ROYAL PLAYA DEL CARMEN BRIDES: were kids allowed for the day? ...and other questions

[JHarris]

Bonnie,

 

The only things that they would switch up was either the salad, soup or dessert. They never changed the main entree. Which is good bc then I would have thrown a fit.

 

However, they do a good job of presentation and most of the switches were yummy.

 

My whole party is partial to lamb chops - so we tested them out on our romantic dinner and they were fantastic. In my opinion way better than the beef filet. But if you have picky eaters - lamb may not be the best choice. My Dad enjoyed the lamb so much there at our parents dinner that he ordered lamb almost the whole time there.

 

I will say the food at Gran Porto is no bueno at all. I felt bad for all my guests staying with their families there. Everyone that stayed over there said the food was horrible and the rooms were not nice. Understandable you have children there but it's not their fault they have kids.

 

The food at Albatros was not good at all. In fact I was pretty upset at the quality. We held our welcome dinner there and they really messed up the food. Everyone kept saying it was fine bc they didn't want me to be upset and go off on anyone.

 

The food at Maries was a little bit better but not much. We met some families there for dinner one night.

 

So if all your guests are staying at The Royal then they should have a great time.

 

Our favorite place for breakfast was Meditereano (sp?). Love their breakfasts. I ate a ton of fresh fruit, scrambled eggs with refried beans.

 

For lunch we liked Spice. They had yummy guacamole and a huge seafood bar. I will say what surprised me the most is that everything is cooked and cooked well done. I wasn't used to cooked smoked salmon but I'd rather they do that and not get food poisoning.

 

Asiana's was ok. Not my favorite place but we held our Rehearsal dinner there. We actually paid for the rehearsal dinner services - so the food was not Asiana's menu but the actual banquet menus. It was a huge improvement from our Welcome Dinner at Albatros - in which we paid for that service too.

 

Maria Maries was good but not exceptional. You can probable find a better steakhouse in your hometown but the attention to detail and service from the wait staff more than makes up for it. Presentation was always beautiful. Ask the waitstaff what their favorite is bc generally that tasted the best than deciding on our own.

 

Even though it was all inclusive - we tipped everyone. They work hard to provide such an amazing experience that we felt they deserved it.

 

Originally Posted by prettypigpig 

JHarris,

You didn't told us about the changing/modified menu....but if the lamb was good, then I am ok ;-)  Yeah, the timeshare people are very insisting, and their deals aren't that great once you worked out the maths.  so better avoid them and spend our time on the beach.

Debbie,

There are a few review on La Luna on this forum, so far..every bride who used them waved about them.

 

[kellygrrrl]

based on the pricing I saw, La Luna's was slightly higher than most, but FAR more reasonable for something with the Del Sol look and feel. I had a long chat with their US representative (Melissa) prior to booking, and she set my mind at ease about so many things. I was worried if I only booked four hours we wouldn't get all those great artistic portfolio shots, which she assured me was plenty of time, and we'd be super thrilled with the end product. (note: the logic here is that every pro photog can create those winning images but they need time to set them up. if they're being rushed from event to event, they won't have as much time to focus on the creative aspects). Melissa also made recommendations on the ceremony time (talked me out of 10am and into sunset) and has so far been great to work with. I had a contract within minutes.

 

it definitely comes down to your personal style and which photog speaks most to you. after I started comparing rates, I realized that choosing another photographer wasn't worth saving a couple hundred bucks when I was spending so much on it to begin with. but that was me comparing the lower-end packages (4 hours). the case may be different if you're searching for all-day coverage.

 

best of luck - please let us know what you decide!

 

-kelly

 

Originally Posted by bride2bdebbie 

Hello fello BDW Brides... just wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS!!! to all the recent Brides and to all those who's big day is approaching soon:) I have less than 5 months to go and I feel like I'm running out of time... so much still to do!! Lol

 

I have a questions about photography... I was interested in Del Sol after viewing their work - it's amazing... but It's a little pricey. They emailed me that they have a sister company named La Luna and their pricing seems fair... problem is I don't know what is good pricing or not, so I was wondering if any of you have booked La Luna and if so were you happy with the end result... and price!

