Trip Ramble Part II

jtm1631 · 08-14-2004

And now back to our regularly scheduled Trip Ramble...

I am not sure I would run to do this trip again anytime soon and let me explain why. All three girls really seemed to have the life sucked out of them from the heat of PDC in August. Our choices of restaurants was really limited by what was within two or three blocks of the hotel (especially for lunch) because that was as far as the girls could get. The day we at La Casa de Piedra I thought Casey was going to be physically ill because she was so hot. By night fall the girls were drained and cranky and it is tough to sit in a restaurant with young kids that are that hot and that tired. I had also thought that we would rent a car and take some side trips, but I soon realized that was not going to happen. With the limited energy of the girls we stayed close to home. I think if we had made this trip in November or March, we could have gotten a lot more out of it. Don’t get me wrong, we all had a great time and loved PDC. I just think we did not get as much out of it as we could have because of our limited mobility. To us, PDC consisted of a four block radius around Playa Maya. It is a magnificent four blocks mind you, but there is so much more out there.

I am glad that we decided not to stay in an AI. For us it was crucial to have the pool and the beach about 10 steps outside the hotel door. It was also a huge benefit to have such a wide array of restaurants within close proximity to the hotel and still have the option for great food available at Playa Maya if we did not want to stray away from the room.

There was really no need to do anything other than the beach and the pool for us. The kids were so happy to spend their time in the water that there was not desire to get in a car and travel to Crococun Zoo or Xel-Ha. We all had a great time despite being a little on the cranky side.

Playa Maya is great. Any hotel run by people was wonderful and caring as Steve and Delmy is going to be a superior location. Steve boasts about his free internet access but I have to tell you, it is a little too accessible. The computer sits there calling your name every time as you walk into our out of the hotel. It was too tempting for me to not log on several times a day and check out the news and latest Cubs scores on yahoo. If I had any self control at all I would like to not check in with reality on my next trip to Playa Maya.

I think for now Julie and I will keep Playa del Carmen as our adult vacation spot. It may be awhile before we can take a trip again without the kids, but PDC is so magical it seems a shame to waste it on the whole family. I am also certain that if we do come back down with the kids, it will be at a different time of year when the heat is not as great.

Sorry to ramble on but you asked for it. If anyone has any specific questions, please let me know.

Critter · 08-14-2004

Still it sounds like you had a good time cranky kids and all.

TAPPY · 08-14-2004

I can relate to the "heat and kids getting cranky" - we went in June and it was tough on our daughter (and she is used to Lousiana heat and humidity) to hold up for very long....so we did not do any day trips to Tulum for that reason. (Saving that for next year)

But I feel the flip side, we stay at an AI because of my daughter, if it was just me and hubby we would stay in Playa...no doubt...I am sure alot of peole may disagree with that, but AI was easier for us...(and we requested a room close to beach and pool, which had a place to eat right off the beach). But I would love to stay at Playa Maya or the Desso (??sp) .

jtm1631 · 08-14-2004

Tappy -

That as they say is why they offer chocolate and vanilla.

If nobody liked the AI's they would not stay in business. The key for any vacation is to find out what works for you and to go with it. We did a quasi AI in Jamaica and loved it.

Avalon · 08-14-2004

Great report JT! I'm usually a see everything within 50 square miles person, but since we've had our daughter, I've slowed waaaaay down. In a way it's forced me to appreciate the more simple things in life. We'll see how it goes once we get down there. Having never done the AI thing, we thought we would try it, kids club and all, you know? We thought about Jamaica, resort came with a personal nanny! But I'm so happy we chose the Riviera Maya area, especially now that Jamaica is getting hammered. Glad you're back and that everything went well and you had a great family vacation.

jtm1631 · 08-14-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avalon

We thought about Jamaica, resort came with a personal nanny!

