TandT's Iberostar Tucan Trip Report--Prologue

[TandT]

Hi Everyone!
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Prologue
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Well, here we go…21 days and counting. TandT are heading back to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place>Paradise</st1:place>! It looks as if all of the preliminaries are set, and now we’re just counting down the days. But I digress…
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First, who are we? Well, I’m T, 42 and a CPA. My lovely wife, also T, is 29 and a licensed esthetician. We are living in <st1:place><st1:City>Columbus</st1:City>, <st1:State>Ohio</st1:State></st1:place>, having relocated here from <st1:place><st1:City>Houston</st1:City>, <st1:State>Texas</st1:State></st1:place> earlier this year. Without going into too many specifics, the past year or so have been pretty rough for us. My wife has some health problems and has endured 5 separate hospital stays over the past year. On top of that, I lost my job, which resulted in us relocating to <st1:City><st1:place>Columbus</st1:place></st1:City> (where we both lived prior to us moving to <st1:City><st1:place>Houston</st1:place></st1:City> in 2003). T and I have done a lot of soul searching as a result of the recent events, and discovered that we simply have to make the best of the cards we’ve been dealt. I landed a great job in <st1:City><st1:place>Columbus</st1:place></st1:City>, we FINALLY sold the house in <st1:City><st1:place>Houston</st1:place></st1:City> for not too big of a loss, started building a great new house in our new hometown, and finally seem to be able to sit back and catch our breath. One night, T looked over at me and said, “Honey, I miss the beaches of <st1:country-region><st1:place>Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region>.” That’s all I needed to hear, and the trip planning was on!
<o:p></o:p>
Back in 2003 we went on our fist trip to the area, spending a week at El Dorado Royale for our honeymoon. While we loved our trip, in retrospect EDR wasn’t all we had hoped it would be. The beach wasn’t great, the restaurants were a bit pretentious, we felt isolated there due to the location, and the service seemed a bit “aloof”. This time, we began our planning with a much better understanding of our wants and desires for this vacation. Our priorities include: 1) beach, 2) casual and laid back atmosphere, 3) beach, 4) more variety regarding dining options, and 5) beach. Being a CPA, it should go without saying that value was also a HUGE priority for me!
<o:p></o:p>
T spent about 3 weeks scouring the internet for any and all information to get current on the latest conditions and to find the best possible place for our “honeymoon, part II”. We finally settled on the Iberostar Tucan. We picked the Tucan based on the many positive trip reports, the wonderful beach, good location, and multiple dining options including both buffets and ala carte choices. We had some slight hesitations since Tucan is not Adults only, but felt that in early November there shouldn’t be too many children. Don’t get us wrong, we have nothing against children, we’d just prefer to have a quiet, romantic holiday. We booked through Apple Vacations, using a local travel agent. Our trip will be Nov 4-Nov 11.
<o:p></o:p>
So far, we’ve finished all of our pre-vacation shopping, and even already have our pet sitter lined up. Approximately a month before our departure, we began tanning at a local salon. We did this to develop base tans, and help prevent any sunburns while on vacation. Our primary objective was to maximize beach time! Our prior trip to the area three years ago was taken in the summertime, and we had been living in <st1:State><st1:place>Texas</st1:place></st1:State> at the time, so we had pretty good tans then as a result of weekends at the community pool. We figured this time that it’s better to be safe, than sorry! Also, we decided to arrange for private transfer service from the airport to the hotel. Essentially we wanted to maximize our time at the resort, and decided to do this based on the following factors: 1) Even though Apple does provide free transfers, it’s NOT non stop; 2) We’ve heard of some horror stories about sitting at the airport waiting in the van for stragglers; 3) Iberostar Tucan is near the south end of Playacar, and we assumed it could be one of the last stops; 4) Since the Tucan is a relatively popular resort, we thought that the transfer van could be crowded and full of other Tucan guests. We were hoping that by taking a private transfer, we could beat these other guests to the resort, and “hopefully” get a better room assignment. We’re not sure if any of these reasons are valid, but figured it was worth the $60 to “maybe” get the vacation off to a good start! When we went to EDR in 2003, we did indeed wait in the van for about 30 minutes before departure. Since EDR is not too far from the airport, we were the first people dropped off, and it still took us about 2 hours from touchdown in <st1:place>Cancun</st1:place> to arrival at the resort. Hopefully, we’ll save some time, and avoid a potential rush of new arrivals at the resort. As of now, we’re planning on taking the Apple provided transfer back to the airport for our departure, but that too may change based on the scheduled departure time.
<o:p></o:p>
That’s about it for now…but we’re hoping for some helpful tips from all of you “playa veterans” and previous guests of the Tucan. Any hints and insight would be appreciated.
<o:p></o:p>
More to come…
<o:p></o:p>
TandT

