My little review...
I had similar experiences this December...but there are a few differences. We also stayed in the north side - the very norther-most building (tuba I think) and our room must have been totally remodeled because we had the flat screen, etc., and our wireless worked perfectly. It seemed they were remodelling quite a few of the buildings in between us and the south side so maybe we were the first north building done
I also actually had the wedding in the north gazebo and even though there is that fence there, it isn't in any pictures or the DVD at all... and it is so much more private. I did come in by the horse & carriage...not typically my thing, but I am glad I did it... The pictures are pretty cool. We also weren't organized enough to bring any of our own music, so we went with what they had and then there was the mariachi band, and it was all pretty great! They only let us choose the asian restaurant because of our group size (35) but it still worked!!! I agree with all of the comments about the staff being so friendly, not expectant of gratuities, etc... and I loved every minute of being there...going to make it hard to ever vacation somewhere else!!!! And I totally agree with the DVD being a great purchase....plus if you upgrade the photo package, you get the cd with all of the wedding photos... only thing I wish is that they stayed around during the reception/cocktail hour to take more pictures....but it was still great!!!!
And I did do the hair/makeup/pedi, mani before the wedding. I had to be there at 11 and didn't get back to my room until a little after 3 for the 4 o'clock wedding. Granted, it was nice to be pampered, but the hair wasn't something I would have normally done, and I don't wear foundation but couldn't get that point across because of the language barrier so I just gave up and started looking greasy in pictures after a couple of hours =).
The food was okay - some people like some restaurants better than others, but overall, it was better than any other all inclusive where I have been. Plus, the alcohol selection was great. Most of the people in our group are fairly decent drinkers, and they had most of the stuff that everyone would want, and they have a good selection (not top-top shelf but comparable (Bombay, Absolut, Captain, Crown, etc.)... all you have to do is specify the alcohol you want when ordering...
We actually rented a catamaran for our group to do a snorkel/sunset cruise thing the day after the ceremony, and the one thing I feel like I screwed up on was the location. I didn't realize how far AP was from Cancun, and the catamaran was out of Cancun... When I booked, the guy said the charter bus ride would only be 40 minutes (but we could drink on the bus of course), but it turned out to be 1:45!!!!! Which was fine on the way there, but everyone was so tired and drunk on the way home that the 1:45 seemed to take forever and practically nobody made it out that night! You can rent those catamarns from Port Aventuras which is only a 5 minute ride!!! My bad!!! Either way, we will return to AP...
Oh, and my favorite room service food was by far the club sandwhich. How can you screw that up!!!! And yes, room service will deliver wine (yes, not the best wine) and champage after the bars close (don't ask me why I know because I sure didn't need it)!!!
Now I know that this was long too....but it was fantastic... I want to go back!