cpfstich EDSS/PDC Trip Report

[cpfstich]

Here's my first try at a trip report. Since IndyBeachBum did such an excellent/detailed report on El Dorado Seaside Suites, I'll try to highlight some of what she posted with a few pics, etc.

Day one: Our flight left Minneapolis/StPaul Int. Airport at 05:15 am CDT, which meant that our poor son-in-law had to get up at 02:00 a.m. to drive us the 45 minutes there, by the recommended 2 hours early, on his birthday no less! We got there in plenty of time, we were first in line and stood first in line until 04:15 a.m. when the Delta counter finally opened! We took off on schedule and everything went smooth to Atlanta and our layover. Breakfast at a restaurant that was very under staffed, took awhile, but no big deal as we still made our connection.

We arrived in Cancun on schedule at Noon and now comes the amazing part. Once we got off the plane and got to the lines for immigration, we were through immigration in a little over 10 minutes! I was amazed. We then breezed through baggage claim and the red & green lights at customs. Total time about of about one hour and we were on the shuttle van off to El Dorado Seaside Suites. We were the last stop of the trip so we arrived at EDSS at about 2:30 p.m.

We arrived at EDSS at the main entrance and liked what we saw:


We were met with the usual glass of champagne and regsistered at the front desk. The front desk is literally just that, a desk with a woman seated behind it, not your usual hotel type counter. I liked the idea, it keeps with the intimate small scale atmosphere of the resort. After regsitration, off to our "first" room.

Now comes the only bad part of the resort. We booked a second floor jacuzzi suite, with the jacuzzi on the balcony outside. Sounded cool and romantic, being abel to be in the jacuzzi outside listening to the ocean crashing onto the beach. Well it looked good on paper. We didnt try the jacuzzi until the second day, and no hot water in the jacuzzi, nothing at all, only cold water. Pat called the front desk and reported the problem. On the tird day of "We'll have it fixed in about an hour," we decided that enogh wsa enough and we wanted a new room. Pat talked to our Lomas Travel agent, who was very helpful. He referred us to Michel from the resort. Pat explained our prediciment and that it had been three days with no results. Michel immediatley made a call and got us into a new room. Throughout it all, all the staff members were very courteous, but Michel fixed things for us.

We moved to our new room and then realized that although we thought we had been in a new remodled room at first, we weren't. The second room was a remodeled one and extremely nice:




The jaccuzi was inside, but who cares it worked!

Days two and three:

We spent almost the entire day two, with the exception of breakfast and lunch laying on the beach, because we couldn't get lounge chairs by the main pool. By day three We learned the secret is to put your towels, bags, etc. on a pool side chair early in the morning to reserve them. We loved the main pool area:



and the swim up bar:

We spent alot of our time lounging at the main pool, which was mostly quiet, but had a few activities, volleyball, water arobics, etc. going on at times. The actvities staff folks were great. Hector, the activites director and Paco his assistant were great and alot of fun. Here's Hector, Pat and Paco by the pool;

We also met IndyBeachBum and her hubby, very nice peeps!

In the late morning of day three we took the shuttle bus into Playa to pick up our Playa Deal Card. The bus made a one hour stop at the Lapis jewlery factory, which was a minor inconvenience. After arriving in Playa and picking up the card, we walked around Playa doing the tourist thing. Of course we stopped at one bar in particular:


for a few mojitos and cervezas:



We ate a late lunch at La Caprichoza:

which was recommend by Lettita, the tourguide on the bus. Lunch was very good and so were the cervezas.

Days four and five:

Mainly spent soakin' up the sun, drinking a few adult type beverages by the main pool:p I snorkeled, which was really good with lots of fish to see and a part of an old shipwreck accessible. We strolled along the beach too and walked down the next resort, two miles away. I can't remember the name of it, but it had like 3,000 rooms, way to big!!!!

We mainly chilled out and made some great new friends. We met a woman from New York, Monoh, who is in the last year of her residency as an emergency room physician in a hospital in Brooklyn. She is a truly wonderful person and was a delite to sit and talk with. We also met two young ladies from Sweden, Ramona and Emily, who are doing there intership at EDSS for two months. They had some hassles getting their work visas straightened out, but finally got them the day before we left. They were both also great people. We also met a couple from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Pat was born and raised, Craig (yep another one) and Dana. We had dinner with them and plan meet up with them again this summer.

