08-19-2009
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#1 (permalink) |
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very sparkly
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Northern California
Posts: 28
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1st Trip Report-Sandos July 8-29, 2009
OK...Here I go. Not my first trip to Playa, but my first trip report. Let me start by saying that I have no photos of airports, food, menus and food prices!! For the food stuff - it's because I completely forgot to take pictures - and really, I'm not a foodie - frankly, I'm good with a bowl of cereal - ask my husband!! So...a quick synopsis of the airports - we (Me - Devon, husband Troy, Sister Randi and my daughter Aly) left on July 7th from San Francisco, CA on a red-eye...our first. Can't even get out of SF without a glitch...my daughter's bag gets the security inspection...she brilliantly had a pocket knife in her backpack - claimed she completely forgot about it as she always has it in her backpack - well, I'm not paying to send it home - so yeah, just throw it away - Lesson #1 for Aly. Duh!! You're at the airport, going thru security, hello!
 All I'm thinking is great, now they're going to go thru all of our stuff, but we were safe. Luckily, that was the only problem. Dispose with the knife...on with the trip!!Red-Eyes....Great IF you can sleep. Unfortunately, none of us sleep - too excited, except Aly, who I swear can sleep anywhere, anytime - especially when a moving vehicle is in the equation!! We all kind of cat-nap, but not real sleep-sleep, you know what I mean! This being said, I would still recommend a red-eye - just because you don't waste a whole vacation day flying...you can always sleep on the beach when you get there!!  Gotta throw in a word about the Mexico City Airport. This place is a freaking maze. If you smoke, like my husband and I do,  (I know...I don't want to hear it!!) then you actually look forward to these lay-overs - gotta have that darn nicotine, ya know. First, it's hard as he L L to find someone who speaks English - thankfully, I have enough spanish to get by - but if you don't speak Spanish at all - well, Good Luck.  Second, it's about a 5 minute walk to get out of this place (no biggie), but about a 30 minute walk to get back in to where you need to be, and VERY confusing.  INSANE, I tell ya. So either don't smoke - or get a map of this place. It was even worse on our return flight!! Does Mapchick have a map of this airport?Sorry....on to the actual trip - arrive in Cancun at 10:30 a.m. 7/8/09 - a bit of rain - not much.  Not alot of people there, everything very smooth and quick, health screen (somewhere in there is an automatic temperature thing, so you don't even know they do it). Thankfully all get the green light - and I do mean thankfully - with my husband and I going for 3 weeks, we had ALOT of stuff - way, way too much -let me rephrase that and say I had alot of stuff - but I'll give you my tips on packing later! We had a private car pick us up at the airport - they were there waiting-quick stop at the closest 7-11 for a 6 pack of cerveza -  Vacation has officially started (not counting the free, yes free, beers on MEXICANA Airlines) because now we are here... On to the hotel. Sandos Playacar Beach Resort and Spa. We actually own the Royal Elite timeshare (I mean, vacation club) here, so we already know what to expect. Except, we finally get to our room at about 3:30 - after leaving our luggage at the front desk, changing into our suits, and heading to the beach for quite a while...and, uh-oh. We are NOT happy with our room. We had a bottom unit, ocean-front. Absolutely no privacy, room showed signs of wear and tear - not what we signed up for when we signed up for Royal Elite. We get moved the next day - to the north 40 (about as far from anything as you can get) - room 9330 - in the Riviera Suites - which are newer and very nice - but it's quite a ways from the main area, beach, etc. We are ok with that. Our (second) room #9330 King Bed (pretty comfortable), sofa makes into a bed. (My sister and daughter had a separate room!!)  The jacuzzi tub in the bathroom - window opens up into room  Our balcony view - Riviera pool -swim up bar  The beach - day 1 (I think....) Not a whole lot of people!!   ***THE BEACH AT SANDOS - 2009 vs 2008 IMHO... The beach was GREAT. Compared to last year (Sept 08), there has been a bit more erosion, but I didn't think it was too bad - at one point I had seen photos of the beach all the way back to the volleyball net - that was NOT the case when we went. There are a few more sand whales - especially more toward the Iberostar side, but no one seemed to mind. The beach and water were just as nice as last year- maybe a bit bitter last year, but very nice, nonetheless. However, IMHO, I walked up about three resorts -Iberostar, RIU, etc. and found their beach area to be somewhat ugly (in comparison to Sandos), they had alot more algae and seaweed in the water, more whales - Here you can see about more of the "darker" water by Iberostar  For those of you unfamiliar with the area, Sandos is the LAST resort in the gated area "Playacar" (across from the golf course). It is a 20 minute walk to 5th Avenue, or a $5 taxi ride. I'm not 100% on the walking part, cuz to be honest, I've never done it...personally, I think it's more like a half hour - because walking to the little shopping area in Playacar takes about 15 minutes - and that I have done. Another thing about my trip report...I had every good intention of being "OCD" with the photos, stealing good ideas from others (like writing what day it is in the sand, taking food pics, etc.). We all know what I'm getting at... NOT. Yeah...sounded good at the time!!  But...such was not the case. Even though I took over 900 pics in 3 weeks!!! I seriously think about NOT bringing the camera next time - we'll talk more about that later!!OK...let me get back on track again. 22 days is a long time to be at an All Inclusive resort, any AI or "resort" for that matter. Now, don't get me wrong - I can stay on the beach for days and days, and basically do nothing (Oh yeah...that's about what I did!!) - it's a long time because it's the same (basically) food everyday (which BTW is very good at Sandos), the same pool activities, drink all day and yada, yada, yada. That's why next June, we are booked for Isla for 5 nights, and 12 in Playa, in a condo...so we can experience more of "life" in Playa without being confined to a compound. Ever notice how these mega-resorts make it hard for you to get out? Even though we had been to Sandos last year, we still managed to "get lost" on the resort - trying to get out, that is!! Anywho... so, we spend ALOT of our vacation in the sand, surf, and pool, our choice, we happen to like being lounge(r) lizards! We did manage to get out a few times, Chichen-Itza one day, Cozumel one day, shopping, Wal-Mart, dinner at the home of one of the employees of Sandos that we had met last year (this was a highlight of our trip...the REAL Playa).... Chichen-Itza Express....Great day trip....Highly recommend. It is a LONG day, especially the drive there and back - 5 hours round trip, and 2 1/2 hours there...no stops at Cenotes or restaurant - begged driver to make a potty stop... The drive there...did I mention L O N G? View from the van, I have a real problem with the way Mexico (doesn't) handle it's garbage, plastic bottles, etc. just strewn anywhere on the side of the road... Recycling anyone? Boy, what a business that could be.  On the way there:  Chichen-Itza (Troy and me, Devon) It was BLAZIN' hot here!!  Other Chichen-Itza pics:    OK..I'm getting a bit frustrated with PhotoBucket. I uploaded a bunch of pics, but now I'm not seeing certain ones. I might have to see if there is a better way than PB, not sure what is going on right now - they were there before, then I uploaded more - maybe there is a limit, I dunno....So...I'll have to continue this trip report later when I can figure out what happened. Adios for now... I'll report more later, and more pics too  !!Devon Last edited by MeGustaLaPlaya; 08-20-2009 at 12:22 PM.. Reason: photos got lost |
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08-20-2009
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#4 (permalink) |
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very sparkly
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Northern California
Posts: 28
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Pics were there, then I just had to screw it up...messing around in Photobucket!! I will fix that today. I think because I was an idiot, I uploaded photos to PB, into one album, then added more, then realized that there were too many for the album, and it replaced some that I had originally added... so I started making other albums and moving photos...did I happen to pay attention to the "warning" on PB that came up saying something about losing links? Yeah, I paid attention, but didn't think it would affect this!! Now I see it did....YIKES. PB is not the most user friendly application IMO, but it is easy to put photos on here with them!! That is, when you don't mess/move them AFTER you post here!! Note to self ....and anyone else doing a report for the 1st time - get your ducks (or photos) in a row BEFORE you start your trip report...Add albums and all that, easiest if you have separate folders to upload from (rather than me who had one HUGE folder)!! Once you put them in that album, etc...LEAVE 'EM ALONE!! As you can see, if you move them, they will disappear here!! Live & Learn. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks!!
