Paradisus Riviera Brides - POST HERE!

[yamille]

Yeah Lauren I think you are the next PRC bride after me. Nobody in June? I will contact you when I get back to arrange the mailing of it to you.

 

I am excited especially that my on the fence people have decided to come on board again. So we only lost 8 guests from FI's firm that all wanted to go but were forbidden basically.

 

I don't know what's left. odds and ends not too bad. It's more about appts here and there for me and buying last minut things. agh!

[bumbles]

Friday cannot come soon enough. It's going to be a challenge focusing on work and everything this week!

 

How strictly enforced is the resort's dress code? Not that anyone will be sloppy, but do the guys really have to wear long pants and closed shoes for the indoor restaurants? Would shorts and a nice shirt w/ sandals be okay?

 

Gracias!

 

Per PRC:

 

*We remind our guests that a dress code applies for our Cancun restaurants. For our indoor restaurants, gentlemen are asked to wear pants, shirt and closed shoes; ladies are asked to dress for dinner, no jeans please. For our outdoor venues, tops must be worn at all times and bare feet are not allowed.

[RCBlondie]

this may be a strange question but here I go...can you get banned for donating points to someone that does not seem to be too active in a forum discussion? Because I read a lot of the posts but do not always offer any thoughts myself. I am referring to Missy (I think that was who was banned).

 

There are some things I am still trying to understand and navigate around on this forum so any insight is much appreciated.

 

Thanks PR brides! Oh, and thanks to everyone who has posted here, there is lots of great info for those of us still trying to decide which resort to choose.

 

Rachelle

[RCBlondie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FutureMrsC Hi girls! I just got back late last night from my site visit. Yes -- I decided to go anyway despite all of this swine flu hype -- and I am SO glad that I did. I have to tell you that I have been SO nervous about getting married in Mexico. I had never been to the Paradisus Riviera before (FI and I had gone to the one in the DR years ago and LOVED it). But having gone down was the very best thing I could’ve done for myself. I went with my mom because FI is a workaholic and its very tough to tear him away from his desk, and also because I thought -- who better to share something like planning my wedding with, if not my fiancé? We arrived just before 4 on Monday evening and checked in. I didn’t book us in Royal Service for this trip (for the wedding FI and I got everyone RS rooms) so we were told by the guy at the front desk that we had to make dinner reservations by 4 or we would have to eat in the buffet that evening. You have to make reservations in person, so we went over to the reservations desk and it was 3:55 and girl said she was closed. I told her the time and she was nasty and just kept repeating that she was closed. I was definitely tiffed because this was totally NOT the first interaction I wanted to have with someone at the place -- I thought everyone would be super accommodating. The next day we went back early to make reservations (they allow you to make them for you entire stay or certain days, whatever) and she was very apologetic and everything .... so that made me feel better. Lesson here is, make your reservations early and in advance - they seem to fill up quickly. Side note : the buffet was great - they had a few cook stations going so you didn’t feel like you were eating food that was sitting out all day, and the wait staff was the friendliest that we encountered. They pulled out our chairs, put our napkins on our laps, etc. Excellent. That same night we went for a walk on the beach and I got to see a wedding. I don’t think it was anyone from the board, but it was pretty. It had a similar set up to those that many of you here have used. The couple was married on the sand with white covered chairs at 5pm. took lots of pictures and then had a reception on the terrace that most brides that I've seen use. It was beautiful -- she had great weather and everyone looked so happy. The next day I met with Perla and THANK GOD I did, because she made me feel SO much better. She’s super nice. During my meeting with her actually she got a call from a bride that was supposed to be married this Saturday (tomorrow), it was going to be a 90 person wedding, and they cancelled because of swine flu. Obviously that SUCKS and I hope it doesn’t affect anyone here to that extent, but I guess a lot of her family was canceling and stuff. Perla was visibly upset, but she tried so hard to keep a good face about everything and was so, SO helpful and accommodating with us. I asked if she wanted us to come back later, but she said no, we'd go on. So my biggest concern was that I didn’t want to get married on the beach or in the gazebo over the pool. Both of which are beautiful - I especially love the look of the gazebo, but I wanted more privacy. Turns out they just built this beautiful palapa that’s set back by the RS rooms. Its a free standing structure - the floor and columns are marble, but like inside the hotel lobby, and it has that really charming palapa roof. Its really set apart from everything else - there are rooms behind the gardens around it, but Perla said we could block off access during the ceremony. I have some pictures, but I have no idea how to post them on here. Once I chose the ceremony location I was psyched and had no problem with my vision of the rest of it all ... we chose linens, chairs, centerpieces, flowers, etc. It was GREAT!!! I can completely rest assured that my wedding will be just the way I would want it to be. The next day we got to see Freckles' wedding which was beautiful - she looked gorgeous and it really looked like they all had fun. I didn’t introduce myself or anything because I just saw her from afar, but it all looked beautiful. So, overall, the food was excellent, the service was excellent for the most part (I noticed that a lot of the people working at the resort didn’t speak English at all, so get your few key words down in Spanish before you go), the accommodations were gorgeous (like I said we stayed in a regular garden suite, but Perla brought us over to the RS suites and they were to die for - Jacuzzi on the balcony and everything), the pools and beach were all beautiful and clean (there’s a lot of seaweed, but they rake a few times a day). We used the spa for massages and the gym and both were great - massages were excellent!!!!! Be excited girls, because we chose a really great place! Just as an aside, the swine flu thing is really over reported and exaggerated on the news. There have been no cases at all in the area that the Paradisus is located, and of course if you are coming through Cancun airport, just be careful. My mom and I wore scarves and masks on our faces during travel just to be safe, but even coming into New York, there was no hustle and bustle about it. Only 1 officer at the JFK airport had a mask on. In Mexico all of the airline workers did as a precautionary measure. And also remember that they've called it "swine flu" which is scary and disgusting, but at the end of the day, its a cold - you'll cough and sneeze and maybe have a fever. Its everywhere now, so don’t be super afraid of Mexico, because while I was in Mexico, a case turned up at the middle school near my house on Long Island. So just wash your hands a lot, watch your self in crowded public places - don’t get too too close to anyone, and take good care of your body. Don't let all of the media bring you down - they really REALLY over report and use scare tactics. I'm sure everyone will be just fine Sorry this was so long!! I hope it gave someone some type of good info - you guys have given so much to me!! Stay well, Dana

