Iberostar Tucan trip report w/ pics 1-6 Aug 2005

[KevKaos]

Iberostar Tucan - Aug 1 through 6 2005 PART ONE

It all started last year while having dinner with friends after we returned from our first trip to the Riviera Maya and the Iberostar Parasio Lindo. Our friends expressed an interest in visiting the area and we all decided to travel together. I was tasked with finding the appropriate resort for the two families.

Originally, it was supposed to be our friends and their two girls, my girlfriend and her two boys, myself and my two kids (boy and a girl). Being a divorced father who has a nut case of an ex-wife, I ended up fighting a protracted legal battle that made it impossible for me to take my children. Still hurting over that one.

I wanted something close to 5th Ave. I didn’t want to have to pay $20 each way to get to downtown. Also on the list for our group was; a great beach, a kids club and of course someplace that had a good reputation. We also needed a travel agent. I had chatted with Shammy numerous times and wanted to use her. The rest of the group was a bit worried about using an agent we had not used before, who was not in our state, and was doing business over the internet. In the end, we used Shammy, and I believe it was the best move we could have made, as you will see. I asked Shammy for some recommendations based on our wants list and the amount we were able to spend for the time we were looking for. She gave us a few choices, and the Tucan ended up being the best for us.

We sent our payment off and settled in for the long wait for our vacation. Normally, my girlfriend Pookie and I would have been vacationing during the middle of July, but since we had to match schedules with our friends, we settled on the 1-6 of Aug.

Then Hurricane Emily came along. Many of us were in the same boat. Waiting, wondering, and praying that our beloved Playa and its population would be safe.

The two weeks in between Emily’s rage and our departure date were pure agony. Do we go? Do we not go? I don’t think I have ever spent so much time online in my life. I was reading everything I could find on the conditions in Playa. I know that I single-handedly drove Shammy to the edge of a nervous breakdown and I would fully understand it if she never wanted to chat with me again, but she was very steady with her advise, and very understanding of our concerns.

Thanks to a couple of Playainfo.com members who were going to the Tucan before us reporting back, we felt like we were getting a better idea of the conditions at the Tucan and decided that we were going. I am really glad that we did. The Tucan was wonderful even after a major hurricane.

The night before our departure, I was still online getting some last minute reports from folks that were there. We had a limo coming at 3am, so it was hard to get any sleep, but I did get a few hours. The trip to the airport was uneventful. Our friends were waiting there for us as they had stayed at a nearby hotel.

[TeeZet]

A virtual pat on the shoulder and virtual hug to Shammy, I'd say!
Nice start, Kev. Looking forward to see the rest!

[KevKaos]

Iberostar Tucan trip report 1 - 6 Aug 2005 PART TWO

The flight was smooth and quick. A little under 3 hours from Baltimore. The year before, we had missed our Apple Vacations bus because I stopped to use the bathroom and somehow we missed our bags. We warned our friends that everyone should use the bathroom on the plane before we land as there is a crush of humanity at the immigrations checkpoint. We had our plan of attack all set.

We get off the plane in Cancun and head toward the stairs leading down to immigration. Only problem is the spot where I thought the stairs were located was boarded up for construction. Pookie spots a little hallway off to the side marked “EXIT” and there was a line forming. My first thought was that if there was already a line up here on the second floor, it was going to be murder getting through immigrations. Once we got to the exit hallway, we found that the line we because numerous people had not completed their immigration forms. Airport security was not letting you go downstairs until the forms were completed. Good move on their part. Really speeds things up. We find that we are able to zip right around a bunch of people and head downstairs. We get to the large immigration snake lines downstairs, and there are maybe 30 people down there and numerous agents manning the stations. We are through immigrations in less than 15 minutes. Got to love that. They have monitors telling you where you bags are coming out that I don’t remember seeing last year. Turns out it was the same belt that we got screwed up on last year. Here come the bags and mine is number two on the belt. Pookie, the boys and our friends were very close behind. Load up and roll over to the red/green light. We break into three groups. Our friends, Pookie and the boys, and then myself. The goal was that maybe everyone else would make it through and if I got the red light, I only had two bags. It didn’t matter though. Right before the first of our group was ready to hit the button, someone got the red light. Much like “The Great Escape”, this opened the window for our whole group to slip through without drawing a red light. Lucky for us but sucks for the poor person having the contents of their bag being dumped out on the table as we breeze by.

