Swimmer1
28th December 2010, 05:40 PM
12/1/10, Wed. We got up at 4 AM today and drove to the Pensacola Airport in the car we rented yesterday for 1 day for $37 from Dollar. This trip was with Apple Vacations, booked by Cheryl of Global Travel last May, mainly because we were spending the month of Nov. in Alabama, thereby flying to Cancun out of Pensacola and then flying back to Indy to be home for Christmas with our family. We will probably go back to Alabama sometime around the middle of January 2011. The trip cost $3741 for the 2 of us for 14 days, 13 nights - 7 nights at a resort we stayed at 2 years ago and loved - Catalonia Royal Tulum, and 6 nights at a resort we've never stayed at - another Catalonia - the Catalonia Playa Maroma. The CRT is south of Playa del Carmen about 30 minutes, and the CPM is north of Playa about 30 minutes. We had to arrange our own transportation between resorts. We were flying American Airlines, which is not our favorite. Our flight took off on time at 7 AM, arrived into Miami and left in a timely manner. We had time between flights to eat a good Chinese meal - fairly reasonable.
We arrived into Cancun on time around 1 PM. We went through Immigrations and Customs quicker than we ever have (hardly any lines), and then got the red light. He searched 3 out or 4 bags, and we were on our way. We only spend 45 min. to an hour in the airport. We found the Apple representatives and were on our way within 1/2 hour. There were 2 other sets of people to be dropped off 1st - at Dreams Puerto Aventuras and the Barcelo Maya Palace. We definitely would not want to stay in Puerto Aventuras or the Palace, although we would consider staying at Barcelo Colonial or Tropical again. Each place took about 15 min. We saw where our 2nd resort was. The 2 resorts are about 45 minutes apart. We had found out a few days ago that a world-wide Global Warming Conference was taking place in Cancun, had started a couple days before we arrived, and would last 2 weeks. There were police and soldiers everywhere between Cancun and Playa del Carmen. I'm sure they were worried about drug gangs and terrorists. We were to read later that there were armed ships in the water around Cancun also. They are working on an overpass at Playa (it's a mess), and our driver took us a back way around Playa - took forever!
We arrived at CRT around 4 PM. It gets dark around 5-5:30 (they're on Alabama time) so we knew it was too late to change into our swimming suits. When we arrived at the front desk, Miguel helped us. There were a lot of cars parked out front, so we were worried about getting our room email request. I had never received an answer from CRT, like I did 2 years ago. I showed him my email request, and he said he thought he could meet our request. We got room 6114 - the closest building to the beach, 2nd floor, with 2 beds - better than 2 years ago. It was building 5 then. I had asked for either 5 or 6. We slipped him $5 - we were so happy. He was very appreciative. In about 1/2 hour our luggage was brought to our room. The weather here today is cool and cloudy and very windy, feels like mid 70s, a lot different than usual - it might have rained earlier. It's really great for our first arrival day. We sat out on our balcony awhile before starting to unpack. I could see staying in a hotel without air on the Tulum beach in this type of weather.
We were supposed to meet the Apple representative at 5:30, so we didn't even have time to go look at the beach. We rushed back to the lobby after unpacking, and he did not show up! We had the hotel concierge call the Apple office. There was another couple waiting for him also. They said he had a problem at another hotel, and would be there at 6:15 tomorrow night. Gee, he could have called! We had discovered we had the wrong transfer date on our return transfers from the wrong hotel. We had a Margarita and then another at the Lobby Bar, and then after talking to some other Americans - 2 of which we met 2 years ago - Les had a Baby Monkey drink - chocalately, really good, and Bob another Margarita. Then we went to the Italian restaurant, Toscana, but there was a 20 min. wait, and a 30 min or more wait at the Tapas restaurant. That's the bad thing about no buffet. The restaurants get busy after 7 or 7:30 PM. Both of these restaurants and the Mexican, Centenario, were up near the lobby. So we walked all the way out to the beach where the noontime buffet is the Royal Grill at night, hoping there would not be a long wait here. Amazingly we got right in - it didn't seem that busy. We each had steak - it and the potatoes were great, along with the chicken Caesar salad. The steaks were done exactly as we ordered them, but the service was unbelievably slow. We were here approximately 1 1/4 hours, which normally wouldn't matter, but we were kind of tired, getting up at 4 AM. The atmosphere was great - you could hear the waves and feel the breeze. We then went back to the room since the show, which was an Elvis Presley impersonator that night and would have been ok, was clear up front near the lobby. Les still had to finish unpacking and getting the beach bags ready for in the morning. Bob was asleep within minutes before Les even laid down on the bed! This is a fantastic room, and the air seems great!