OK...I'll get the photos moved in PB - then fix the mess I created here!! Thanks..... Last edited by MeGustaLaPlaya; 08-20-2009 at 12:11 PM.. Reason: error |
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08-20-2009
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#7 (permalink) |
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life=playa
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 547
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okay... it's like cutting off my air supply when a trip report is interupted, lol.. hurry up or i'm gonna suffocate.... lol....
Great report so far, love the pics!!! Makes me wish i was there right now and every day after!!! 
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08-20-2009
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#8 (permalink) |
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very sparkly
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Northern California
Posts: 28
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1st Trip Report-Sandos July 8-29,2009 CONTINUED
Well, I FINALLY got my photobucket stuff all squared away, and organized. In "Real-Life" I am a super organized person, and a planner...on vacation - that is out the window - (this is why I really don't like cruises...everything is planned and by the clock - hate it.... and, you sort of have to dress up - not much into that either!) Anyway, I don't really like to have a plan on vacation...so, the events of the trip may or may not (probably not, as the case might be) be in any kind of time-line order. I'm just going to say things as they come back to me!!
So, before I had the PB problems, I was putting up pics of Chichen-Itza, so I will continue with some more of those. Random Chichen-Itza pics: The potty stop...luckily he gave us like 15 minutes-yep, enough time to buy a few trinkets (and use the bathroom!)  Much cheaper to buy souveniers here - and at Chichen (than on 5th)    It's really hard not to feel bad for these people...she (little tiny lady) was selling these cute little hand embroidered hankies for $1     The (long) van ride back....     
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08-20-2009
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#9 (permalink) |
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very sparkly
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Northern California
Posts: 28
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1st Trip Report-Sandos July 8-29,2009 CONTINUED
OOPS...I hit the enter button...sorry, still learning!!
Anyway, that's enough of Chichen-Itza for now...How about Cozumel now? The ferry headed to Cozumel:  In Cozumel:   Great Sign:    ***By the way, we didn't do anything in Cozumel except walk around by the ferry terminal, and back about 6 blocks - basically just shopping, eating and drinking cervezas!! We thought about going snorkeling, but just never did....oh well, next time!! It was really, really hot that day too....thankfully, I had my trusty spray bottle - I'll get into that more when I discuss packing!!  Yep...had to be the typical tourists!   Moving service (??):  Plenty of scooters to rent (didn't do that either!!)  Or bicycles (didn't do that!!)  I had a taste of the blue gelato....yummy - like cotton candy. We were going to go back and get some after we ate some real food, but then decided to go to the bar and drink instead!!  Mr. Chili's - VERY GOOD food, decent prices and A/C inside (thank you).   Outside bar of Mr. Chili's:  Gotta be careful on these bad boys!!  Sorry...this was pretty cool at Mr. Chili's bathroom (most interesting toilet I've seen!! Where can I get one?):   This photo below reminds me to tell you about drinking water, and I'm only saying it now because I just remembered....After being in Playa for 22 days, I never once (nor did my husband, daughter or sister), have any problems whatsoever with food or water. We ate everything, and drank everything, munched on ice - and I for one, never once grabbed a bottled water to brush my teeth with. I even swallowed the water out of the sink and/or the shower. I'm not saying you can't get sick, and I'm not saying Sandos is better than any others - of course, you need to use caution... It also brings up this lady who started talking to me at Sandos about how she couldn't eat ANYTHING that Sandos had to offer (huh??)and how glad she was that she didn't bring her kid to have to go thru that too, or see her in such bad shape. Then she went on to say how she would never ever come back.... O K -(Well, suits me fine if you never come back) and for one, did you ever hear of the BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce & Toast) - that you eat when your stomach is giving you problems? They have all of that (except maybe the applesauce) - your'e telling me you couldn't even eat that....come on! What about the best saltine crackers in the whole world that come in those little blue packs (I forget the brand, but I steal these every chance I get in Playa - can't get these at home ya know!!) I never said any of this to her, but I definitely thought it....Well - some people. You can make some of the people happy some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time.  