Found our bus in record time, bus filled up within 15 minutes and we are on our way. Even better news for us, first stop, Iberostar Tucan. WOOOOOO HOOOOOO.

During the trip down, we saw billboards blown over, broken power line poles and lots of stripped trees. It seems like most of the damage to the trees was anything that was in the front row, or anything around 15 feet and upwards. The good news is that it seems that new buds are already popping out. Were we aware of the damage? Yes. Were we saddened about it? Sure. Did it affect our trip? Not really. If you are REALLY into the jungle feel of the IB Tucan/Quetzal, you may be disappointed. If you aren’t into the jungle scene as much, everything else was great.

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Our friends got their room but ours was not ready yet. They said it would be an hour, and we were OK with that, but after a few minutes of setting up dinners and getting drinks, they tracked us down and said our rooms were ready. We had requested rooms in the same building, nearest the beach (buildings 11, 12 or 13), poolside, and top floor. We ended up in building 11 (1st building behind the Jr suites), rooms right next to each other, pool side (with a slight ocean view), and on the second floor. All in all, I think that is pretty good.

I am having so much fun reading this! Even after everything you have told me so far. Keep it coming!

Maryann

[KevKaos]

Iberostar Tucan trip report 1 - 6 Aug 2005 PART THREE

The rooms are very nice. An Iberostar room seems to pretty much the same no matter which resort you go to unless you’re in a Jr suite. I am used to it just being Pookie and myself, so it felt a bit crowded. No fault of the Tucans though. Of course the beds are firm to say the least. I choose to sleep on the sofa, and I did pretty well there. The older boy got one bed. Pookie got the other bed, and the little guy shared one or the other beds with brother or Mom. While on the subject of the room, I would like to point out that you need to be careful of the toilets. They are all low volume flushers and back up easily. Ours got backed up one night and the flapper inside was not seating properly. The toilet started overflowing. Before I could get to it and get the flapper to stop the water, our room was pretty much flooded with a couple inches of water. It took awhile on the phone to get people to understand that this was a real problem and not just a stopped up toilet. Once they understood that and got someone there, they got the mess cleaned up very quickly. I don’t think this is a problem just at the Tucan. I think this happens all over Mexico from what I have read. Just be aware.

The pool at the Tucan is fantastic. While not as large as the Lindo pool, I love that it is right next to the beach and has all the foliage around it. I can only imagine that if there had not been a hurricane, there would be a bit more shade. Either way, the pool was very nice. The towel game was alive and well at the Tucan. I really dislike playing that game, but seeing how it was going on and after someone swiped a couple of our Iberostar towels, I jumped into the game myself. Unfortunately for the regular towel game players, the rookie was an early riser. I was awake by 6am everyday. From then on, I always got on of the palapa beds for our group. Unlike the normal towel game regulars, I did not then go back to my room to sleep. I would sit and read and then walk down to watch the sun come up. After others in our group awoke, and came down to the pool, I would wander off for some breakfast.

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[KevKaos]

Iberostar Tucan trip report 1 - 6 Aug 2005 PART FOUR

The beach was also top flight. It wasn’t quite as big, nice and uncrowded as the Lindo
beach was last year, but it was still great. This year, I understand that the fortunes may have changed and the Tucan may have the best beach of all the Iberostars in the area. There had been a lot of talk of seaweed and jellyfish before we departed for our trip, but I saw NO JELLYFISH. There was “some” seaweed, but not enough to be a bother for most people. No beach erosion to speak of. The beaches on either side of the Tucan had a drop off before you got into the water of maybe two feet. The drop off at the Tucan was less than that and it was once you entered the water. There was some beach erosion in front of the Quetzal, but it is back by the tree line on the beach. The Quetzal lost 7 palapas which were being rebuilt while we were there and the Dressels Dive Center Beach Desk was destroyed. The dive center itself was fine. They started rebuilding the beach desk the frst day we were there, and looked to be just about completed by the time we left. I’m not sure if there was a beach bar before the hurricane, but they were building one. Even had a sink installed but I’m not sure if they had the water and drainage hooked up yet. It was also almost completed when we left. There was beach drink service, but there weren’t that many waitresses, so service was a bit slow and spotty. There is a bar just off the beach, so that wasn’t a big deal. Both of the restaurants closest to the beach had gigantic tarps over the top. Not as pretty as a palapa roof, but what can you expect after a major hurricane? Sailing was great as there was always a good amount of wind. Banana boat was fun. Snorkling was $29 which I thought was a bit expensive for the amount of time, but was pleasantly surprised with how good it was. I even saw a barracuda swim about 10 feet in front of me. To bad I was already out of film. Our only real complaint was that the parasail boats, dive boats and jet skis leave a lot of exhaust smell in the air and cause a fair amount of wake. The power boats in the area is the one thing that may stop me from booking the Tucan in the future.

