Our Wonderful Week at the Grand Palladium White Sand (June 10 - 17, 2008).

Linnysue · 06-19-2008

Intro: This trip to the Riviera Maya was in celebration of our 30th wedding anniversary. Originally we were to stay at the Grand Princess Riviera, but 10 days before we left, I switched our resort to the Grand Palladium since the GP seemed like a more romantic place to be. This was a total anniversary surprise for my hubby!

Departure: Our journey to the Grand Palladium Riviera began on June 9. We left for the SLC airport at 8:45 p.m. for our 12:30 midnight flight to Atlanta which was delayed and left at 2:00 a.m. (June 10)! We arrived in Atlanta around 7:30 a.m. for our connecting flight to Cancun which departed at 9:45 a.m. I told my husband a surprise was waiting for him, so I would handle filling out his tourist card. It was getting really difficult to keep the GP a secret! I wanted so much to be able to share all the photos and wonderful things about the resort that I knew he would love. We arrived in Cancun at 11:20 a.m. Customs was a breeze and we got the green light. We used the Funjet transfer through Lomas Travel. I would like to use a private transfer service next time as we had two other resorts to stop at, the El Dorado Royale and the RIU Palace in Playacar, before reaching the GP. It ended up taking us 2 1/2 hours to arrive at the resort! Boy, was I on pins and needles at that point. As we were getting closer to the GP, I spilled the beans about the surprise, since my hubby was probably figuring out that something was up after we passed our resort about an hour before! Also, the other folks in the van kept asking us what resort we were going to. He was amazed when we turned into the GP, and as I was telling him about all the romantic and spectacular features of the resort.

Arrival: Since Funjet only handles the Riviera side of the resort, prior arrangements were made with GP reservation managers to switch to the White Sand side. A special thank you to Brenda at the Palladium Addicts Forum and Anne at the Unofficial Palladium Forum for making this possible. I had requested a 3rd floor, ocean view, corner room in either buildings 58 or 59. We were given a 2nd floor, ocean view, corner room in building #59. The girl checking us in said the room was on the other side that had a jungle view, and I was disappointed until she figured out that she was mistaken. We were so blessed to get this awesome room. We probably would have been placed on the 3rd floor, but floor repairs were taking place in room 5936 directly above us. It made it nice because no guests were above us until the very last night. Our building was very quiet as well. So now on to the photo journey. . .

The Riviera lobby where we checked in. I love the angels, so much so that I had Florencio at the pottery stand draw them for me on a platter that I painted. Photos coming up later on that.

Our Jr. Suite room (5924):

Hallway leading into the room. Bathroom door on the right:

We had a king bed that was very comfortable. Robes and slippers are laid out for you to use:

This is the living room area. Since this was a corner room we had an extra side window:

Our view:

We had a closed bathroom. Here are some bathroom photos:
The vanity had one sink.

The walk-in shower:

Being a corner room, our balcony had two sides which was wonderful to capture more of the ocean views. Balcony photos:

Here is our little boardwalk pathway that lead to the beach which was a short distance from our building:

Our White Sand building #59. Our room is the second one up with the side window curtains drawn. You can also see the beautiful landscaping in front:

The open-air interior of the building (Sorry, my lens was fogged up coming from air conditioning into the humidity.):

A special GP staff gift was left to help us celebrate our anniversary:

Our maid was awesome. We gave her a tip for the week. The room was immaculately cleaned with fresh clean sheets daily. She would leave us special towel art as well.
An elephant, swan, and mermaid:

Two turtles (so cute):

Linnysue · 06-19-2008

The boardwalk bridge to the WS beach. All we had to do from our building was take a turn to the left onto the bridge for a short walk to the most awesome beach. It was like we had our own private beach where we hung out every day!

Our WS beach we hung out at:

Hubby relaxing:

I have to say the food at the GP was excellent. At the time, for a seven-night stay, you could book 3 ala carte restaurants, now the resort has gone to an unlimited ala carte system. There are a total of 8 ala carte restaurants, and we were able to eat at four of them, the Portofino (Italian), the Sumptuori (Japanese), Ribs and More, and the Rodizio (Brazilian). Our favorite was the Japanese, and we also loved the Rodizio. We also made a reservation for the beach barbecue that took place at the Colonial beach on Saturday night. We ate two dinners at the Kabah Buffet restaurant. The buffet restaurant was also very good with a different food theme each night, so it never gets boring. We especially enjoyed our breakfasts there. We usually skipped lunch, but one day we ate at the WS beach bar, Punta Emilia. My husband had a yummy cheeseburger and I just had the nachos. I loved being so close to this beach bar with it's beautiful scenic location directly on the beach.