12/2 Thurs. Bob went out at 6:30 AM, and saved 2 chairs and a table at the far north end of the beach under a palm. He saw the sun come up. Then we walked up to the lobby for the buffet breakfast at La Selva Restaurant. After having a great breakfast with lots of bacon and wonderful exotic fruit, Bob went back to the room to get suntan spray on, and Les went on to the beach. She swam 45 min. in both directions, and out beyond the buoys 1/2 again as far as shore before Bob arrived. So far she has seen no living coral. There were 2-3' waves, and she played in them for 10 min. We ate lunch at the La Palapa buffet overlooking the beach. We snorkeled 25 min. later, and Les swam another 15 min., for a total of 1 hr. 25 min. We didn't really see much snorkeling. We then took a 15 min. walk south on the beach and back. We stopped at a little handicraft shack on the beach, and Les bought a handmade wooden bracelet and a pair of large shell earrings for $11 total - good deal, and helping the locals out.
Once again, our Apple representative did not show up at 6:15 PM - 2nd night in a row of not showing up, and not calling either! The hotel got hold of another Apple customer service person on the phone, and Les told her we had a problem with our transfers back to the airport, and that it needed to be fixed - now! She took care of it right on the phone, then I handled the phone over to the other couple that had a similar problem. Apple seems to have problems with transfers when you go to 1 hotel and return from a different one. But neither our travel agent or I, when I looked over the documents from Apple, caught the error. The date was 1 week too soon and from the 1st hotel, not the 2nd. We ate at the Mexican restaurant, Centenario, tonight - not as good as the Italian, but ok. The soup and salad were good. Neither of us liked our appetitizers. Bob's entree, a beef burrito, was ok, but not very large. Les's mixed fajitas (chicken and beef) were ok, just not like at Mi Pueblo, our local Mexican restaurant! Then we looked at the vendors' wares that were set up in the hotel lobby. Les saw an abalone pendant with just a little silver (a nice design) that she liked, but it was a ridiculous price! He dropped down some, but it was still $100 - way too much!
12/3 Fri. Today we ate breakfast and caught a collectivo to Tulum for $3 each, after eating breakfast. It is a very short walk out to the highway from CRT, only less than a block. We got off at the intersection of the Boca Paila Road (left to the beach and right to Coba, going south) and Highway 327. We thought maybe a taxi from here might be cheaper than from downtown Tulum (pueblo), but it was $5 to Ana Y Jose Beach Club. He wanted $7, Les offered $4, and we settled for $5. That beach club is just south of the rocky stretch, which had us a little worried, but it is the one Jack and Janet of Posada Luna del Sur hotel recommended 2 years ago. According the Internet, that hotel is now managed (owned?) by another nice couple, and Jack and Janet have moved on. When we arrived, you could see the rocks, and when we walked north toward them, there were pieces of dead coral on the beach, but none at the beach club. It was all sand, and today had gentle waves, where we swam and played. Les swam out quite a ways. We could not even see where the reef was. We got to use the nice beach beds, where we were able to get shade in a little while when the sun moved. We arrived about 10:30 AM. We did not have to pay for the beds, just order either drinks or food now and then. Beer was $3, while soft drinks were $2.50. Margaritas were way too much - $7! It was really nice.
After swimming 35 min. and 45 min. (Bob swam some also), we took about a 1/2 hr. round-trip walk south. Les noticed a lady walking the beach, selling jewelry. We started talking to her, and Les found out it was 'Guylene', whom Les has read about on the Tulum.info forum. 'Patmex' bought some stuff from her, and became good friends with her. Les just couldn't believe it. She actually met someone she's read about on the forum! Les asked her to walk down to our beach beds (a short distance) and show her what she had. Ana y Jose's was nice in bringing her out a glass of water. Guylene has some beautiful stuff, all handmade out of shells and stones (all kinds). We had only brought so much money with us, and we were still going to Tulum pueblo after the beach, so Les needed to choose just one set of something. She finally decided on a blue shell Mother of Pearl necklace and matching earrings, for $40. Les tried, half-heartedly, to talk her down, almost feeling guilty doing it, but ended up paying that. It was well worth it. She saw nothing like it later in Tulum, or even in Playa later. It was beautiful. Les would have liked to have bought something else, but hopefully we'll run into her again next time we come. Guylene is from Haiti, and is a beautiful lady, and is so nice. There was also another jewelry lady set up at Ana y Jose, but she was much more expensive.