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[KevKaos]

I need to take a bit of a break here as I need to upload some more photos so I can add them to the next installments. Please bear with me. I am trying to pick out what i think are the better shots. I have 240 from this trip. I am glad that you all are enjoying this as much as I enjoyed the trip.

[Nerak936]

Loving it, Kev!!! Like a walk down memory lane.....

[KevKaos]

Here are a few more beach pics to hold you over before I continue with the trip report.

Here is a Playa sunrise on a Tucan beach
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Here's the start of the new Dressels Dive center Beach hut. It should be complete by now.

[KevKaos]

Iberostar Tucan trip report 1 - 6 Aug 2005 PART FIVE

The food at the Tucan was really good. Of course the buffets are not air conditioned, but we knew that going in. Lots of variety in food and really very tasty. Same for the drinks. Don’t miss lobster night on Thursday. Rock lobsters are NOT the same as a Maine lobster. Not as good as a Maine lobster in my opinion. Not as tasty and sweet as a Maine lobster, and a bit tougher but still really good. Breakfast is to die for. The boys loved ordering room service “many times”. Steak house, Caribbean and Mexican were all very good specialty restaurants. Mexican was a lot of fun as the waiters put sombreros on everyone at the table and made shooter drinks for the kids. They had them count to three and then drink it down. Then they would shake their head around just like they do on 5th Ave. When the kids asked what it was, they were told it was Tequila. Hehehe Tons of fun.

The theater is still unusable. Part of the roof fell in. Not all of it, just the top half. It looks like they have it cleaned out and they are working on replacing it now. Looks like they have it framed out, as they were weaving the palms for the roof while we were there. I would guess that they have another few weeks worth of work to do. In the mean time, the shows are being held in the conference room. Normally in the theaters, the seating is nightclub style. People sitting around tables. In the conference room, they have rows set up. Four seats and then a small table, four more seats, another table, and four more seats. Then there is a walkway followed by the continuation of the row the same as described earlier. We were never ones to partake of the shows at the Lindo, but we did see some of the shows at the Tucan. I thought they were rather good. The Star Friends do a wonderful job to say the least.

[babs31]

so great to see you are back...ok..ok... so sad to see you are back! It is tough to come back from vacation isnt it? Loved your sunrise picture! and cant wait to read more of your trip....welcome home!

[TAPPY]

Great report and really great pics..loving it..... keep it coming....

We are Shammy fans too

[Shammy]

Originally Posted by KevKaos

I know that I single-handedly drove Shammy to the edge of a nervous breakdown and I would fully understand it if she never wanted to chat with me again, but she was very steady with her advise, and very understanding of our concerns.

Hee hee hee! This made me crack up!

But I was already having a nervous breakdown, you had nothing to do with it! It was all the fault of some chick named Emily!

BTW....that is what a TA is for....let THEM have the breakdown so you don't have to! However, I think you were close to the edge a few times as well. Isn't it a lovely feeling?

Excellent report Kev, GREAT pictures too!

[KevKaos]

Iberostar Tucan trip report 1 - 6 Aug 2005 PART SIX

I still have a few more sections to my trip report, but it is taking me awhile to get photos uploaded so that I can add them.

I tried not to dwell on the hurricane damage as much as marvel over how much it has been cleaned up already. These next shots are just a sampling of the damage that is still being cleaned.





No real damage in this shot. Just showing the Quetzel side. I love how the building is built over the cenote.


The maint folks were working on these path lamps everyday. Replacing them, rewiring them and even repainting the one that were not damaged.

[fellman]

Thanks KevKaos !!!

Great trip report and pictures. Looking forward to more.

Susan M.