The Colonial beach bar taken while waiting for the barbecue:

The Colonial beach barbecue:

I loved taking walks down the rocky path that lead to the salt pool on the Riviera side. The scenery was spectacular.

Many times little iguana friends would join you. At night the hermit crabs took their walks on this path as well.

There were places to sit and reflect along the way:

The beautiful rocky beach (Riviera side):

Towards the end of the path, you come to the salt pool complete with it's own bar (Las Rocas). We went snorkeling in this pool where brightly colored fish joined us:

Me and the Caribbean sea at the salt pool:

The tide pools:

Mamacita · 06-19-2008

This looks great Linnysue! I remembered reading how worried you were about the Princess not being nice enough, so I'm so glad you switched to a resort you enjoyed!

Looking forward to more!

Linnysue · 06-19-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mamacita

This looks great Linnysue! I remembered reading how worried you were about the Princess not being nice enough, so I'm so glad you switched to a resort you enjoyed!

Looking forward to more!

Thanks, Mamacita. Our stay at the Grand Palladium was above and beyond my expectations. It was truly an incredible and romantic trip. We've been to a few AI's in the Riviera Maya, but I have to say, the GP was amazing. I'm so glad I made the switch.

More trip report to come. . .

hildyp · 06-19-2008

LindySue,

I'm so glad you enjoyed your stay and that your anniversary was special.

The pictures are beautiful

Hildy

TAPPY · 06-19-2008

Looking forward to more pictures - sounds like you had a great vacation.

Linnysue · 06-19-2008

There was a lagoon over at the White Sand/Riviera side. You can even take a pontoon boat ride throughout the lagoon itself. The landscaping around the lagoon is just gorgeous.

While we were at the GP for the week, we must have seen at least three weddings. Here is what a wedding set up looks like at the White Sand beach pavilion in case there are any future brides interested in a wedding package at the GP:

This is the bridge we would cross several times a day from our building over to the WS pool and restaurants. You can see the wedding pavilion in the background:

The other side of the bridge facing the WS pool. The pool is huge, so this is photo of only a part of it:

Since the resort was very large (4 resorts), there was a green train and red train that would take you to the resort buildings and lobbies. I believe the green train would take you to the different resort lobbies and the red train would take you to the room buildings, or is it the other way around? Oh well, I can't remember now.

Every report trip has to have at least one sunrise shot:

Remember, I mentioned that I painted the Riviera lobby angels at Florencio's pottery shop? Well, here I am three days later just finishing it up!

Florencio adds his finishing touches to make you look like Michelangelo! Sorry, the lens was steamed up again.

Here's a better photo of the angel platter:

I totally enjoyed this activity and met so many great folks with whom I painted alongside.

Some other things I would like to mention is that it rained for 2 1/2 days straight when we first arrived. Everything was wet and flooded. I was a little frustrated as we have had a very long winter snowing and raining clear on into June. As a matter of fact, it snowed in our ski resort town while we were at the GP. On Friday morning, we woke up to a gorgeous sunny day, and it stayed that way until we left on Tuesday. I came to appreciate the rain, so it wasn't a total bummer. The mosquitoes were really bad after the rains though and my Burt's Bees herbal insect repellent was useless. Ugh! Someone told me while I was there that Avon has an insect repellent that works really well.

Some things that would be nice for the resort to add would be Wi-Fi, beach service, room service, hard ice cream, portable clothesline racks on the balconies, & dvd players.

Well, that's it until our next visit!

btodd · 06-19-2008

Thanks for the great report and pics!! So glad you enjoyed the switchero to GP.............Happy Anniversary!

debk · 06-19-2008

I'm so glad you had a great time! Don't you just love being pampered! Thank you for taking the time to share your pictures and thoughts!

130taKen120 · 06-20-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by debk

I'm so glad you had a great time! Don't you just love being pampered! Thank you for taking the time to share your pictures and thoughts!

Very cool - thanks for the TR & pics so far!

Sukidog · 06-20-2008

Great job!!! I'm glad everything worked out for you!!!

**SunKneeMarie** · 06-20-2008

great pics... thanks for the report!

AbbieMarco · 06-20-2008

Thanks for the trip report.....

The Grand Palladium Resort has now taken top spot of choices for our honeymoon. I'm working on all the details for our trip in November.

Thanks again for the pics.

Linnysue · 06-21-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by AbbieMarco

Thanks for the trip report.....

The Grand Palladium Resort has now taken top spot of choices for our honeymoon. I'm working on all the details for our trip in November.

Thanks again for the pics.

Abbie, all I can say is the GP is a very romantic place and the perfect resort for a honeymoon. They just went to an unlimited ala carte system as well. You'll have a choice of 8 ala carte restaurants. The food was excellent. There is also the Royal section at the resort with complementary room service and other amenities.

