We were supposed to leave on July 18th, the day hurricane Emily was hitting the Yucatan Peninsula. We worked with our travel agent all day on Sunday trying to figure out if we should go or not, or change our destination. Monday morning we met again with our travel agent and looked at Turks & Caicos or Antigua, but both were going to cost us a fortune if we booked it then…and we wouldn’t be able to do the full two weeks that we wanted to. We couldn’t get in touch with the resort until Monday night when we found out that they were indeed open. The flight we would have taken, actually flew that day. I also have to thank this site,
www.iberostar-board.com for all the up to date and accurate information.
Tuesday, July 19th
Flight arrived in Cancun around noon. We used Best Day Tours for our airport transfer. Tip: after getting your baggage, go right outside to the tour operators or taxis, don’t stop for the people that pretend that they are with the people you are looking for. They are trying to sell you time shares.
Check in was easy and baggage was delivered to room promptly. We were in building 51, room 5179. We had a private Jacuzzi on our balcony. It was pretty dirty due to the hurricane. We requested that it be cleaned and they cleaned it first thing the next morning.
We walked around and saw that the swim-up bar pool, kids area, lazy river and the beach were not open. We ate lunch at the Fogon. It was a buffet and had everything. I feel if you can’t find something you like at these, then you really don’t like to eat. We passed out in our room for a 3 hour nap. We had been so tired from our wedding and the flight and everything…caught up on some good sleep. We ordered room service when we woke up. I had the Salad with Chicken which was very good…I think I ordered it like 4 other times while I was there. The Margarita and Iberostar pizzas are very good too.
Wednesday, July 20th
Walked around all four hotels. Lots of debris, lots of cleanup going on. For the most part it wasn’t bad. The golf course was closed until Friday. We ate breakfast at the Maya, it was very good.
Met w/ Best Day tours to book some tours
We sat at the wave pool most of the day. We caught the pool waitress, Andrea, and gave her 150 pesos to keep the margaritas coming all day. She did! It was much faster this way then waiting to order each time. She was great! We talked to her in our limited Spanish and she taught us how to say some things. Her English was limited also.
There is a virgin drink bar near here where TONS of bees swarm. They don’t seem to bother you though. They were more like flys. I don’t know how the bartenders can stand them though. We met Hilario here…he is called “the Love Machine”.
Went to the big pool by the Fogon and met a bunch of people. The water in the pool was very warm. John got a massage at the spa. It was 700 pesos for the anti-stress massage for 50 minutes. He said it was worth it and cost about the same as home.
We ate dinner at the Italian restaurant. I had the tortellini and thought it was excellent. John was sick and didn’t feel like eating a thing…probably from too many margaritas. They wouldn’t let him take his pizza to go though which I thought was weird. I wanted to karaoke, but when we got over to the Melody Bar nothing was going on. We ended up at the Aquarium lobby bar in the Lindo.
Thursday, July 21st
Went to Playa del Carmen on the free bus from the hotel. Left at 11am and took the 2:30pm back. We ate La Palapas Hemingways, on 5th Avenue, between 12th and 14th Streets. Cute place that had a sectioned off air-conditioned area. Two guys playing guitars came in and serenaded us. That was neat! The food was really good too. We walked along the beach which was in way better shape than our resort. It was nice and blue and clear. We went to Senor Frogs for a “Yard” frozen drink and got a souvenir picture taken before taking the bus back.
The shop owners hassle you to come into their shop which really bothers me. I feel as though if they only knew that I would come into their shop if I wanted to. By asking me is not going to make me come in.
We went to the pool and the beach for the rest of the day. There was a lot of seaweed in the water and on the beach. They had a big trawler machine picking up all the debris from the sand. The beach was not swimmable.
We ate at the steakhouse which was very good. I had the tenderloin.
Friday, July 22nd
We took the tour to Chichen-Itza with Best Day Tours. The ride was two plus hours. The tour guide, Raffael, was very knowledgeable of the Mayan culture etc. He talked A LOT to fill us in on their history. It was all very interesting. There were only 12 of us in the van; newlyweds, a group from Chile and a family from NY. We had an hour tour of the ruins and then had an hour or so to go off on our own. Unfortunately it rained all day. It was really coming down hard when we climbed the pyramid.
There are more Mayan people pedaling their goods here. They were desperate…even selling items for one peso! We went to lunch at a buffet in the area that served tamales, tacos, and quesadillas. The waiters and waitresses danced around with bottles of beer on their heads!
Then we went to the Cenote which was awesome. I highly recommend going to one! The freshest, clearest water I’ve ever seen. Then we visited a cathedral in the nearby town called Valladolid.
You could see how much worse the devastation was south of the resort. There were concrete power lines with steel rebar through them that were snapped in half.
We ate dinner at the Gourmet. I had the grouper with risotto which was awesome and John had the beef which was very good. The shrimp puff pastry appetizer was out of this world. The lobster soup was only ok. I don’t recommend it. The Gourmet was my favorite restaurant.
We hung out at the Aquarium bar with the bartenders Kino and Rigo.
Saturday, July 23rd
Went to the beach and the pool for the day. Drank a lot in the swim up bar at the pool! Tipped the bartenders often. Juan kept the drinks coming…as soon as I was swimming over to the bar the drinks were ready! John and I ended up passing out, waking up at 10pm and ordering room service for dinner!