After spending about 4 hours at the beach club, we caught a taxi into Tulum pueblo for 50 pesos ($4). We had him drop us at Don Cafeto's and ate there. We got free chips and salsa and pickled vegetables. Bob had chicken enchiladas, and Les had an appetizer of black bean nachos with cheese and guacamole. We each had a Margarita, and the total bill was $23, including tip.We only hit a few stores on that side of the street this time. It seems like Tulum pueblo is really hurting, and that there were a lot more stores there 2 years ago. We caught a collectivo back then. In pesos it was 60, which was only $5 for both of us. It is definitely better to use pesos for collectivos.
We had been really worried about a lot of places not taking American $s this trip, and there was actually a warning slip in the Apple information and on the Internet about $100 being the most $s a business could take in 1 transaction. We were worried about some places not taking American $s at all, and at the hotel shops they would not take American $. You had to either charge it to your room, or get money changed at the money changer in the hotel, which was not a good rate. Most everywhere else, though, they would take dollars, but because of various exchange rates, it was better to pay in pesos in a lot of places, like the beach club. So in Tulum Bob changed money into pesos at a rate as high as $11.75. The hotel only offered $10.50 at the most, but at shops they mostly gave a 12 pesos to $1 ratio.
Tonight neither one of us was crazy about going up front to a restaurant or out to the beach to the Grill, and Les had wanted to try room service this trip, since we didn't 2 years ago. It is included in the A-I here. Bob ordered a hamburger and a chef's salad, and Les ordered a cheese sandwich (had to get her cheese fix) and a chef's salad. It had said on the trip reports on this hotel, and they said on the phone when we ordered, that it might be up to 1/2 hr. But the food came within 15 min., and it was outstanding! The Chef's salads were better than anything we've had at the Ala Cartes so far. They had fresh lettuce, including dark green, chicken, ham, bacon, eggs, and cheese in them, with good Thousand Island dressing. We have to do this at least 1 more time! There is a pretty extensive menu up to 10 PM, then sandwiches only after that all night long. They also offer a full breakfast menu in the morning - 7 to 11 AM, which we didn't get to try this trip.
I will continue this later.
We arrived into Cancun on time around 1 PM. We went through Immigrations and Customs quicker than we ever have (hardly any lines), and then got the red light. He searched 3 out or 4 bags, and we were on our way. We only spend 45 min. to an hour in the airport. We found the Apple representatives and were on our way within 1/2 hour. There were 2 other sets of people to be dropped off 1st - at Dreams Puerto Aventuras and the Barcelo Maya Palace. We definitely would not want to stay in Puerto Aventuras or the Palace, although we would consider staying at Barcelo Colonial or Tropical again. Each place took about 15 min. We saw where our 2nd resort was. The 2 resorts are about 45 minutes apart. We had found out a few days ago that a world-wide Global Warming Conference was taking place in Cancun, had started a couple days before we arrived, and would last 2 weeks. There were police and soldiers everywhere between Cancun and Playa del Carmen. I'm sure they were worried about drug gangs and terrorists. We were to read later that there were armed ships in the water around Cancun also. They are working on an overpass at Playa (it's a mess), and our driver took us a back way around Playa - took forever!
We arrived at CRT around 4 PM. It gets dark around 5-5:30 (they're on Alabama time) so we knew it was too late to change into our swimming suits. When we arrived at the front desk, Miguel helped us. There were a lot of cars parked out front, so we were worried about getting our room email request. I had never received an answer from CRT, like I did 2 years ago. I showed him my email request, and he said he thought he could meet our request. We got room 6114 - the closest building to the beach, 2nd floor, with 2 beds - better than 2 years ago. It was building 5 then. I had asked for either 5 or 6. We slipped him $5 - we were so happy. He was very appreciative. In about 1/2 hour our luggage was brought to our room. The weather here today is cool and cloudy and very windy, feels like mid 70s, a lot different than usual - it might have rained earlier. It's really great for our first arrival day. We sat out on our balcony awhile before starting to unpack. I could see staying in a hotel without air on the Tulum beach in this type of weather.
