Trip Report: IB Del Mar & Maya

Calimari · 03-01-2005

Iberostar Del Mar/Maya Trip Report: 2/12 – 2/19/05

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This was our second time down to Playa and the Iberostar Del Mar. We had such a good time last year, we didn’t shut up about it, so both of my sisters & their husbands and my 14 year old niece decided they wanted to come with us this time. My one sister & her husband (50’s) are not well-travelled at all. Weekends in Michigan is pretty much it. My other sister & her family (40’s) have traveled more & have done some cruises, etc., but I still felt responsible for making sure they had a good time. For the week down there, I booked 2 excursions: Xcaret, as I really enjoyed it last year & didn’t get to see it all, and the James & Ana Tulum & Cenotes tour.

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We were supposed to leave Detroit at 5 am but, of course, our plane was delayed more than an hour. I don’t know why they tell you to call the airline before leaving the house, because you call at 2 am, the flight is on time. You check in at 4 am, and the flight is delayed. But we finally took off, made it thru everything at the Cancun airport, we all got green lights, found our luggage, etc. We weren’t bothered by any time share folks because I told the others to follow me, stay close, and I just plowed thru like I knew where I was going. Found the Apple folks & our bus to our resort with no problem. Got to the Del Mar around noon.

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I’d requested buildings 11, 12, or 13, poolside, with a first floor room for my sister who has a bad knee. We were giving building 13, poolside – our balconies faced beautiful jungle – totally private. 2<SUP>nd</SUP> floor for 2 of us, and 1<SUP>st</SUP> floor for one of us. My room was ready so we all went there & dumped our carryons, changed into swimsuits/cover-ups, and then headed up to the main buffet for some lunch. Everyone was hungry & was very pleased with the variety at the buffet. I told the others that the buffets are generally very good, but can get repetitive, so don’t eat everything at every buffet. Choose chicken one night, beef another, etc., and you won’t get bored. We also made our dinner reservations for the week: everyone got Mexican, Japanese, then Steakhouse for 5 of us & Brazilian for 2 of us. We spent the rest of the day getting settled in, hanging out by the pool, or getting familiar with the layout of the resort.

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Sunday: just a full day of R&R. We got up early & we were all able to get one of those nice palapas by the pool – the ones that look like a bed. We read, floated a tube around the pool, got drinks at the swim up bar. My one sister & BIL were in heaven because, again, they have never traveled & have never experienced anything like it. We all really loved the jungle walkways with all the birds, and the open-air buffet at breakfast – so pretty with cranes in the water, fountains, etc. My other sister & her family loved it too – they were worried the 14 year old would not be into it but she was loving the pool & the ice cream. My sisters & my husband and I decided to go to the 11am yoga on the beach. We did it for about 15 minutes, but you couldn’t hear the instructor over the water, and it wasn’t nearly as good as the yoga we do at home, so we abandoned it. We went over to the dive shop & saw that they were doing parasailing. My husband wanted to took that for right then as the weather was great & last year it was too windy every day. So we paid the fee, we were both shuttled out to a boat via jet ski. I was shuttled first, and they had to bring down the previous parasailer, then change the parachute to a 2 person unit, etc. I was on that boat in the rocking sea for about 20 minutes. I would have preferred to wait on the beach until they were ready because by the time they were hooking me in I was quite nauseas from the boat. Wish I’d had my Dramamine with me. The moment we lifted off the boat – it was great. Just floating & going higher, cool breeze, lovely view. It was really nice. Until about 15 minutes into it, the nausea from the boat overtook me, & I “fed the fishes” from way high in the sky. Felt much better afterwards! Luckily they had some fresh water down on the boat to wash me off. Lesson: take some Dramamine for the boat part. The Parasailing part was a cinch.

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After we landed we hooked up w/ the family & enjoyed some lunch at the smaller restaurant down by the beach, and then we were back at the pool for the afternoon. One sister & BIL got a massage by the pool & enjoyed it so much they made appointments for the rest of the week at the hut by the beach. My other sister & her daughter made some pottery by the pool & were pleasantly surprised how pretty it turned out for the price. My niece got her hair braided. All the typical tourist things, but relaxing, fun, very pretty. That evening we all had dinner at the Mexican restaurant, where we all had varying degrees of success with our choice of entrée. I think we all crashed by 9pm......"Monday" installment coming soon....

streckman · 03-01-2005

Nice report, have been there 3x myself and just love it. Did you sneak over to the Lindo side?? Can't wait for next installment, pictures too??

Calimari · 03-01-2005

Monday: Today is our big day for the James & Ana tour: Tulum & Cenotes. We had a private tour for our group (7 of us, paid for 8) & they were kind enough to pick us up at the hotel. Mitch was our guide & the day was very much as described by another recent trip review.

We headed off for Tulum first. We got there before all the crowds & the heat, so that was very enjoyable. The beach there looked beautiful, and our Tulum guide seemed very knowledgeable. Mitch added a few tidbits of information from his many tours of Tulum as well. My sister, of course, overdid it with her knee, walking all over the place, as she wanted to see everything even if it was off the beaten track on uneven terrain. Let’s just say that slowed her down for the rest of the trip & she’s recovering nicely from her knee surgery now.

After feeding the lizards at Tulum, we headed back to the van, dug into snacks & sodas and headed to the Grand Cenote. Hint: wear your bathing suit & a coverup to Tulum. Some of us changed into our suit at the cenote, and the bathroom is right down there w/ the outhouse at my grandparent’s farm. Only with porn photos taped to the walls (yes, this was the women’s room). Mitch showed us this extensive map of the cenotes & underground river system, which really makes you wonder how insane you would have to be to want to be a cave diver.

The cenote was beautiful. Physically beautiful, crystal clear water, stalactites & stalagmites – fishies – very nice. Of course, NOW is when I learn that my one brother in law can’t swim. There was a life vest, but he’s a pretty big guy & it wasn’t big enough for him. He gave it a shot, but it hurt his back as the lifevest didn’t really fit, so he wouldn’t go in. The other side of the cenote, where you are in a cave & Mitch worked the light so we could see into the dark areas, was very shallow. I mean you could easily walk around, but Keith still wouldn’t come in. He “guarded” our stuff & took photos of the cenote. His loss!

From there we went to lunch on the beach. We walked from the van thru a little bit of jungle where some folks were camping out, then out to this gorgeous white sand beach. Probably the nicest stretch of beach I’ve ever seen. The first thing I noticed was the nude couple lying on a blanket. When they realized we were all staying, they eventually put something on. A couple other nude guys were playing in the sand for the remainder of the time. Finally! I can’t tell you how many topless beaches I’ve been on w/ my husband making comments about the great view, and now it was my turn to enjoy a peek. My sister quickly prepared her 14 year old daughter, but they dealt with it great. We played in the water, dozed on the sand, and enjoyed a terrific lunch. I especially liked the mashed potatoes and the mangoes. Ooh – those mangoes were so good. Relaxed in a hammock a little bit too – I could have stayed there all day.

But hey – we had to head off to cenote azul, which is in a nice jungle setting. Keith stayed out of the water again (party pooper) but the rest of us swam around a lot. When we were getting ready to leave, I asked Mitch if we were the only group he’s had that DIDN’T jump off the high ledge into the cenote. He said yes. Then my family started complaining that they didn’t know about that, even though I’d e-mailed them photos of folks jumping off of it before the trip, and I’d mentioned it to them that day. So my sister & I went up to the ledge & the others started pestering us to jump off. You know, it looks a lot higher when you’re up there. My sister started bugging me to jump with her, but I wasn’t too sure, so she went for it. She claimed bragging rights & said now she can tell everyone I was too chicken to do it. You know how your mom asks if your friends jumped off a bridge would you jump too? Well, apparently yes, as I jumped. It was fun. I wish I did it sooner as I would have jumped several more times. Then my husband decided to give it a try & he jumped with his arms extended. WHAP! He had impact bruises on his arm for a few hours, but he was fine.

On the drive back, Mitch gave us all sorts of tips for places to see in Playa or where to find good snorkeling. We were pretty tired when we got back to the resort. Some of us hit the buffet & some of us did room service. I think we were all in bed, again, by 9. We are such party animals.

