First time to Cancun

I am planning a last minute trip to Cancun in November for my family(me, DH and 7 year old son), my friend offered her Mayan Palace Riviera Maya since they are not going to use it this year. She did not ask, but I am thinking at least offer her what the maintenance fee is($600-700). I checked the flight, it will cost $600-750 per person. While I was searching the flight, I found several packages(flight+ hotel) with all-inclusive option and they cost about the same as if we just book the flight. Is Riviera Maya or Cancun hotel zone better? I never been in that area before, I don't know which one to choose. We love beach and water activities( sailing, wind surfing, kayaking, snorkeling..)and enjoy pools. My DH is considering the all-inclusive because it is cheaper, but I thought we will loose our chance to try local food. Is food there expensive if we didn't go for the all-inclusive? I'd like to get some suggestions before we make any decisions. Thank you for your help.

Food in Cancun is very cheap. Depending on the cost of AI, you could end up paying more.

A lot of people get bored of the food served at an AI. Check reviews on the AI's your being quoted at. If the food and resort are poor then you don't end up saving anything. You will enjoy staying in a suite much more than a small hotel room.

Melody,

Riviera Maya is not as active as the Hotel Zone. It's more for relaxing. All inclusive is never cheaper. In the hotel zone u have so many dining options. The dining options go from fast food to fine dining. Prices are close to the USA. Most all inclusive resorts charge more per person than u will ever spend if you dined elsewhere. The hotel zone offers all the water sports u will want.

Personally, I would stay in the hotel zone. More exciting, more dining options and more activities.

Joe

I’m not a fan of all inclusive resorts. So my gut reaction would be to take the MP deal, with the understanding that you’ll eat out often in local restaurants. But, the MP Riviera Maya is pretty darned isolated from any local restaurants that you would want to eat in.

Folks talk about how easy and cheaply they take the bus north to Cancun or south to Playa from the MP, but they generally skip over talking about the road they have to cross to get to that bus. It’s a four lane highway (maybe 6? I'm starting to forget) (2 or 3 lanes heading north and 2 or 3 lanes heading south) of often heavy traffic traveling at speeds in excess of 60 MPH. Plus you have to get from the MP itself, through the MP golf course, to get to that road, which I would estimate is at least a half mile walk or golf cart ride if you’re lucky.

I wouldn’t want to play “Frogger” with my 7 year old every day just to catch a cheap bus to dinner.

This leaves you with taking cabs (expensive), renting a car (a hassle and expensive) or regularly eating at the MP’s on-site restaurants (slow and expensive). (FWIW, this web site suggests that the MP has an optional meal plan available)

Also, while the Mayan Palace pool is enormous and outstanding, and its beach is sandy, you can’t swim in the sea there. It is way too rocky. Also, the Mayan Palace shares grounds with the Grand Mayan, which has its own lazy river pool (that was under construction when I was there last January). If that new pool is now open, I’m pretty sure only Grand Mayan guests can use it. Accordingly, you’ll get the job every day of telling your 7 year old why he can’t swim in that really cool lazy river pool. No fun.

So between the two choices, in your situation, I’d probably opt for an all-inclusive in Cancun’s hotel zone vs. the MP Riviera Maya. But, I think there are better options available.

For example, Interval International is currently offering the following “Getaway”

The Royal Islander
Cancun, Mexico
http://www.royalresorts.com/
Nov 10 2007 to Nov 17 2007 1 bedroom with full kitchen ($479/week)

This is an extremely nice resort (rated one of the top 10 resorts in the world by Tuggers) in Cancun’s hotel zone that is NOT all inclusive. It is available for less than what you were thinking of paying your friend, AND you are close to all the Cancun local restaurants without having to play Frogger with your 7 year old to get there.

I hope this helps!

-nodge

nodge said:

For example, Interval International is currently offering the following “Getaway”

The Royal Islander
Cancun, Mexico
http://www.royalresorts.com/
Nov 10 2007 to Nov 17 2007 1 bedroom with full kitchen ($479/week)

This is an extremely nice resort (rated one of the top 10 resorts in the world by Tuggers) in Cancun’s hotel zone that is NOT all inclusive. It is available for less than what you were thinking of paying your friend, AND you are close to all the Cancun local restaurants without having to play Frogger with your 7 year old to get there.

-nodge

Click to expand...

All of the Royals are extremely nice and family/kid friendly, and you have quite a few choices of restaurants on site, kids' meal pricing, and reasonably priced and good delivery / take-out. Of course you can also hit as many restaurants as you want as well, though with a 7 year old you may find yourself wanting to eat at the kid-friending resort restaurants or in your own villa at least as often as going out.

