jhawkev

Polina- Thanks for the info about what Fabio told you, good to know! Quote: Originally Posted by jennrenn23 It was great and i am working on that right now! I will post a looong review on TripAdvisor about the resort and I will post on the wedding here. I am uploading my camera now. We just got home last night. Jennifer Jennifer- Thank you so much for your wonderful review. I can't wait to check TA for the other one. You and your husband looked fabulous and I'm so glad you were happy with most everything! That was so nice they surprised you with such a special dinner Girls- I'm loving seeing everyone's gowns. Here are links to the two I'm deciding b/w. I'm making my final decision this Saturday! Nicole Miller Wedding Dresses - Wedding Dress Style LJ0003 | Brides.com Ireland - by Maggie Sottero (if I get this one I will cut the train to a mini one)

That's fine TA Jennifer, if you forward my post or just of our concerns. Maybe they just don't realize the whole picture I'm not sure how to upload pictures either. You can copy and past a link if your gown is online.

Sorry! One more... Have you ladies picked out your wedding gowns yet? I'm in the process now I would love to see pics of anyone who has already purchased.

But yes, at the Casitas for El Dorado Royale and at El Dorado Maroma- they call them Beach Butlers and when I did my sites I saw those poor guys out there waiting on people with a smile! At Azul Beach they offer very similiar - they may be exactly the same services- but for some reason call them beach waiters. What I was referring to is I have a Karisma "magazine" that my TA gave us when we were deciding on a location. It goes over the details of each specific resort. Then, in the back it has all the amenities offered and which resort offers which specific amenity. Beach waiters and Beach Butlers are actually listed as two different amenities. Every resort has beach waiters, but the beach butlers are listed at El Dorado Casitas Royale, El Dorado Maroma, and all of the Azuls. The Sensatori is suppose to have every amenity at the resort with the exceptions of a Wedding Chapel and Shopping tours.

Quote: Originally Posted by JHarwood2Be I understand the importance of being patient as they are busy. But the thing is, it takes so much to get a direct answer to simple questions. For the amount of money they charge and the all of the restrictions placed, I expect more from the planners and the resort. I know we all have many of the same questions, so why not have the FAQ's addressed when you book the wedding? That would save them a lot of repeat inquiries if they would just state the policies and prices up front. Sorry this is lengthy: I feel the same way. We are all spending ALOT of money to have our weddings here and this is one of the most important days of our life. And to me this forum is to share our thoughts, feelings, and frustrations. Karisma would save themselves hundreds of emails if they would simply put together a detailed FAQ sheet and simply let you know up front when you book your wedding date that they do not like to plan details until closer to our wedding dates. They are obviously getting asked many of the same questions over and over again. I realize there are custom quotes needed, but many of us are just trying to get basic information before we can even get to the custom quotes. This isn't their first rodeo (Karisma), if they are overwhelmed they need to hire more people. And with Nancy leaving, and a new wedding coordinator taking over why can't they send out a mass email (to her brides) letting everyone know. TA Jennifer, I had previously stated that I thought Faith did a great job answering questions during the webinar. It's just with the follow up questions, she does the same exact thing Nancy and Fabio do when we email them, only answers partially to questions asked. And if it would get me answers I would happily pay more money for a wedding coordinator. I have worked in Sales and Customer Service for most of my career, so I do understand the opening of a new part of a business and that it can be overwhelming. With that being said, now that they realize how popular and in high demand this resort is they need to adjust to it and service their clients who are paying high dollar. Also, aren't Fabio and Nancy based in Miami, when I booked this resort my TA specifically told me that they had US based wedding coordinators as an incentive. They are telling us that for those of us that have our weddings in April (for example), they will not go over any of our details (reception location, menu, decor, etc.) until January. But they also have deadlines of either 60 or 30 (without penalty) days prior to the wedding where you have to have all details determined. Which is scary to some of us, because they are not easy to get a hold of/ get any answers from. And many of us have over 40 guests attending, there are just many variables that can end up costing a fortune (especially with the prices continually going up). And many girls are worried with more than one wedding a day, who gets to choose first on locations. For those girls who know what locations they want, why should they have to wait. I realize they don't want to start planning ceremonies that are in 2010 right now, but it's cutting it close making us wait. They just need to be upfront about their policies. Many of us have made our emails short and easy to answer. Would they rather have one email with multiple questions in an easy to reply format or 20/more emails with one question? Finally, I was under the impression that this forum was for us to share information good and bad. And get our frustrations out to each other. Wouldn't you rather us do it here than to the actual resort. We have to vent somewhere or we'll all go crazy!

