Lesleyf

Can't remember exact cost paid for extra hour of bar service at the palapa but think it worked out to be around 200 USD Hope that helps

41 of us travelled with Thomas cook to Grand sirenis on 6th July for two weeks holiday and for my daughters wedding which was on the 15th. As a few of us had previously been to Grand Sirenis before we pretty much new what to expect and I have to say we were not disappointed the second time around The rooms were large and kept very clean. The bathroom had Jacuzzi bath ,separate shower and toilet, but as mentioned in other reviews the bath did take a while to fill. The consierge who were located on the ground floor of your building were fantastic and would like to mention Agnes and Edwardo who were our consierges in Building 18. They were extremely helpful and even knew you by name. Food – we found the food to be very good. The buffet always had a good choice and had different theme nights i.e. Mexican, Chinese, Italian .. We didn’t manage to do all the ala carte’s but the one’s we did do were all very good. Cajun was our favourite as was the Japanese , The Mediteranean was our least favourite. The pools – were kept immaculately clean. Had great fun in the lazy river. The younger members of our party spent most of their time at the swim up bar pool where all the entertainment programmes took place. Whilst the others spent time at the beach and the quieter pool which had a lovely bar that served fruit smoothies. The beach – we loved the beach and yes it was a little rocky to get in but we all remembered our beach shoes so wasn’t a problem. There was always sunbeds available and the breeze made the heat at least bearable. The waitresses came round to your beds and took your drinks orders fairly frequently although sometimes did have a bit of a wait – but again no probs. Scuba Diving – As me and my husband are divers we booked a package of dives with the onsite Dive shop. We did 2 ocean dives , 2 Cenote dives and a day trip to Cozumel with 2 dives. Although we enjoyed all these dives we would recommend if you have your own kit – take it! Their kit didn’t seem very well looked after and definitely needed servicing. My brother used their equipment and had an inflator hose go on him mid dive .... he was fine but obviously had to abort the dive and made him a little weary doing subsequent dives. The Spa / gym – The gym was fairly good – had a room of cardio equipment including running machines and cross trainers, the rowing machine was not working when I was there. There was also a room with weight machines and free weights. Did the water circuit at the spa – well worth doing – thoroughly enjoyed this. As my daughter used her own hairdresser (one of her friends who came over with us) she did not use the spa for her hair and make-up which was included in her wedding package. I was allowed to use this instead and was fantastic. I had a lady called MARITZA she did both my hair and make up and made me look and feel like a million dollars. I would highly recommend her. Now to the Wedding..... where to begin.... AMAZING, AMAZING ,AMAZING... I started e-mailing Araceli – the wedding co-ordinator a few months before the wedding . We booked the Presidential Wedding Package and after seeing pictures decided on having the reception in the Palapa. This was booked prior to us arriving. Can I say that all of our dealings were primarily with Araceli and she was extremely helpful and always replied to my e-mails with a few days. With the Presidential package the Bride and Groom were given a room upgrade to the Presidential Suite. I did confirm this with Araceli a few months before as apparently there are only 3 of these rooms so think it a first come first serve basis and she did confirm that they would have this room. The room was amazing – huge and came with a sitting area with plazma t.v., bedroom area with another plazma t.v. Jacuzzi bath, had a full bar area along with fridge, touch screen computer with free, unlimited internet, huge dressing area and then a huge shower with separate toilet and b-day. All other details for the wedding was sorted out the day after we arrived. We spent quite a few hours with Araceli and she went through everything that our wedding package included from flowers to the dj at the evening reception. I obviously wont list everything but am happy to answer any questions any brides to be may have. A few of us then went off and visited the Palapa and then to choose the location for the ceremony. There was a choice of 2. The beach immediately infront of the palapa which was fairly rocky or the beach located between Building 19 and the Spa. We chose the latter The day its self was perfect -The flowers were beautiful and exactly what my daughter wanted. The ceremony was wonderful – we chose to have a Christian minister take the service which cost an extra $200 USD but felt this was totally worth the money – he made the service extremely personal and the Sand Ceremony was very moving. The ceremony took place at 4pm and the reception was to start at 6pm. This worked very well as gave enough time for all the photo’s and for us to get from the beach to the Palapa which was the other side of the resort. We were all taken by the buggy over to the palapa but as there were so many of us it took quite a few trips to get us all over there. If there was one thing that we could moan about it would be that – it would have been great if there had been at least two buggies. We all had a great time at the reception – the Palapa looked stunning and Araceli and her team worked extremely hard in setting up all the tables for us and decorating them as we had asked. The food was lovely and the wait staff were extremely efficient. The wedding cake – was lovely but as they use this very soft cream filling and topping – where it was soo hot the cake did look a little wonky and so they had to cut the cake as soon as it came out as I don’t think it would have lasted . The DJ – well it was ok but I would advise you to take your own cd’s as we did . We were all on the dance floor all night. We did pay for the extra hour for the bar which enabled us to party until 11pm and then most went on to the disco afterwards. Would like to say a huge thankyou to all of the staff and to Araceli , Pamela and Cecilia who were around for pretty much the whole wedding making sure everything ran smoothly. Cant thank them enough for making my daughters wedding day a day we will remember for ever. Photographer – we did get an outside photographer as I had read many reviews that were not happy with the onsite one. We used Ashley at Blue Lens Caribe – she was absolutely brilliant and the photographs are stunning. I cant recommend her enough. We also opted for the video which again we were really glad we did. All in All we all had a fantastic holiday and a wedding we will all remember – Thank you Grand Sirenis for making this all possible. Well I thnk thats about it – sorry for the rather long review but if anyone has any questions am happy to answer – if I can.

