rodent

Originally Posted by *Rachel* 

 

Am I crazy to think ferret people might be nuttier than cat hoarders? lol

1.  ferret people

2. cat hoarders

3. people who pretend to have ferrets

oh and a cab was $20 from aventura.  A collectivo would be ~$3 each, but my husband didn't want to take one.  

My Xplor review

I was so impressed by Xplor.  We showed up early to beat the lines and barely had to wait for the ziplines.  Wear watershoes for the ziplines, because there are water landings.  I didn’t realize this and had planned to change into my watershoes for the river, so I got my tennis shoes soaked.

They say it opens at 9, but I think they will let you in at 8:30.  I think we arrived about 8:45.

The ziplines were very nice, with double lines to make you feel safer.  The stops were very gentle. 

There was a lot of thought in making people comfortable.  As soon as you finish ziplining, there is a juice bar.  The lockers, clean bathrooms, and other amenities make for such a comfortable trip.

The lunch buffet was great.  The food was delicious and the open air restaurant was relaxing.

I loved the photo stations.  They recognize a chip in your helmet and take a photo as you pass by.  Then you can purchase them all when you leave at $45 for one person’s photos, $75 for two and then further discounts for more.  I was impressed by the quality of the photos.  They picked cool backdrops and used flash nicely to make the caves light up.  I also appreciated the group photo stations where you push a button and it takes your photo. I wish they were not all watermarked with their logo, even if you purchase them.

I enjoyed the ziplining and river swim the most, but all activities were nice. 

We paid for transportation, but ended up taking a cab back at 2:00.  Since we didn’t have lines, we were done with everything and ready to get back to our hotel.  We would have just taken a cab there, but we got a deal buying it as a package, since we did the hotel’s timeshare salespitch. I’d recommend just taking a cab or collectivo though and skipping the Xplor transportation.  It’s cheaper to only buy the ticket to get in and we’d prefer to come & go as we want.  The other family riding with us was really late, so we had to wait on them to go.  Finally we convinced the driver to take us & come back from them.  Otherwise we would have missed our advantage of getting there before the long lines.

I didn’t realize that there were 2 circuits of river rafting & driving the vehicles until the day after when I was looking at the brochure.  It also wasn’t clear there were 2 zipline circuits, but we did do both of those.  I’m not sure if the double circuits are more about crowd control so they don’t emphasize doing both.  1 round of rafting and driving was plenty though. 

Here is my review. 

Pros:

What we enjoyed the most was that the place was practically empty.  But, as it changes to a Hard Rock, I imagine it will start to fill back up again.  It was really nice having restaurants, pools, and the beach to ourselves several times.  

We really enjoyed the Jacuzzi tubs, but were told during the time-share sales pitch they will be removed.  Probably for the best, since they do waste a lot of water.

24-hour room service was a nice perk, but we never used it.

The drinks were really good with a nice selection of liquor. 

Staff was all very nice and helpful.  Tipping isn’t required, but the staff were all so great we tipped often.

The gym was really great.  I’ve never seen such nice equipment at a hotel.  The spa looked nice too, but we didn’t use it.

The room was nicely stocked with drinks.

The location is great, just a quick trip to Playa del Carmen.  

Lots of iguanas and a few monkeys around the hotel.

We enjoyed the jungly fitness trail and other landscaped areas between the rooms.  Except the one on the far spa end had a pond and therefor tons of mosquitos.

Cons:

The worst part of our stay, and reason why I would not go back, is that our rooms were so loud.  I think it would be OK if you were not in a hallway with rooms on both sides.  We couldn’t sleep at night with the noise of people coming back from the bars and then the noise of them ordering room service.

The tile walkways were very slippery. 

For such an empty hotel, I was surprised they would only give us a room with 2 full-sized beds.  

The food wasn’t that good and few restaurants were open.  We had dinner in the Italian restaurant, which I kept hearing was their best, and I wasn’t impressed at all.  There was always a nice selection of fruit at least.  My husband liked the food more than I did, so perhaps they are better with cooking meat than vegetables. I liked the beach buffet, but it was closed half of our stay due to rain.  

We were told long pants were required for the nice restaurants.  My husband didn’t pack any and pants were $70 in the hotel shop.  By the end of our trip, we learned they were not enforcing the dress code, but by then we had missed most of our chances to try the other restaurants. I think we would have found it more entertaining if we had gone to a different restaurant each nice, instead of the buffet each time.  I wish we had tried the Mexican restaurant, because it sounded like fun.  