If you are talking about the FDR place and the other resort owned by the same company, I have read some really bad things about the condition of those resorts. We looked into them two years ago but got put off by some of the negative things we saw. Never been, but I think you made the right decision going to PDC.

jtm1631 · 08-14-2004

One last thing I forgot to mention (yes, I know, it seems like I mentioned everything

). When we got to the airport in Cancun there was quite a long line at the American Airlines desk. In fact it snaked all the way through the roped off section and spilled out into the main terminal area. I knew from our previous trip that it moved fairly quickly so we got on line and began to wait. We had not been in that line more than 1 minute when a very nice young man who worked for American Airlines came up to me and asked how many people were traveling in our party. I told him 5 and he asked us all to follow him. He took us off to the side and right up to the front of the line. He then went over to the folks who were hand checking the luguage and spoke to them for a moment. 30 seconds later he walked us up to an open ticket agent and told us to have a great flight. WOW. This really sent us home with a great feeling. The ticket agent than joked with us when we told him there were five people traveling and only one checked bag.

Well, I think I'll stop now or I could go on all night. Just thought I would share a great Cancun airport experience with everyone.

roni · 08-14-2004

Sounds like you were hot

. Used to happen to Chicago kids who came downstate to attend the university I worked at the, SIU-Carbondale. Hard to get used to it in a week. I can understand that living in Oregon for the past 4 1/2 years. 90 degrees with low humidity feels hot to me now.

As for the Cubs, well, root for the Cardinals

.

Critter · 08-14-2004

That is a great airport story thank you for sharing it.

**tommy** · 08-15-2004

You got the right idea JT...leave them at home with grandma....Keep Playa all to yourself.....

mckinzie · 08-15-2004

Glad the family had a great time at Ryberg's place

TAPPY · 08-15-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by sun seekers

You got the right idea JT...leave them at home with grandma....Keep Playa all to yourself.....

08-14-2004	#1 (permalink)
jtm1631 añejo Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Chicagoland Posts: 2,446	Trip Ramble Part II And now back to our regularly scheduled Trip Ramble... I am not sure I would run to do this trip again anytime soon and let me explain why. All three girls really seemed to have the life sucked out of them from the heat of PDC in August. Our choices of restaurants was really limited by what was within two or three blocks of the hotel (especially for lunch) because that was as far as the girls could get. The day we at La Casa de Piedra I thought Casey was going to be physically ill because she was so hot. By night fall the girls were drained and cranky and it is tough to sit in a restaurant with young kids that are that hot and that tired. I had also thought that we would rent a car and take some side trips, but I soon realized that was not going to happen. With the limited energy of the girls we stayed close to home. I think if we had made this trip in November or March, we could have gotten a lot more out of it. Don’t get me wrong, we all had a great time and loved PDC. I just think we did not get as much out of it as we could have because of our limited mobility. To us, PDC consisted of a four block radius around Playa Maya. It is a magnificent four blocks mind you, but there is so much more out there. I am glad that we decided not to stay in an AI. For us it was crucial to have the pool and the beach about 10 steps outside the hotel door. It was also a huge benefit to have such a wide array of restaurants within close proximity to the hotel and still have the option for great food available at Playa Maya if we did not want to stray away from the room. There was really no need to do anything other than the beach and the pool for us. The kids were so happy to spend their time in the water that there was not desire to get in a car and travel to Crococun Zoo or Xel-Ha. We all had a great time despite being a little on the cranky side. Playa Maya is great. Any hotel run by people was wonderful and caring as Steve and Delmy is going to be a superior location. Steve boasts about his free internet access but I have to tell you, it is a little too accessible. The computer sits there calling your name every time as you walk into our out of the hotel. It was too tempting for me to not log on several times a day and check out the news and latest Cubs scores on yahoo. If I had any self control at all I would like to not check in with reality on my next trip to Playa Maya. I think for now Julie and I will keep Playa del Carmen as our adult vacation spot. It may be awhile before we can take a trip again without the kids, but PDC is so magical it seems a shame to waste it on the whole family. I am also certain that if we do come back down with the kids, it will be at a different time of year when the heat is not as great. Sorry to ramble on but you asked for it. If anyone has any specific questions, please let me know. __________________ JT

08-14-2004	#2 (permalink)
Critter añejo Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Cerca de Washington DC Posts: 3,343	Still it sounds like you had a good time cranky kids and all.