We were supposed to meet the Apple representative at 5:30, so we didn't even have time to go look at the beach. We rushed back to the lobby after unpacking, and he did not show up! We had the hotel concierge call the Apple office. There was another couple waiting for him also. They said he had a problem at another hotel, and would be there at 6:15 tomorrow night. Gee, he could have called! We had discovered we had the wrong transfer date on our return transfers from the wrong hotel. We had a Margarita and then another at the Lobby Bar, and then after talking to some other Americans - 2 of which we met 2 years ago - Les had a Baby Monkey drink - chocalately, really good, and Bob another Margarita. Then we went to the Italian restaurant, Toscana, but there was a 20 min. wait, and a 30 min or more wait at the Tapas restaurant. That's the bad thing about no buffet. The restaurants get busy after 7 or 7:30 PM. Both of these restaurants and the Mexican, Centenario, were up near the lobby. So we walked all the way out to the beach where the noontime buffet is the Royal Grill at night, hoping there would not be a long wait here. Amazingly we got right in - it didn't seem that busy. We each had steak - it and the potatoes were great, along with the chicken Caesar salad. The steaks were done exactly as we ordered them, but the service was unbelievably slow. We were here approximately 1 1/4 hours, which normally wouldn't matter, but we were kind of tired, getting up at 4 AM. The atmosphere was great - you could hear the waves and feel the breeze. We then went back to the room since the show, which was an Elvis Presley impersonator that night and would have been ok, was clear up front near the lobby. Les still had to finish unpacking and getting the beach bags ready for in the morning. Bob was asleep within minutes before Les even laid down on the bed! This is a fantastic room, and the air seems great!
12/2 Thurs. Bob went out at 6:30 AM, and saved 2 chairs and a table at the far north end of the beach under a palm. He saw the sun come up. Then we walked up to the lobby for the buffet breakfast at La Selva Restaurant. After having a great breakfast with lots of bacon and wonderful exotic fruit, Bob went back to the room to get suntan spray on, and Les went on to the beach. She swam 45 min. in both directions, and out beyond the buoys 1/2 again as far as shore before Bob arrived. So far she has seen no living coral. There were 2-3' waves, and she played in them for 10 min. We ate lunch at the La Palapa buffet overlooking the beach. We snorkeled 25 min. later, and Les swam another 15 min., for a total of 1 hr. 25 min. We didn't really see much snorkeling. We then took a 15 min. walk south on the beach and back. We stopped at a little handicraft shack on the beach, and Les bought a handmade wooden bracelet and a pair of large shell earrings for $11 total - good deal, and helping the locals out.
Once again, our Apple representative did not show up at 6:15 PM - 2nd night in a row of not showing up, and not calling either! The hotel got hold of another Apple customer service person on the phone, and Les told her we had a problem with our transfers back to the airport, and that it needed to be fixed - now! She took care of it right on the phone, then I handled the phone over to the other couple that had a similar problem. Apple seems to have problems with transfers when you go to 1 hotel and return from a different one. But neither our travel agent or I, when I looked over the documents from Apple, caught the error. The date was 1 week too soon and from the 1st hotel, not the 2nd. We ate at the Mexican restaurant, Centenario, tonight - not as good as the Italian, but ok. The soup and salad were good. Neither of us liked our appetitizers. Bob's entree, a beef burrito, was ok, but not very large. Les's mixed fajitas (chicken and beef) were ok, just not like at Mi Pueblo, our local Mexican restaurant! Then we looked at the vendors' wares that were set up in the hotel lobby. Les saw an abalone pendant with just a little silver (a nice design) that she liked, but it was a ridiculous price! He dropped down some, but it was still $100 - way too much!
