First, let me say that this place is AMAZING! Whether you are booking a wedding, a honeymoon, or vacation. This resort does not disappoint! All my guests raved about this place and some are seasoned travelers. I had a few that requested I set up a group vacation next year.

 

Travel Agent (Wendy Hicks - Wright Travel Agency)  A+

I got Wendy's contact information from another Royal Cancun bride. Wendy is very pleasant and informative. I sent her an email to inquire about getting a room block for my guests and that evening she called me to get a better idea of what I was looking for and approximately how many guests. The next day she sent me a quote for the room block. I initially booked all my guests the regular jr. suite which saved everyone about $100 per room per night.

 

We had a few hiccups along the way with room swapping, cancelling, etc... but Wendy was very quick and constantly kept me up to date.

 

Airline - Delta A+

I was very worried about how I would have to store my dress for the flight. In the end, I didn't have to worry at all. I carried my dress and veil in the bag given to me by the bridal shop. There was no need to place it another garment bag. The attendants at the terminal let us board with others that had strollers, wheelchairs, etc.... so that I could give the flight attendant my dress. They placed it in their closet. It was the same when flying back home.

 

Airport Transportation - Olympus B

This was also arranged by Wendy. They were quick and on time.

 

My only negative...As the wedding couple and our group, we were supposed to be given special treatment by the transportation company - Olympus. But somehow, this did not go as planned. Our best man and his wife actually arrived a day before us. They were greeted with a big sign that had our names with a heart around it. It was very cute. Unfortunately, we nor any of our other guests saw it! Then, another couple were picked up from the resort in a private black SUV instead of the shuttle and they played wedding music! We definitely did not get the private transportation or wedding music. So, somewhere along the way, there was a mix up. These are minor gripes and no way affects the joy of the trip. It's just disappointing but Wendy felt bad that we didn't get the treatment as planned so she sent me a big gift basket a couple of weeks after we got back. Like I said, she is very sweet!

 

The Resort - A+++

The Royal is worth every bit of 5 stars. This was our first trip to Cancun and we could not have picked a better place to stay and have our wedding. It is a beautiful resort with excellent staff. They are so friendly and helpful. You truly feel like royalty here.

 

When we arrived with our shared shuttle, the people staying at other resorts jaws dropped. They kept saying OMG! Can we switch with you?! LOL. Apparently, some of our guests had the same reaction. They couldn't believe how nice it was.

 

The rooms are beautiful and spacious. I love the view from the balcony. With a view like that, you can't help but wake up happy. We only booked the Ocean front and to be honest that is the highest I'd pay for. We stayed 8 days so the higher suites were not available for our stay but we had some family members that upgraded to the corner suite. Other than being a little larger and a slightly different layout, it's about the same. To be honest, if you don't mind a little night time activity noise, the regular jr. suites are fine too. The biggest difference between the suites are the higher the room category, the farther away you are from the main activity areas. The guests that stayed in jr. suites were very happy in their rooms so you can decide if the additional money is worth it.

 

View from our balcony

 

 

View from our entrance at night

 

 

 

The food was excellent! A+++

I didn't really have anything that I did not like. I would say they fall a little short on the desserts. I had a couple desserts that were great like the Grand Marnier Souffle at Maria Marie. Others were just okay. Everyone seem to stick to the different flavored ice creams.

 

Spice - Buffet was great for breakfast. It was better than any breakfast buffet I've ever been to. They had an omelet, pancake, and waffle station. They also had a wonderful spread of fresh fruit. The pineapple and strawberries were to die for! They had a pretty good lunch to with a burger and fajita station. We never ate there for dinner but others said they enjoyed dinner there. We also ate on the Gran Caribe side.

 

Pelicanos - Ala Carte was our favorite for breakfast and lunch. They offered fancier gourmet dishes. Most breakfast dishes consist of egg so if you are not big on eggs, stick to the french toast or oat and bananas. Lunch was great at Pelicanos. I had a couple of the seafood dishes and the traditional mexican entrees such as tacos and fajitas. They were all good. We also had dinner there one night and everyone seemed to enjoy their meal. The downside of Pelicanos is the service is slow. No matter what time of day, this place was slower than any other restaurant. This is also where we had the one bad waiter - Daniel. He had no personality, very short, and appeared he just didn't like us. We had him 2-3 times and each time it was the same. He was slow to get us drinks, appetizers, or refills. Each time, he left in the middle of serving our table. We would then get a new guy and service was much better. I would understand if we were rude or being demanding but this was not the case.

 

Asiana was an Asian fusion restaurant. We ate here twice. The lower half is for the Teppenyaki/ Hibachi Grill. It was pretty good. I have had better in the states but it was still good. If you like Japanese Steakhouses, you should like this place. Oh and you have to make reservations ahead of time.

The upper half serves  Japanese and Thai entrees. This was also pretty good. I love sushi so I ordered sushi, soup, and a shrimp stir fry.

 

Maria Marie was our favorite. We also ate here twice and ordered one of their specialty steaks made for two. I cannot remember the name of it but it was awesome! It was more like a roast and fork tender. One of our friends ordered the NY strip and he said it was good. His wife ordered sweet and sour shrimp. She is pretty picky but liked her dish as well. The second time I ordered the lamb. OMG! It was so good!