 

Really appreciate your feedback:)

 

[Heidi82]

Oh no!...They cannot switch our meal to lamb!  My FI and his family raised and showed sheep growing up and they would be so upset!  HMM I may have to mention that to my WC asap!! haha

 

We are having our welcome dinner/rehearsal dinner at the Maria's at the Gran Porto.  I hope it turns out okay.  Not so sure though...They sent me a menu and said pick an salad, appetizer and dessert for everyone.  So basically everyone is having the same meal.  AND it just dawned on me that my future MIL is a vegetarian.  Uh oh - not going to work.

 

Janna - What is included in the banquet menu at Asiana's?

 

Kelly - That is a cool idea to have your Bachelorette party in Playa!  Sounds fun!

My BP is this Saturday night!  Looking foward to it!

 

Over the past week I've ordered programs, made placecards and gotten everything together that we plan on putting in our OOT bags.

I've also gotten everything for my BM's gifts and plan on giving it to them on Saturday night when we have dinner together before the bach. party.

 

The to-do list is getting shorter and that makes me so much less stressed!!

 

Happy (almost) 4th of July weekend (Americans ladies!!)!!

 

 

[JHarris]

Heidi -

 

Don't worry about the lamb. Maybe I miscommunicated. If you picked your main entree - they don't mess with it. It's the salad or soup or dessert that they tend to switch up. However if you do like lamb, I highly recommend them. The lamb chops are fantastic there. Call me crazy but they were able to cook it medium and still have it very tender.

 

Basically Andrea - the online WC- sent over a huge menu listing: from romantic dinners to buffet items to all the menus included for all wedding types they had. They basically said pick from these whatever you want and that will be your meals for Welcome and Rehearsal dinner.

 

So that's how we picked our menu and thank god it got progressively better each night. =)

 

On a side note - they love putting gelatin in alot of stuff. I'm not sure why but maybe it's bc the gelatin helps to hold the shapes since it's so warm there.

 

If you have a romantic dinner in your package - DO IT!!! You will not reget it and it's also a way to taste some menu items if you haven't decided for your wedding dinner. We had ours Monday night and the wedding was Friday night and we met with our WC on Tuesday morning. So for us the timing worked great.

 

So right! Happy early Fourth of July US Gals and Happy Canada Day tomorrow for our Canadian Gals.  

 

Originally Posted by Heidi82 

Oh no!...They cannot switch our meal to lamb!  My FI and his family raised and showed sheep growing up and they would be so upset!  HMM I may have to mention that to my WC asap!! haha

 

We are having our welcome dinner/rehearsal dinner at the Maria's at the Gran Porto.  I hope it turns out okay.  Not so sure though...They sent me a menu and said pick an salad, appetizer and dessert for everyone.  So basically everyone is having the same meal.  AND it just dawned on me that my future MIL is a vegetarian.  Uh oh - not going to work.

 

Janna - What is included in the banquet menu at Asiana's?

 

Kelly - That is a cool idea to have your Bachelorette party in Playa!  Sounds fun!

My BP is this Saturday night!  Looking foward to it!

 

Over the past week I've ordered programs, made placecards and gotten everything together that we plan on putting in our OOT bags.

I've also gotten everything for my BM's gifts and plan on giving it to them on Saturday night when we have dinner together before the bach. party.

 

The to-do list is getting shorter and that makes me so much less stressed!!

 

Happy (almost) 4th of July weekend (Americans ladies!!)!!

 

 

 

[bride2bdebbie]

Thanks Kelly, such helpful feedback... really appreciate it. I think your right about selecting the right amount of hours to ensure they are not rushed. The pricing I received had 5hrs min - which I thought may be too much. If you were able to get 4 that is probably what I would want. Melissa was the one I was emailing with and she was so helpful. I think I will call her tomorrow. It will be so nice to cross one more thing to do off my list. Lol

 

Thanks again Kelly:)
 

Originally Posted by kellygrrrl 

based on the pricing I saw, La Luna's was slightly higher than most, but FAR more reasonable for something with the Del Sol look and feel. I had a long chat with their US representative (Melissa) prior to booking, and she set my mind at ease about so many things. I was worried if I only booked four hours we wouldn't get all those great artistic portfolio shots, which she assured me was plenty of time, and we'd be super thrilled with the end product. (note: the logic here is that every pro photog can create those winning images but they need time to set them up. if they're being rushed from event to event, they won't have as much time to focus on the creative aspects). Melissa also made recommendations on the ceremony time (talked me out of 10am and into sunset) and has so far been great to work with. I had a contract within minutes.