Calimari · 03-01-2005

Tuesday: Back at the Del Mar for another day of R&R to recover from our big tour. We managed to get 2 of the big palapas again. Weird – last year if you went out to the pool at 5 AM they were all taken. This time we’re checking at 7 AM, and they were still available. So we grabbed 2 for the 7 of us to share. We all zipped around the pool, the bars, the ocean – whatever. My brother in law said this is such a beautiful place, everything was so nice, he couldn’t imagine why people would pay more for the Lindo or Maya. He was wondering what they could possibly offer that would be worth paying more. My husband & I took our snorkeling gear & walked north on the beach a while towards whatever the next resort is, as the dive shop said there is some OK snorkeling by some coral over there. So we went out & at first we couldn’t see a thing – I thought it was pointless, but the waves started carrying us out further & the water cleared up & we were able to see lots of coral and a variety of fish swimming about. Surprising how far out we were so quickly. We stayed out for about a half hour or so & eventually made our way along the beach again. The beach is a lot different from last year. Half of the pier at the Del Mar was washed away due to hurricane, and there was a sharp drop off due to erosion at one area of the beach. It wasn’t so bad down by the Lindo/Maya beach. If you didn’t know what it was like last year, you might not have noticed it.

We spent most of the day bopping around the water choices, drinking & just having fun with the family. We traversed the length of the pool together & hit the swim up bar at the “quiet zone”. That bar was far less busy and the bartender there was great – gave us refills, calling us by name before we were even finished with the first drink! We went over to the Jacuzzi in the waterfall. Waterfall was not working due to some repairs. My husband got sufficiently tipsy to invite me back to the room for a bit of private fun – woo hoo! While we were there, a note was slipped under our door telling us we can have a free upgrade to the Maya. I called the front desk & they said they were offering it to everyone who was scheduled to leave this Saturday, so that means they gave it to my sisters as well. We went out to the pool & told the others & asked if they wanted to stay or go. It was going to be all or nothing, as we weren’t going to take the upgrade if the others didn’t want it, but we didn’t want to force it either, as we were very happy with where we were. Well, I guess the alcohol made us all giddy, & we decided to go for it. So we abandoned our palapas by the pool at like 3:30 to go and pack & make our move to the Maya. Idiots. Never trade happiness for the unknown!

We all packed up & made our way to the front lobby. We checked out & started getting shuttled over to the Maya. There was some confusion, as 2 of us got to the Maya first, and the 3rd was coming, but they wouldn’t “guarantee” rooms in the same area, etc. We did end up pretty close to each other – 2 of us in building 61, first floor, and the other in building 62, first floor. We got in/settled just fine, as did my one sister & her husband. My other sister, who has the 14 year old, had all the trouble. They put them in a king room with a couch. At the Del Mar, the couch could be made up into a bed for their daughter, which was great. This couch did not fold out. My other sister and me: we had couches that folded into beds, and we did not need them as there were only 2 people in each of our rooms. But the one who needed the fold out couch didn’t have it. She must have called the front desk 10 times. They kept putting her off because they were busy because of all the people moving over from the Del Mar. She told them she didn’t care if they were busy with other people because she was ALREADY there and she had NO BED for her daughter! And she didn’t have her luggage. We had all of our luggage, but hers was like 2 hours late, so she couldn’t change for dinner.

Now, as I mentioned before, we made all of our dinner reservations at the Del Mar on our first day, and this evening we were supposed to eat at the Japanese restaurant at 6. We were not told that, upon checking out of the Del Mar, that all of our reservations for the rest of the week were cancelled. Luckily the Maya has a concierge right at the building, so I tried to rebook dinner for the rest of us for 7pm. The only availability they had for 7 people was the French restaurant, so I took it. Then they said children are not allowed in the French, so the 14 year old could not go. I told him that children 12 and under stay at the hotel for free, but once they turn 13 that same kid is paying a full adult price to be at that resort. I asked how can they be a child in one circumstance but an adult in another? So he booked it for us. Of course, the luggage didn’t come, so then I had to go back and rebook dinner for later. What did they have at 9? Japanese. So that’s what we went for. Mind you – we’ve all been in bed by 9 every night so far, this was late for us. The meal was very good, very generous servings, but a few of us ducked out before dessert as we were just too tired to stay up.

First impressions of the Maya: The lobby is huge and spacious w/ giant sculptures. It is air conditioned – enclosed. It’s very pretty, but felt sterile to me. I really preferred the open/air, water gardens, birds, etc. at the Del Mar/Beach. I could see people preferring this in the summer, when it’s very hot. We were shuttled to our rooms, & it’s apparent that they put a lot of attention into the building courtyards. The rooms enter out into these courtyards & ours had waterfalls, mosaic floors, sculptures, etc. Less attention is paid to plantings or, perhaps, it’s just that the plantings hadn’t filled in yet.

The rooms were beautiful. They are much larger than the Del Mar, and the furniture is a little nicer. More storage room, safe is easier to use. We had 2 big Iberostar insulated mugs waiting for us, along with some jars of nuts & a bottle of tequila. The bathroom is large, with a Jacuzzi tub, separate shower, and 2 sinks. We had bathrobes. Phone in the bathroom too. Our balcony was not private – looked right out onto loungers & the pool, but there is a little “uncomfortable for anyone over 18” hammock chair out there. Every day someone stopped by or called to make sure we had everything we needed. Once my sister finally got moved to a room w/ 2 beds, things were better. But it was kind of stressful, & I was worried that it was an omen that the rest of the trip was going to be bad. It was a rough 5 hours that we could have spent by the pool at the Del Mar & enjoying our meal & walking the jungle paths.

The Maya didn’t seem nearly as easy to find your way around. The most direct route from the beach/pool area up to the lobby was walking through the buildings. Again, they made the courtyards in the buildings lovely, but I’d much rather walk through the jungle area at the Del Mar & see all the little hens, peacocks, etc. I found NO wildlife at the Maya. Walking over at the Lindo side I did see some. Went to bed hoping it would all work out in the long run. I felt that we rushed into the upgrade a little too quickly.

SunDowner · 03-01-2005

Great report

...patiently waiting for the rest

Calimari · 03-01-2005

Wednesday:
My sister w/ the 14 year old booked a half-day snorkeling excursion for this morning. Here’s a tip: other people at the pool were telling her how awesome this Morningstar tour was, so she went and booked it. While we were moving from the Del Mar to the Maya, she went to the Apple rep to let them know so our airport pickup would be OK. Then she mentioned she had to find the Morningstar guy & let him know to pick her up at the Maya. Well, the Apple guy about blew a gasket, because, of course, she booked an Apple tour, did the Apple orientation, but then booked a tour w/ another operator based on the recommendation of another guest. Apple sells the same tour. My sister didn’t realize this, so FYI – don’t mention to your tour rep if you booked something w/ someone else.
We decided to find our way to breakfast. We were close to the poolside restaurant, and they had a small buffet, but my husband wanted the big buffet. After lots of turns & maps, we finally found it. It was pretty much identical food to the Del Mar buffet, but the atmosphere was nothing special. What I love about breakfast at the Del Mar is that we always get a seat by the water, there are lots of birds, some fish in the water. You can hear the birds chirping. The building is open air with thatched roof – very tropical feel. The buffet at the Maya was in what becomes a specialty restaurant at night – it was indoors, looked like a regular restaurant. It was air conditioned which – I imagine – would be highly popular in the summer, but for this time of year I missed the ambiance of the Del Mar. I could hardly eat my breakfast as I was so disappointed. I wanted to go back to the other hotel, but I knew our terrifically located rooms would be gone, and my sisters would kill me. My husband convinced me to give this place a chance & not let it spoil my trip.

My other sister & her husband eventually made their way to the same buffet, and we were leaving them alone to enjoy the pool & resort & relax for a bit. We were heading to town. We only had to wait about 10 minutes for the free shuttle to Playa & we were on our way. Weird – the shuttle form says it’s 20 minutes to Playa, last year it was 20 minutes to Playa, but this year it seemed to take 30. Did they change the speed limit on the road or something? We got dropped off by the Aviary & trekked into town. Last year, I have to admit; I was not nuts about the town. The beach was gorgeous – yes – but I was really put off by the aggressive time-share folks. This year, we reminded ourselves that the time-share folks were nowhere near as bad as the gypsies in Poland or the rip off artists in Morocco, and that we would deal with them. I also held my purse in such a way as to hide my “all inclusive” bracelet. I was not bothered by a single time-share guy. My husband did not have such luck.

