mich999

Quote: Originally Posted by red789 A question for those of you who have been on sunrider private tour (smaller boat). It says the Max is 65, i have 60 ppl. Im concerned it is going to be way too crowded, ppl will get stuck inside and not even get to see the sunset or the sights. Let me know what you think - i really would like private, not if it will be too crowded, im worried i mihgt have to go with the larger boat and not private. Let me know what you think. I had 44 people on the Sunrider and the boat would not have been crowded at all with 16 more people, but everyone would definitely not fit up top, at least for seating. I'd say 35 of my guests were up top and had seating, maybe could get 40-45 for seating if people got cozy and squeezed closer together. If you look at the Sunrider pictures on their website, you'll see an open area up top too so in theory everyone could be up there to see things, but not everyone would have a seat. I had some guests who preferred to stay on lower level (or couldn't go up ladder to go up top) and they could see everything fine from windows in the cabin and it's a decent size - more spacious than I anticipated - probably had seating with tables for at least 25-30. Many people preferred to eat dinner down there and people would switch back and forth from upper to lower level. If it was me, I would opt for private tour on Sunrider for 60 rather than public on their larger boat.

Mineaux - that's horrible! I feel like I narrowly escaped because I debated endlessly between Escape the Sun and Sunrider but ultimately opted for Sunrider because I couldn't find any reviews of Escape the Sun and we had enough people to meet the 40 person minimum for Sunrider private tour. If I had had 22 people, I would have done what you did too. You will save a lot of brides future disappointment by sharing your experience - thanks again.

Quote: Originally Posted by Future Mrs. Griffith Just an FYI if you are worried about bringing certain things with you, keep in mind in most large cities in Mexico there is a Walmart, Sams Club, Costco...etc. Just in case you don't want to buy all the little advil packets and such in the states. Great point Jessica. I would just caution that it's hard to know what they carry at those stores in Mexico and they may carry advil, but not individual packets, or they may be a lot more expensive down there. I used the Costco in Cabo for snacks and bottled water to add to welcome bags.

Quote: Originally Posted by britsytoll Did anyone have issues with any first aid, hang over items? Advil, pepto bismol anything like that? I am making about 50 bags and will be putting a hangover kit together and just wanted to see if they frowned on the "drugs". Thanks! I brought 100 individual packets of advil and about 60 packets of dramamine for my welcome bags no problem. But I was secretly worried about this too even though I had receipts and we were below the limit. So I stuck the drug packets in a plastic bag into the suitcase with just clothes so even if one of the other bags with cameras got flagged (which did happen) they would focus on that -- just in case.

Heather - here is Nadia's email: [email protected]. Jess - I don't think it's tacky, but I kind of agree with Heather, just my opinion. Besides having people arrange their own transport raises other questions - how do you tell people you are paying for one, not the other; how do you ensure everyone finds the right place and gets there on time, etc. Like Laura - I'm sure many of my guests wouldn't have cared if they had to pay for their own transport, but I wouldn't have done the cruise without arranging transport. For all of my guests, I think that bus trip and cruise was the highlight of their trip - even more so than the wedding! I guess because people expect certain things at a wedding, but to have a tourist activity planned for them from beginning to end - they were soooo appreciative.

Oh and Nicole - I'm so jealous you're leaving saturday for a site visit to go there for a week! Enjoy your tasting and have some mini burgers at the Madero Bar for me!! : )

Quote: Originally Posted by nicole.gia Great Review! I am excited because I am getting married at the Hilton too in 2010 and am going to Cabo to visit again on Saturday for a week. During this time we are going to do a menu tasting....can I ask you what menu options you chose? Thanks! Nicole - you will love it! We kind of made up our own menu based upon a 2008 menu I had from the Hilton when I initially booked and putting together different pieces from the 2009 menu. We had several different appetizers for cocktail hour (mini pizzas, chicken quesadillas, chicken wontons, empanadas, mini meatballs, I'm forgetting a couple). The appetizers were beautifully served on little platters. For dinner I just asked for a mixed greens salad with balsamic vinagrette since I didn't care for the menu options, and the chef presented it in this amazing wonton bowl. Dinner was beef tenderlion with grilled baby veggies with a merlot reduction wine sauce and pureed potatoes - that wasn't an option either but I saw the merlot reduction sauce on another dish, maybe surf and turf and figured they could just make a tenderlion with the sauce. All the plates had little flowers decorating them too. I can't say enough about the plate presentation - everything was beautiful and tasted delicious. If you see a different combination or want to change something on the menu, just ask the Hilton if they can do it and to price it out for you - they're very accommodating - but you always have to ask.

Here are the restaurants that we went to during our week in Cabo May 24-30, 2009: Mi Casa - we went there for authentic Mexican. The food was good, but not fantastic, in my opinion, but maybe I was just annoyed at all the vendors that visit your table and hit you up for tips every 5 minutes. There were 2 clowns who made balloon animals even though we didn't request any and stood there until they got a tip, a mariachi band (that was fun because at least you could request something), a sketch artist. It was distracting, but others might enjoy that, especially if they have kids. Service was pretty slow and parking was difficult to find. Ediths - cannot say enough good things about Ediths - it was our best meal at a restaurant probably in both Cabo and Kauai. Mmmm - the Wally's special, catch of the day, shrimp and lobster - to die for. The ambiance was incredible - inside but no ceiling in areas so you can see the sky, they hang a pancho on each chair if you get cold. Strolling mexican band here was outstanding. Also, they have valet parking if you have a car. A highlight of our trip. We also ate numerous times at our hotel restaurants in the Hilton: El Meson and the Madero Bar. Excellent meals - could eat at Madero Bar for a month straight - mini burgers, wood fired pizzas, fresh tacos, salads - everyone raved about the food. El Meson had a variety of items, though heavy on Mexican fare and was excellent every time. Breakfast buffet also outstanding.

