Gran Bahia Principe Akumal/Tulum/Coba - POST HERE!

[msamanda]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to the forum so please bare with me as I am still learning.

 

I am planning a wedding at the Bahia Principe Coba for Feb 2011. Atleast this is my intent....so far things have not gone by smoothly.

 

I have a few questions. I have reviewed the threads, I am a bit overwhelmed by all the information!

 

First, I am from Vancouver BC, I am wondering if anyone can reccomend a travel agent/ agency to book with/plan with? This is the major hurdle I am finding now. My future husband is dead set on getting the week reserved and then getting group pricing worked out. I recognize we are a year away, how realistic is this? I am being told by our regular travel agent that the prices are not released until the spring and we'd have to wait. The future husband to be wants to ensure prices are affordable BEFORE we decide to book. I can see where this might be problematic as well. Any insight on the process is much appreciated.

 

I am thinking of Coba because I have read that due to the lack of wedding facilities, one gets a choice of the akumal beach or the tulum gazebo. Does anyone know if this is true? I am leaning more towards the gazebo...but do not want to stay in tulum! I also read that where ever the site is, you have a few choices for resturants in that area, am I understanding this correctly?

 

I read on an earlier thread that a woman was able to rent the piano bar type area for a few hours after the dinner for a small reception type deal. Does anyone know if this is a regular option that can be requested as opposed to a pool side reception?

 

Can anyone shed insight into the options if it rains? Alternative locations...ofcourse I am fearing this and am very very curious as to where they will put us!

 

Anyways, that's just a few of my questions! Thanks so much for all your help!

cheers

-Amanda

[msamanda]

Hi guys,

I just remembered another question that I had. We are planning on getting legally married here in Canada before hand. I am a nurse and have issues with getting poked with a needle in mexico...odd I know. So we are planning to really have a renewal of vows. Has anyone done this? Can anyone shed light on any issues (do they ensure its a 5 year renewal or anything like that). I am just a bit confused about how this occurs. I see the packages on the website, I just do not find them really all that informative. Just looking for some suggestions!

 

Thanks!!

[~Keira~]

Welcome to the forum Amanda. Hopefully I can help you out some.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by msamanda Hi Everyone, I am new to the forum so please bare with me as I am still learning.   I am planning a wedding at the Bahia Principe Coba for Feb 2011. Atleast this is my intent....so far things have not gone by smoothly.   I have a few questions. I have reviewed the threads, I am a bit overwhelmed by all the information!   First, I am from Vancouver BC, I am wondering if anyone can reccomend a travel agent/ agency to book with/plan with? This is the major hurdle I am finding now. My future husband is dead set on getting the week reserved and then getting group pricing worked out. I recognize we are a year away, how realistic is this? I am being told by our regular travel agent that the prices are not released until the spring and we'd have to wait. The future husband to be wants to ensure prices are affordable BEFORE we decide to book. I can see where this might be problematic as well. Any insight on the process is much appreciated.   There are travel agents that can be found on this site. Start there. I'm sure they'll be able to put all your travel agent woes to rest. As for timing, DH and I booked ours over a year in advance because our families were badgering us. In the end it worked out in our favour. Cheaper and less stress when you actually have an offical location, wedding date and time.   I am thinking of Coba because I have read that due to the lack of wedding facilities, one gets a choice of the akumal beach or the tulum gazebo. Does anyone know if this is true? I am leaning more towards the gazebo...but do not want to stay in tulum! I also read that where ever the site is, you have a few choices for resturants in that area, am I understanding this correctly?   We stayed at Coba and got married at Tulum. It was farther from the beach then we would have liked. On the flip side though we like the food and rooms at our resort better.   I read on an earlier thread that a woman was able to rent the piano bar type area for a few hours after the dinner for a small reception type deal. Does anyone know if this is a regular option that can be requested as opposed to a pool side reception?   I think that the piano bar option is only available when its raining. We had a poolside reception booked and ended up inside due to rain. It was nice but with a smaller group I would have prefered to be outside. Another bonus to inside though is it shelters you from the mosquitos.   Can anyone shed insight into the options if it rains? Alternative locations...ofcourse I am fearing this and am very very curious as to where they will put us!   Anyways, that's just a few of my questions! Thanks so much for all your help! cheers -Amanda

[msamanda]

Keira,

Thanks for the reply! We also are looking to book basically the year in advance. Our families are badgering us too! They wanted a years notice to save etc. Now the future hubby is complaining because he wants a location, date and time so we can send out invitations ASAP.

 

I am wondering if the travel agent was able to secure the date, time etc. fairly early on? or did u just determine the week and have to wait for the info. Like I said before, we are planning to stay in Coba, I want to get married in Tulum at the Gazebo. How long do you have to wait to secure that location as well? I have read some brides on here got bumped for a bigger party! I wouldn't be to impressed with that.

 

Thanks for all your help, makes sense to me, I am open to the poolside receptions etc. Sorry to hear about the rain! Can you shed any light on the indoor facilities if it rains? Ive never been to the Bahia, our families have been (parents) hence the pressure to have it there! I hear the alternative in door location is the basement room, is this true? Is it as horrible as it sounds? I ofcourse am concerned about rain!!!

 

I think that's about it for questions. I am a bit bummed that we cant bring in an outside photographer for the day. I am considering maybe bringing one with me. I have a friend who does it, another $1500 for a flight for him to come and hes just starting out seems steep. Things to ponder I guess!!!

 

Do you know anything about the chair cover ribbons? do they have options for renting other bows of a different colour? or is it just white.

