Steph3486

I had a couple aunts/uncles that wouldn't come to our wedding due to the "violence". I told them to read the news- it's not affecting that area like it is the border cities. They never did come- I still think it's just a cop-out so they don't have to spend the money.. It was a bummer they didn't show, but we still had a great time!

FYI for swim with the dolphins pics.... We talked the guy down to $70 for ALL of pictures, 6 prints, and the DVD. Just act interested but keep talking about the price being obscene and they will start haggling FAST.

They sent the mariachi band over for free! I LOVED them! That group is usually playing at La Hacienda every night. :-)

It's a good 10 minute walk between the two, HOWEVER, we asked that they take our guests over by cart because several of the family members have bad knees. This was not an issue at all!!

I would do Mundaca or El Greco. I FINALLY got my pictures- email me at steph3486 at yahoo.com and I can send out the album link if anyone wants it. We did the Tulum gazebo and Mundaca for dinner. We ate out on the terrace and it was fairly private. We only had 11 people so obviously there were some other guests on the terrace with us but no one was terribly close to us or anything as they kind of had us off to one side. I thought our food at Ventanas was not very good at all- and the lighting was very Golden Corral-ish. Momo no hana is actually very pretty inside but oriental food isn't very neutral if that is something you're worried about. We ate there 2x for dinner and both times were delicious.

I never saw a Walmart, but we really didn't go up to Playa. I definitely saw a Sam's Club on the way to the resort and Walmart's aren't usually far away, lol! The guest relations rep was really helpful too- they'd point you in the direction you need for sure. There is also a taxi stand on site, so it's only a few seconds to catch a cab. Make sure to haggle with them to save a few bucks! I don't think packaged foods would be any trouble with customs- I think it's just fruits and stuff with issues. I did take three bags of chocolate in my carry on and no one said anything to me about it.

Another idea for the bags could be some snacks and/or candies. The hotel has fantastic food, but sweeties and salties are hard to come by unless you pay big $ in the gift shop... Some chips or pretzels would have been GREAT after a long night at the disco!

We debated a lot but went with the civil ceremony because I felt like it'd take away from the day if we were already married. The WC leaves a copy of the wedding certificate on your bed after the wedding, so you actually fly home with the originals. I had NO trouble with that part, in fact, the social security office and our DMV had someone bilingual who read through it without providing the translation. I'd get the translation for your bank, credit cards, etc though- it makes it a lot easier.

We exchanged rings, just not with the vows. and we kissed. :-)

Definitely no "to have and to hold" stuff. All I had to say was yes (when askedif I was there to get married). I'm sure you could ask the WC if she can add the "traditional" vows in? I never checked. Honestly, I never wanted a real wedding anyways (i was all for the courthouse) but the husband insisted we have a wedding so I just let the WC/Judge pick everything.

We took the "traditional ceremony" option. We walked in, the judge welcomed us and said a few words about marriage, welcomed us to the riviera maya and read us a Mayan poem, asked us if we were both there to get married, and proceeded with the paperwork. The paperwork involved us signing marriage certificates four times each w/ thumbprints, and once we'd signed everything the judge called up the witnesses one at a time (we used our parents) to sign all the papers as well. Once they were done signing the papers the judge pronounced us husband and wife, had us kiss and the exit began. It was only about a 15-20 minute ceremony. After walking out, we hung around outside the gazebo for a couple minutes alone and had a champagne toast and our guests came out to visit with us. From there, we went off with the photographer and had the dinner about 60minutes later so our guests just loitered around until then. I'm sure you already know Wilma lets you pick the dinner time- personally, I would do like a two hour gap if you have a photographer because we were definitely really short on time with only an hour to take after ceremony pictures.

I was pretty ticked that so few of my friends/family decided to come too, but at the end I was actually really glad that only a few came. It let me actually pay attention to everybody, and now I know who my real friends are. :-)

As for tipping at the spa, I couldn't really tell what the "norm" there was. We opted not to tip because many of the services are already 200+ "dollars" as is, and I definitely couldn't afford to tip 15%. No one really waits around or anything (with their palms out) so I think it's just a matter of preference. I did see a man leaving a tip one day at the receptionist's desk for his therapist, so it can be done.

Heads up on this-- this was my ONE major complaint about ASP. I emailed a vacation guy (Luis) and set all my spa stuff ahead of time and he told me I could use all $3,000 in the spa if I wanted to. He said after September 1st that was permitted. My husband and I ended up using about $2100 in the spa- 5 massages, facials.. etc.. However, when my guests arrived, the hotel would only let them use the $300 in the spa and I had several upset guests. The hotel really didn't do much to make it right, but my family didn't really bother to pitch a fit either so I'm not sure how complaining on site would have turned out. I would STRONGLY advise you to print it off the website or get the info in writing from a vacation planner BEFORE you go.

I had my makeup and hair done at ASP. She did a great job on both, but I would highly recommend you bring your color choices and hair pictures with you due to a little bit of a language barrier. She had special makeup that didn't melt off like my clinique would have done, so that in itself made it all worthwhile to me! Ditto on the hairspray!