We were on a mission: he wanted Tequila. I wanted opal earrings to match the pendant I bought last year. I was wearing the pendant to ensure a good match. The clincher? I wear clip ons. After a little while, we decided to split up, as my DH could not stand another jewelry store, and I wasn’t all that interested in shopping for liquor. As I hopped from store to store, it was the same thing. I’d look around for a minute or two, I’d be approached, I’d show them my pendant & tell them I was looking for earrings. Then I said I needed clips. You’d think I’d asked for live sharks to hang from my ears. They all fell over laughing.

I did find another opal pendant for a friend who has admired mine greatly. It started out at $78, while I countered with $35. Eventually, the pendant was $60, then $50, then $45, then $40. I told the guy she’s not my mother – just a friend. I got it for $35. Couldn’t get as good a deal on the earrings. Many places offered to convert existing pierced earrings to clips, but they were ugly or didn’t match the pendant. Others offered to convert 2 giant pendants to earrings, but they were huge & costly. I finally found a gorgeous pair of earrings that matched perfectly to my pendant. $60. They were pierced. They converted them to clips for me, and I paid $45. I couldn’t get him down any further, but I think they knew that I was looking for something that was darn impossible to find. So I’m happy with what I got. Met up w/ my DH & headed back to the shuttle bus. I thought we’d eat lunch in town (we found a great little out of the way place last year) but my husband didn’t want to, so that was kind of a bummer. But I was glad to get back to the Maya as I wanted to check out their pool.

We were back by 3 so had a bit of time to enjoy the pool. We did the lazy river, which was neat, but very lazy. It was nice because it gave us a bit of quiet time together. We saw the wave pool. We finally found the rest of our group by the pool. They had been scattered between the pools & beach. So we hit the main pool, got our drinks, checked out the pools & the Jacuzzis in the middle island.

At the Del Mar, the Jacuzzi is under the waterfall, and it’s cold. In the pools they have these sort of “bubbler” sections, like a Jacuzzi, but it’s cold. You just walk in from the pool & sit in the bubbler zone. At the Maya, there is an island in the middle of the pool that has 2 jacuzzis. One is warm & the other is warmer. So, it’s nice that they are not cold like at the Del Mar, but they certainly aren’t hot tubs. The main problem is that they are VERY difficult to get in/out of. There is no handrail, and there are no steps. Once you make your way up onto the island, you have to sit down on the edge of the Jacuzzi, and then scoot into it. I take yoga & I’m very flexible, but it was very difficult to do. I don’t know how my sister w/ the bad knee managed it. I think it about killed her, but she wanted to get in the warm Jacuzzi.

At the Del Mar, there are 3 swim up bars. 2 in the more active “party” zone, and one in the “quiet” area. At the Maya, there is one huge swim up bar, and part of it is under a waterfall. It’s very pretty, but you can’t hang out there for long. You can’t hear people under the waterfall. You have to shout your drink order, and then you can’t hang & visit with people because you can’t hear. They have another large bar over by the wave pool, but it’s a walk up bar – it’s not in the pool. There did seem to be many more lounge chairs at the Maya than at the Del Mar, and they all had the little thatch umbrella thing, so you could stay in the shade. They did not have any of the bed-like palapas, though. That didn’t bother us – there were plenty of seats to pick from, & we were comfortable.

Because of the craziness of the move the night before, we never made dinner reservations for this evening, so we decided to go to the Lindo Buffet, which was by the pool, not too far from where we were staying. Again, it was more enclosed than the buffets at the Del Mar, but it did have a small outdoor area. The buffet here did not impress me. It seemed like the selection was not as good as at the Del Mar, and some of the standard desserts that we’d come to enjoy at the Del Mar did not exist here. They did have this giant tree of enormous shrimp – very impressive. They didn’t taste all that great. Sort of wonder if they were underdone. When I cut into the shrimp (these were cold peel n eat, but w/ the heads still on), it seemed kind of bloody. Ick. Still, we found enough things to taste & sample. My husband & I were determined to try to stay up one of these nights & see a bit of a show, but it just wasn’t happening. We did take a walk down to the beach after dinner – it was pretty dark by then. They had the same sort of nice walkway thru the jungle to the beach here that they did at the Del Mar, and I liked that. As we walked along the boardwalk on the beach, we were near a massage hut, we heard this noise & all of a sudden a raccoon came tumbling out of a waste can, ran up to the massage hut, and stared at us. He heard us coming & about freaked out. We watched him for a minute & then made our way to the beach to look at the stars for a bit. I still think we were all in bed by 9pm again.

I was feeling a bit better about the move. Tracey & Jim & Julia had a great time on their snorkel tour, and they were enjoying the Maya pools. Julia really loved the wave pool & all the ice creams. Bev & Keith enjoyed their day by the pool, and the zero-depth entries were easier for Bev to get in/out with her bad knee. They all seemed happy, so I decided it worked out OK. We’ll get a good night’s sleep for tomorrow we go to Xcaret….

Calimari · 03-01-2005

Thursday - the difficult day:
For one week in Playa, I booked 2 excursions so the others would have time to enjoy the resort or take a day in Playa if they chose. Well, my sister Tracey booked the extra half day snorkeling, so her husband didn’t feel like going to Xcaret because we were “doing too much & not enjoying the resort”. Oh, well. It was all pre-paid so he can kiss that money goodbye. The remaining 6 of us got a taxi van thru the concierge at the hotel – very comfy way to get there. I had paid for the admission for my sister Bev (bad knee) and her husband Keith (can’t swim) as an Xmas gift. This was not going to be an easy day. FYI: if you buy direct from Xcaret.com, you get a discount.

Keith felt Bev was doing too much on her knee & would only go to Xcaret if she agreed to use the wheelchairs they rent. Bev fought him tooth & nail on it. Tracey & I talked to her about the size of the park, that there were big paths that we would use to get from spot to spot & she only needed the chair for that part. Once we were in our locations, she could walk around. We finally got her to use the chair from the entrance to our first stop, the underground river. Keith would not do the river even though they had life vests to fit him. He took the wheelchair & met us on the other end. The rest of us hit the river & had a great time. Bev was in her glory & wanted to do it again & force Keith to do it with her.

We met up w/ Keith at the other end & then went to reserve activities. Bev & Keith had wanted to do Sea Trek (walk under the sea) as it’s ideal for non-swimmers, and Tracey & her daughter were going to join them. Well, that’s when we find out that Keith got hit by a bit o’ Montezuma, and he had no interest in going in the water. So, while the rest of us tried to go about our day & do our own thing, Bev was essentially mad at Keith for not getting his suit on & going in the water with her, and he was mad at her for not using the wheelchair at all. He finally went into the lagoon w/ her for a while (I gave him all the pepto I had, but my immodium was back in the room) & they saw the dolphins & enjoyed it. We tried talking Bev into just letting Keith go back to the resort as he wasn’t feeling well, and she could do stuff w/ the rest of us, but she couldn’t let go of the idea of him being there with her. I did manage to get them thru the Mayan Village (no wheelchair), and lunch. Then Bev was supposed to go to Sea Trek with my other sister so I went & did some snorkeling. Later I came across Bev & Keith on the path – she couldn’t handle the trail to the Sea Trek (no chair, again), and they were leaving. She was very upset. What could I do? I let them go. The rest of us snorkeled, dozed on hammocks, had a wonderful time. Eventually we went to the night show. The night show is great, but it is long, and I just saw it last year. I told my sister that the first half was the best – they do the history of the Mayan culture, conquered by the Spaniards, plus some interesting Mayan ball games. The second half is all Mexican folklore show/mariachi/dancing. So we stayed for the first half & ducked out early. Poked around in the gift shop & took a regular taxi back to the hotel.