Quote: Originally Posted by Solidshan83 Ericka, Two things...one is...how did you end up speaking with Nancy? Did Fabio put you in touch with her? My wedding is in June of 09 and I have not spoken to anyone other than Fabio. Who is Nancy? And I was wondering if Nancy can send you pics of those wedding ceremony places? Thanks! Shannon When I booked, there were only two coordinators Nancy and Fabio. One of them should have contacted you or your travel agent when/after you received your confirmation. No, she did not send any pictures. I don't think all of them are built yet. And from what I gather from the other girls, both of them are really difficult to get any answers from. Good luck! Quote: Originally Posted by JHarwood2Be I think they might have other coordinators. I have heard mention of Luis here and I want to say someone else maybe? Does anyone know the difference between the beach canopy and the beach gazebo? Ok, so January it is for me for details too..... I think the Beach Canopy is the poles with the fabric on the beach and the Gazebo is like the Gazebo pics we've seen from the El Dorados, not right on the beach. Quote: Originally Posted by AustinGirl How has Fabio been for you? I am working with Nancy and it has been like pulling teeth trying to get responses from her. They are both impossible to get answers from!! It get's old really quickly, thank goodness for all the info on here. Between 40 of us, we still can't get enough answers. Did you'all read the answers from Faith? She does the same thing, Nancy and Fabio does....only answers the parts of the questions she wants to. I have a catalog for the Karisma resorts that my TA gave me. And they are all suppose to have Beach Butlers, except the El Dorado Royale and the El Dorado Seaside!!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by weddingchick I agree. Unfortunately none of the reviews were detailed or included photos. In fact, I read a few posts questioning how genuine the reviews actually were. I look forward to checking it out daily!!! I agree too. I'm on Trip Advisor quite a bit too, that was my obsession before this website. I can't wait to hear some detailed real reviews with pictures. Our resort is all the buzz on the Puerto Morelos forum. Everyone's excited for this place! I finally received a response from Nancy. I asked her if I should be talking to someone from Lomas or just her. And she said just her. She mentioned four ceremony possibilities: Garden Gazebo, Beach Gazebo, Beach Canopy, and Sky wedding (I hadn't heard of the Garden Gazebo before). Also, I asked if I could set up a time to talk to her on the phone and when I should start planning my details, she said January. I'm suppose to send her a "reminder" email in January to start talking specifics about my wedding and reception in April. I guess that's fine, it's just so hard to learn to be patient and wait on everything!! I know it is slow in Mexico, I just need to be able to plan on how much we're going to be spending. She's always friendly, but maybe they need a couple of more Wedding Coordinators. These two seem a little overwhelmed. P.S.- Congrats to all the new girls on here

Thanks for the review! That's too bad about your rushed site visit! Did you find out when they are building the gazebo for the other ceremony option? And I know I'm obsessed, but did they mention anything about the Beach Butlers?

Quote: Originally Posted by Soon2beTWells I'm ok with it, it would have been nice just to be informed up front. Also, how many of you are staying at the resort for your HM, and how many are going to a different resort? We're staying a week at the Resort and then a week at a boutique hotel in or around Playa. Has anyone been getting responses from Fabio or Nancy lately? Or have you been getting the automated response..... It's kind of difficult to ensure your reception time and choices when they don't respond to emails! Let's hope they do make an effort to keep the wedding parties separate. I'm just starting to worry about their organizational skills.

Awesome! That's getting me more excited, now I want reviews and more pictures

Quote: Originally Posted by TA Jennifer I understand the frustration about the beach butlers- I'll see if we can get some more definative dates on that. That would be great if you could get a more definitive date out of them. I realize the resort had a late opening.....but they shouldn't specify in all their catalogs & website about the Beach Butlers if they don't deliver. I posted it on my wedding website and have been telling all my family and friends. And I know people on Trip Advisor have been talking about the Butlers as well. It's suppose to a part of the Sky Deck wedding package too (white gloved service). That extra $1700 has to be going somewhere..... Faith was great at answering questions, I wish the other wedding coordinators were that straightforward. It's like speaking in circles with the other two. Do you think they would be willing to do Webinars on each Resort separately? So we could ask more resort specific questions. And did anyone else on the Webinar notice how much the wedding packages went up from 08 to 09?!! Almost a $1000

Did anyone else listen in on the Webinar? What's the deal with the Beach Butlers?? Why are they advertising that they have them if they don't. I'm a little annoyed about this detail. It's one of the reasons I picked this resort. They said "possibly" down the line, but w/ no specific date.....

Thank you for the update!!

I'm really confused about how these wedding packages work. My wedding is in April and I've just started corresponding w/ Nancy. Which is just basically me asking questions that don't get answered. Is anyone else not having the legal ceremony there? We are getting married at the courthouse right before we go down, but from what I understand I still HAVE to buy a wedding package?? I want to have a ceremony and probably a private reception for about 40 guests. But I think it's a rip off that I'm having to pay for all the things I don't need (filing of paperwork, judge, etc. in those dumb base packages). Sorry I'm ranting, I'm just getting frustrated with spending soooo much time trying to get answers from everyone (not just Karisma). Why can't they just be straight forward and answer questions!! They are in Miami, right? Not Mexico.

Great review! That's funny about the pictures When you said no Beach Butlers, did you just mean for our ceremonies/receptions?

