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Moon Palace - Incompetent, Unaccommodating, and Unprofessional
This is a review of:

Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort All Inclusive

Detailed Ratings
Accommodation Value:
1.0
Communication:
1.0
General Location:
3.0
Wedding Sites:
3.0
Wedding Value:
3.0
shellsal

By shellsal, · 2,486 Views · 5 Comments

Pros: Beauty Salon Services, Cake
Cons: Everything else

Our experience with Moon Palace was a disaster from beginning to end. It would be easier for me to name what went right with our wedding than to list all the disasters. If you want a smooth and pleasing experience i suggest you stay away from this resort.

 

From the beginning the communication was sub par. I really wish i would have followed my instincts and cancelled our wedding here while i had the chance but since i was constantly being reassured that once we got to the resort that everything would be perfect and taken care of i gave them the benefit of the doubt.

 

The planning process was very stressful for me and I am typically an extremely laid back person who is not picky or fussy. There was never a straight answer for ANYTHING. It was like pulling teeth just to get information on the vendors and their pricing. They changed some of their approved vendors after they sent us the vendor brochures and never informed us. We had been in talks with a photographer who was on their approved vendors list and when i informed my offsite coordinator that we would be using him she responded that this was not an approved vendor and that we would have to pay the vendor fee for using him. As you can imagine i was totally confused. The planning process went on with many headaches like this one. We weren't not sent our final PO and onsite coordinator until about a week before we left for Mexico.

 

By the way the final PO is no guarantee that you will get anything that is listed on there. At our onsite meeting we were told that a different location was reserved for our cocktail hour and reception and that the location we had reserved was taken by another event. We then had to fight to get the location that was listed on our final purchase order.

 

 

No one spoke to us before the wedding to let us know there was a possibility for rain and ask if we wanted to move our party inside. They asked us the day before for our welcome party but not on the most important day which i found was totally ridiculous. It started raining as we walked out of the chapel after the ceremony (which started late because according to all of our guests the chapel was being set up and the air conditioning was off while everyone had already arrived at the time the coordinator asked). After the ceremony when it had already started raining was when we were asked if things should be moved inside and we said yes after talking it out with my mother and maid of honor. All the while the person who asked us if we should move was saying it would not continue raining, that we should stay outside, and that our guests were already arriving at the cocktail hour. 

 

They started saying a lot of ifs and buts after this. Like, "if you move inside you will lose two hours of your party but we will not refund you the money you paid for these two extra hours". At that point we felt totally ripped off. They were not coordinating anything and were not accommodating at all. You would think for a resort that does so many weddings they would have their rain contingency plans down to a T but they seemed like amateurs who were doing this for the first time. It is a total shock to me that someone like Miriam (on site coordinator) is a wedding coordinator at all. She was no where to be found for most of our wedding day. She did no coordinating what so ever! The only person that attended to us on our wedding day was Isis (she seemed to be an assistant) and it seemed that her capabilities and knowledge on what could and could not be done were limited.

 

We did not receive the majority of the items we had rented and paid for in advance from Gamma. They actually wanted to charge us more money and we refused to pay it.  The staff was totally unprofessional, the few guests that walked over to the outdoor cocktail hour location mentioned to us how they were wiping off the plates with the same rags that they were wiping off the chairs with.

 

As far as the $800 vendor fee i mentioned it to the offsite coordinator before our final PO and the onsite coordinator before the wedding that we would have our flowers come in from an outside vendor and no one mentioned charging us the vendor fee for this until 15 minutes before our ceremony when i was waiting to be taken to the chapel which was the first i had heard of Miriam all day the day of the wedding! Great timing to come talk to the bride about billing.

 

 There were so many other issues but at this point i feel like a broken record. It is a shame that instead of trying to make up for all the issues that we had and do right by their customer, they continue to refuse to take any responsibility for ruining this very special day for not just us but for all 70 something of our guests as well.

 

When looking for a location for your destination wedding i suggest you skip Palace Resorts and go with a resort who actually cares about their customers.

 

By the way if you were wondering what went right, it was the cake. Vanilla flavor. Highly recommend it. As well as the bridal services at the Salon in Nizuc.

 

If you have any specific questions feel free to send me a message.

5 Comments


Oh no. This sounds terrible and so unlike our experiences. We do MANY weddings a year at Moon Palace (we are a Platinum PRO agency, their highest level) and have never had these complaints. Sometimes responses can be slow so we ask our clients to let us know when this happens so we can contact the resort on their behalf and response time usually gets better.

 

Did you use a travel agency that specializes in destination weddings? It may have helped. Usually we have contacts at the resort that can make the process smoother.

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I have Miriam as our coordinator! When I came down for site visit I got to spend 3 hours with her. I asked her how long she had been working there - she said a year. I wonder if she had no previous experience with this.

 

I had brought up what they would do if it possibly rains. She stated that they would decide by noon the day of the wedding. My ceremony is at 4 pm.

 

So, far everything I asked for in price quoting has matched what other brides have been quoted or received on their final bill.

 

When I was there, there was another bride getting married at Tucan Terrace. When they were first setting up I didn't see Miriam. However, during the ceremony I did notice her there.

The next morning, I ran into the bride's mother and began talking with her. She said the only complaint she had was to stay on-top of the coordinators. That Miriam arrived about 10 minutes before the wedding. She was there after the guests to the gazebo. She wasn't there to tell them it was okay to proceed to sit down or anything. The mother also stated that once the wedding was done Miriam disappeared. They didn't know if was okay to proceed to their cocktail hour or dinner at the restaurant.

 

Not sure if this is just standard or not. I would think that she would at least go the grooms room to make sure they are set and know when to go to gazebo and to the brides room as well. I would also think that she would guide the guests from ceremony to the cocktail hour. If she leaves after that , then come back an hour later to make sure guests go to the reception.

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@TammyWright any advice on what to ask to make sure these things don't happen?

I have a travel agent I'm using that I found through here. However, when it comes to the planning part she advises me that I have to contact the resort for those things....

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I did work with a travel agency and they were very helpful before the wedding with getting issues resolved and after the wedding they really tried to help but Moon Palace was unwilling to take any responsibility.

 

Best advice I could give is to stay away from this resort. If you've already booked then just really be on top of the coordinator. assign an aggressive friend or family member to do this during the wedding or hire an outside coordinator.

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I'm planning my wedding at the moon palace for end of April 2018. Reading reviews looking for any advice. I see there are a few on site coordinators to avoid. I'm having a small wedding , 20-30 ppl max. No bridesmaids or groomsmen. Is it better to hire a photographer off site? Or use there's??

I'm hearing a lot of about $400-$800 vendors charge? I am working with travel agent Lizmoore weddings she has been amazing. But First Lady I spoke with Norma from the resort (wedding department) was awful couldn't understand her when she was trying to explain the wedding packages.

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