[jx2]

Very nice Craig, It sounds as if you had a very nice relaxing vacation. No hussle-bussle schedules.
Nice pics, thanks for sharing.

[cpfstich]

Evening day five:

We took a taxi into Play to have dinner at Capitan Bob & Son's. After arriving in PDC, we made our way to Capitan Bob's to see if Eric or Bob were in. On the way, we came across a street vendor with exotic animals to pose with for pictures. The guy let us take pics of the animals, but to hold them for a pic you had to pay. We just took pics!





We made our way to Capitan Bob & Son's:


and after arriving there, much to our surprise, we were told by one of the staff that Bob sold the restaurant about a week earlier. We've eaten at Capitan Bob's each of the previous two years and loved it. At first we were concerned whether or not the quality of the food and service would still be as great as before. After walking around and ckecking out a few other menus, we decided to try Bob's again. We were not disappointed.

We started with the caesar salad for two:



which was prepared tableside by our waiter and was wonderful!

Pat had a 12 oz grilled lobster tail for her entree and I had surf & turf, a filet mignon and a 10 oz lobster tail. The filet was without a doubt one of the finest pieces of meat I have eaten in my life and the tail was tender and excellent too. Pat said that her tail was also excellent. As I said, we were not disappointed and will go back again next year!



Days six through nine:

More of the same, sun, snorkeling, relaxing. The grounds at EDSS are much more intimate than El Dorado Royale, where we stayed the last two years. EDSS is smaller and actually prettier I think. Here are some pics of the grounds:





The resort has a connecting walkway at the rear which leads from one end to the other:



all of the buildings are white stucco and very attractive:





Day nine:

Back into Playa by taxi to meet up with friends of Pat's sister from Milwaukee, Bill and Vicki, who we also know. They were staying on Cozumel and had never been to PDC. We met them about 11:00 a.m. at Senor Frog's. A few cervazas and munchies later, the four of us strode off down Fifth. We stopped at a few stores and of course a stop at the Tequila Barrel. Much to my disappointment, we were told they were out of mint and could not make mojitos! So I settled for a few Modelo Negros. We ordered some lunch and munchies, which were all tasty. Then it was off for more shopping.

The first part of the week when we were in PDC, Pat & I stopped in a jelwery store looking for a baptism pendant for grandaughter Camryn. The store keeper asked the usual, "Where you from?" question. When we told him Wisconsin he replies, "Milwaukee?" of course Pat says yes and she lived there, to which store keeper says, "Sixth and National," which are streets in an area in Milwaukee Pat says is known as "Little Mexico." So we figure the guy must have been in Milwaukee at one time. Well....when our friends Bill and Vicki go into the same store, a differant store keeper goes through the where ya from routine. When he hears Milwaukee, the second store keeper says.....yep..."Sixth and National!"

[cpfstich]

Days ten through eleven:

Starting the winding down to the day we go home. More laying out, etc. Our friend Monoh left, which was sad, but we exchanged email addresses and hope to keep in touch. We had dinner our last night at the international restaurant, which was very good. Here we are at the swing bar before dinner, lookin' pretty good if I do say so myself



Our last day was, as always, the saddest. Our flight didn't leave until 3:55 p.m. so we had the morning at EDSS. After more sun and lunch, it was time to say goodbye. It's amazing how in such a short time you can make friendships with many varied people. All of the staff at EDSS were wonderful, but a few were especially so. Hector, Paco, Roberta, and Emily from the actvities crew, Nienive our pool waitress, and last but not least Pablo aka "Pablo Cruise", one of the swing bar bartenders, who was pretty good at the Tom Cruise "Cocktail" movie twirl the bottle routine!

Eventually it was time to get on the shuttle bus back to Cancun and our plane. While en route, we came across a traffic crash in the opposite lane that had just occurred. Our van driver later told us that it was another shuttle van loaded with people who had just arrived in Cancun and were on their way to their resorts. What a horrible way to start a vacation! I do not know if anyone was injured, but pray that they are all OK.

After arriving at the airport, it was smooth sailing through security. They searched all of our baggage as they did everyone's, which I think is great! I'd much rather wait longer so this can be done, and then have some sense that my flight is secure!