Quote: Originally Posted by mexicanbridewithquestions jhawkev - I used destinationweddings.com too and they were horrible. Actually haven't called me back in over a month and then sent me an email addressed to "Meg" and my name is "Abby" How did you get your money back? Hey Abby, I emailed my TA's regional manager, it's the person who should have emailed you in the beginning (before your TA) Ours was Sarah something. I told her that we were not satisfied with their service, gave some examples, they'll ask you if you would like to try someone else. You say no, then they forward your email to an HR person who will contact you when they refund your deposit. It takes like two weeks. Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions

Hi, If you're looking for just the two of you or a small group I would recommend Edventures. We used him in this past May and it was one of the best days of our week there!! They have a reputation for catering to what you want to do and proceed at your pace, you call the shots. Which we really liked, you're not tied down to a schedule. PM me if you need contact info.

Quote: Originally Posted by Polina Has anyone used DestinationWeddings.com to book their rooms? I am using them and they are pretty good. I used them at first and our TA was horrible, I had to triple check all the info she gave me (which is not why you hire someone to help you), but they gave me my deposit back. I think it depends on where you live and who you get though.

Quote: Originally Posted by niels408 I love that we have awsome TA's one here to help us through this. My wedding is Dec. 7th...& the whole process with our TA has not been a good experience. I'm not even sure where to begin..but when I read Erika's post I felt like she read my mind! Our TA in the beginning was great, seemed she had tons to inform us on, answered alot of questions, wanted to meet all the time..then when we chose to continue the process & book with her its just gone down & I mean down from there. She's rude to our family on the phone, is extremely short when people call her (if she even answers) & just wants to email everything to them instead of discussing anything over the phone, which is great for some people but, surprising to some, my parents & FI grandparents don't use email or Internet much & she actually laughed at them for that. She gave us 3 days notice that eveyone had to RSVP, then i asked for invoices to be sent out or some info to our guests so they could start planning & saving $$ & 2 1/2 months went by! I called & emailed her 20 times that I'd really love for the invoices to be sent asap & she finally did send them out......4 days before the balances were due! In addition, when she initially quoted everyone prices & everyone RSVP'd...once she sent out the invoices all our guests prices were wrong and way higher...i asked her about & she snapped at me that all our guests were wrong & that whatever is on invoice is what she told them from the start. Well, i then had to print off every email (bc I had to finally ask her to "cc" me on every email since people were complaining her emails were rude) & then highlight all the prices she originally quoted my guests, which then she admitted "Apple" must have messed up when she was pulling prices again & went ahead & fixed the prices back to what she originally said. I could go on forever..its been a mess, but were too far into this to switch from her now. Just really disappointing since this is a first time alot of our guests have dealt with a TA & showing how amazing our TA's on this forum are, I hate to think they are going to think this is how working with one is. Sorry...geez, apparently I needed to vent hahahahaha. Basically, Ericka..I feel your pain! I am so sorry to hear that!! I wish you all the best At least you had the prices adjusted. The worst part is ideally you only get married once, so it's not like you can learn from your mistakes for next time. You don't want there to be a next time

Quote: Originally Posted by JHarwood2Be Ughhhhhh. I'm so disheartened right now. My TA told me tonight that the 4 lowest room categories are sold out for my wedding weekend. The resort is pretty pricey as it is, now it is super expensive. I sent an email out to my friends and family, so they wouldn't be surprised by such a high price. I suggested that they could stay somewhere else and come to the wedding on a day pass. If anyone has any suggestions, advice or access to cheap rates, please let me know. For those of you near my date, you might want to check and make sure what availability is open for your guests. I have even contemplated changing resorts, if that tells you anything! That sucks! I'm worried about that too, we're early April. For those booking late, maybe they can book after the Karisma webinar. There's suppose to be some discount. Or what about the post w/ 25% off that was posted not too long ago? I know a few of my guests called the hotel and used that promotion which was cheaper than the rates we had from our TA.

My heart goes out to their families That is so horrible.

Quote: Originally Posted by jessyg20 WOW, Erika, that really sucks. I think you should blast her name so people know about her and don't have to go through the same thing. I hope everything turns out fine for the rest of your bookings. Believe me as soon as all my finances are taken care of with her, I'll be writing reviews wherever I can!! If there are any Kansas City brides around that need to know before that, please feel free to PM me.

Thank you everyone for your advice! I'm actually talking to Jennifer and another recommended TA. And they have both been wonderful so far! At least the rest of my guest will have pleasant experiences

Quote: Originally Posted by Maybride2009 I am so sorry you are having a hard time. I am also going through a hard time wedding wise right now too and it just sucks. I really hope you get this all sorted out. My thoughts are with you for a happy ending Maybride, Thank you so much! I really appreciate it, I'm sorry to hear that you're having issues too. Feel free to PM me if you need anything I'm talking with a few other TA"s right now so I'm just trying to stay positive that this will all work out.

Well, I sent her a firm but not over the top email and she responded not so positively. My fiance has read her reply and advised me to wait to read it....(since I've already cried today!) I gave her specific instances and even examples of how she spoke with me and my guest and how she left out many, many major details and fees. But I just don't think she really cares. Which is too bad being that I know another newly engaged Bride looking for a TA. And that I will soon start doing event/bridal makeup applications and could have given her even more business than I already have!!! The hard part is we are locked in paying for us, our family, and wedding party. But we still have several guests that need to book, so I'm looking for a friendly, knowlegable TA