So....all that being said:  Decided to drink some more in Cozumel - waiting for the next ferry - at this great little place - (you can't see my squirt bottle in the bucket 'o beers) and this I remember - 5 beers ICE COLD/$10. Waiter had never seen a spray bottle before, he loved it..I'd have given him mine, but we still had several days to go (Sorry Andy)      The view from the upstairs:  COLOR=indigo]Excitement (?) at the Ferry Dock...don't know what the heck was going on, but they brought out the dog and all...(notice the guns). Possible drug bust??[/color]     Not sure what this was:  Very cool sculpture at the Coz. Ferry Terminal:  The water/beach by the ferry terminal (not so nice)  And, don't know if this will show thru, but there were TONS of little fish by the Ferry:   That's it for Cozumel... Very cool town, people are VERY friendly there. Ferry ride $12.00 each way. Time for some more beach pics....Sandos playa...       Troy & Aly head off on a jet ski to parasail ($50 bucks each...after talking them WAY down):  On the boat:  Get ready, get set....  GO!!      And, back to the boat!! They absolutely loved this!! Maybe next year I won't be such a chicken - that height thing, you know!!  The happy sailers:  My crazy daughter (who is almost 18), quite the hit with the Sandos employees....(hate to admit it, but she "won" the beer bong contest one night!!) My daughter and sister were with us for the first 9 days - everyday after they left, we would get asked "Where's Aly?"  Her 6-pack abs:  The Little Mermaid:    Aly & Andrew (lifeguard at Sandos beach):  Aly...2nd braid work before going home - $25 on 5th, the lady did an absolutely beautiful job:       OK...well, I'm not done yet!! Gonna post this for now, and get back to it in a bit!! Thanks for tuning in...... Last edited by MeGustaLaPlaya; 08-20-2009 at 08:52 PM.. Reason: duplicated a few photos. |
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08-21-2009
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#13 (permalink) | |
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very sparkly
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Northern California
Posts: 28
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Quote:
Thanks for reading.....more to come!! |
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08-21-2009
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#14 (permalink) | |
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way into it
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Thornton, CO
Posts: 195
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Quote:
We like to make you work hard if it means more reading for us. You are doing a great job and love the writing style, love the humor. 
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08-23-2009
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#15 (permalink) |
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very sparkly
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Northern California
Posts: 28
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1st Trip Report-Sandos July 8-29,2009 CONTINUED
I'm going to start this part with my thoughts on what to pack (or what not to pack, as the case might be!!).
I mentioned before that I am a very organized person, so I already had a "Mexico Packing List" saved on the computer, that I had created from the year before - because you know there's just certain things you don't want to forget!! Well, after having my suitcase and a pile of some stuff to take ready to go about 3 weeks earlier than our departure, (in a spare bedroom), I kept adding to the list thinking I would need this or that, or more of this (because we were going for 3 weeks!!). So, after all was said and done, I had one very large suitcase (that weighed in at 49 pounds - the limit being 50!!), a second suitcase (the medium size), that weighed about 28 pounds, a carry- on suitcase (the small one), and a backpack. This was just for me!! I also had to steal some room from my husband's suitcase for more shoes - because I thought 5 pairs wouldn't be enough. I also had several suntan lotions, (my husband calls me the lotion queen), shampoo, conditioner, hairspray, the list goes on. Let me just say that I have again revised my list.... here's my plan for next year: 4 pairs shorts (down from 9) 5 tank tops (down from 15) 3 bathing suits (down from 8) 4 Sarongs (down from 9) 2 shoes (down from 7) (Nothing fancy, just flip-flops) 2 casual sundresses (down from 5) Spray bottle for water (must have) Sunglasses Visor pool float (they are pretty pricey to buy there) Washcloths (hard to come by at Sandos - seems to be a common complaint in Mexico). beach bag Camera, batteries, charger. Hair clips (I cannot keep a hairstyle to save my life in Playa, if I'm not sweating like crazy, the humidity turns it into Bozo the