Any 2012 Bride/Grooms to be out there??

I feel your pain honey! I have been looking at Sandos Playacar Beach REsort for the longest time and then heard about the Gran Caribe, so I looked into that as well, but after I read the reviews on tripadvisor I immediately went back to my first choice of Sandos. I walso need a resort that is kid friendly but I want a resort with a great beach, and within the price range that my guests are comfortable spending.....so until I find out anything further, Sandos it is....I just have to warn my middle aged guests about the time share issues, so that they dont get sucked in!

If you find another resort I please let me know, and I will do the same for you!!!

HUgs!
Jenn

I sent it off to you this morning!

Hi Maggie,

Would you mind sending that off to me as well?? I may have already asked you for this, but I never rec'd it, and not bc of you, you probably already sent it, but I had been having some issues, but they are fixed now.

Jennybell1@hotmail.com

THanks!!!

Thank you for sending me that info, I got it this morning!!

So I was researching Gran Caribe and I was falling in love with it until I came across something that said you will recieve a $400 surcharge for a ceremony after 4pm, and a $350 surcharge for outside vendors. I definatly want to try and find a place that does not charge for outside vendors because we wil hire an outside photographer and DJ. Plus we are getting married in June so we might have our ceremony starting as late as 6pm. So Gran Caribe is probably out. Still looking for a TA, has anyone worked with Tammy or know anyone who has, I was thinking of working with her.

Hi Soon-to-be-McRae -

My fiance and I are actually planning on having our wedding at the Gran Caribe Real. I totally understand what you mean about the reviews but I do have to say that most of the reviews we read were all great! Some here and there that weren't so great but we just thought that you just can't please everyone.

It was also important to us that we have our wedding at the Gran Caribe and so we decided to take a trip out there. We actually went this past December and did a wedding site inspection. Throughout our whole stay, everything was awesome! We had not one complaint! The entertainment staff was awesome, the food was good, the beach was awesome. I really don't understand how people say there is no beach because when we were there, the beach was huge! Yes, at one time there wasn't one but they have reconstructed and have expanded the beach. If you go to the Real website, you can click on the live webcam. That will give you an idea of how big the beach is. It still cuts off some of the beach so it's even a little bigger than what it shows.

When we went to tour the hotel, everyone was super nice. We had no issues with time share people. We have traveled to cancun many times and actually, I was surprised that no one mentioned anything about a timeshare. Maybe we got lucky, I don't know but even when we went to book our activities throughout our stay, again, no one bothered us with timeshare stuff.

On our site inspection, we met with Lorena and she was awesome. She walked us through every single thing and spent about 2 1/2 hours with us. She was very helpful with eveything and really took time to sit down and talk things out with us.

I truly understand your concerns. It's scarey when other people have had bad experiences but it doesn't necessarily mean it'll happen to you. I guess it's a chance we are all taking with having a destination wedding. For us, the Gran Caribe is everything we're looking for

I hope you find my email helpful!
-Norma

J88 - I think most resorts charge for an outside vendor regardless of what resort you are at, but the amount differs. Sandos Playacar charges $70 for a day pass so if you only have to pay for two people I guess that wouldnt be too bad. I know they dont charge any surcharges on when you choose to have your wedding. I actually found them to be the only ones that didnt nickel and dime you for everything, plus you got a whole lot more for your wedding pkg then the other resorts. We are having a symbolic wedding bc we are doing the legal day here in canada, and Sandos is the only resort that will give me the following for free: wedding champagne and wedding hut for 30 people, wedding cake for 30 people, beach wedding at any time, white linen covered chairs, table and sashes of my choice, music, full wedding co-ordinator services, upgrade to next room level if available, guarenteed king bed, wedding gifts, the list goes on. All the other resorts only seemd to cover these free things for up to 10-12 people.
As for the reviews, you just have to take them all with a grain of salt,no matter which resort you choose. Remember that people are always faster at posting a negative review then the people with positive reviews. If everyone that had a positive review posted a review like all the negative reviewers out there, this would never be an issue bc it would probably amount to under less then 5% of the total reviews. People are always so quick to point fingers. Most of the time, their vacation started off badly with something at the airport, and the negativity just followed them through the whole vacation. I think its all in what you make it. If you go there with a positive attitude and smile or laugh when something may go a-rye (sp?) bc really its probably not the end of the world, how can you have a bad vacation. People go there expecting way too much. THis is Mexico remember, not the USA or Canada. Our standards of a 5 star hotel are not the same of a 5 star hotel in Mexico. They work with what they have and I think they do a damn good job for what they have. Especially for what they make too. When I went to the moon palace in 2006, we had this amazing waiter and we tipped him $10 every night and then at the end gave him $20.00. We found out that he barely makes $100 per week!!! And he is one of the few that make that much. I think people forget that when they are there. They forget that our worlds are different. If you want a 5 star - then stay in the states or canada where a 5 star is a 5 star. People expect too much - its a vacation - they need to chill!
So dont worry at all about reviews.....its all in what you make of it. Besides your marrying the love of your life....things are going to go wrong - they always do.....it could be the smallest of things, but something always goes wrong. A wedding is never perfect, its just a big issue if you make it a big issue. Surround yourself with good reviews - bc they definitely outweigh the bad.....
Norma's review should be all that you need, if that is the resort you pick.
Good luck and dont stress. Where ever you pick, it wil be beautiful.
Jenn

I resent it to you!

Thanks Mags!

OK Ladies, I got my budget and things are looking good. My grandparents really want us to move the wedding from 2012 to 2011 and it looks like I may be able to swing it budget wise on my end so now I am waiting on my FI family to be cool with it. Then I can talk to the WC at Azul Sensatori and see what dates in May of 2011 are open. YIKES! I am an event planner so it's not like I can't get everything I was planning to do over 2 years done in 1 right? LOL