The flight from Cancun to Atlanta on AeroMexico was uneventful. We arrived in Atlanta on time. We had a two hour layover, but that went fast having to go through immigratio, baggage claim, customs and then re-check baggage. After all that we only had about and hour left to get to eat some quick dinner and get to our gate. It was a bit of a rush, but we made it.

Delta back to Minneapolis and arrival on time at 11:00 p.m. We were met by our daughter, and then back to her house. The next morning we spent with our daughter Amy, son-in-law Mike and grandbaby Camryn. We left for home late morning and got back here early afternoon. While its always kinda good to get home, it seems like forever before we'll be back in paradise again.

For those who have asked, some comparisons between EDSS and El Dorado Royale:

Food: While the food at EDSS was very good, I would rate the food at EDR a notch higher. Several times at EDSS we did not get what we ordered or got something we didn't order. EDSS is still in the improving stage, but overall the food and food service was very good. At EDSS I would rate the Mexican restuarant #1, the Asian #2 and the International #3. We never used the 24 hour room service.

Staff: The staff at EDR was very friendly, courteous and helpful, but I would rate the EDSS staff a notch higher. All were great!

Grounds: I definately give EDSS the nod here! As I said before, EDSS is much smaller that EDR, therefore is more intimate and the grounds are prettier, better landscaped, etc. The resort is closer to the beach too which I think is very appealing. The beach at EDSS, though not large, is better than EDR's. I am sure there are better beaches that EDSS, but I was not displeased with it.

Well I guess I'll shut up now. Hopefully I provided some useful info about EDSS. Thanks go out to tstar for help with pic posting, thanks Michael!

[cpfstich]

I forgot to mention the on-going construction at EDSS. They are adding more rooms, which will total 500 when done. Hopefully they'll add no more, so EDSS doesn't get to big! They are also adding solar powered hot water heaters on top of each building, which is a cool eco-friendly thing to do, plus I am sure is cost saving. Here's a pic of one of the solar heaters:

Thanks for the trip report Craig. Sounds like you had a great time. Leaving for EDSS in 3 days!!! I'm packing my bags as we speak. Yeah!!

[cpfstich]

Originally Posted by exray

Thanks for the trip report Craig. Sounds like you had a great time. Leaving for EDSS in 3 days!!! I'm packing my bags as we speak. Yeah!!

Have a great time! Do me a favor and tell Romona and Emily from the activities crew that "Shrek" and Pat from Wisconsin say hi! Yep, I said Shrek...they'll know what you mean.

Enjoyed your trip report, sounds like you had a wonderful time. Great pictures too. Thank-you

[Big Kahuna]

Craig...sounds like you loved EDSS for the same reasons we did. I am so glad you had such a great time. Apparently my fav Swede was not there...Liza.

[TnJ]

Glad y'all had a good time! Looks like they've really upgraded the place since we were there 1-1/2 yr ago!! I enjoyed the snorkeling there as well. We spent most of our time near the south end of the resort where the guards stop interlopers trying 2 enter the porperty. nice relaxing spot. e-z walk 2 that Palladium grand ( we agree it looks so huge ) . Where was the shipwreck in relation to that broken up rocky pier near the south end of the resort? How was the EDSS food?
TJ

[NorthMinnesota]

Great report, Craig! Glad to hear you had a good time! Your pics really add alot. It's nice to see new places to try!

[NorthMinnesota]

Forgot to say how nice the picture of you and your wife is at the swing bar! What a great looking couple! You should frame that one...it really shows a couplehaving fun on vacation!

[cpfstich]

Originally Posted by NorthMinnesota

Forgot to say how nice the picture of you and your wife is at the swing bar! What a great looking couple! You should frame that one...it really shows a couplehaving fun on vacation!

Already done...thanks!

Your pics say it all...you can tell you had a great time.

Great report...thanks for sharing.

[bemarshall]

Great report!! We are looking to book an all inclusive resort next summer with a bunch of friends, all couples in their 40's and based on your report/pictures, EDSS looks like it might be a place we'd really like consider. We could get a little loud tho ... is EDSS more of a "couples" only type resort? While we aren't entirely obnoxious (most of the time ), we do like to have fun!

Thanks,
Beth