Our wedding was on 08.10.2012 at the Royal in Cancun (Real Resorts)

Customs/ Airport: Customs has a green or red light when you go through, kind of a random check. We had to show the receipts for the bridal party gifts. Each person can have up to $300 worth of ‘new’ goods. Otherwise, it was seamless! Our transportation company was waiting outside with a sign. They cost $55 round trip and were always on time and very friendly (cancuntransfers.com).

Resort – A+

• I’ve never been to a resort so beautiful, well maintained, and with 5 star all inclusive food, drinks and service. It was the best time I’ve had on a vacation and my guests all feel the same way. They are still raving about it! They want to get everyone together and go again in a few years! If I ever go back to Cancun I will stay at the Royal.

• Check-in – B

The check in took a long time! We were there for an hour and a half, although they make it enjoyable by giving you champagne and cold towels upon arrival. Even gave us a refill. ;) I highly recommend you DON’T UPGRADE! We had guests that upgraded and the room is exactly the same as the basic room. The basic room has everything except for the wrap around balcony. Have your guests save their money.

• Rooms – A+

I’ve heard from other guests that the rooms aren’t ready until 3PM so I wouldn’t plan on checking in early. We had an oceanfront room on the third floor and it was beautiful! We were offered the free upgrade to a second floor wrap around, but I didn’t like the 2^nd floor view. We stuck with our original room. The beds are to die for, I mean SO comfortable. They even gave us a pillow menu where we could choose what types of pillows we wanted, lol. The view from the balcony was breathtaking. Honestly, nothing to complain about here. I would recommend 3’rd floor or higher as the first and second floors can get noisy.

• Restaurants
  • Spice - A
  • Asianas- A (must try the fried ice cream, omg!)

• Pelicanos- A
• Chef’s Plate-A++
  • This is a must-do if you can. I think you have to have an ocean view or higher to book here. It was an experience! We got to meet great people and watch the cooks prepare our 7 course meal. Paired with wines and fabulous desserts. I loved it!

• Lobby Bar- A

• Tapas Pinxtos – A-
• Maria Marie- A
• Pelicanos – A

• 24 Hour Lounge- A-
• Trade Winds swim up bar and lounge- A
• Beach Dinner (in our package)
  • Our favorite food of the whole trip, so yummy. Private service and very romantic. J
  • 
• Drinks! Drinks! Drinks!
  • Victoria Secret- A
  • Riviera Maya – A-
  • Sangria- A
  • Mango Mojito – A++ (Must try!)
• Entertainment – B

The entertainment was so/so, we are avid cruisers so we’ve seen top notch entertainment (i.e. hairspray on the Oasis, etc.) this was well choreographed and you could tell they really work hard at it. The storylines and acting were lacking though. It was worth seeing it once or twice.

• Staff
  • Guest services, waiters, room stewards, butlers, bartenders, etc. – A+
    • Amazing staff that waits on you hand and foot, anything you need they are there. It makes you feel like royalty. Our rooms were spotless, our drinks always full, and we never felt slighted. You want to tip everyone but we learned quickly its best not to tip at all (resort policy) or you would spend millions, the service is that great!
  • Wedding Planner s–  D
    • Maritza at first, Flora Second. They do not communicate and do not offer their help. You have to ask all of the questions and they just answer “yes” “no”. Honestly, how can a resort have such 5 star quality with such lacking planners? Every time they emailed me or called it was about another charge. I felt very nickled and dimed. They wouldn’t give me a ceremony rehearsal (without a charge of $500!), so I had to do it myself. I’m sure they get some pressure from the resort to make sure and charge for EVERYTHING (i.e. $350 for outside vendors). A tip: We had a professional photographer coming from the US, I told Flora she was a friend and also a guest staying at the resort so they took off my outside vendor fee, may work for you too, at least worth a try.) The wedding day was not too bad, Flora was where she said she’d be and helped get ppl where they needed to go. Just know that she does the BARE minimum.
• Spa – A
  • My husband and I got massages in the outside gazebo, they were great! Not the best in the world but we thought they were worth it. They also gave us spa pedicures which were so nice, better than the regular pedi you get in the states (more costly of course).
• Gym – A-
  • Nice equipment but too small for that many guests.
• Beach/Pools – A++
  • The beach was perfect, great waves, less seaweed than other beaches, white sand and plenty of room. It was never crowded! The pools were the same, plenty of room and we always found a chair or gazebo to lounge in. I think our August stay was at a lower capacity though (hurricane season). I loved the layout too because the pools are so long you don’t feel like a bunch of cattle sharing a watering hole. All the rooms overlook the pools and beaches too so you people watch or enjoy the same views from your balcony.