So those of us who stayed at Xcaret had a great time, my brother in law who stayed at the resort had a great time (massage, workout at the gym, etc.), my brother in law w/ Montezuma wasn’t going to have a good day until he found some immodium, and my sister Bev just couldn’t allow herself to have a good time unless her husband was with her. Traveling with family can really be an adventure.

Of course, we were able to laugh about it later. Turns out that while leaving Xcaret, Bev & Keith got separated. She went into the restroom & told him to go ahead to the exit, and she’d meet him there. Never mind that she didn’t walk that route coming in (we did the river), so how was she going to find her way out, but he didn’t hear her. So she left the restroom from another door, found her way to the exit – no Keith. He was still at the restroom. My sister found him, searched the restroom – no Bev. So now he’s wandering around WITH THE EMPTY WHEELCHAIR looking all over for Bev, who is at the entrance, by the wheelchair rental, reporting him missing. She says the Xcaret staff was very helpful & wonderful. When they asked her to describe her husband so they could find him, she said he would be pushing an empty wheelchair that she was supposed to be in. Obviously, they found each other, but I don’t think they were very happy with each other. Please keep in mind that I gave them Xcaret for Xmas BEFORE my sister injured her knee. I’m not a sadist.

I think we just had a light snack/dinner at the Lindo buffet that evening, but it again didn’t wow me as much as the Del Mar buffet did. We did manage to get reservations for the steak house for Friday, our last night there.

Karen in NYC · 03-01-2005

Enjoying your reports very much.

I am going to Maya March 12-21. Scheduled to go again July 9-15, but depending on the first vaca, I may switch back to the Lindo. (I was at the Lindo three times last year)

babs31 · 03-01-2005

Your trip report is fun! Love it! Thanks for posting it....

Signed
ANOTHER DEL Mar er!

Calimari · 03-03-2005

I know I have one more installment of the trip report to make, but here are some of the photos (from my sister Tracey, who got them on line) if anyone is interested:

http://TraceyG.smugmug.com

Check it out!

bbA2 · 03-03-2005

Very nice photos! I am really enjoying your trip report as well. We are going March 26-april 2 and staying at the Lindo. Can't wait to get out of this COLD Michigan winter we are experiencing!!

Couple of questions:

How were the pools? I have heard some say they are a little cold, it looks like you guys were having fun in them so is it safe to assume they are a reasonable temp, and only getting warmer I would think.

How does the pool at the Del Mar/Beach compare to the Lindo/Maya? which is bigger, more interesting to spend time at.

How long does would you say it takes to walk to between the 4 hotels, like from the Maya to the Beach or Del Mar...whichever is further?

It seems as if they all share a common beach area...approx. how far can you walk up or down the beach from the hotels?

I look forward to hearing more about your trip.

bba2

Calimari · 03-04-2005

Friday (last installment):
Our last day. Can’t believe it. My husband and I walked around the Lindo lobby area last night, as I hadn’t seen it yet. I think it’s prettier than the Maya lobby.

We claimed our spots by the pool & spent the last day doing a little R&R by the pool and at the beach. We all got our insulated mugs & hit the bar, the Jacuzzi tubs, walked around the pool, visited, and just had a good time. A little rain cloud actually made an appearance at noon & rained for about 45 minutes. No biggie – we all just went in to grab some lunch & by the time we were done it was sunny again.

Spent a little time in the wave pool with my niece, read my book under my palapa. I was just so bummed this was it. I wasn’t ready to go home yet.

That evening we were packing up our stuff & then headed out to the steakhouse for dinner. The steakhouse was quite good – nice appetizer buffet, nice blooming onion brought to the table; everyone seemed to enjoy their meals. The waiter was very helpful – took group pictures of all of us while the chef’s behind us did wacky poses. We all reflected on the fun of the week, and my sisters told me it was pretty much their best vacation ever.

Saturday:

Had to be in the lobby at something like 6:40. Bummer as even the continental breakfast wasn’t ready yet. Uneventful trip to the airport. I was amazed – the airport was not crowded, & we got thru quickly. Last time the lines snaked all over the place. I guess that’s the payoff of an early flight. We all boarded the plane and SAT THERE FOR NEARLY 3 HOURS.

This was miserable. They were having some trouble fueling the plane. The plane wouldn’t take fuel, and then it would take it, but excruciatingly slowly. There was talk of taking us off the plane if things didn’t pick up, but we were all stuck sitting there for all that time. This was Ryan International Airlines. To apologize, they didn’t charge anyone for the movie (it was $5 on the way up, but free on the way down). Of course, it was a movie that I just saw – Sideways.

That morning I woke up feeling a little under the weather, but I thought it was just allergies & not getting enough sleep that last night. Well, by the time we landed, I’d completely lost my voice & was coughing my lungs out. Had a head/chest cold for the rest of the week & missed a couple days of work, as I couldn’t talk anyway. Nothing like going on vacation & then calling in sick! Luckily, it was believable due to the voice.

So now I’m sitting at work thinking “2 weeks ago right now, I was in the ocean” and wondering if I can save enough to go back next year. Better yet – next week! Oh! To have flexible vacation time!

Calimari · 03-04-2005

BBA - I'll try to answer your questions.

How were the pools?
---The pools were a little cold, but not so cold that we didn't quickly acclimate & enjoy them. The Lindo pool was a little warmer than the Del Mar, but it might just have been because it was later in the week & warming up each day.

How does the pool at the Del Mar/Beach compare to the Lindo/Maya? which is bigger, more interesting to spend time at.
----We liked both pools for different reasons. The main pool at the Maya is quite large, pretty, waterfalls. Completely separate are the lazy river & wave pools. So if you want to use those, you have to get out and walk. One nice thing about the Maya pool is they had more zero depth entry points, so if you have a hard time w/ stairs, that is easier to get in/out of. The Del Mar pool had more swim up bars (3 instead of 1). The waterfalls were all the way over on one side, rather than several throughout the pool. Really, both pools are wonderful and anyone would enjoy either. The Del Mar had little bubbler areas to sit in right in the pool, but they were cold - not hot. But the hot tubs at the Maya weren't all that hot either.

There seemed to be more loungers at the Maya, but we never had a hard time finding spots at the Del Mar either.

How long does would you say it takes to walk to between the 4 hotels, like from the Maya to the Beach or Del Mar...whichever is further?
---They go Del Mar, Beach, Lindo, Maya, in order. It's not a ridiculous walk if you cut through the middle of the buildings. If you do like my sister (the one w/ the bad leg of course) and walk up to the lobby & then out into the parking lot, past the spa and conference center, you'll be gone for hours. We cut thru the middle of the pool area (by the wave pool) over to the Lindo, between the Lindo buildings over to the Beach for breakfast or pool access. No worse than walking from the beach to the lobby.

It seems as if they all share a common beach area...approx. how far can you walk up or down the beach from the hotels?
---You can walk the beach for all 4 hotels. From the Del Mar, there is construction immediately north. We walked thru it & got to the beach on the other side of the construction for snorkeling one day, but you have to be careful & have some balance. We didn't try to go south from the Maya, so I don't know.

bbA2 · 03-04-2005

Thank you very much! After reading your trip report we are looking forward to our trip there even more! Aside from a few "family issues"

it sounds like you had a great time. We are going down with our son, my wife's mother, brother and sister-in-law. I suspect we may encounter some of the things you mentioned as a full week together, with family, can sometimes be errr...ummm exasperating at times. But that is the great thing about family, bad attitudes and arguments can be quickly forgotten and moved beyond! I fully anticipate a great time to be had by all!

Too bad about getting sick but better on the way home than on the way there! I am already thinking 1 week will be too short so I have already started planning our summer trip fro 2. If we enjoy it at the Lindo as much as I think we will I will probably book there again.

Thanks again for your reply

bba2

babs31 · 03-04-2005

Loved your pictures..what dates where you there? We were there 2/13 thru the 19.