Hi My daughter is getting married on July 15th at G S. . There are 41 of us travelling with Thomas cook out of London gatwick. We booked the wedding through TC but all the organisation has been done between ourselves and Araceli - the wedding co-ordinator at the resort. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding - trust me it will b here in no time. We booked the wedding in May last year and we leave in 10 days. Time has gone so fast. Have got lots of invaluable info from this site so am sure u will get any questions you have answered. Happy to answer anything if I can. Good luck with everything Lesley

Hi Donna Dont seem to have received your PM or e-mail. Have just requested you as friend on FB tho so lets hope that works. Really want to see your pics Thanks for answering all my questions. We are all getting really excited now and also very nervous - just hoping we've remembered everything that we need to take with us. My daughter Danielle who is getting married is also stressing a bit now too. Thanks for putting my mind at rest re the birth certificate thing. Did you take your own decoration with you for palapa for example favour bags ect......?? did the co-ordinators set it all up or do we have to help with that?? you've also put my mind at rest re the photographer as have read previous threads that dont recommend them at all. I have e-mailed them to let them know dates and that we want them to take the photo's - they said they would be happy to discuss our requirements when we arrive. Cant believe we leave in two weeks Speak to you soon Lesley Francis

Hi Donna Congratulations on your Wedding and am really pleased that you had a wonderful day. My daughter is getting married at the Grand Sirenis on 15th July. We actually arrive on 6th for two weeks - 40 of us travelling out of Gatwick with Thomas cook. I just have a couple of questions. Was most of the details to the wedding done when you arrived i.e. flowers, ordering the food, rehersal dinner ect??? Did you take your own decoration for the Palapa or did they do that for you??? Did you use the on site photographer if so did you book the package you wanted before you went or did you organise this with them when you were there??? If you have any pictures of the Palapa it would be great to see what they do and what it will look like. Oh and nearly forgot - Can i just double check with you that you dot not need to get birth certificated translated. Have asked Araceli and she has told me they only have to be translated if you have been previously married. Can you just confirm this with me . Thanks soo much Not long now til we go and want to make sure we have everything we need. Lesley

Thanks everyone for your replies. Donnaalec11 - Congragulations and have a wonderful wedding - i look forward to seeing your review when your back. Janette 34 - Contratulations. Suemon - Thanks so much for your reply. I will definately e-mail Araceli re the Presedential suite. I take it you had to pay extra pp over 10 people for the beach menu for the Palapa. Also do you have to pay extra pp for the wedding cake too or it that just included??? Also did you take your own decorations for the Palapa (i.e. table decs) or did they provide any???? Sorry for all the questions, only 8 weeks to go and feel that i am not at all organised. Am doing it for my daughter as she is finishing her degree. Really grateful for any info you have. Thanks Lesley

Hi My daughter is getting married at GS on 15th July. I have had no problems at all in contacting the wedding co-ordinator there and they have replied to my e-mails within a couple of days. They have been extremely helpful. We have booked the Presedential wedding package and have booked the Palapa for the reception - does anyone know if this package actually does guarantee that the bride and groom get the presedential suite ??? Also - a question for previous brides - did you tip the wedding co-ordinators after the wedding if so and if you dont mind me asking approx how much do you think is suitable??? Only 8 weeks til we leave and 9 weeks til the wedding..... We're all getting excited. Lesley

Hi Everyone Am so glad I found this forum. My daughter Danielle is getting married at GS on 15th July and as she is busy finishing her law degree me and the bridesmaids (her sisters) are busy working out all the things we have to do before her big day. There are a total of 38 of us coming out for 2 weeks beg 6th July and are now all getting really excited. We have just booked the Palapa for the reception and Aroceli has proposed we have the wedding at 4pm and the reception at 6pm. Do you think these times are good - does it allow time for photo's - and also is there still plenty of sunshine at that time of day or does it tend to cloud over (sorry seems a silly question but its one my daughter as asked). Also we were planning on using the onsite photographer but after reading some of your threads - am a little worried. Does anyone have any good experiences with the onsite photographer????? or should we really look outside??? Be grateful for any advice/ info that anyone has. Thanks Lesley

Hi Everyone Am so glad I found this forum. My daughter Danielle is getting married at GS on 15th July and as she is busy finishing her law degree me and the bridesmaids (her sisters) are busy working out all the things we have to do before her big day. There are a total of 38 of us coming out for 2 weeks beg 6th July and are now all getting really excited. We have just booked the Palapa for the reception and Aroceli has proposed we have the wedding at 4pm and the reception at 6pm. Do you think these times are good - does it allow time for photo's - and also is there still plenty of sunshine at that time of day or does it tend to cloud over (sorry seems a silly question but its one my daughter as asked). Also we were planning on using the onsite photographer but after reading some of your threads - am a little worried. Does anyone have any good experiences with the onsite photographer????? or should we really look outside??? Be grateful for any advice/ info that anyone has. Thanks Lesley