Paradisus Riviera Brides - POST HERE!

[LAURENANDBILL]

thanks kelly didnt know that

[RCBlondie]

welcome back Yamille, going to read your review. Sounds like you had a great time and I look forward to reading all about it and seeing your photos.

 

Lauren, from what I can tell PRC is close enough to Cancun that maybe it will not matter if the entertainment is cancelled. I read somewhere that they do provide a shuttle service, for a cost of course. But do not worry, your guests will have a great time because they are there to celebrate with you...and the hotel lobby can sometimes be a great place to hang out. You get to make your own party!!!

[yamille]

Lauren what I would do is wait until the end of June and check in about restaurants/pub stuff being open with Perla. I am sure it will all be open at that point again- if not sooner.

[LAURENANDBILL]

Thanks Yamille.. I would be so upset to get there and have to eat at the buffet every day..and no shows or entertainment,

so happy you survived and still had an amzing time

[KLC77]

Yamille~ it really stinks that no one gave you a heads up about everything being closed! I would've been so mad. I'm so glad that you guys had a great time anyway and that Miguel tried to take care of you. And, I love the picture of your flowers with the starfish in it. Its so neat to know that I had the same one at my wedding, and that Lauren will have it at hers.

 

I'm thinking that after all of the rest of you are married we need to plan a BDW trip to PRC! lol

[KLC77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LAURENANDBILL thanks kelly didnt know that

I don't want some stalker scoping out your house! lol

[FutureMrsC]

Hi girls, I just wanted to post about all of the restaurants/spa being closed. My fiance's aunt is our travel agent and so she gave me that information over the weekend and needless to say, like you Lauren, I was SO SO SO bummed. We are paying for everyone's stay for the week, and I was really looking forward to everyone having an amazing time with the opportunity to enjoy all that the resort has to offer -- that is, afterall, why we booked there.

 

FI's aunt happened to have a seminar (or whatever they call it in the travel industry) with the Melia people yesterday. (Melia owns the Paradisus resorts), and her contact from the Paradisus Riviera was there. She was able to pick her brain about the goings on down there ..... The rep wasnt able to divulge much other than, of course, that they are hoping things will be re-opened by the time that we go down in July, but she would not make any promises. As of now, the Spa has been re-opened and will remain so. Should it have to close again, all spa treatments will still be available in your room, or on the beach, etc. The Japanese, French and Italian restaurants are closed as of now, and there is no guarantee as to when they will re-open. All desicions are being made solely based on occupancy, as they can't afford to run these restaurants with so few people at the resort. Of course, the rep assured my aunt that we would be given monetary compensation or a comp-ed return stay, however, I am not interested in either. I certainly don't want to go down for the week to celebrate my wedding and have to eat at the buffet every day.

 

Unfortunately, this is the hand we've been dealt and it doesnt seem like theres much we can do to change it. I am thankful to know ahead of time, whereas if I had gotten down there and found out this information I would be pretty upset. Perla has not mentioned anything to me as of yet ... I wonder if she will. I did email her in the middle of last week regarding some details and have not yet heard back.

 

I'll definitely keep you guys in the loop as I know things ... hopefully good things

[yamille]

ooh FUTUREMRS.. nice to have an in to get all the details. Yeah when we told our travel agent she FLIPPED out becuase she wasn't told and apparently all hotels are supposed to let agents know of any closings. Perla told me that out of 25 weddings scheduled for May she only had 12 still booked including mine. I was surprised and as said in my review- shocked.

 

Here's the deal.. when SF broke out and we were considering relocating to Jamaica or another place it wasn't the feel that we wanted for our wedding we decided together. After all the info about stuff being closed I was of course shocked, disappointed, appalled etc.. but my friend was like "listen we all didn't come down here to eat at a restaurant we are from nyc we can eat at cool restaurants all the time- we came here to see you and T get married." It made me feel better- it didn't solve the problem but I was better. This is what we did (if anyone is interested)...

 

Thurs- many guests arrived by the eve and we had two tables of 10 set up on one side of the buffet by the window. We had a great waiter and ppl were happy. Afterwards we went to the lobby hung out and they had karaoke going

 

Fri- people were on their own and we had scheduled our welcome cocktail in the mexican patio initially but people actually just ended up constantly putting tables together and there were like 3 different groups at the buffet all on one side - again. then we drank and danced at the lobby-there was a band.

 

Sat- our wedding day- we had a private event on the terrace for the eve. the women and men decided to split up for the day which was super fun. I felt like I was in 8th grade and we weren't supposed to see each other or talk. Mens table was on one side of the buffet rest and my table on another. It was fine.

 

Sun- perla messed up and told me that she would reserve a table at Capri for my party and she didn't so they could only take 10 of us I wasn't happy but people all decided that the ones who were leaving monday should eat at Capri and then others went and did their own thing in groups. The mexican restaurant was opened that night. (it's really really hot in there though I was told) People partied hard the night of our wedding so many crashed and some of us just talked and again hung out in the lobby. We pretty much faded fast though.

 

Mon- everyone did breakfast at their own pace and eventually we all met in the buffet. we had quality time with people that were leaving throughout the morning and some were staying so they went to pool/beach.

 

That was my breakdown about what we did about food and the restaurants being closed. It wasn't ideal but.. what was I going to do.

 

We were compensated in several ways which made the pill easier to swallow I guess.

[FutureMrsC]

Hey Yamille -- I just finished reading your review (which was great -- thanks!!) and your latest post.

 

My FI said the same thing your friend said about living in NY and being able to eat whereever whenever ... and hes right. I just wanted our families to feel special and get to see and experience all of the nice little extras that I did, which is why I booked there, you know??

 

Its defninitely a bummer that this silly little virus is affecting everything in such a big way (I REALLY think its totally sensationalized). It sounds like you guys had a wonderful time even without all of the restaurants though -- you said that you ate at Capri during your stay. So they opened it up for a night or something? I'm wondering if these places are CLOSED closed, or if they are just open certain nights of the week.

[yamille]

Capri was opened on Sunday night and maybe sat but it was the wedding so not sure. they had a few selections from all the restaurants available. Remember I was also there momorial day weekend which i thought would have a higher occupancy. Like 3 things from the japanese, 3 things french etc.. The whole thing was kind of weird because we were told that the governement did not want people crowding in enclosed spaces. ?? (disco/theatre/certain restaurants) weird right- I mean what the windows at the buffet negate the germs? We were basically lied to and then realized that it was due to low occupancy becuase other resorts in the area had all restaurants open.

 

I do understand your concern believe me but I really think it will be back to normal by the end of july.