Honeymoon, yay!

[SarahLovesJS]

Well after a lot of research, budget planning, and confusion I think we decided on Cancun, Mexico for the honeymoon! We want to go to Hawaii, but it''s so expensive and we really want to be able to enjoy it so instead we''re just going to go to Cancun for a few nights and go to Hawaii when I finish law school. So we booked the hotel and now we''re onto the flight! We''ve both never been before, so do you have any recommendations for activities or restaurants? I bought a guide book, but I''d like PSer advice as well as it''s always valuable.

 

[ash313]

Yay! I love Cancun! That''s very exciting. Where are you staying?

I have been there twice. One thing we did to save cash is on the first or second day took a cab into the middle of the island where the big huge Wal-Mart is. That was an adventure in and of itself! We stocked up on staples for the week (pasta, breakfast stuff, alcohol!) and made lots of our own meals, which was fun and romantic.

Although the above advice might not apply for only a few days. It was fun, though!

Check out what your hotel offers for free! We stayed at Royal Sands, and they offered free sailing lessons (so fun!) salsa dancing lessons and various other activities like ceramics and whatnot. All free!

Also, the attached restaurants typically had great deals - for like $35, you could do a dinner buffet, all you can drink and a dinner show. And take advantage of happy hour every day! 1/2 price drinks and free chips and salsa at basically every resort there!

Hmmm, can you tell we had fun?

We''ve never gone on the day trips, but if you''re up for adventure, they will take you to several pretty cool places around Mexico at various price points. I heard they''re amazing, but we never checked them out.

Have a great time, it''s beautiful there!!!

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Ooh sounds like you had a great time!

We booked a room at the Ritz..I''ve never stayed at a Ritz before, so I think it would be super neat! It''s got great reviews on trip advisor and the package comes with a resort credit for some food, so that''ll save us a bit. Mm chips and salsa! Looks like I better get onto losing weight first because I might gain it while there.

Ooh the lessons do sound fun! I think the closest thing the Ritz has is cooking lessons which is pretty cool, I know I could use some tips.

Haha. Where was your favorite place to shop? I saw that there''s a big mall nearby, is that where the Wal-Mart was? Thank you for replying!

 

[bee*]

It sounds amazing!!! How exciting

 

[galvana]

Cancun is a great choice! FI and I are going there for our honeymoon too!
I have been 4 times so I can suggest a lot.

Is the Ritz on the strip? there is a main strip in cancun where a lot of places are.
If you are on it, you can walk to most shopping malls, restaurants, clubs, etc.

One thing you have to do is go to Snr. Frogs, its SOOOOOOOOOOO much fun! at night, you will love it and you should definitly get the YARD drinks.
so yummy - you will have the best time!

Another great club is Coco Bongo, you should sign up the do the Snr Frogs bar leaping tour. its so fun! my coworker and her husband did it and they are in their 50''s! its a blast.

I would also suggest signing up to do a swim w/ the dolphins somewhere, its soo amazing! Xel -ha is another great place to go for the day,
These are all excurions that you should be able to sign up for at your hotel?
Is the Ritz all inclusive? that is the best way to go.

Also, I would suggest only taking the city buses, its only like 5 pesos to get on and you can get anywhere and travel with all the mexicans, its fun!
there is usually a child under 10 signing spanish love songs in the back of the bus and everyone tips him! lol
I would not suggest taking a cab anywhere UNLESS you can''t get there by bus. Cabs will rip you off terribly. TERRIBLY!
and you are in mexico and you really wont know how much it SHOULD cost to get to where you are going so they ''can''

You will have a blast, just typing this im getting so excited for our honeymoon!~ YAY!~
when are you going?

 

[wannaBMrsH]

I also LOVE Cancun! Fi and I were just there in June and we had been in Playa for New Year''s. You will love the Ritz, but their plans are not all-inclusive (which means you have to pay for all your meals).

If you are into tourism, you should make sure that you "buy-up" on the tours to get lunch included.

If you do the day tour to Xcaret (it''s a national ecological reserve), you will get the most bang for your buck if you do the whole day. I''s $75 and includes buffet lunch, snorkeling, Mayan tour, the Mayan games and evening performance -which is Amazing! vs. the $55 half tour which includes the snorkeling and Mayan tour, but not the evening performance or lunch). While you are there and if you would rather do the swim with dolphins instead of any of the other events, you can buy that separately, too.

The other big tours are the Mayan Ruins of Tulum (again, I think it''s anywhere from $10-25 difference if you buy up and get the lunch included), Swimming in the major sinkholes in Xel-Ha and Coba, there is horse-back riding and ATV or Jeep tours at Maroma Beach.

If you just want to stay in town, I would definitely recommend using your resort credit for breakfast (that tends to be the least expensive meal) and drinks when you are laying by the pool. And going out to explore during the day and eating out for lunch.

Definitely look into the dinner shows and shy away from eating at American places while you are there. You might not notice that you are paying $9 for a whopper when the price is 90 pesos, but you could be eating delicious fajitas at the hole in the wall next to it for 40 pesos ($4!).

PS-The Ritz is right on the strip and all the buses come by on a regular basis. You can take the bus downtown to Mercado 28 and buy all your souvenirs there for a fraction of the price at the plazas on the strip.

 

[lovinsparkles]

Would definitely definitely recommend one of the ecoparks, Xel-ha or Xcaret, whichever is closer. Just visited Xel-ha this summer and it had some of the most amazing snorkeling I''ve ever done (in a nice inlet, so you feel safer than in the open sea)!

 

[galleygal]

FI and I are also thinking of going to Cancun. I''ve been there before and really liked it.

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Thank y''all!

I am so excited! Lovinsparkles do you know anything about the boat tours that take you to the eco-parks snorkeling? The book says that this one tour is good, but some of the trip adviser reviews were not so good. Thank you! I''ll be back later to respond to everyone else, have an exam to go study for now!

 

[ang3199]

HI Sarah! I don''t have any advice as I''ve never been there. I just want to let you know that I hope you have the best time! The honeymoon is a great ''ending'' to the wedding festivities. Makes it feel official! At least I think so!

 

[lovinsparkles]

SLJS, no I don''t know about a boat, at least for Xel-ha. In fact, not sure how that would work (unless that is for some snorkling option further away from the inlet?). We drove there (we were staying near Tulum so it was quite close). Once you get there, you rent snorkle gear and walk right up to the inlet, and just climb in yourself, so I''m not sure where the boats would come in. There might have been a longer river portion above the inlet, now that I think about it, but I thought people rode tubes down that. My brother enjoyed jumping off the cliffs, and my sister liked the nature walk (lots of stuff to see, but not overly regulated or crowded like a US theme park). It was just a good day trip with something for everyone. Have fun whatever you decide!

 

[Dreamgirl]

That sounds like wonderful fun!!!

 

[dreaming of the day]

I was just there in August! Shopping you say... Well the best place to go is Plaza de la Isla, high end good shopping, and across the street is the Luxury Mall. If you want bargain/souveneir shopping than head to the markets!