I like a rocky beach with lagoons over a sandy beach and ocean waves, so I thought the beach was fine.  But, the lagoons were not nearly as fun as the Catalonia next door.  We had such a great time kayaking around the Catalonia.  At Aventura Cove, it was more like kayaking in a swimming pool.  You can’t get in the ocean there, either.  It would feel safer with kids though, so this is a great beach for families.

As nice as it was having the place to ourselves, it got boring.  There wasn’t enough to do around the hotel during the day.  The shows started too late for us to enjoy, since we were getting up really early each morning.  You also couldn’t walk to the town from there.  This is where I think it would be a different experience if you were there with friends & family.  We weren’t interested in the pool parties, but it would have been nice to have little activities, like painting ceramics, markets, or early evening shows.  

The rock climbing wall was closed for maintenance, and judging by the condition of the sign, it had been closed a long time.  We were disappointed in this, because we were looking forward to climbing.

We signed up for what we thought was a tour of the changes to Hard Rock.  Instead, it was a cheesy sales pitch to pay for a membership to the hotel.  It was really overpriced.  We told them we paid way less to stay at the Catalonia & they told us how their hotel was so much better, but we really enjoyed the Catalonia so much more.  I can’t believe people would actually purchase this membership plan.  Sounds like such a rip-off.  We did get $100 off an excursion though for sitting through the sales pitch.  Something they had during the sales pitch said the hotel is ranked #3 in the area on Trip Advisor, but right now it’s ranked #13 out of #16 in Puerto Aventuras.  

The bellhops left people’s luggage sitting outside unattended for a long time.  As we were waiting for our van to leave, we saw someone’s bag sit alone for 30 minutes.  It would have been so easy for us to steal a couple of bags on our way out.  

The shuttles to PDC don’t run very often so we never got to take advantage of that.  They also really promote the stay at one, play at the others, but it wasn’t clear how to get to the others.

Overall, this place felt kind of sterile and lacked the character and fun of the Catalonia.  Changing to a Hard Rock will probably be very good for this place, but the Hard Rock brand doesn’t appeal to us, so we will not be back.  If you are there for a wedding, it should be wonderful, since it will be so much fun just having your group together.  For just the two of us, not wanting to pay for an excursion each day, it was lacking.  

Originally Posted by breeburns 

 

Morgan, we also felt like it was dead and we were the only guests there but honestly I loved it! We had pool areas to ourself it was great. Oh and I know what your talking about with being woken up in the middle of the night by that darn squeeky wheeled room service cart! Drove me nuts!! Also our air conditioning in the room was noisy at times, but I think anything would have woken me up to be honest due to the lumpy really hard bed! I know other peoples beds weren't as bad as ours!

We also did Xplor the day before our wedding with a few of our guests and had a blast! It was definitely excerisize going up those towers and I would suggest to anyone who wants to go bring old running shoes because they will get soaked!! I wore flip flops because I only had brand new runners that I wasn't willing to get wet.

I'm going to try and post the sneak peeks from our photographer today! We just got them!!

yeah, we loved feeling like we had the place to ourselves.  We wanted to relax & were not looking for a party.  But, it did get a bit boring on Saturday when we decided to spend the day at the hotel, instead of an excursion.  It's probably because we were up at 5:30am and then in bed by 9pm, probably before the place gets fun.  

I'd recommend people trying to avoid the rooms within hallways.  

I think it would be so much fun with a group for a wedding feeling like you have your own private hotel.  

I packed watershoes for Xplor, but didn't realized you need them for the ziplines too so my tennis shoes got soaked.  I have a photo of my holding them up trying to keep them dry on the waterslide, but that was pointless because there was no hope for them at the lines with water landings.  Luckily they did get dry enough on the balcony for the flight home.  

For tipping, we tip a dollar with each meal and with each new bartender.  But it seamed like they were always changing bartenders so it was a lot of tipping. 

I just got back.  I was surprised how empty the place was.  Should be really fun for a wedding, since your group would almost feel like you've got the place to yourself. 

We had an OK stay.  Our room was in a hallway & it was so noisy at night.  We got woken up by all the people coming back from the bars and then again when they ordered room service.  

We had a great trip to Xplor on Friday.  

Originally Posted by SarahWitt 

 

Hi Morgan,

 

Congratulations on winning the BDW stay!! The switch isnt happening until the Fall, so you dont have anything to worry about.

 

I will be getting to Aventura Cove on May 19th, and my wedding is May 26th, so we might run into each other!!

 

 

 

Thanks!  Looks like we'll be going on the 31st now. Will you be gone by then?  When I got the voucher, it said I had to wait until May 30th to use it.  I had a hard time tracking anyone down today.  When I called the palace number, they said it wasn't their resort anymore & gave me an 1800 number that was a sex line. I tried a few other numbers and got tired of being on hold.  I'm faxing the certificate in tomorrow and hopefully we hear something back to get a flight booked ASAP.  