that was excellent information! Thanks for sharing!

[MissyR]

Speaking from experience ... Yes you can get banned for donating points. That's the rule that the forum has developed. Even if someone doesn't ask you to donate and you want to do it on your own it's not allowed. I was banned for 30 days.

 

Bumbles - in terms of the dress code it really was a crap shoot for us. We were down there for our Site VIsit and then the wedding and the policies were enforced differently both times. I think that it really depends on how busy/full the resort is which will dtermine the number of people who want dinner reservations. DH wore leather flip flops most of the time but they were pretty strict on the no shorts policy, especially at the French restaurant.

[LAURENANDBILL]

When we vacationed there they enforced the dress code at all the speciality resturants..long pants ! fiance was not thrilled with this

[KLC77]

Funny, when we were there it was like they didn't have a dress code at all. There were people wearing shorts in all of the restaurants and some even wore hooded sweatshirts (they did look out of place) and guys definitely wore sandals. My dh was mad I made him dress nicely and then we'd get in there and someone would be in ratty shorts and flip flops. Sounds like its a crap shoot to me...

 

And I 2nd what Missy said, you can be banned for donating points. They really want members to participate to earn points. Just reply to threads that interest you or start a thread that might be helpful to everyone (as long as its something thats not already posted) and you'll earn points faster than you think. Really you only need them for opening attachments.

[RCBlondie]

thanks Kelly and Missy for the info! I will start reading as much as I can, although after spending almost 10 hours on the forum yesterday I can hardly believe I am on here again today! Guess it becomes an addiction.

 

I have priced out other resorts and the Paradisus packages seem a little more expensive. For those of you have been to Barcelo Maya &/or Sirenis, how does this one compare? So far I think we have narrowed the search to PR or Dreams Tulum. We really like the Chill-out Chic package but wonder if the seating they set up is like the picture on the E-brochure on page 4 (http://www.paradisus.com/images/Para...Brochure.pdf)? Hopefully this link works?

 

Any input you can all offer would be great!

Rachelle

[navarrabrooke]

Hi Rachelle - I agree - I'm also addicted to this forum! It has been such a great resource. So we chose the Chill-out Chic package but instead of having the furniture on the beach, we are setting it up on the Reef Grill Terrace. PRC's wedding packages may be a little more expensive than some of the other resorts in the area, but we liked that they allow you to customize. We also considered Dreams Tulum, but ultimately decided against it mainly because of the drive to the resort. I think our TA told us it was almost a 2 hour drive. I wanted to make it as easy as possible for my guests to get there. And I think PRC is less than 30 minutes from the airport. Also, if you do a YouTube search for the Paradisus (or any resort), you'll find lots of professional/promotional videos plus some amateur video clips that guests have posted. It's pretty neat! I know that helped us decide since we couldn't do site visits.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Brooke

[FutureMrsC]

I love the forum as well, but I am usually just a reader, not much of a poster so the point thing is a huge bummer because a lot of times you can open things that you'd like to see or whatever.

 

As far as the dress code goes, I was sure to notice how people were dressed at the restaurants at night because FI's family (God forgive me) are not the best dressed people on the planet and I know it'll be a chore to get them to get dressed everynight. I noticed mots of men wearing sandals with long pants and few wearing shorts. All the ladies seemed to be dressed similarly - sundresses and sandals. So, I am making sure to stress the fact that everyone needs to be DRESSED at night. This way there is no trouble. Does anyone know what the policy on children is? I have 2 12 year old boys traveling with us and I wonder if they will be allowed to wear shorts at night? Thanks!