 

Thanks again for all your help! I finally feel a bit more excited.

cheers

-Amanda

[~Keira~]

Quote:

Originally Posted by msamanda Keira, Thanks for the reply! We also are looking to book basically the year in advance. Our families are badgering us too! They wanted a years notice to save etc. Now the future hubby is complaining because he wants a location, date and time so we can send out invitations ASAP. I am wondering if the travel agent was able to secure the date, time etc. fairly early on? or did u just determine the week and have to wait for the info. Like I said before, we are planning to stay in Coba, I want to get married in Tulum at the Gazebo. How long do you have to wait to secure that location as well? I have read some brides on here got bumped for a bigger party! I wouldn't be to impressed with that. Our TA booked the whole shabang for us in June or July of 2008 and we got married in November 2009. It shouldn't be too much of an issue. Thanks for all your help, makes sense to me, I am open to the poolside receptions etc. Sorry to hear about the rain! Can you shed any light on the indoor facilities if it rains? Ive never been to the Bahia, our families have been (parents) hence the pressure to have it there! I hear the alternative in door location is the basement room, is this true? Is it as horrible as it sounds? I ofcourse am concerned about rain!!! We were meant to get married at the Tulum gazebo. About an hour before the wedding I was told that they would have to set up everything inside the Tequilla restruant because of the rain. 15 minutes before the ceremony our guests had arrived for the indoor location and then the rain stopped. They all scrambled to move it back outside so I could have my gazebo wedding. YAY. Anyway, my aunt got pictures of the indoor set up and it did look really pretty. I would have been totally happy getting married there but at the same time I'm glad they switched it to outside. I think that's about it for questions. I am a bit bummed that we cant bring in an outside photographer for the day. I am considering maybe bringing one with me. I have a friend who does it, another $1500 for a flight for him to come and hes just starting out seems steep. Things to ponder I guess!!! Keep looking. I've heard of lots of photographers doing pictures for free if you'll pay for their trip. You might not get prints included in that but thats something you can agree on with your photographer. Do you know anything about the chair cover ribbons? do they have options for renting other bows of a different colour? or is it just white. I wasn't given a choice but white was good for me. I've seen them online though for about $1 each so they would be inexpensive to buy. Thanks again for all your help! I finally feel a bit more excited. cheers -Amanda

Happy planning!

[Julie2011]

Hi Amanda,

Congrats on your engagement =) Im also from Vancouver and havent found an agent yet. I have called a few places to ask about booking for May 2011 but they all say the same thing ( no prices are in untill about a year in advance) If you find a great agent, please let me know. We are most likely staying at the Akumal side because of the amazing water view- and for some reason the one agent I talked to only booked Coba and Tulum? not sure why.

When we were there we did see a wedding group at the piano bar, but I think they just went there without the resort setting anything up for them.

[msamanda]

Hi Julie,

Congrats on the engagement!!! It is frusterating hearing the year and advance garbage from travel agents. You would think these places would want to secure group bookings (money!) well in advance. Kindof odd in my opinion. Did you already set a date with the resort Julie? I havent, I was hoping to have the agent do most of that work for me. We are thinking Coba for a few reasons A: cheaper, family memebers complaining already about cost and we dont have it! B: Newer rooms C: we are more pool people so we dont mind hiking to the beach if need be. I have read that if you stay in akumal, you only have access to the akumal beach facility, in tulum, the gazebo or beach there and if you stay in Coba, they dont have the facilies, so we have more flexiblity with sites/resturants. I am not sure how much of this is true, however, did help with my decision making! Anyways, I will keep you up dated if I find someone great! Happy planning!!

[waterandwoods]

Hi! I am new here! My fiance and I are considering a destination wedding and if we go that route it will definitely be Gran Bahia Principe Riviera Maya!

 

If you don't mind sharing, are there any special 'perks' or discounts you guys have gotten by doing a group booking through a travel agent? I know going the travel agent way would definitely be less work for me, but I'm all about saving myself and my potential guests money. When we go to Gran Bahia Principe Tulum we typically pay no more than $800-900 USD per person for seven nights including flights, tax and everything. This is during the summer, which is also when we'd probably have our wedding.

 

Do you have any insight on whether the rate would be lower or higher through a travel agent group booking than say a big internet site like travelocity, expedia, orbitz (who we usually book through)?

 

Thanks for your help, I have already learned a lot from reading this forum!

 

Elizabeth

[CowtownBride2B]

All of us Alberta girls want to go somewhere warm and sunny to be married don't we? :-)

 

I'm still new so don't really know any of you yet, but I look forward to planning and helping out other brides on here once I know what the heck I am doing!

 

To all you Coba girls - did the coordinators give you an option besides the jacuzzi area for a private cocktail reception? I asked the coordinator, she replied and answered my other question but ignored the one about other location options. My concern about the jacuzzis is that there isn't really a good set up there, but it's so hard to tell from the pics Karla sent me. So for that matter anyone have any good photos of a private cocktail receptiona at Coba? Thanks so much!

[Raykel]

Welcome MsAmanda, Julie2011 and waterandwoods! Congrats on the upcoming nuptials! Hope we can help a bit:)

 

MsAmanda....I would suggest you look at choosing a date and then sending out save the dates for everyone. Then they will know when the wedding is going to be. You could send a message along with the save the dates, or use email, a webiste you create for yourselves (there are tons of free ones out there and they are really easy to use) to update everyone about prices. You can take prices that are current now and tell people that it is now pricing, but you are sending it along to gice people an idea of costs so they can start planning accordingly. Just make it clear that price maybe higher or lower...then when you find a TA you can get a price and send the additional info out (again the joys of email and websites). Good luck!

 

Mike&Wendy...you have to post those photos!