12/3 Fri. Today we ate breakfast and caught a collectivo to Tulum for $3 each, after eating breakfast. It is a very short walk out to the highway from CRT, only less than a block. We got off at the intersection of the Boca Paila Road (left to the beach and right to Coba, going south) and Highway 327. We thought maybe a taxi from here might be cheaper than from downtown Tulum (pueblo), but it was $5 to Ana Y Jose Beach Club. He wanted $7, Les offered $4, and we settled for $5. That beach club is just south of the rocky stretch, which had us a little worried, but it is the one Jack and Janet of Posada Luna del Sur hotel recommended 2 years ago. According the Internet, that hotel is now managed (owned?) by another nice couple, and Jack and Janet have moved on. When we arrived, you could see the rocks, and when we walked north toward them, there were pieces of dead coral on the beach, but none at the beach club. It was all sand, and today had gentle waves, where we swam and played. Les swam out quite a ways. We could not even see where the reef was. We got to use the nice beach beds, where we were able to get shade in a little while when the sun moved. We arrived about 10:30 AM. We did not have to pay for the beds, just order either drinks or food now and then. Beer was $3, while soft drinks were $2.50. Margaritas were way too much - $7! It was really nice.
After swimming 35 min. and 45 min. (Bob swam some also), we took about a 1/2 hr. round-trip walk south. Les noticed a lady walking the beach, selling jewelry. We started talking to her, and Les found out it was 'Guylene', whom Les has read about on the Tulum.info forum. 'Patmex' bought some stuff from her, and became good friends with her. Les just couldn't believe it. She actually met someone she's read about on the forum! Les asked her to walk down to our beach beds (a short distance) and show her what she had. Ana y Jose's was nice in bringing her out a glass of water. Guylene has some beautiful stuff, all handmade out of shells and stones (all kinds). We had only brought so much money with us, and we were still going to Tulum pueblo after the beach, so Les needed to choose just one set of something. She finally decided on a blue shell Mother of Pearl necklace and matching earrings, for $40. Les tried, half-heartedly, to talk her down, almost feeling guilty doing it, but ended up paying that. It was well worth it. She saw nothing like it later in Tulum, or even in Playa later. It was beautiful. Les would have liked to have bought something else, but hopefully we'll run into her again next time we come. Guylene is from Haiti, and is a beautiful lady, and is so nice. There was also another jewelry lady set up at Ana y Jose, but she was much more expensive.
After spending about 4 hours at the beach club, we caught a taxi into Tulum pueblo for 50 pesos ($4). We had him drop us at Don Cafeto's and ate there. We got free chips and salsa and pickled vegetables. Bob had chicken enchiladas, and Les had an appetizer of black bean nachos with cheese and guacamole. We each had a Margarita, and the total bill was $23, including tip.We only hit a few stores on that side of the street this time. It seems like Tulum pueblo is really hurting, and that there were a lot more stores there 2 years ago. We caught a collectivo back then. In pesos it was 60, which was only $5 for both of us. It is definitely better to use pesos for collectivos.
We had been really worried about a lot of places not taking American $s this trip, and there was actually a warning slip in the Apple information and on the Internet about $100 being the most $s a business could take in 1 transaction. We were worried about some places not taking American $s at all, and at the hotel shops they would not take American $. You had to either charge it to your room, or get money changed at the money changer in the hotel, which was not a good rate. Most everywhere else, though, they would take dollars, but because of various exchange rates, it was better to pay in pesos in a lot of places, like the beach club. So in Tulum Bob changed money into pesos at a rate as high as $11.75. The hotel only offered $10.50 at the most, but at shops they mostly gave a 12 pesos to $1 ratio.
Tonight neither one of us was crazy about going up front to a restaurant or out to the beach to the Grill, and Les had wanted to try room service this trip, since we didn't 2 years ago. It is included in the A-I here. Bob ordered a hamburger and a chef's salad, and Les ordered a cheese sandwich (had to get her cheese fix) and a chef's salad. It had said on the trip reports on this hotel, and they said on the phone when we ordered, that it might be up to 1/2 hr. But the food came within 15 min., and it was outstanding! The Chef's salads were better than anything we've had at the Ala Cartes so far. They had fresh lettuce, including dark green, chicken, ham, bacon, eggs, and cheese in them, with good Thousand Island dressing. We have to do this at least 1 more time! There is a pretty extensive menu up to 10 PM, then sandwiches only after that all night long. They also offer a full breakfast menu in the morning - 7 to 11 AM, which we didn't get to try this trip.
I will continue this later.