Butting in.. Yes, you'd have to completely check out and then go to the cove side as if you were a completely new guest.

Here's a few Cancun Palace pics:

Dont get me wrong, CP was BEAUTIFUL! It is very modern and the beach is absolutely gorgeous. My travel agent recommended Cancun Palace over Sun Palace, but he said that he hadn't been to Sun Palace since the hurricanes a few years ago so he wasn't sure if they'd upgraded since he was there. None of the properties I visited were bad- they just each have a little different flavor if that makes sense. It was actually SUPER easy to switch. We called the front desk from the room and simply said we weren't comfortable with the property and asked to be transferred to the ASP. She didn't ask us any other questions and had us wait in the room while she made sure it was ok with ASP. We were checked out and in a cab within half an hour. The only hassle we ran into was that I had booked a horseback riding tour in advance and the CP made me pay for it upon checkout.. The ASP also made us pay for the ride, and we had to wait for CP to refund the money. Ultimately, it wasn't that big of a deal and the refund was on our account before the charge was!

It was more of a culture shock than anything. When we stayed at the Aventura it was at 3% occupancy. We had everything to ourselves and it was very quiet (especially the Spa side). After riding the hour and some up to Cancun Palace, we walked into a hotel that was at full capacity. It was really loud and there were kids everywhere. All the beach chairs were taken and there was only the one pool. The safe in our room was broken and took 2 hours to repair.. they couldn't move us because the hotel was booked.. It was just too much after 5 days of pure pampering. The Cancun Palace was really nice in that it was close to all things Cancun- it just isn't the sleepy resort feeling that the Aventura is/was. I never got to the Sun Palace. We did go to Playacar Palace one day and it was beautiful. The beach there is STUNNING and totally worth the cab ride from Aventura. Matter of fact, I'd HIGHLY recommend a trip up to Playa Del Carmen one day if you're a beach bunny or a shopper. All the shopkeepers will haggle, and never take no for an answer once you've decided a price.. We also went to Xpu Palace. It was ok, but reaaaally really spread out and didn't have that luxury feel that ASP provides. They did have great snorkeling in their cenote and the nature park was kind of fun.

Yes! only $150, but hey.. better than nothing!

I did this too! I actually checked out of Aventura on morning 6 and into Cancun Palace. I hated Cancun palace and transferred right back. Our bucks reset no questions asked!! If I'd known Cancun would be no fun, I'd have moved over to the Cove as well. Another "trick" someone suggested was if your guests have bucks they dont want or won't use- have them book things and then just give the papers to you to use. They dont check ID at all. We did this with some money in the jewelry shop- my dad was checking out and didn't need his bucks so we just used his credits once he had his receipt printed up for us.

That is definitely Coba. BEAUTIFUL pictures! I will have to relabel my pics now. :-) Â Â

Yeah, there are definitely some inconsistencies with the pictures and reality... In our packet, Tulum Gazebo had a white roof but it actually had a brick red (not ugly) roof when we got there. I never checked out the Coba railings- I just noticed its location and ruled it out on the spot (because crowds terrify me). :-)

There are three different gazebos. Tulum Gazebo (north), Coba Gazebo (south) and Chichen Gazebo., Â Tulum is on the far north end, right by the end of the property. There is a green fence with jungle behind it on the north side, ocean to the east, lagoon area to the south and hotel rooms to the south/southwest. The Tulum Gazebo is white and I thought it had a red roof (but dont remember for sure). Here's the tulum gazebo view from the altar: Â Â Â Coba was on the opposite end, sort of by Mundaca. It has the thatched roof and has ocean to the east, lagoon to the north/south, and mundaca to the west. I'm 99% sure this is Coba (on a stormy day), but I can't promise: Â Â Â Â Chichen is kind of right in between the two. There is another gazebo for VIP members sort of nearby, lagoon around it and hotel behind it. I'm pretty sure Chichen is the one on the right of this pic but someone correct me if it's the other way around: Â Â Â

I did the same thing too. I had a package picked out and then I backed off because I wasn't sure how much I cared about all the decorations. I'm really glad I backed out and chose the comp package because the ocean is an amazing backdrop on its own and if you do the ceremony the judge sets up you are only there about 15 minutes anyways. Â We chose the Tulum Gazebo for the privacy and it was lovely. Yes, there is a fence right by it but it doesn't hinder the view of the ocean and it's dark green so it's not as attention grabbing as you'd think. The photographer just made special effort to work around it. Ladies, I will tell you that ALL of the gazebos are lovely- it just depends what you're looking for. I wanted Coba at first, but the steakhouse and lagoons overlook it too and I was leery of a big audience. The ones at each end have the best setup for after wedding rock access for photos. Have someone bring flip flops (or wear them) if you intend to go out on the rocks. there are holes in them and you WILL hurt yourself if you try to navigate them in heels.