Originally Posted by jszy10 

 

Ahh!! Congrats Morgan!!!!!  I was married at ASP last June, and am heading back for our anniversary this June!  I think the switch isn't happening until after this summer?  Although some have been saying that things are slowly starting to change now?  I believe they are keeping the integrity of the resort the same but just mainly changing the decor???  I wish I had any information for you about that...I'm trying not to worry about any of it because we are already booked to go back, and we had an amazing time the first time we were there.  

 

Thanks!  I looked at pictures of the Hard Rock in DR.  It looks just like the tropical hotel it was before but then with some hard rock decor inside. So I don't see it having a negative impact now.  maybe it will be kind of cool. 

Hi Ladies!  I'm checking out the Aventura thread because I just won the BDW hotel stay.  I got married at Catalonia Riviera Maya next door, so it will be exciting to be back.  We might do a simple vow renewal while we are there. It isn't booked yet, but we are planning for May.

When does the switch to Hard Rock take place?  Anyone know what that will be like?  Just Rock n Roll displays?  I've actually never been to a Hard Rock.

I loved Puerto Aventuras.  The hotel is walking distance to a marina.  Some of our guests went fishing with captain ricks.  We chartered vans to Coba & Gran Cenote.  My favorite excursion was just a short cab ride to Paamul for snorkeling.  Wear shoes or fins though.  My husband stepped on a sea urchin.  Paamul was beautiful.  It's where the locals vacation & everyone was in an open air restaurant so we had the beach to ourselves.  Kayaking around the lagoon was fun, too.  I personally like the rocky beaches in that area.  They were beautiful for photos.  

So excited to be heading back to Mexico.  Will anyone be there around May 17th?  

I'm in Durham!

Originally Posted by Tammy Host 

 

promise us that if you do a vow renewal you will come back and write a review and tell us all about it!!

 

 

I'll learn how to use the new hotel review feature on the site & post lots of details!

Thank you Tammy & Alyssa!

I'm so excited about going back to Riviera Maya!!!  This is actually the hotel next door to where we got married.  It's on the same lagoon where our ceremony was.  We kayaked past this place during the honeymoon.  

We'll be celebrating our 4th anniversary this summer & I think we should renew our vows while we are there.  Just a simple ceremony with only the two of us.  

Thanks again!

We were not charged anything (other than 5-10 to get in) at Gran Cenote.  But, that was in 2008.

how will you get it there?  It's covered in fondant so that would get messed up in a suitcase.  It will also take up a lot of space.  With airlines charging by the bag, space is precious.  

What about replacing the cake cutting tradition with something else inspired by the location of your DW?

Yep, it's still my avatar.  They let the CD keep running after the ceremony & everyone else was cleared away.  We didn't have a reception, but this was our first dance. 

Originally Posted by 82turtles 

 

btw, Morgan, just checked out your Zazzle shop & postcards for Mexico. I was looking for something just like that yesterday after I saw another bride's cute vintage Hawaiian postcard STD's! 

I've bookmarked your page and will be in touch if I decide to go with that idea! Need to probably set a date and location first before I get carried away with DIY projects...

Thanks!  You can actually order them right through zazzle & type in whatever you want on the back.

Originally Posted by baezas 

 

Elena sent me prices for a Mariachi "band" for the ceremony, a bit dear, is 400 $ for 45 min....you can chose the songs you want them to play. To rent the sound equipment is 45$/h.

 

82turtles, I tried to PM re the bamboo structure but doesnt let me (?)....would you mind putting a picture here if you have the chance? thanks

$400 for such a short time does sound like a lot, but when you figure that many people getting dressed, packing up their instruments & showing up it makes sense.  One thing I really wish I had was a mariachi band playing as soon as we headed down the aisle.  I saw one wedding where they busted out into a dance right there after the wedding. 

But, it was really hot on our wedding day & after the toast, people headed somewhere cooler while we took pictures.  So maybe it wouldn't have really added much. 

The sound system was free for us & we had music playing from a cd we gave them.  Mike & I walked out on the rocks & danced.  A picture from that is on our wall.  Maybe it's still my avatar? 

I think it's weird to have the tent & the bamboo.  If your wedding is during a sunny part of the day or during summer, rethink not having the tent.   Most of our guests are from south texas & used to the heat, but june in mexico was unreal.  It was so sticky.  I think everyone would have been miserable without shade.  We were only having a quick ceremony, but they have to get out there before you.  Then things will always run late, because it's just more laid back in mexico.  I was ready early, but my ceremony still started late.  So total it was probably about 45min-1hour outside for our guests for a 15 min ceremony.  That tent was a lifesaver.

