our first row,
emergency exit seats and prepared for the long ride home. After take
off, we caught our last glimpses of paradise, and closed to the window
hoping to sleep the ride away.
Once we landed, the captain came over the loud speaker and
announced we had made it 20 minutes ahead of schedule and would
have to wait out on the runway until our gate was cleared. Forty
minutes later with flight attendants fighting passengers the whole time
not to get out of their seats to use the bathroom, we finally moved up
to the gate. Welcome back to reality!
Overall, I would have to say, the Riu Palace was by far the nicest place
we've ever stayed. Grand Lido Sans Souci (6 star) in Jamaica was nice
- but this place topped them all. The service was exceptional, the food
was good, and the people there will truly do anything within their
means to make sure you have a wonderful time. If you are the type of
person who enjoys a very upscale and elegant resort - this place is for
you. Although the night life is very light, the atmosphere is one of
relaxation and pampering.
After the research and first hand experience, I will definitely rent a car
again and have no fear on taking the time to see any unbeaten
path. We will return to Cancun next year, but set our sights for a new
resort and a new experience.
Happy travels! |