 

it definitely comes down to your personal style and which photog speaks most to you. after I started comparing rates, I realized that choosing another photographer wasn't worth saving a couple hundred bucks when I was spending so much on it to begin with. but that was me comparing the lower-end packages (4 hours). the case may be different if you're searching for all-day coverage.

 

best of luck - please let us know what you decide!

 

-kelly

 

 

 

[JoZee84]

Janna- funny you keep mentioning lamb chops my family went crazy over them too! 

 

Ladies if your still looking for a photographer look at Blue Lens,  they did an amazing job with our photos and you will have them before you leave to come back to the states! Very affordable PM me if you want details about our package I'm not shy about sharing how much we spent for everything. 

 

Congrats July Brides! Its coming up fast!!  Good luck Bonnie have fun and enjoy every minute!

[kellygrrrl]

hey debbie! first, you're welcome! ; ) I'm not sure why the 4 hr rate disappeared from their rate sheet this year, but they didn't see committing to that as an issue once I explained that we're only expecting around 25 people (maximum) and we wanted to focus on pictures of getting ready and the ceremony (for us, the reception was secondary). I almost booked just three hours, but after I got the advice from another photographer about the time needed for the creative shots, I asked Melissa what she thought. she actually talked me out of 5 hours and said 4 hours would be plenty of time to capture what we wanted.

 

not sure what location you're considering for the wedding, but jonathan from del sol has a GREAT blog about the gazebo somewhere on the site. I love that they're so helpful when it comes to planning. Melissa really understood about the apprehension of booking someone you never meet with beforehand and was really great to talk to. I hope you'll find them that way, too. : )

 

good luck!

 

-kelly

 

Originally Posted by bride2bdebbie 

Thanks Kelly, such helpful feedback... really appreciate it. I think your right about selecting the right amount of hours to ensure they are not rushed. The pricing I received had 5hrs min - which I thought may be too much. If you were able to get 4 that is probably what I would want. Melissa was the one I was emailing with and she was so helpful. I think I will call her tomorrow. It will be so nice to cross one more thing to do off my list. Lol

 

Thanks again Kelly:)
 

 

 

[Heidi82]

Oops!  Sorry Janna!  You did say that they don't switch up the main entree.

 

I might see if I can switch our welcome/rehearsal dinner to Asiana's.  I am not sure if I am happy with my menu choices at Maria's.  Either way, as long as people eat and are full and happy, I will be happy. 

 

Congrats to Bonnie and Kelly!  Have a blast this weekend!

 

I have a question - Did anyone have any issues with their photographer for coming for their wedding and then on a seperate day for the TTD?  Our wedding is on a Friday and the TTD is not until Sunday morning and I just want to make sure we have no issues either day.

 

[Heidi82]

Oops!  I meant congrats to Bonnie and Jenn!  I think I need some more coffee!!

[JoZee84]

 

 

Originally Posted by Heidi82 

 

Oops!  Sorry Janna!  You did say that they don't switch up the main entree.

 

I might see if I can switch our welcome/rehearsal dinner to Asiana's.  I am not sure if I am happy with my menu choices at Maria's.  Either way, as long as people eat and are full and happy, I will be happy. 

 

Congrats to Bonnie and Kelly!  Have a blast this weekend!

 

I have a question - Did anyone have any issues with their photographer for coming for their wedding and then on a seperate day for the TTD?  Our wedding is on a Friday and the TTD is not until Sunday morning and I just want to make sure we have no issues either day.

 

 

 

Hi Heidi, it wound up working out but we did have a problem getting our photographers in the day of the wedding.  I didn't pay the vendor fee for them.  What I did was get them a room at the Real hotel and beach club down the street.  it was only $90 a night.  Then I had them on my guest list for the wedding so we paid the "Real" guest price for meals for both the photographer and the assistant.  I went through all the details with my online WC she said everything was fine, but the day of my wedding 20 min before my ceremony my onsite WC said that they couldn't come up to the room to take pictures.  She said they were only allowed at the Gazebo NOT in any of the rooms.  Long story short, she snuck up to the room got the shots and went to the gazebo.  Hope this helps.