03-01-2005	#1 (permalink)
Calimari toe in water Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 57	Trip Report: IB Del Mar & Maya Iberostar Del Mar/Maya Trip Report: 2/12 – 2/19/05 <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> This was our second time down to Playa and the Iberostar Del Mar. We had such a good time last year, we didn’t shut up about it, so both of my sisters & their husbands and my 14 year old niece decided they wanted to come with us this time. My one sister & her husband (50’s) are not well-travelled at all. Weekends in Michigan is pretty much it. My other sister & her family (40’s) have traveled more & have done some cruises, etc., but I still felt responsible for making sure they had a good time. For the week down there, I booked 2 excursions: Xcaret, as I really enjoyed it last year & didn’t get to see it all, and the James & Ana Tulum & Cenotes tour. <o:p></o:p> We were supposed to leave Detroit at 5 am but, of course, our plane was delayed more than an hour. I don’t know why they tell you to call the airline before leaving the house, because you call at 2 am, the flight is on time. You check in at 4 am, and the flight is delayed. But we finally took off, made it thru everything at the Cancun airport, we all got green lights, found our luggage, etc. We weren’t bothered by any time share folks because I told the others to follow me, stay close, and I just plowed thru like I knew where I was going. Found the Apple folks & our bus to our resort with no problem. Got to the Del Mar around noon. <o:p></o:p> I’d requested buildings 11, 12, or 13, poolside, with a first floor room for my sister who has a bad knee. We were giving building 13, poolside – our balconies faced beautiful jungle – totally private. 2<SUP>nd</SUP> floor for 2 of us, and 1<SUP>st</SUP> floor for one of us. My room was ready so we all went there & dumped our carryons, changed into swimsuits/cover-ups, and then headed up to the main buffet for some lunch. Everyone was hungry & was very pleased with the variety at the buffet. I told the others that the buffets are generally very good, but can get repetitive, so don’t eat everything at every buffet. Choose chicken one night, beef another, etc., and you won’t get bored. We also made our dinner reservations for the week: everyone got Mexican, Japanese, then Steakhouse for 5 of us & Brazilian for 2 of us. We spent the rest of the day getting settled in, hanging out by the pool, or getting familiar with the layout of the resort. <o:p></o:p> Sunday: just a full day of R&R. We got up early & we were all able to get one of those nice palapas by the pool – the ones that look like a bed. We read, floated a tube around the pool, got drinks at the swim up bar. My one sister & BIL were in heaven because, again, they have never traveled & have never experienced anything like it. We all really loved the jungle walkways with all the birds, and the open-air buffet at breakfast – so pretty with cranes in the water, fountains, etc. My other sister & her family loved it too – they were worried the 14 year old would not be into it but she was loving the pool & the ice cream. My sisters & my husband and I decided to go to the 11am yoga on the beach. We did it for about 15 minutes, but you couldn’t hear the instructor over the water, and it wasn’t nearly as good as the yoga we do at home, so we abandoned it. We went over to the dive shop & saw that they were doing parasailing. My husband wanted to took that for right then as the weather was great & last year it was too windy every day. So we paid the fee, we were both shuttled out to a boat via jet ski. I was shuttled first, and they had to bring down the previous parasailer, then change the parachute to a 2 person unit, etc. I was on that boat in the rocking sea for about 20 minutes. I would have preferred to wait on the beach until they were ready because by the time they were hooking me in I was quite nauseas from the boat. Wish I’d had my Dramamine with me. The moment we lifted off the boat – it was great. Just floating & going higher, cool breeze, lovely view. It was really nice. Until about 15 minutes into it, the nausea from the boat overtook me, & I “fed the fishes” from way high in the sky. Felt much better afterwards! Luckily they had some fresh water down on the boat to wash me off. Lesson: take some Dramamine for the boat part. The Parasailing part was a cinch. <o:p></o:p> After we landed we hooked up w/ the family & enjoyed some lunch at the smaller restaurant down by the beach, and then we were back at the pool for the afternoon. One sister & BIL got a massage by the pool & enjoyed it so much they made appointments for the rest of the week at the hut by the beach. My other sister & her daughter made some pottery by the pool & were pleasantly surprised how pretty it turned out for the price. My niece got her hair braided. All the typical tourist things, but relaxing, fun, very pretty. That evening we all had dinner at the Mexican restaurant, where we all had varying degrees of success with our choice of entrée. I think we all crashed by 9pm......"Monday" installment coming soon....

03-01-2005	#8 (permalink)
Karen in NYC way into it Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: New York City Posts: 207	re IB Del Mar and Maya trip report Enjoying your reports very much. I am going to Maya March 12-21. Scheduled to go again July 9-15, but depending on the first vaca, I may switch back to the Lindo. (I was at the Lindo three times last year)

03-04-2005	#14 (permalink)
bbA2 way into it Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: ann arbor, michigan Posts: 166	Thank you very much! After reading your trip report we are looking forward to our trip there even more! Aside from a few "family issues" it sounds like you had a great time. We are going down with our son, my wife's mother, brother and sister-in-law. I suspect we may encounter some of the things you mentioned as a full week together, with family, can sometimes be errr...ummm exasperating at times. But that is the great thing about family, bad attitudes and arguments can be quickly forgotten and moved beyond! I fully anticipate a great time to be had by all! Too bad about getting sick but better on the way home than on the way there! I am already thinking 1 week will be too short so I have already started planning our summer trip fro 2. If we enjoy it at the Lindo as much as I think we will I will probably book there again. Thanks again for your reply bba2 Last edited by bbA2; 03-04-2005 at 12:08 PM..

03-01-2005	#2 (permalink)
streckman life=playa Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Colorado Posts: 854	Nice report, have been there 3x myself and just love it. Did you sneak over to the Lindo side?? Can't wait for next installment, pictures too??

03-01-2005	#3 (permalink)
Calimari toe in water Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 57	Monday: Today is our big day for the James & Ana tour: Tulum & Cenotes. We had a private tour for our group (7 of us, paid for 8) & they were kind enough to pick us up at the hotel. Mitch was our guide & the day was very much as described by another recent trip review. We headed off for Tulum first. We got there before all the crowds & the heat, so that was very enjoyable. The beach there looked beautiful, and our Tulum guide seemed very knowledgeable. Mitch added a few tidbits of information from his many tours of Tulum as well. My sister, of course, overdid it with her knee, walking all over the place, as she wanted to see everything even if it was off the beaten track on uneven terrain. Let’s just say that slowed her down for the rest of the trip & she’s recovering nicely from her knee surgery now. After feeding the lizards at Tulum, we headed back to the van, dug into snacks & sodas and headed to the Grand Cenote. Hint: wear your bathing suit & a coverup to Tulum. Some of us changed into our suit at the cenote, and the bathroom is right down there w/ the outhouse at my grandparent’s farm. Only with porn photos taped to the walls (yes, this was the women’s room). Mitch showed us this extensive map of the cenotes & underground river system, which really makes you wonder how insane you would have to be to want to be a cave diver. The cenote was beautiful. Physically beautiful, crystal clear water, stalactites & stalagmites – fishies – very nice. Of course, NOW is when I learn that my one brother in law can’t swim. There was a life vest, but he’s a pretty big guy & it wasn’t big enough for him. He gave it a shot, but it hurt his back as the lifevest didn’t really fit, so he wouldn’t go in. The other side of the cenote, where you are in a cave & Mitch worked the light so we could see into the dark areas, was very shallow. I mean you could easily walk around, but Keith still wouldn’t come in. He “guarded” our stuff & took photos of the cenote. His loss! From there we went to lunch on the beach. We walked from the van thru a little bit of jungle where some folks were camping out, then out to this gorgeous white sand beach. Probably the nicest stretch of beach I’ve ever seen. The first thing I noticed was the nude couple lying on a blanket. When they realized we were all staying, they eventually put something on. A couple other nude guys were playing in the sand for the remainder of the time. Finally! I can’t tell you how many topless beaches I’ve been on w/ my husband making comments about the great view, and now it was my turn to enjoy a peek. My sister quickly prepared her 14 year old daughter, but they dealt with it great. We played in the water, dozed on the sand, and enjoyed a terrific lunch. I especially liked the mashed potatoes and the mangoes. Ooh – those mangoes were so good. Relaxed in a hammock a little bit too – I could have stayed there all day. But hey – we had to head off to cenote azul, which is in a nice jungle setting. Keith stayed out of the water again (party pooper) but the rest of us swam around a lot. When we were getting ready to leave, I asked Mitch if we were the only group he’s had that DIDN’T jump off the high ledge into the cenote. He said yes. Then my family started complaining that they didn’t know about that, even though I’d e-mailed them photos of folks jumping off of it before the trip, and I’d mentioned it to them that day. So my sister & I went up to the ledge & the others started pestering us to jump off. You know, it looks a lot higher when you’re up there. My sister started bugging me to jump with her, but I wasn’t too sure, so she went for it. She claimed bragging rights & said now she can tell everyone I was too chicken to do it. You know how your mom asks if your friends jumped off a bridge would you jump too? Well, apparently yes, as I jumped. It was fun. I wish I did it sooner as I would have jumped several more times. Then my husband decided to give it a try & he jumped with his arms extended. WHAP! He had impact bruises on his arm for a few hours, but he was fine. On the drive back, Mitch gave us all sorts of tips for places to see in Playa or where to find good snorkeling. We were pretty tired when we got back to the resort. Some of us hit the buffet & some of us did room service. I think we were all in bed, again, by 9. We are such party animals.