[Brent & Kim]

Originally Posted by TandT

Hi Everyone!
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
Prologue
<o:p></o:p>
Well, here we go…21 days and counting. TandT are heading back to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place>Paradise</st1:place>! It looks as if all of the preliminaries are set, and now we’re just counting down the days. But I digress…
<o:p></o:p>
First, who are we? Well, I’m T, 42 and a CPA. My lovely wife, also T, is 29 and a licensed esthetician. We are living in <st1:place><st1:City>Columbus</st1:City>, <st1:State>Ohio</st1:State></st1:place>, having relocated here from <st1:place><st1:City>Houston</st1:City>, <st1:State>Texas</st1:State></st1:place> earlier this year. Without going into too many specifics, the past year or so have been pretty rough for us. My wife has some health problems and has endured 5 separate hospital stays over the past year. On top of that, I lost my job, which resulted in us relocating to <st1:City><st1:place>Columbus</st1:place></st1:City> (where we both lived prior to us moving to <st1:City><st1:place>Houston</st1:place></st1:City> in 2003). T and I have done a lot of soul searching as a result of the recent events, and discovered that we simply have to make the best of the cards we’ve been dealt. I landed a great job in <st1:City><st1:place>Columbus</st1:place></st1:City>, we FINALLY sold the house in <st1:City><st1:place>Houston</st1:place></st1:City> for not too big of a loss, started building a great new house in our new hometown, and finally seem to be able to sit back and catch our breath. One night, T looked over at me and said, “Honey, I miss the beaches of <st1:country-region><st1:place>Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region>.” That’s all I needed to hear, and the trip planning was on!
<o:p></o:p>
Back in 2003 we went on our fist trip to the area, spending a week at El Dorado Royale for our honeymoon. While we loved our trip, in retrospect EDR wasn’t all we had hoped it would be. The beach wasn’t great, the restaurants were a bit pretentious, we felt isolated there due to the location, and the service seemed a bit “aloof”. This time, we began our planning with a much better understanding of our wants and desires for this vacation. Our priorities include: 1) beach, 2) casual and laid back atmosphere, 3) beach, 4) more variety regarding dining options, and 5) beach. Being a CPA, it should go without saying that value was also a HUGE priority for me!
<o:p></o:p>
T spent about 3 weeks scouring the internet for any and all information to get current on the latest conditions and to find the best possible place for our “honeymoon, part II”. We finally settled on the Iberostar Tucan. We picked the Tucan based on the many positive trip reports, the wonderful beach, good location, and multiple dining options including both buffets and ala carte choices. We had some slight hesitations since Tucan is not Adults only, but felt that in early November there shouldn’t be too many children. Don’t get us wrong, we have nothing against children, we’d just prefer to have a quiet, romantic holiday. We booked through Apple Vacations, using a local travel agent. Our trip will be Nov 4-Nov 11.
<o:p></o:p>
So far, we’ve finished all of our pre-vacation shopping, and even already have our pet sitter lined up. Approximately a month before our departure, we began tanning at a local salon. We did this to develop base tans, and help prevent any sunburns while on vacation. Our primary objective was to maximize beach time! Our prior trip to the area three years ago was taken in the summertime, and we had been living in <st1:State><st1:place>Texas</st1:place></st1:State> at the time, so we had pretty good tans then as a result of weekends at the community pool. We figured this time that it’s better to be safe, than sorry! Also, we decided to arrange for private transfer service from the airport to the hotel. Essentially we wanted to maximize our time at the resort, and decided to do this based on the following factors: 1) Even though Apple does provide free transfers, it’s NOT non stop; 2) We’ve heard of some horror stories about sitting at the airport waiting in the van for stragglers; 3) Iberostar Tucan is near the south end of Playacar, and we assumed it could be one of the last stops; 4) Since the Tucan is a relatively popular resort, we thought that the transfer van could be crowded and full of other Tucan guests. We were hoping that by taking a private transfer, we could beat these other guests to the resort, and “hopefully” get a better room assignment. We’re not sure if any of these reasons are valid, but figured it was worth the $60 to “maybe” get the vacation off to a good start! When we went to EDR in 2003, we did indeed wait in the van for about 30 minutes before departure. Since EDR is not too far from the airport, we were the first people dropped off, and it still took us about 2 hours from touchdown in <st1:place>Cancun</st1:place> to arrival at the resort. Hopefully, we’ll save some time, and avoid a potential rush of new arrivals at the resort. As of now, we’re planning on taking the Apple provided transfer back to the airport for our departure, but that too may change based on the scheduled departure time.
<o:p></o:p>
That’s about it for now…but we’re hoping for some helpful tips from all of you “playa veterans” and previous guests of the Tucan. Any hints and insight would be appreciated.
<o:p></o:p>
More to come…
<o:p></o:p>
TandT

WE loved the Tucan alot more than EDR! a lot less elegant and closer to the action

[keith5919]

We returned from the Tucan 09-30 and the 3 of us loved it. I've always liked the Playacar area since it's so close to PdC. We easily walked into town many times.