If there are any questions you have about the GP that I can help answer, just let me know.

There is also a GP Addicts forum that has a wealth of info. If you would like the link, let me know and I'll send you a pm.

PrettyJewels · 07-01-2008

interesting

06-19-2008	#1 (permalink)
Linnysue way into it Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Park City, Utah Posts: 139	Our Wonderful Week at the Grand Palladium White Sand (June 10 - 17, 2008). Intro: This trip to the Riviera Maya was in celebration of our 30th wedding anniversary. Originally we were to stay at the Grand Princess Riviera, but 10 days before we left, I switched our resort to the Grand Palladium since the GP seemed like a more romantic place to be. This was a total anniversary surprise for my hubby! Departure: Our journey to the Grand Palladium Riviera began on June 9. We left for the SLC airport at 8:45 p.m. for our 12:30 midnight flight to Atlanta which was delayed and left at 2:00 a.m. (June 10)! We arrived in Atlanta around 7:30 a.m. for our connecting flight to Cancun which departed at 9:45 a.m. I told my husband a surprise was waiting for him, so I would handle filling out his tourist card. It was getting really difficult to keep the GP a secret! I wanted so much to be able to share all the photos and wonderful things about the resort that I knew he would love. We arrived in Cancun at 11:20 a.m. Customs was a breeze and we got the green light. We used the Funjet transfer through Lomas Travel. I would like to use a private transfer service next time as we had two other resorts to stop at, the El Dorado Royale and the RIU Palace in Playacar, before reaching the GP. It ended up taking us 2 1/2 hours to arrive at the resort! Boy, was I on pins and needles at that point. As we were getting closer to the GP, I spilled the beans about the surprise, since my hubby was probably figuring out that something was up after we passed our resort about an hour before! Also, the other folks in the van kept asking us what resort we were going to. He was amazed when we turned into the GP, and as I was telling him about all the romantic and spectacular features of the resort. Arrival: Since Funjet only handles the Riviera side of the resort, prior arrangements were made with GP reservation managers to switch to the White Sand side. A special thank you to Brenda at the Palladium Addicts Forum and Anne at the Unofficial Palladium Forum for making this possible. I had requested a 3rd floor, ocean view, corner room in either buildings 58 or 59. We were given a 2nd floor, ocean view, corner room in building #59. The girl checking us in said the room was on the other side that had a jungle view, and I was disappointed until she figured out that she was mistaken. We were so blessed to get this awesome room. We probably would have been placed on the 3rd floor, but floor repairs were taking place in room 5936 directly above us. It made it nice because no guests were above us until the very last night. Our building was very quiet as well. So now on to the photo journey. . . The Riviera lobby where we checked in. I love the angels, so much so that I had Florencio at the pottery stand draw them for me on a platter that I painted. Photos coming up later on that. Our Jr. Suite room (5924): Hallway leading into the room. Bathroom door on the right: We had a king bed that was very comfortable. Robes and slippers are laid out for you to use: This is the living room area. Since this was a corner room we had an extra side window: Our view: We had a closed bathroom. Here are some bathroom photos: The vanity had one sink. The walk-in shower: Being a corner room, our balcony had two sides which was wonderful to capture more of the ocean views. Balcony photos: Here is our little boardwalk pathway that lead to the beach which was a short distance from our building: Our White Sand building #59. Our room is the second one up with the side window curtains drawn. You can also see the beautiful landscaping in front: The open-air interior of the building (Sorry, my lens was fogged up coming from air conditioning into the humidity.): A special GP staff gift was left to help us celebrate our anniversary: Our maid was awesome. We gave her a tip for the week. The room was immaculately cleaned with fresh clean sheets daily. She would leave us special towel art as well. An elephant, swan, and mermaid: Two turtles (so cute): __________________ Until next time at the Grand Palladium! Last edited by Linnysue; 06-22-2008 at 10:40 PM..