Quote: Originally Posted by *Heather* Was the $540 for both ways? They dropped you off and picked you up at a certain time? Yes - sorry! The price was for round trip. I checked one other place and it was over $700 for a bus so I went with Brown's and was extremely happy. Bus was on time, clean and air conditioned. Nadia will even send you a picture of it. They even picked us up at a different place than the harbor in Cabo because I left time for people to go to the Cabo Wabo after the cruise.

Quote: Originally Posted by Laura Z How did most of you handle the transportation from the resort to the cruise boat? I have approximately 75-100 guests so I am thinking that I may need 2 tour buses. If any of you could share what your transortation costs/vendors were it would be fantastic! I used Brown's Private Services - email Nadia, she is great. I rented a bus for 45 people for $540, not including tip. I don't know if they have two buses, but the one we rented was great and we would have added a van if we needed more space. We also used them for airport transport - I was really happy with their vehicles and service, as well as price.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jess yeah if they lay them before guests arrive - you can also have the guests enter the seats from the side so they don't step on the petals I had a flower girl but still that's what I did too. Flower girl just had a mini bouquet.

We did not use a TA. We posted travel info on our wedding website and I would run orbitz searches often and if I saw a good deal send an email to whoever it would apply to, but guests were on their own for airfare and most preferred shopping for their own deal.

I fully endorse private tour - I've read some other reivews where people regretted not doing a private tour, but never heard the reverse. Our guests felt so special having their own private boat and no one had to fight over seats or get there early to try to get on first. Of course, if you only have 20 people, it's not cost effective to do a private tour. On escape the sun boat tour - they only have you guarantee 35 if you have a smaller crowd.

My half a cent - I like your first dance song or the Adele Song (I just went on you tube and checked them all out). I don't care for Take Five for a JC slideshow, but I can picture JC's photos fading in and out in either of the other two. The Adele song really grew on me as I was picturing your photos and JC's style. Plus the lyrics keep repeating the "wonders of my world" which I think is a fabulous line to keep hearing as see JC's photos and you relive your wedding! Of course, you can't go wrong with your first dance song to evoke memories as well.

Ana - I do the exact same thing! I saw your teasers (AMAZING!) and I just asked you over there what you were thinking for your slideshow!

Ana - we asked Juan Carlos to use our first dance song. What options are you thinking about?

Quote: Originally Posted by destination We had no probs in Mexico. Split the OOT bag stuff between four people and no questions asked. The customs forms actually say you only have to report if you are bringing over $10,000 (I think). Lucky you, if you can spend that on OOT bags! The $10,000 limit is for CASH being brought into mexico. For goods that you are bringing that are also not for your personal use (i.e. OOT items), the reporting limit is $300 per person. They are worried about people bringing items in from the US for resale without paying tariffs. We were under the limit and did not report anything and split our OOT items among two bags, but one of them still got flagged for search - had disposable underwater cameras and OOT bags and some other things. I said I had receipts, she glanced at them for 2 seconds and looked at our bag and we were fine. In order to remain under limit and not have 6 suitcases, we also gave items for reception to relatives to bring for us later since we didn't need them until wedding day.

I can't tell from your post which country you are travelling to. But if you are going to Mexico, I can tell you that I had all my real receipts with me for my OOT stuff and they searched one of our 3 suitcases and when I showed them the receipts that showed the total was for less than $600, everything was fine. People use the faux receipts when they didn't save the original ones - luckily I had read on the forum to save receipts just as I started buying OOT items.

Hi ladies - just wanted to report back that I wore my hair down, it was super windy on the beach on my wedding day, but I don't regret it! I agree with sarafish that it was a little annoying at times but everyone loved it. A few pictures are on page 2 of my review if you want to see the locks blowing in the wind! http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t43913 Oh - and the plus was that none of the guests were hot with the breeze and they would have all baked without it, so they were happy with the wind. Luckily the wind was blowing straight in my face, but if it hadn't, the plan was for the groom and I to switch sides. I'm glad I wore my hair down.

I initially was going to wear my hair up also concerned about wind, but my dress looked so much better with hair down that I got married a few weeks ago with my hair down and despite the wind, I'm glad I did it. I did have a little pinned back on both sides just to keep hair out of my face with loose waves and hairspray. The plan was to switch sides with the groom if the wind was blowing the wrong way, but when I got to the beach, the wind was blowing straight in my face and it worked out fine. I don't regret wearing my hair down.

How exciting - you look amazing!! Juan is definitely worth the wait, but don't feel bad about being impatient - it's only been 3 weeks since my wedding and I'm already antsy!

Ana - I can't wait to see your your pictures from JC! 8-9 hours of pics - I'm so jealous, we only had him for 5. I figure once you get yours I'm doing a 2 month countdown until mine : )

"What time did your reception end? Jess" DJ ended at 10:30 per hotel rules. We had terrace until 11:30 so we plugged in an ipod player and most guests hung around until almost 11:30 chatting and finishing drinks. About half our guests (20 people) then headed up to the Lobby Bar which stayed upon past its midnight closing for us. We went to bed around 1 am.

Have a wonderful time and enjoy every minute!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Cassondra2009 Thanks for letting me know... I just went to Target and they didn't have any frames! I did end up buying a 4x6 unfinished wooden frame at Michael's for $1 that I'm going to spray paint white and hot glue a starfish to it. I am planning to do a practice one before buying all of the frames so I'll have to post a picture for opinions. Greta idea - thanks for the tip!