03-01-2005	#4 (permalink)
Calimari toe in water Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 57	Tuesday: Back at the Del Mar for another day of R&R to recover from our big tour. We managed to get 2 of the big palapas again. Weird – last year if you went out to the pool at 5 AM they were all taken. This time we’re checking at 7 AM, and they were still available. So we grabbed 2 for the 7 of us to share. We all zipped around the pool, the bars, the ocean – whatever. My brother in law said this is such a beautiful place, everything was so nice, he couldn’t imagine why people would pay more for the Lindo or Maya. He was wondering what they could possibly offer that would be worth paying more. My husband & I took our snorkeling gear & walked north on the beach a while towards whatever the next resort is, as the dive shop said there is some OK snorkeling by some coral over there. So we went out & at first we couldn’t see a thing – I thought it was pointless, but the waves started carrying us out further & the water cleared up & we were able to see lots of coral and a variety of fish swimming about. Surprising how far out we were so quickly. We stayed out for about a half hour or so & eventually made our way along the beach again. The beach is a lot different from last year. Half of the pier at the Del Mar was washed away due to hurricane, and there was a sharp drop off due to erosion at one area of the beach. It wasn’t so bad down by the Lindo/Maya beach. If you didn’t know what it was like last year, you might not have noticed it. We spent most of the day bopping around the water choices, drinking & just having fun with the family. We traversed the length of the pool together & hit the swim up bar at the “quiet zone”. That bar was far less busy and the bartender there was great – gave us refills, calling us by name before we were even finished with the first drink! We went over to the Jacuzzi in the waterfall. Waterfall was not working due to some repairs. My husband got sufficiently tipsy to invite me back to the room for a bit of private fun – woo hoo! While we were there, a note was slipped under our door telling us we can have a free upgrade to the Maya. I called the front desk & they said they were offering it to everyone who was scheduled to leave this Saturday, so that means they gave it to my sisters as well. We went out to the pool & told the others & asked if they wanted to stay or go. It was going to be all or nothing, as we weren’t going to take the upgrade if the others didn’t want it, but we didn’t want to force it either, as we were very happy with where we were. Well, I guess the alcohol made us all giddy, & we decided to go for it. So we abandoned our palapas by the pool at like 3:30 to go and pack & make our move to the Maya. Idiots. Never trade happiness for the unknown! We all packed up & made our way to the front lobby. We checked out & started getting shuttled over to the Maya. There was some confusion, as 2 of us got to the Maya first, and the 3rd was coming, but they wouldn’t “guarantee” rooms in the same area, etc. We did end up pretty close to each other – 2 of us in building 61, first floor, and the other in building 62, first floor. We got in/settled just fine, as did my one sister & her husband. My other sister, who has the 14 year old, had all the trouble. They put them in a king room with a couch. At the Del Mar, the couch could be made up into a bed for their daughter, which was great. This couch did not fold out. My other sister and me: we had couches that folded into beds, and we did not need them as there were only 2 people in each of our rooms. But the one who needed the fold out couch didn’t have it. She must have called the front desk 10 times. They kept putting her off because they were busy because of all the people moving over from the Del Mar. She told them she didn’t care if they were busy with other people because she was ALREADY there and she had NO BED for her daughter! And she didn’t have her luggage. We had all of our luggage, but hers was like 2 hours late, so she couldn’t change for dinner. Now, as I mentioned before, we made all of our dinner reservations at the Del Mar on our first day, and this evening we were supposed to eat at the Japanese restaurant at 6. We were not told that, upon checking out of the Del Mar, that all of our reservations for the rest of the week were cancelled. Luckily the Maya has a concierge right at the building, so I tried to rebook dinner for the rest of us for 7pm. The only availability they had for 7 people was the French restaurant, so I took it. Then they said children are not allowed in the French, so the 14 year old could not go. I told him that children 12 and under stay at the hotel for free, but once they turn 13 that same kid is paying a full adult price to be at that resort. I asked how can they be a child in one circumstance but an adult in another? So he booked it for us. Of course, the luggage didn’t come, so then I had to go back and rebook dinner for later. What did they have at 9? Japanese. So that’s what we went for. Mind you – we’ve all been in bed by 9 every night so far, this was late for us. The meal was very good, very generous servings, but a few of us ducked out before dessert as we were just too tired to stay up. First impressions of the Maya: The lobby is huge and spacious w/ giant sculptures. It is air conditioned – enclosed. It’s very pretty, but felt sterile to me. I really preferred the open/air, water gardens, birds, etc. at the Del Mar/Beach. I could see people preferring this in the summer, when it’s very hot. We were shuttled to our rooms, & it’s apparent that they put a lot of attention into the building courtyards. The rooms enter out into these courtyards & ours had waterfalls, mosaic floors, sculptures, etc. Less attention is paid to plantings or, perhaps, it’s just that the plantings hadn’t filled in yet. The rooms were beautiful. They are much larger than the Del Mar, and the furniture is a little nicer. More storage room, safe is easier to use. We had 2 big Iberostar insulated mugs waiting for us, along with some jars of nuts & a bottle of tequila. The bathroom is large, with a Jacuzzi tub, separate shower, and 2 sinks. We had bathrobes. Phone in the bathroom too. Our balcony was not private – looked right out onto loungers & the pool, but there is a little “uncomfortable for anyone over 18” hammock chair out there. Every day someone stopped by or called to make sure we had everything we needed. Once my sister finally got moved to a room w/ 2 beds, things were better. But it was kind of stressful, & I was worried that it was an omen that the rest of the trip was going to be bad. It was a rough 5 hours that we could have spent by the pool at the Del Mar & enjoying our meal & walking the jungle paths. The Maya didn’t seem nearly as easy to find your way around. The most direct route from the beach/pool area up to the lobby was walking through the buildings. Again, they made the courtyards in the buildings lovely, but I’d much rather walk through the jungle area at the Del Mar & see all the little hens, peacocks, etc. I found NO wildlife at the Maya. Walking over at the Lindo side I did see some. Went to bed hoping it would all work out in the long run. I felt that we rushed into the upgrade a little too quickly.