Originally Posted by 82turtles 

 

Just wanted to pass this along..

Not sure if others were concerned about this or not, but when I asked for initial info about getting married there, I asked if the tent was the only option. I just heard back from Elena a couple days ago and she said that you could "buy a bamboo wooden structure where you can add flower arrangements instead of the tent". Surely she means 'rent' not buy, but either way that's great news for me! So there is another option. I plan on asking her if she could send me a picture of what that might look like and what it might cost to rent and decorate it.

 

Also, is it odd to not have to put a deposit down to secure the date? I mean it's nice not to have to come up with the money, but I would worry about it being actually secured for my wedding or not. Anyone else worry about that, or is that really not an issue? Guess I just assumed everywhere would require a deposit.. Thanks ladies!

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by baezas 

 

Thats greeat news! 82 turtles I am not mad about the tent neither..please share the info when you get it!

 

In relation to the deposit I was just thinking the same....is a bit odd and they havent even asked me for a trip confirmation or anything neither. So far, the only thing I have paid for is the photographer.

 

I felt so weird that all they did was take my name.  I kept expecting to get there & they'd be like, "Morgan, who?"  But, I saw my name in the book and that really was all they were going by.  It was a very relaxed system, but they got it done. 

And yes, this hotel is way cheaper than others.  Everything was fabulous.  They just don't charge a lot for it.  Seriously, my wedding was a bargain & I couldn't get over how much we got for around $400.   

I made the Jamaica cards today.  All postcards are in my Zazzle shop here -> Retro postcards Mexico and Jamaica

I just realized I didn't have a picture of my postcards in the first post.  I started this for my brochures, but these mexico postcards have been by far the most popular thing I've made. 

 

 

I'm working on ones now for Jamaica & other popular DW locations. 

 

In Zazzle, you can type onto the back of the postcard to personalize it.  I suspect people have been using these at Save the Dates or for OOT bags. 

Originally Posted by josietoms 

 

Now my date is confirmed I have contacted a couple of photographers for quotes as I didnt like the ones the hotel uses (I presume they still use the same ones).

 

Do you know if we have to pay for a day pass or a nights accomodation like I see some of the other hotels request? x

In 08 a day pass was not required for vendors.  I just let them know who was coming so they would let them in.  They can't eat or drink without a pass.  I think there was a cheaper 1/2 day pass option if you wanted a vendor to be able to eat dinner.  It depends on whats in their contract and how long they are staying.  OH & it might be different with private receptions. 

 

Originally Posted by L&C In Love 

 

Hey Ladies, do they have people on the resort that do hair and makeup. I saw some pics recently of a wedding at the Cat and it looked like they were getting their hair done at the spa or maybe somewhere else around the resort. I was under the impression that they didn't really offer these services at the hotel.

 

Has anyone gotten their hair and makeup at the cat and if so, were you really happy with them?

They have a salon at the hotel now.  It wasn't there when I got married, so I can't really say much about it.

 

Originally Posted by briannarae23 

 

i am interested in booking a wedding next april - BUT I HATE THE TENT???  the other resorts i looked at had a pretty wooden structure with pretty colors of fabric, that tent is not what i want AT ALL.  has anyone ever done without it or had something different?

I guess it depends on what is more important to you.  I was happy my guests were comfortable & shaded.  It was such a hot day.  The tent also shaded us which made for great light for the photos. 

 

Originally Posted by Tonia579 

 

I hated the tent at first too! But I was so glad we had it!!! The person that did our ceremony stod outside of the tent for our ceremony and he is drenched in all of our pictures!! His shirt is stained with sweat! It was really, really hot!!

Totally agree.

I finally watched the finale episode.  Before, I only skipped to the end to see who won.  I loved Ellen doing the dance with twitch & starting off hanging from the door like katie.  I teared up though when Alex came out on crutches.  I'm still not over losing Alex in the show.  I hope he does the next season. 

Originally Posted by L&C In Love 

 

Ladies! I can't decide if I should stay there the full two weeks or switch after the first week! I have so much fun with my friends and family so leaving them would suck. But I also think my FH and I would need to relaxation and alone time. What to do? I don't even know what hotel I would stay at for the second week?

are you guests staying 2 weeks? 

If we switched, I'd want to go farther south to akumul or tulum.  Most of our guests left the day after the wedding.  I was happy a few stayed around, because it was fun hanging out with them once I was totally relaxed because the wedding was over. 

nooob here.  can you post a review on someone who isn't a forum vendor?  I tried to review my anniversary picture photographer & I couldn't figure out how to add someone new who wasn't on the list already.  Everyone on the list looked like they might be forum vendors.