Lisa

6/12/2008

Grand Riveria Princess

We had a great time. As a first-time international traveler I was expecting alot of hassles & everything went really smooth. Thank you for all the help.

The resort was beautiful. It sprinkled a bit on Monday when we got there, but sunny all week. Resort still needs some time for the flowers/trees to fill in, but really pretty now. Here are a few bits of info for any future travelers...

There was no skimping on the alcohol - top shelf brands & nothing weak or watered down.

They use filtered water/ice in the bars/restaurants so no digestive issues at all.

We found that leaving a $10 tip the first day for the maids got us plenty of towels & drinks in the mini bar - - a couple bucks each day to keep them coming back.


There is a TON of walking, which we loved (made up for the buffet). The resort is huge and a lot of uneven surface & stairs. If you have any older/handicapped travelers this is probably not a great place to go.

It's nearly impossible to get into the restaurants so plan to eat at the buffets every meal. The buffets were good and had wide variety - sometimes cold but to be expected on a buffet. We ended up getting into the Grill and Italian restaurants and both were good - limited menus and "fru fru" food that probably wouldn't appeal to the average Southern Illinoisan. A bit strange that we didn't eat one bit of Mexican food while in Mexico...the buffet really caters to the Europeans & Americans - alot of bread & fruit, fried foods, etc. GREAT desserts.


No need to pack beach towels - - they have towel stations near the pools & beach.

The beach is rocky in the water so wear water shoes (we had read that & had them along).

Highly recommend the parasailing.

Steve had a great time on the deep sea fishing charter - the rest of us were a bit sea sick. He caught 4 fish so we would have all caught one if we weren't sick - great crew & worth the experience.


Checking out at Noon & flying out at 8 is a little awkward - - we left our bags with the bell boys, but couldn't really enjoy the beach or pools knowing it would be a pain to shower & change before our flight. If I did it over, we would have checked out and left our bags & taken a cab into Playa on Friday instead of earlier in the week.

The Lomas travel rep was awesome...when our airport transfer on Friday had an accident on its way to get us he secured a limo at the last minute and got us there with no problems.

The security in Cancun airport is a bit different than St. Louis...they hand checked every bag at the gate & confiscated any liquids over 3 oz. Even sodas (unopened) that we purchased after the security screeners at the airport. I think in St. Louis you can bring liquids you purchase after the security screeners.

Most of the staff spoke English so we had no language problems.

There are a lot of French Canadians and Europeans at the resort so expect to see kids and topless women at the pools...the guys were fine with that =+)

Thanks again & I'd be happy to share photos of the resort if you'd like them.