Sunday, July 24th
Spent day at the beach. Got my picture taken with the monkey. Drank a lot of Riviera Maya drinks…3 colors, strawberry daiquiri, OJ & Vodka, some green alcohol – midori? They were good!
Ate dinner at the Seafood restaurant. This was my least favorite restaurant. My medallions of beef were good, but the lobster wasn’t. Shrimp cocktail, mussels and crab legs from the appetizer buffet were very good though.
Used the internet café to send some emails, 30 pesos for 15 minutes.
Monday, July 25th
Took a walk around the whole complex. Lots of peacocks, pheasants, and cats.
We each rented a jet ski for $65 per person for a ½ hour. Then I had my whole head braided for $75. We hung out on the beach all day. There was a 5:30pm wedding on the beach which we watched. It was very nice!
Note: We constantly saw staff cleaning. Floors are always slippery – that is what happens when you mix marble with water. Staff was fixing a thatched roof in barefeet, using machetes and hanging by ropes…no OSHA standards there!!
Ate at the Mexican restaurant (Hacienda) in the Del Mar….excellent! Highly recommend!
Hung at the Aquarium bar again with the bartenders Kino and Eduardo. Note: Kino actually works the Cigar bar, but it usually isn’t very busy, so he comes over to the lobbyb bar to help out. Eduardo is the “shot maker”! Lots of different shots, pretty shots, tasty shots!!
Tuesday, July 26th
John went golfing. He said it was beautiful and in great shape. A guy came around with ice cold face cloths for you to cool off. There was also a beer cart around whenever you needed drinks. He said they cater to your any whim. I spent the day at the beach. I played beach volleyball which was fun, hot, but fun! I also had my picture taken with the McCaw birds.
We ate dinner at the Cajun restaurant. It was very good. I could have lived on the coconut shrimp!
Hung out at the Lobby bar again with Kino and Eduardo.
Wednesday, July 27th
We hung out at the beach in the morning and then went parasailing together. It was $120 for 15 minutes total for the two of us.
You must make sure you go to the big lunch party on the beach. They make a HUGE pan of paella. They let you stir the food with the chef hat on. It had shrimp, mussels, scallops, veggies, rice, peppers, onions, spices, crawfish, and crab in it. It was delicious!!!! Do not miss it! They also have a band playing and have a bikini contest. The winner received a free massage.
We went to a bullfight in Cancun in the afternoon. It was neat to go to because it is a cultural thing but I was very disturbed by the killing of the bull. The only good thing is the bull is donated to the poor for food. They had dancers, cowboys with lassos, and audience participation things. That was fun to see! We got to go into the Flamingo mall and shop for an hour after the fight.
We went to the Italian restaurant again. Hung out in the Lobby bar, after the bar closed we went to the disco which is open until 3am. We partied like crazy this night. We ordered room service at 4am.
Thursday, July 28th
We slept very late. We took a taxi to Cancun which was 300 pesos. We ate lunch at Senor Frogs, and walked around Punta Cancun. Went to Flamingo Plaza, La Isla Shopping Village which is a very pretty mall. Behind the Hard Rock there is a beach with the most amazing sand ever…it was like flour. The ocean was sooo blue here too. I got suckered into a beer for $10 from some guy selling it on the beach. We both picked up a “I Survived Hurricane Emily” t-shirts. What a memory! The taxi home was 380 pesos…go figure.
We ate at the Japanese restaurant. That was one of the best. We had tons of food! I had shrimp, chicken, veggies, sushi and rice. This was a fun night because you are sitting with other people and everyone was chatting and having fun.
Friday, July 29th
We went to Cozumel via the ferry in Playa Del Carmen. We stayed at a place called Villas Las Anclas
http://lasanclas.com/. Very cute place, two story condos with spiral staircases. It was $65 for the night!! We went snorkeling at Villa Blanco Beach and near Caribe Blu. We ate lunch at Saberos…which is a woman’s house who opens it up for lunch. A true homemade Mexican meal. We had soup, unlimited punch, chips and salsa, a main meal with rice and beans for 350-450 pesos.
We did some shopping and then went to Carlos & Charlies. Met tons of people from the ships in port and partied like animals! Lots of fun!
Saturday, July 30th
John was very hung over!! We took the ferry home and were back to the resort by 1:00pm. We napped on the beach all day.
We spent our last night in the Cigar bar with Kino because Eduardo wasn’t working. We were so disappointed that we couldn’t say goodbye to him. I had Kino translate a note that I wanted to leave for housekeeping.
Sunday, July 31st
We had left our check out time with the bell boy the night before, but by 9:40 they still weren’t at the room. John had gone up front to check out and told them and the bell boys were falling all over themselves to come and get our luggage. I got a ride w/ the bell boy up to the front. We were so sad to leave!
We give this resort very high marks. This was our first time at an all-inclusive and we loved it! It is nice to not have to worry about paying for food and drinks. We never had a problem getting a reservation for dinner though we always did the 8:30 or 9:00pm seating. All of the staff is very friendly and helpful. It is tough that some of them don’t have perfect English but they try the hardest. For such a huge resort, they do their best to keep it clean. We loved getting new towel animals every day. Housekeeping is very receptive to notes that you leave. They always stocked our fridge with beer and water.
We give this resort high marks even after a Category 4 hurricane blew through, I wonder what marks I would have given before the hurricane?
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