When we were at the Tucan we stayed in Bldg. 14 because we asked for adjoining rooms and were told it's the only one having them. Good location, but would have liked a view of the ocean. It was a very short walk though to the pool & ocean.
You never know about the bus situation with Apple. This past trip we had a van for the 7 of us who left the Tucan for the return flight. That was great - no stops. We've also stayed at the Riu Playacar before and had a van going to the resort and were the 1st ones dropped off (I think the others went on to the Gala which is down the road a bit).

Although I like the Rius better I'd have to say the Tucan rates up there with my favorites. The resort was less than 50% occupied when we were there (as was the Quetzal). We could always get a good seat on the ocean under a palapa and the beach waiter service couldn't be beat. We were also only about 10 steps from the beach bar where you could also get ice cream if you wanted.
Have fun. We leave for Cancun on Nov. 10th for a week at the Riu Caribe.

[Brent & Kim]

12 and 13 are the best standard room buildings IMO. Number 11 is closer to the ocean, but has a view of the back of the restaurant. 12 and 13 should have a pool and Jungle View, I prefer these buildings so when I stumble out of the adult pool at the end of the day, I dont get lost.

[keith5919]

Bldg. 14 was set up differently than the other nearby buildings. When we were there Bldgs. 13 & 15 were closed for renovations. They were painting the outside of the bldgs. and it looked like they painted all the rooms also. Our last day there Bldg. 13 was being prepared to receive guests.

[abuelo]

IB Tucan Layout as of 2003

[Brent & Kim]

I like the walkway from the pool to 12 and 13, the back of the restaurant from 11 is ugly!

[keith5919]

Yes, that's the walkway we used every day.

[keith5919]

Originally Posted by abuelo

IB Tucan Layout as of 2003

The only thing I see that's different now is the addition of the Japanese Restaurant, which is off the Tucan's lobby - in the space between D & O.

And we sat every day on the beach to the right of the "O" in ocean on the map!!!! Very close to the beach bar, which is to the right of the "C" in ocean.

[Eileencc]

Just a small defense of Bldg 11! We stayed there in August, loved it...we were facing inward, but had a view of the pool, and gardens and not the restaurant.

When we were assigned the room in that bldg, I was very worried that we'd be staring at the restaurant and smelling the cooking all the time, but honestly, neither of these was a problem. In fact we loved the location, very close to the beach and the pool. Best of both worlds. It was a little bit of a walk up to the lobby and restaurants, but it really was not a problem at all. I'm sure you're gonna love it there.

[jillianbee]

YAY! I can just see that your trip report is going to be awesome! I am also going to the Tucan (well, we booked through a TA and Funjet so we're technically on the Quetzal side) and we are going on the 11th when you are returning.

Have fun

[keith5919]

Originally Posted by Eileencc

Just a small defense of Bldg 11! We stayed there in August, loved it...we were facing inward, but had a view of the pool, and gardens and not the restaurant.

When we were assigned the room in that bldg, I was very worried that we'd be staring at the restaurant and smelling the cooking all the time, but honestly, neither of these was a problem. In fact we loved the location, very close to the beach and the pool. Best of both worlds. It was a little bit of a walk up to the lobby and restaurants, but it really was not a problem at all. I'm sure you're gonna love it there.

You know, we never went down the path as far as Bldg. 11. We always turned at the path between 13 & 12. For us Bldg. 14 was fine. I would have loved to be in Bldg. 10, but since this was my first Iberostar trip I didn't even ask to be put there.
We walked through the Quetzal many times (I liked their lobby bar better than ours), but I don't know if the rooms are the same as the Tucan's. When we were there, in low season, they had some things closed like the pool restaurant at Quetzal was not open at all and at night only the Quetzal's buffet was open for dinner. For breakfast both main buffets were open.

[TandT]

Well, I think we're all set...12 hours and counting!!!! TandT

[Loree]

Have a great time T & T.
Sounds like you both need and deserve it!