All-inclusives are rarely worth it unless you are big eaters and drinkers. In some cases trips that would otherwise be expensive are included, making an AI more attractive. On the other hand, if an AI isn't costing you more than the flight, that's tempting. If an AI is cleaper than other choices, maybe you could choose the AI and then also go out occasionally!

You might want to look at this thread re AIs, and also search this forum.

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52637

Pam

AI packages are rarely cheaper than dining on your own. The rates vary often with the time of year. Most AI fees are on a per person basis and I haven't seen one cheaper than what I could do on my own. If you take the MP deal you might want to consider a rental car. You may also be able to find flights for around $ 500 from the northeast if you shop around ( and if that's where you are from).

with a seven year old i think i would choose the Riviera Maya its more kid friendly but be sure to stay at a family hotel or resort we were at the Riviera Maya 2 years ago and even though we stayed at a family resort the beaches had toppless women on them We had a nine year old and i was pretty unconfortable with it the pools were fine tops a must My husband and i took turns sorta walking in front of these women blocking my son's view
Have fun

We have been staying at the Royal Sands since my youngest was two now she is 11. I would not stay anywhere else, other then we will be at the Haciendas in June (yeah!!!). There is lots to do with young ones in Cancun!!

I would jump on the deal at the Royal Islander! I go the following week for Thanksgiving. If I could get off work for 2 weeks, I'd go on the 10th and take advantage of that $479 deal! Also, I'd suggest getting the 2 for 1 dining card from Brandt at www.entertainment-plus.net. The card is $15, and we usually save at least $100 during the week by using it. Good luck!

Thank you all for your useful information. I double checked with my friend, and found out it was Grand Mayan instead of Mayan Palace, does it make any difference? In fact her contract says Grand Mayan Vacation Club, is it the same? She does not know, she just purchased last year while they were on vacation in that area, never stayed there, no idea. Another innocent victim.
First week in November is the only time we can go, my son has a week off from school. I did a lot research, will probably use my friend's week and rent a car to go places. I got a quote from Budget rental, $90.75 for 5 days, I thought that was a good price. We are not party ,club type people, so will still be satisfied even without night life.
I could not get good air fare, using our mileage points is another option.
Any more suggestions?

Sounds like the Grand Mayan to me. It is awesome, you will love it.

To get out and about (especially with a 7 year old) a car is a must, but based on my Hertz car rental experience at the Cancun airport last January, I think that Budget car rental quote of $90.75 for 5 days will turn into a $800-$1000 rental when all is said and done.

Here’s my story: I had a confirmed 7 day mini-van rental from Hertz with full Hertz insurance for $400. I even called Hertz the day before arrival in Cancun to confirm mini-van availability and the price. No problemo.

When we showed up at the Cancun airport Hertz desk. “No Car . . . No Car”

Long story short (this process took over 2 hours): I had to agree to tour a timeshare FROM THE HERTZ RENTAL AGENT, slip him a $20, and pay $1200 for the minivan before they “found” a mini-van. My sole “victory” in this whole deal was that I didn’t have to put money down that I would get back when I actually sat through the pitch I promised to go to. Yeah!

I think they look you over on arrival to see how much they can victimize you. In my case, I had my two elderly parents, my wife, and my two young children all standing there looking tired, hungry and desperate, so we were ripe for the plucking.

I don’t know how to NOT get screwed at the car rental places in Mexico. Maybe some Mexico car rental regulars can offer insight here.

Also, I’m pretty sure most US auto insurance policies exclude protection when driving in Mexico, so you’ll have to buy some form of auto insurance that works in Mexico. The stuff they sell you at the car rental agency is expensive, but required unless you can find another form of cheaper insurance. I’m sure that $90 rate doesn’t include insurance.

If you have an American Express Card, this PRIMARY insurance works in Mexico. At a minimum, before you go, sign up for this insurance and pay for your rental with your AM EX.

Good Luck!
-nodge

We've been going to Cancun/Playa for 4 years. Until this year for all the above reasons I never rented a car. This August, I used the car rental desk at our Royal Sands resort. They had a "special", $33.00 for the day with liability. I said I also wanted collision and that would make it $55, I said fine. I signed papers, he took credit card imprints (old style carbon), I figured he owned my house by now.

The first car he brought around, he rejected, the grill fell out. The 2nd, had door dings galore, but he carefully marked it all down. I got in, a small compact Ford with 133,000 miles on it. I drove to Akumal, the AC and car worked fine, en route I dove/stayed in Playa, returned it 24 hrs later and paid $33.00, not even the $55.00 I was quoted. Go figure.

We just got back from the Mayan Palace in Riviera Maya where we stayed a week in August. It was awfully hot in August -- November should be much better.