• Ceremony & Reception Locations
  • Villas Terrace  - C
    • Do not pick this location if you can help it. The paint and stucco is falling off the walls and its by the sister resort (Caribe) which isn’t that nice… I was originally going to have my reception here but changed it to the Real Royal Club inside the resort. It was too dang hot and humid to dance outside with no A/C.
  • Gazebo by Pelicanos – A
    • I would choose this location if you want an outdoor reception. It is more private than the Royal Gazebo and has a nice patio lining the gazebo. Also a bar area that would be perfect for your guests.

• Gazebo by the beach (beach wedding at the Royal) – A+
  • This location is very pretty for the beach wedding. You will have some onlookers but everyone was very respectful. We didn’t mind. J The water is an amazing backdrop and they decorate beautifully. I would not pick the beach by Pelicanos, its less private.

• The Real Royal Club (2^nd floor in the Royal)- A+
  • If you have a wedding with less than 40 guests, this is a MUST. Its so beautiful, has a balcony, A/C, privacy and is at the Royal. I loved it, the guests did too. Its all white with white leather furniture so any color décor will go. I promise, after an outdoor beach wedding, everyone will be begging for A/C.

• Ballrooms – C
  • YUCK.
• Ceremony - A
  • Civil Vs. symbolic
    • Civil marriages are the legal marriages in Cancun. We had Denise officiate ours and she was perfect. She let us have my husbands father begin the ceremony and speak about religion and prayer, then he handed it off to her for the civil part. It was flawless. Only downfall is the cost, it was $400 to have it after 4PM, $170 for blood tests (don’t worry its very sanitary and given at the resort), and $600 for the judge. However, it was worth it for me because I didn’t want different dates for my legal and religious marriages. So we took the hard route – it was worth it!
    • The symbolic ceremony is for those couples that get married beforehand in the US. It is cheaper and easier, but you will already technically be married. Either way you go, it will be amazing!  J
• Reception A+
  • Location –A + The Real Club in the Royal
  • Dinner – A Delicious, we had two entrees (you can do this as long as you can specify who is eating what on place cards).
  • Décor – A+
    • They put up white satin fabric all over the room which was offset with my DJ’s purple lighting, it looked amazing! They had all of the chairs and tables covered in white with white chair bows. I make fake flower centerpieces and brought fake rose petals to save money, totally worth the pain of packing it all. J
  • Bartenders – A+
    • They wouldn’t stop serving shots! LOL, they were a lot of fun and created cool drinks for everyone. Can’t complain about that! 

5. Vendors
   • Transport company – Cancuntransfers.com
   • DJ – DJ Dorremix- A++++
     • A MUST. Ladies, pay the cost, I promise he’s worth it. I was told I’d have Ivan and when I walked in there were two DJ’s I’d never met. I was worried but they were amazing. Color lighting, fireworks, balloons, facemasks, the works. They had everyone dancing non-stop and begging for more. It was amazing. From grandmas to my youngest guests. I don’t think anyone sat down!!! We paid $950 for 3 hours and then extended it another hour ($170 + $10 / person). He is the resort DJ so you won’t pay a vendor fee either.

• Catamaran – Samba Catamarans (Velvet Tiger) – A+
  • The catamaran company, Samba was great! They had fun staff, flowing drinks, snorkeling and a beautiful boat. We took the velvet tiger. It fit all of our 32 guests and was ~$2200 once all was said and done. A very nice touch if you can swing it. It was 4 hours and SO worth it. J

• Flowers – Marvin & the Resort’s florist- A

• Photographers – Resort Photographer (Funever), and My own from home (Timeless Keepsake Photography)- B
• Videographer- A-
  • The video is very nice to have but I wouldn’t have purchased it on my own. It was included in my package.