clown!!) Lots of small bills (1's & 5's) Mapchick maps (that I'm going to buy soon!!) One other thing that is a good idea to bring...don't laugh - this is a very true and VERY heplful thing to know: bring a spray bottle with Listerine (ORIGINAL ONLY- NOT MINT) mouthwash. THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST "HOME REMEDIES" FOR SUNBURN THAT YOU WILL EVER FIND. (It does seem kind of hard to find the original one in Playa). When you get a sunburn, spray the listerine on, and don't dry it. Keep repeating this as often as you wish. It will take away the sting of the burn, and in MOST cases, will help you to not peel. This remedy was told to my dad from a friend of his who was Irish (and very white), and also had diabetes...he went to Hawaii and proceeded to get extremely burnt. Someone told him about this, and he thought "what the heck" - he was AMAZED by the results....since I heard of this, I SWEAR by it!! Of course there's a few other essentials..underwear, toothbrush, deodorant etc.... BUT, this next trip, I'm going to Wal-Mart and buying shampoo, conditioner (don't usually care for the stuff in hotels!) - then whatever of it I don't use, I wil leave there for the maid to take, suntan lotion, bug stuff, cigarettes. No more stuff exploding in my suitcase - as always seems to happen. Luckily, I do pack them in ziploc bags!! This is the year that I am packing sensibly, not for "what if". Here's my what-if motto now....If I need something bad enough, I'll just buy it there. This last trip, I brought my laptop - I'm still debating on that for next year. At Sandos, they had Wi-Fi in two locations...As Royal Elite, we have access to computers, but this was a pain because the keyboard was a Spanish layout - totally different - and because I was gone for so long, I did have to check in to work occasionally....so, I would have to bring my laptop down to one of the two areas...not fun. Next year, the condo we are staying at has Wi-Fi too....and while it would be much easier to do it there, I'm seriously considering not taking it....I'm still debating on this. I really, really, really want to travel light this time. Oh.... here's another reason that packing way too much is not a good idea - aside from just lugging it around at airports, etc..... for whatever reason, Troy and I got "picked" at San Francisco for a complete inspection, upon our return flight, which by the way, did not land until almost 11p.m. - so, because we got "picked" - they went through EVERY SINGLE ITEM in all of our bags - That means 4 suitcases, and 3 carry ons. Every item, every bag....this took at least a half hour-maybe more. Which did not make us happy, as you can imagine. We were tired, and wanting to go home, my son was waiting to pick us up.... Anyway, now that I've got the packing tutorial out of the way.... on with the trip.... Speaking of hair not cooperating....here's a picture of us going to the Asiana restaurant at Sandos. This is probably the best my hair, and me for that matter looked (for about 15 minutes) in Playa:  Aly  Aly being "herself"...she always does this when I take out the camera too much!  The spa pool at Sandos:   Which brings up another thing we did....we decided to go to Sandos Caracol one day, just to check it out, and see if we would like to go there. My advice, DON'T book a trip here. We planned on spending the entire day here, but made it less than 2 hours. While the place had some nice things about it, for the most part, it sucks. (Can I say that on here?) Some nice things...there was alot of shady areas, palapa roofs in walkways, more wildlife - lots of iguanas, cute design in their "main area". The bad.....the beach - gross, really - lots of black algae stuff that you had to walk on in the ocean, people that worked there not as friendly, it's also quite aways away from anything....like out in the middle of nowhere (you turn into it by Grand Coral, I think) rooms had no balconies to speak of (except maybe the Royal Elite ones), adult pool needed work...lots of tiles missing, lots of standing water on property....And the worst... The spa pool...notice the light floating in the water WITH a wire attached:  Their spa pool is half the size of Sandos Playacar (same design)    Adult pool:  Also, notice no balconies:    Main Pool:    Main area (nice):            Front of building...I think the room in the background are the Royal Elite   Back to Sandos Playacar:  The last week of our trip, we FINALLY got moved to our 3rd room.... what we should have had when we checked in....a Master suite (living room, half bath, separate bedroom, full bath) - ocean front, Room 1326.... Our room and views:          What I came here for:       [IMG] All these were taken from our balcony:          That's about it for now....I'll have one final installment soon....time flies when you do this...so for now, I have to get something done around the house!! Adios for now! Last edited by MeGustaLaPlaya; 08-23-2009 at 01:53 PM.. Reason: add photos |
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