06-19-2008	#2 (permalink)
Linnysue way into it Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Park City, Utah Posts: 139	Trip report continued. . . The boardwalk bridge to the WS beach. All we had to do from our building was take a turn to the left onto the bridge for a short walk to the most awesome beach. It was like we had our own private beach where we hung out every day! Our WS beach we hung out at: Hubby relaxing: I have to say the food at the GP was excellent. At the time, for a seven-night stay, you could book 3 ala carte restaurants, now the resort has gone to an unlimited ala carte system. There are a total of 8 ala carte restaurants, and we were able to eat at four of them, the Portofino (Italian), the Sumptuori (Japanese), Ribs and More, and the Rodizio (Brazilian). Our favorite was the Japanese, and we also loved the Rodizio. We also made a reservation for the beach barbecue that took place at the Colonial beach on Saturday night. We ate two dinners at the Kabah Buffet restaurant. The buffet restaurant was also very good with a different food theme each night, so it never gets boring. We especially enjoyed our breakfasts there. We usually skipped lunch, but one day we ate at the WS beach bar, Punta Emilia. My husband had a yummy cheeseburger and I just had the nachos. I loved being so close to this beach bar with it's beautiful scenic location directly on the beach. The Colonial beach bar taken while waiting for the barbecue: The Colonial beach barbecue: I loved taking walks down the rocky path that lead to the salt pool on the Riviera side. The scenery was spectacular. Many times little iguana friends would join you. At night the hermit crabs took their walks on this path as well. There were places to sit and reflect along the way: The beautiful rocky beach (Riviera side): Towards the end of the path, you come to the salt pool complete with it's own bar (Las Rocas). We went snorkeling in this pool where brightly colored fish joined us: Me and the Caribbean sea at the salt pool: The tide pools: Last edited by Linnysue; 06-19-2008 at 05:31 PM..

06-19-2008	#7 (permalink)
Linnysue way into it Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Park City, Utah Posts: 139	There was a lagoon over at the White Sand/Riviera side. You can even take a pontoon boat ride throughout the lagoon itself. The landscaping around the lagoon is just gorgeous. While we were at the GP for the week, we must have seen at least three weddings. Here is what a wedding set up looks like at the White Sand beach pavilion in case there are any future brides interested in a wedding package at the GP: This is the bridge we would cross several times a day from our building over to the WS pool and restaurants. You can see the wedding pavilion in the background: The other side of the bridge facing the WS pool. The pool is huge, so this is photo of only a part of it: Since the resort was very large (4 resorts), there was a green train and red train that would take you to the resort buildings and lobbies. I believe the green train would take you to the different resort lobbies and the red train would take you to the room buildings, or is it the other way around? Oh well, I can't remember now. Every report trip has to have at least one sunrise shot: Remember, I mentioned that I painted the Riviera lobby angels at Florencio's pottery shop? Well, here I am three days later just finishing it up! Florencio adds his finishing touches to make you look like Michelangelo! Sorry, the lens was steamed up again. Here's a better photo of the angel platter: I totally enjoyed this activity and met so many great folks with whom I painted alongside. Some other things I would like to mention is that it rained for 2 1/2 days straight when we first arrived. Everything was wet and flooded. I was a little frustrated as we have had a very long winter snowing and raining clear on into June. As a matter of fact, it snowed in our ski resort town while we were at the GP. On Friday morning, we woke up to a gorgeous sunny day, and it stayed that way until we left on Tuesday. I came to appreciate the rain, so it wasn't a total bummer. The mosquitoes were really bad after the rains though and my Burt's Bees herbal insect repellent was useless. Ugh! Someone told me while I was there that Avon has an insect repellent that works really well. Some things that would be nice for the resort to add would be Wi-Fi, beach service, room service, hard ice cream, portable clothesline racks on the balconies, & dvd players. Well, that's it until our next visit! Last edited by Linnysue; 06-22-2008 at 10:52 PM..

06-19-2008	#3 (permalink)
Mamacita life=playa Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 715	This looks great Linnysue! I remembered reading how worried you were about the Princess not being nice enough, so I'm so glad you switched to a resort you enjoyed! Looking forward to more!

06-19-2008	#5 (permalink)
hildyp ruined Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Brandon, FL Posts: 83	LindySue, I'm so glad you enjoyed your stay and that your anniversary was special. The pictures are beautiful Hildy

06-19-2008	#6 (permalink)
TAPPY añejo Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Louisiana Posts: 15,313	Looking forward to more pictures - sounds like you had a great vacation.

06-19-2008	#8 (permalink)
btodd reposado Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada Posts: 1,357	Thanks for the great report and pics!! So glad you enjoyed the switchero to GP.............Happy Anniversary!

06-19-2008	#9 (permalink)
debk beachaholic Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Ohio Posts: 437	I'm so glad you had a great time! Don't you just love being pampered! Thank you for taking the time to share your pictures and thoughts!

06-20-2008	#11 (permalink)
Sukidog reposado Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: ON, Canada Posts: 1,435	Great job!!! I'm glad everything worked out for you!!!

06-20-2008	#12 (permalink)
SunKneeMarie character encapsulator Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Texas Posts: 27,741	great pics... thanks for the report!

06-20-2008	#13 (permalink)
AbbieMarco very sparkly Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 27	Thanks for the trip report..... The Grand Palladium Resort has now taken top spot of choices for our honeymoon. I'm working on all the details for our trip in November. Thanks again for the pics.

07-01-2008	#15 (permalink)
PrettyJewels toe in water Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 56	interesting

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