 

We also ate on the Gran Caribe side. We ate at il Pescatore the Italian restaurant on our second night and had our Welcome Dinner for the wedding party at Marias the Mexican restaurant. The service and food were both excellent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was also where we were introduced to the Mayan Coffee.

 

 

 

We never got around to the coffee shop or Chef's plate.

 

They have different themed nights for guest entertainment. Our first night was the White Party on the beach. Other nights they had a Caribbean themed party on the beach, a Cirque du Soleil performance, Mayan dancers, and a poker night.

 

 

 

 

 

So now to the wedding part and the most important to you brides....

Wedding Coordinatiors/ Staff/ Service A++

My ceremony was at the Gran Caribe Gazebo and the Oceanfront Terrace.

 

My offsite coordinator was Katia. Katia was so sweet and responsive. She helped walk me through the entire process. I wanted something specific for my bouquet so I sent her a picture for an example. She contacted the florist to make sure they could make it for me within the standard bouquet included in my package. Every time I changed my mind, she would try to make sure she recorded the correct information. At one point, I was over charged for something but she quickly corrected it.

 

Now, for my onsite coordinator....I was then assigned Flora de la Garza. I read a few really bad reviews about Flora that worried me. But I am here to tell you, Flora was wonderful. She confirmed the information from Katia and when I had some small changes, she quickly addressed them. When I met with her onsite, she again printed out the correspondence to verify that all my selections were correct. I tried to make it easier for her by having a seating chart with everyone's dinner selection listed. I had some reserve seating so I gave her a diagram of how I wanted the chairs laid out and the assigned VIP seating. She also noted the order of the wedding party. She walked me over to the ceremony and reception site to explain the order of events and to verify some table positioning. She was thorough. Afterwards, I brought boxes to her office with my guest book, cake cutter, flutes, chair bows, place cards, menus, table numbers, and reserve signs for the reception. My dear hubby was slow on getting the playlist compiled on the ipod so I couldn't give it to her at the time. He actually waited until the morning of... But he said he went through the list with her 3 or 4 times. 

 

The day of the wedding, I used SpaZul for my hair and make up because i just could not justify paying the $350 vendor fee. I was skeptical and more so when I saw my stylist. In the end, my make up was done beautifully and held up through the heat and humidity. I was amazed that I did not need a touch up other than my lip gloss. My make up was flawless even through all the sweating. My hair was pinned up in curls. Word of advice, do NOT wear your hair down at all! It is so humid and windy! It will annoy you to have hair flying around and stuck to your face. I wore side swept bangs and they drove me nuts!

 

Anyway, my wedding was at 5 pm. Flora brought up the bouquets around 4:15 and delivered the bouts and corsages to the Gran Caribe for the rest of the wedding party. She came back to walk me over about 4:55. We took a very long back entrance so that no one would see me. The music arrangement was correct and everything went as planned. It was perfect!

 

The one downfall I had was in the middle of the reception, it decided to poor down rain. We all hauled ass to the closest cover which was in front of a few rooms. (I hope we weren't too noisy....) Flora took off to a building. I think it was the Gran Caribe ballroom. Well, after 5 minutes, it stopped. She came out and said that we could move but the DJ didn't want to move their equipment so what did I want to do. My guests said it stopped so lets just go back and party. Well, a few guys working the reception came out with giant squeegees and pushed the water off the floor, wiped the dance and all chairs. Within 5 minutes, everything was done and we went back to partying. It was awesome.

 

I can't say enough about the wedding staff. Everything was beautiful!

 

Oh, I also purchased floral pew decorations which I was originally told was $15 for a single flower with a white satin bow tied around. I know - expensive but I ordered them anyway. My bouquet had stargazers so I wanted them for the chairs. Well, to my surprise, I ended up with 3 or 4 stargazers with lush green fillers in each bow. They came out beautifully as all flowers for the wedding. They also threw in stargazers for the centerpieces at the reception so while I know the resort florist prices are a bit high, I actually got more than what I paid for.

 

My husband and I could not be happier with the way things turned out. Everything was beautiful and on time with no hiccups. My friends and some who have been to several weddings said this was the best one. Honestly, I know this seems biased but I've been to 11 or 12 weddings and this was the best I'd ever been to.

 

I know it's hard to plan from abroad. Believe me, I had moments of great stress. I am a perfectionist and can pitch a fit when things don't go the way I planned. I think what you need to remember is:

1. These people have been doing it for years and have hosted hundreds of weddings.

2. Things will happen and most of the time out of your control. (ie rain in the middle of my reception) You have to just roll with it. There is no need in you working yourself into a panic. It will work out.

3. Be very organized and clear on what you want. Being able to clearly explain what you want and how you want it to go will make it easier on you and your coordinator.

 

At the end of the day, I had a beautiful wedding and my guests had an amazing time. This is what matters the most.

 

I booked DJ Mannia and they were awesome! I wrote another review under vendors. Book them! You and your guest will party hard! Everyone will be on the dance floor. Even the ones that claim they never dance!

 

I went with an outside photographer - Sascha Gluck (Cancun Photos). I also wrote a review for him and posted a few pictures under the Vendor Reviews. He was wonderful! His work is amazing and he gives you a big bang for the buck! I'm not sure when he will raise his prices but snag him before he does. It's worth your $350 vendor fee.

 

Here's a mix of friends and pro pics to give you a better idea.

 

(The flakes in my hair is the glitter the stylist sprinkled in. It looks better in person.)