03-01-2005	#5 (permalink)
SunDowner beachaholic Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: West Virginia Posts: 493	Great report ...patiently waiting for the rest

03-01-2005	#6 (permalink)
Calimari toe in water Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 57	Wednesday: My sister w/ the 14 year old booked a half-day snorkeling excursion for this morning. Here’s a tip: other people at the pool were telling her how awesome this Morningstar tour was, so she went and booked it. While we were moving from the Del Mar to the Maya, she went to the Apple rep to let them know so our airport pickup would be OK. Then she mentioned she had to find the Morningstar guy & let him know to pick her up at the Maya. Well, the Apple guy about blew a gasket, because, of course, she booked an Apple tour, did the Apple orientation, but then booked a tour w/ another operator based on the recommendation of another guest. Apple sells the same tour. My sister didn’t realize this, so FYI – don’t mention to your tour rep if you booked something w/ someone else. We decided to find our way to breakfast. We were close to the poolside restaurant, and they had a small buffet, but my husband wanted the big buffet. After lots of turns & maps, we finally found it. It was pretty much identical food to the Del Mar buffet, but the atmosphere was nothing special. What I love about breakfast at the Del Mar is that we always get a seat by the water, there are lots of birds, some fish in the water. You can hear the birds chirping. The building is open air with thatched roof – very tropical feel. The buffet at the Maya was in what becomes a specialty restaurant at night – it was indoors, looked like a regular restaurant. It was air conditioned which – I imagine – would be highly popular in the summer, but for this time of year I missed the ambiance of the Del Mar. I could hardly eat my breakfast as I was so disappointed. I wanted to go back to the other hotel, but I knew our terrifically located rooms would be gone, and my sisters would kill me. My husband convinced me to give this place a chance & not let it spoil my trip. My other sister & her husband eventually made their way to the same buffet, and we were leaving them alone to enjoy the pool & resort & relax for a bit. We were heading to town. We only had to wait about 10 minutes for the free shuttle to Playa & we were on our way. Weird – the shuttle form says it’s 20 minutes to Playa, last year it was 20 minutes to Playa, but this year it seemed to take 30. Did they change the speed limit on the road or something? We got dropped off by the Aviary & trekked into town. Last year, I have to admit; I was not nuts about the town. The beach was gorgeous – yes – but I was really put off by the aggressive time-share folks. This year, we reminded ourselves that the time-share folks were nowhere near as bad as the gypsies in Poland or the rip off artists in Morocco, and that we would deal with them. I also held my purse in such a way as to hide my “all inclusive” bracelet. I was not bothered by a single time-share guy. My husband did not have such luck. We were on a mission: he wanted Tequila. I wanted opal earrings to match the pendant I bought last year. I was wearing the pendant to ensure a good match. The clincher? I wear clip ons. After a little while, we decided to split up, as my DH could not stand another jewelry store, and I wasn’t all that interested in shopping for liquor. As I hopped from store to store, it was the same thing. I’d look around for a minute or two, I’d be approached, I’d show them my pendant & tell them I was looking for earrings. Then I said I needed clips. You’d think I’d asked for live sharks to hang from my ears. They all fell over laughing. I did find another opal pendant for a friend who has admired mine greatly. It started out at $78, while I countered with $35. Eventually, the pendant was $60, then $50, then $45, then $40. I told the guy she’s not my mother – just a friend. I got it for $35. Couldn’t get as good a deal on the earrings. Many places offered to convert existing pierced earrings to clips, but they were ugly or didn’t match the pendant. Others offered to convert 2 giant pendants to earrings, but they were huge & costly. I finally found a gorgeous pair of earrings that matched perfectly to my pendant. $60. They were pierced. They converted them to clips for me, and I paid $45. I couldn’t get him down any further, but I think they knew that I was looking for something that was darn impossible to find. So I’m happy with what I got. Met up w/ my DH & headed back to the shuttle bus. I thought we’d eat lunch in town (we found a great little out of the way place last year) but my husband didn’t want to, so that was kind of a bummer. But I was glad to get back to the Maya as I wanted to check out their pool. We were back by 3 so had a bit of time to enjoy the pool. We did the lazy river, which was neat, but very lazy. It was nice because it gave us a bit of quiet time together. We saw the wave pool. We finally found the rest of our group by the pool. They had been scattered between the pools & beach. So we hit the main pool, got our drinks, checked out the pools & the Jacuzzis in the middle island. At the Del Mar, the Jacuzzi is under the waterfall, and it’s cold. In the pools they have these sort of “bubbler” sections, like a Jacuzzi, but it’s cold. You just walk in from the pool & sit in the bubbler zone. At the Maya, there is an island in the middle of the pool that has 2 jacuzzis. One is warm & the other is warmer. So, it’s nice that they are not cold like at the Del Mar, but they certainly aren’t hot tubs. The main problem is that they are VERY difficult to get in/out of. There is no handrail, and there are no steps. Once you make your way up onto the island, you have to sit down on the edge of the Jacuzzi, and then scoot into it. I take yoga & I’m very flexible, but it was very difficult to do. I don’t know how my sister w/ the bad knee managed it. I think it about killed her, but she wanted to get in the warm Jacuzzi. At the Del Mar, there are 3 swim up bars. 2 in the more active “party” zone, and one in the “quiet” area. At the Maya, there is one huge swim up bar, and part of it is under a waterfall. It’s very pretty, but you can’t hang out there for long. You can’t hear people under the waterfall. You have to shout your drink order, and then you can’t hang & visit with people because you can’t hear. They have another large bar over by the wave pool, but it’s a walk up bar – it’s not in the pool. There did seem to be many more lounge chairs at the Maya than at the Del Mar, and they all had the little thatch umbrella thing, so you could stay in the shade. They did not have any of the bed-like palapas, though. That didn’t bother us – there were plenty of seats to pick from, & we were comfortable. Because of the craziness of the move the night before, we never made dinner reservations for this evening, so we decided to go to the Lindo Buffet, which was by the pool, not too far from where we were staying. Again, it was more enclosed than the buffets at the Del Mar, but it did have a small outdoor area. The buffet here did not impress me. It seemed like the selection was not as good as at the Del Mar, and some of the standard desserts that we’d come to enjoy at the Del Mar did not exist here. They did have this giant tree of enormous shrimp – very impressive. They didn’t taste all that great. Sort of wonder if they were underdone. When I cut into the shrimp (these were cold peel n eat, but w/ the heads still on), it seemed kind of bloody. Ick. Still, we found enough things to taste & sample. My husband & I were determined to try to stay up one of these nights & see a bit of a show, but it just wasn’t happening. We did take a walk down to the beach after dinner – it was pretty dark by then. They had the same sort of nice walkway thru the jungle to the beach here that they did at the Del Mar, and I liked that. As we walked along the boardwalk on the beach, we were near a massage hut, we heard this noise & all of a sudden a raccoon came tumbling out of a waste can, ran up to the massage hut, and stared at us. He heard us coming & about freaked out. We watched him for a minute & then made our way to the beach to look at the stars for a bit. I still think we were all in bed by 9pm again. I was feeling a bit better about the move. Tracey & Jim & Julia had a great time on their snorkel tour, and they were enjoying the Maya pools. Julia really loved the wave pool & all the ice creams. Bev & Keith enjoyed their day by the pool, and the zero-depth entries were easier for Bev to get in/out with her bad knee. They all seemed happy, so I decided it worked out OK. We’ll get a good night’s sleep for tomorrow we go to Xcaret….