A few thoughts: While you are more isolated at the Mayan Palace, Playa de Carmen is a $20 cab ride away; so it's about $40 to get a round trip to Playa; There are many great restaurants to choose from in Playa. I would think it would be worth it to pay the cab fare if you don't rent a car. I didn't like it that some of the cab drivers drove really fast and many of the cabs didn't have working seat belts. But we like the convenience of having someone else drive, not having to park, etc. The resort also runs a shuttle to Playa daily but the hours were more restrictive.

I would have loved to have a Grand Mayan unit - the pool looked really cool; my daughter really wanted to swim in it at night where they had some special lighting effects, but alas we were at the Mayan Palace. The common pools for the Mayan Palace/Grand Mayan are wonderful, however -- very huge. We peeked in a Grand Mayan unit and it was very nice. The beach was a very relaxing place to hang out -- beautiful water. It was great to have the 2 for 1's brought directly to us at the beach. We brought our swim shoes, so the rocks at the beach were no problem with those. It's not a great beach for swimming, but you can do okay with the shoes. We did some snorkeling in the ocean from that beach. There is no topless swimming near the Mayan Palace beach as it is isolated from other resort beaches. It's pretty much a family resort.

Be aware that there are restaurants on site. I liked the restaurants the Mayan Palace offered, especially the Havana Moon near the beach and the Italian restaurant. You can also go to some night shows at the Mayan Palace with buffet dinners. They're fairly expensive. We went to see the Flamenco dancers, and they were awesome. Kids might be bored. The food was good and I didn't find the prices as bad as I had feared. We packed some coffee and breakfast cereal so we could have some inexpensive breakfasts. The convenience store at the Mayan Palace is really expensive and very limited. You can shop at big grocery stores in Playa, but we didn't have the energy in that heat.

I would imagine the Hotel Zone in Cancun would offer a lot more restaurants, including some of the chains, but I don't want to go to Mexico for the same restaurants I can go to back home.

We used Brant's Entertainment Plus for tours to Xcaret and Tulum/Xel-Ha. Those worked out very well -- they were actually Greyline and the tours were very professional and the buses well air conditioned. You can pay extra to buy meals in connection at Xcaret or Xel-Ha with those tours, so that eliminated a couple days of eating out in restaurants if you do those. The buffets were adequate, nothing special.

I would go back to the Mayan Palace (hopefully at the Grand Mayan), but I would also like to stay in Cancun sometime too. I just wouldn't go in August!

Sally

Not to tempt anyone, but the following II "getaway" is available in the Cancun hotel zone:

The Royal Caribbean • RCB
Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico
www.royalresorts.com
Nov 03 2007 - Nov 10 2007 1 4 4 (1 bedroom with full kitchen) ($479/week)

TUG rating: Eighth best TS resort in the world.
60+ MPH highways to traverse on foot: none
Rental Car hassles and expense: none
Pairs of water shoes required to swim in crystal blue Caribbean Sea: none

-nodge

Hey, get out of the way...

bltfam said:

with a seven year old i think i would choose the Riviera Maya its more kid friendly but be sure to stay at a family hotel or resort we were at the Riviera Maya 2 years ago and even though we stayed at a family resort the beaches had toppless women on them We had a nine year old and i was pretty unconfortable with it the pools were fine tops a must My husband and i took turns sorta walking in front of these women blocking my son's view
Have fun

Click to expand...

Ha!

There was a TV program called "People are Funny!"... and people really are funny!

So... did you succeed to block your son's view?

Thanks for making me laugh so much. - Ellis

Ellis2ca said:

Ha!

There was a TV program called "People are Funny!"... and people really are funny!

So... did you succeed to block your son's view?

Thanks for making me laugh so much. - Ellis

Click to expand...

That reminds me of our trip to Jamaica with my two children about 11 and 12. On the way to the resort we met a lovely older couple (not old, sixties or so). They were retired and were great conversationalists. There names were Dick and Jane. Later my 12 year old son informed me that Jane was talking to him on the beach topless. He made a comment about fun with Dick and Jane. I think he survived his first (that I know of) encounter with a topless woman!

Further temptation (if all of these topless women would kindly move out of the way):

The Royal Mayan • RMB
Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico
998-8810100
www.royalresorts.com
Available for an II exchange or via an II "Getaway" for $559/week

Sep 29 2007 - Oct 06 2007 2 6 6 K (This means two bedrooms with full kitchen)
Nov 03 2007 - Nov 10 2007 2 6 6 K (Ditto)
Nov 24 2007 - Dec 01 2007 2 6 6 K (Ditto)
Dec 08 2007 - Dec 15 2007 2 6 6 K (Ditto)

-nodge