08-14-2004	#3 (permalink)
TAPPY añejo Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Louisiana Posts: 16,900	I can relate to the "heat and kids getting cranky" - we went in June and it was tough on our daughter (and she is used to Lousiana heat and humidity) to hold up for very long....so we did not do any day trips to Tulum for that reason. (Saving that for next year) But I feel the flip side, we stay at an AI because of my daughter, if it was just me and hubby we would stay in Playa...no doubt...I am sure alot of peole may disagree with that, but AI was easier for us...(and we requested a room close to beach and pool, which had a place to eat right off the beach). But I would love to stay at Playa Maya or the Desso (??sp) .

08-14-2004	#4 (permalink)
jtm1631 añejo Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Chicagoland Posts: 2,446	Tappy - That as they say is why they offer chocolate and vanilla. If nobody liked the AI's they would not stay in business. The key for any vacation is to find out what works for you and to go with it. We did a quasi AI in Jamaica and loved it.

08-14-2004	#5 (permalink)
Avalon beachaholic Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Southern California Posts: 270	Great report JT! I'm usually a see everything within 50 square miles person, but since we've had our daughter, I've slowed waaaaay down. In a way it's forced me to appreciate the more simple things in life. We'll see how it goes once we get down there. Having never done the AI thing, we thought we would try it, kids club and all, you know? We thought about Jamaica, resort came with a personal nanny! But I'm so happy we chose the Riviera Maya area, especially now that Jamaica is getting hammered. Glad you're back and that everything went well and you had a great family vacation.

08-14-2004	#7 (permalink)
jtm1631 añejo Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Chicagoland Posts: 2,446	One last thing I forgot to mention (yes, I know, it seems like I mentioned everything ). When we got to the airport in Cancun there was quite a long line at the American Airlines desk. In fact it snaked all the way through the roped off section and spilled out into the main terminal area. I knew from our previous trip that it moved fairly quickly so we got on line and began to wait. We had not been in that line more than 1 minute when a very nice young man who worked for American Airlines came up to me and asked how many people were traveling in our party. I told him 5 and he asked us all to follow him. He took us off to the side and right up to the front of the line. He then went over to the folks who were hand checking the luguage and spoke to them for a moment. 30 seconds later he walked us up to an open ticket agent and told us to have a great flight. WOW. This really sent us home with a great feeling. The ticket agent than joked with us when we told him there were five people traveling and only one checked bag. Well, I think I'll stop now or I could go on all night. Just thought I would share a great Cancun airport experience with everyone.

08-14-2004	#8 (permalink)
roni añejo Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Oregon Posts: 37,273	Sounds like you were hot . Used to happen to Chicago kids who came downstate to attend the university I worked at the, SIU-Carbondale. Hard to get used to it in a week. I can understand that living in Oregon for the past 4 1/2 years. 90 degrees with low humidity feels hot to me now. As for the Cubs, well, root for the Cardinals .

08-14-2004	#9 (permalink)
Critter añejo Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Cerca de Washington DC Posts: 3,343	That is a great airport story thank you for sharing it.

08-15-2004	#10 (permalink)
tommy Rastaman Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Austin Tx Posts: 12,822 Blog Entries: 5	You got the right idea JT...leave them at home with grandma....Keep Playa all to yourself.....

08-15-2004	#11 (permalink)
mckinzie lightweight Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Highland Village,Tx (Kinz Standard Time) Posts: 13,572	Glad the family had a great time at Ryberg's place

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