03-01-2005	#7 (permalink)
Calimari toe in water Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 57	Thursday - the difficult day: For one week in Playa, I booked 2 excursions so the others would have time to enjoy the resort or take a day in Playa if they chose. Well, my sister Tracey booked the extra half day snorkeling, so her husband didn’t feel like going to Xcaret because we were “doing too much & not enjoying the resort”. Oh, well. It was all pre-paid so he can kiss that money goodbye. The remaining 6 of us got a taxi van thru the concierge at the hotel – very comfy way to get there. I had paid for the admission for my sister Bev (bad knee) and her husband Keith (can’t swim) as an Xmas gift. This was not going to be an easy day. FYI: if you buy direct from Xcaret.com, you get a discount. Keith felt Bev was doing too much on her knee & would only go to Xcaret if she agreed to use the wheelchairs they rent. Bev fought him tooth & nail on it. Tracey & I talked to her about the size of the park, that there were big paths that we would use to get from spot to spot & she only needed the chair for that part. Once we were in our locations, she could walk around. We finally got her to use the chair from the entrance to our first stop, the underground river. Keith would not do the river even though they had life vests to fit him. He took the wheelchair & met us on the other end. The rest of us hit the river & had a great time. Bev was in her glory & wanted to do it again & force Keith to do it with her. We met up w/ Keith at the other end & then went to reserve activities. Bev & Keith had wanted to do Sea Trek (walk under the sea) as it’s ideal for non-swimmers, and Tracey & her daughter were going to join them. Well, that’s when we find out that Keith got hit by a bit o’ Montezuma, and he had no interest in going in the water. So, while the rest of us tried to go about our day & do our own thing, Bev was essentially mad at Keith for not getting his suit on & going in the water with her, and he was mad at her for not using the wheelchair at all. He finally went into the lagoon w/ her for a while (I gave him all the pepto I had, but my immodium was back in the room) & they saw the dolphins & enjoyed it. We tried talking Bev into just letting Keith go back to the resort as he wasn’t feeling well, and she could do stuff w/ the rest of us, but she couldn’t let go of the idea of him being there with her. I did manage to get them thru the Mayan Village (no wheelchair), and lunch. Then Bev was supposed to go to Sea Trek with my other sister so I went & did some snorkeling. Later I came across Bev & Keith on the path – she couldn’t handle the trail to the Sea Trek (no chair, again), and they were leaving. She was very upset. What could I do? I let them go. The rest of us snorkeled, dozed on hammocks, had a wonderful time. Eventually we went to the night show. The night show is great, but it is long, and I just saw it last year. I told my sister that the first half was the best – they do the history of the Mayan culture, conquered by the Spaniards, plus some interesting Mayan ball games. The second half is all Mexican folklore show/mariachi/dancing. So we stayed for the first half & ducked out early. Poked around in the gift shop & took a regular taxi back to the hotel. So those of us who stayed at Xcaret had a great time, my brother in law who stayed at the resort had a great time (massage, workout at the gym, etc.), my brother in law w/ Montezuma wasn’t going to have a good day until he found some immodium, and my sister Bev just couldn’t allow herself to have a good time unless her husband was with her. Traveling with family can really be an adventure. Of course, we were able to laugh about it later. Turns out that while leaving Xcaret, Bev & Keith got separated. She went into the restroom & told him to go ahead to the exit, and she’d meet him there. Never mind that she didn’t walk that route coming in (we did the river), so how was she going to find her way out, but he didn’t hear her. So she left the restroom from another door, found her way to the exit – no Keith. He was still at the restroom. My sister found him, searched the restroom – no Bev. So now he’s wandering around WITH THE EMPTY WHEELCHAIR looking all over for Bev, who is at the entrance, by the wheelchair rental, reporting him missing. She says the Xcaret staff was very helpful & wonderful. When they asked her to describe her husband so they could find him, she said he would be pushing an empty wheelchair that she was supposed to be in. Obviously, they found each other, but I don’t think they were very happy with each other. Please keep in mind that I gave them Xcaret for Xmas BEFORE my sister injured her knee. I’m not a sadist. I think we just had a light snack/dinner at the Lindo buffet that evening, but it again didn’t wow me as much as the Del Mar buffet did. We did manage to get reservations for the steak house for Friday, our last night there.

03-01-2005	#9 (permalink)
babs31 life=playa Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: south of Green Bay Posts: 849	Your trip report is fun! Love it! Thanks for posting it.... Signed ANOTHER DEL Mar er!

03-03-2005	#10 (permalink)
Calimari toe in water Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 57	I know I have one more installment of the trip report to make, but here are some of the photos (from my sister Tracey, who got them on line) if anyone is interested: http://TraceyG.smugmug.com Check it out!

03-03-2005	#11 (permalink)
bbA2 way into it Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: ann arbor, michigan Posts: 166	Very nice photos! I am really enjoying your trip report as well. We are going March 26-april 2 and staying at the Lindo. Can't wait to get out of this COLD Michigan winter we are experiencing!! Couple of questions: How were the pools? I have heard some say they are a little cold, it looks like you guys were having fun in them so is it safe to assume they are a reasonable temp, and only getting warmer I would think. How does the pool at the Del Mar/Beach compare to the Lindo/Maya? which is bigger, more interesting to spend time at. How long does would you say it takes to walk to between the 4 hotels, like from the Maya to the Beach or Del Mar...whichever is further? It seems as if they all share a common beach area...approx. how far can you walk up or down the beach from the hotels? I look forward to hearing more about your trip. bba2

03-04-2005	#12 (permalink)
Calimari toe in water Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 57	Friday (last installment): Our last day. Can’t believe it. My husband and I walked around the Lindo lobby area last night, as I hadn’t seen it yet. I think it’s prettier than the Maya lobby. We claimed our spots by the pool & spent the last day doing a little R&R by the pool and at the beach. We all got our insulated mugs & hit the bar, the Jacuzzi tubs, walked around the pool, visited, and just had a good time. A little rain cloud actually made an appearance at noon & rained for about 45 minutes. No biggie – we all just went in to grab some lunch & by the time we were done it was sunny again. Spent a little time in the wave pool with my niece, read my book under my palapa. I was just so bummed this was it. I wasn’t ready to go home yet. That evening we were packing up our stuff & then headed out to the steakhouse for dinner. The steakhouse was quite good – nice appetizer buffet, nice blooming onion brought to the table; everyone seemed to enjoy their meals. The waiter was very helpful – took group pictures of all of us while the chef’s behind us did wacky poses. We all reflected on the fun of the week, and my sisters told me it was pretty much their best vacation ever. Saturday: Had to be in the lobby at something like 6:40. Bummer as even the continental breakfast wasn’t ready yet. Uneventful trip to the airport. I was amazed – the airport was not crowded, & we got thru quickly. Last time the lines snaked all over the place. I guess that’s the payoff of an early flight. We all boarded the plane and SAT THERE FOR NEARLY 3 HOURS. This was miserable. They were having some trouble fueling the plane. The plane wouldn’t take fuel, and then it would take it, but excruciatingly slowly. There was talk of taking us off the plane if things didn’t pick up, but we were all stuck sitting there for all that time. This was Ryan International Airlines. To apologize, they didn’t charge anyone for the movie (it was $5 on the way up, but free on the way down). Of course, it was a movie that I just saw – Sideways. That morning I woke up feeling a little under the weather, but I thought it was just allergies & not getting enough sleep that last night. Well, by the time we landed, I’d completely lost my voice & was coughing my lungs out. Had a head/chest cold for the rest of the week & missed a couple days of work, as I couldn’t talk anyway. Nothing like going on vacation & then calling in sick! Luckily, it was believable due to the voice. So now I’m sitting at work thinking “2 weeks ago right now, I was in the ocean” and wondering if I can save enough to go back next year. Better yet – next week! Oh! To have flexible vacation time!

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03-04-2005	#13 (permalink)
Calimari toe in water Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 57	BBA - I'll try to answer your questions. How were the pools? ---The pools were a little cold, but not so cold that we didn't quickly acclimate & enjoy them. The Lindo pool was a little warmer than the Del Mar, but it might just have been because it was later in the week & warming up each day. How does the pool at the Del Mar/Beach compare to the Lindo/Maya? which is bigger, more interesting to spend time at. ----We liked both pools for different reasons. The main pool at the Maya is quite large, pretty, waterfalls. Completely separate are the lazy river & wave pools. So if you want to use those, you have to get out and walk. One nice thing about the Maya pool is they had more zero depth entry points, so if you have a hard time w/ stairs, that is easier to get in/out of. The Del Mar pool had more swim up bars (3 instead of 1). The waterfalls were all the way over on one side, rather than several throughout the pool. Really, both pools are wonderful and anyone would enjoy either. The Del Mar had little bubbler areas to sit in right in the pool, but they were cold - not hot. But the hot tubs at the Maya weren't all that hot either. There seemed to be more loungers at the Maya, but we never had a hard time finding spots at the Del Mar either. How long does would you say it takes to walk to between the 4 hotels, like from the Maya to the Beach or Del Mar...whichever is further? ---They go Del Mar, Beach, Lindo, Maya, in order. It's not a ridiculous walk if you cut through the middle of the buildings. If you do like my sister (the one w/ the bad leg of course) and walk up to the lobby & then out into the parking lot, past the spa and conference center, you'll be gone for hours. We cut thru the middle of the pool area (by the wave pool) over to the Lindo, between the Lindo buildings over to the Beach for breakfast or pool access. No worse than walking from the beach to the lobby. It seems as if they all share a common beach area...approx. how far can you walk up or down the beach from the hotels? ---You can walk the beach for all 4 hotels. From the Del Mar, there is construction immediately north. We walked thru it & got to the beach on the other side of the construction for snorkeling one day, but you have to be careful & have some balance. We didn't try to go south from the Maya, so I don't know.

03-04-2005	#15 (permalink)
babs31 life=playa Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: south of Green Bay Posts: 849	Loved your pictures..what dates where you there? We were there 2/13 thru the 19.