Barcelo Maya Palace Brides

[Brenners]

melcrna80, we went with and offsite photographer as I viewed photographs from other weddings on here and on Unofficial Barcelo.  They were ok - all posed shots - but we wanted photojournalistic quality.  If you want only posed shots (any many people do like those) then they are the group for you.

 

Originally Posted by melcrna80 

Hi all! I'm very new to this forum. My fiancee and I have were at the Barcelo Maya last May and plan on having our wedding there in November this year. I have spent some time searching this thread and I would like someones direct opinion of the onsite photographers offered through the resort. Are they really that bad and is that why people are getting there own? Does anyone have any personal pics from the Barcelos photographers they wouldn't mind sharing?

 

Thanks!

 

~ Melissa

 

[Brenners]

Why is your TA waiting until August to give you group rates?  We used Wendy Hicks from Wright Travel and got rates shortly after choosing her for both of our resort choices which was in March/April 2011 and our wedding was February 2012.  You may want to go with another TA if she isn't giving you any group rates now. 

 

As for Xhail, how long does it take for her to respond to your emails?  Typically our WC Lillian woul respond later the same day or the next day but right now is their busy time so it would sometimes take 3-4 days for a response - which I still found to be a pretty good response time.

 

Originally Posted by ANGELA2013 

Hi

 

We have Xhail too, and to get some information has been difficult and a lot more stressful then I ever thought with a destination wedding.  Our travel agent won't even give me price information until August and I can't book my vacation portion until then either, I am very stressed that we will lose nicer spots due to this problem. The date is held but that's all we can do until the travel part which makes sense but I thought that part would be easy. The last week or so we have started to regret a destination wedding due to the lack of response we have been getting from the resort and the difficulty with the vacation part from the travel agent. I am glade I am not alone.

 

 

 

[780chick]

I was able to get rates over a year before.  for March 2012 in January 2011 but we weren't able to get exact flight times. They weren't the best rates, but it did give us a ballpark. 

 

I agree with Brenners, Lillian is awesome. She usually responds within a few days. The longest I had to wait was a week and she apologized profusely! Her communication isuch better than what a lot of brides complain about on this board. 

Originally Posted by Brenners 

Why is your TA waiting until August to give you group rates?  We used Wendy Hicks from Wright Travel and got rates shortly after choosing her for both of our resort choices which was in March/April 2011 and our wedding was February 2012.  You may want to go with another TA if she isn't giving you any group rates now. 

 

As for Xhail, how long does it take for her to respond to your emails?  Typically our WC Lillian woul respond later the same day or the next day but right now is their busy time so it would sometimes take 3-4 days for a response - which I still found to be a pretty good response time.

 

 

 

 

 

[FireyNurse]

We have Victoria as our planner and she is quite good with replying to emails, usually we receive a response within a day or so, 3 days at the longest since its the busy season! Sometimes I need to re-send emails to get confirmation or clarification, but I am super particular so that is something I would do anyway. I get a little nervous reading on here that  people are having issues getting what they want for receptions as our wedding date is technically just on hold until the travel agent gives me the contract info for our trip to send to Victoria. Trying to stay positive though!!!

 

As for prices, we started requesting price quotes in Dec 2011 for Nov 2012 travel, as we were trying to decide on resorts and everything we ended up requesting quite a few different quotes from Air Canada and Westjet because their quoted prices are only good for so long and we needed quotes leaving from different cities. We also took a while deciding as we were trying to get the best deal for our guests, but also get the best conditions for booking, such as when deposits and when final payments were due. We chose to go with Air Transat and have sent out our invites already, although they still have no flight times posted for us, apparently this happens within approximately 9 months of travel. We are traveling out of Canada, though, so this may be different if flying out of the US or elsewhere.

 

 

[ANGELA2013]

Xhail usually takes  a week and a half to two weeks to get back to me, but I try to be patient because I know how busy she must be but it hard sometimes. 

As for travel I am finding that there is a difference from US to Canada.  My travel agent found me this pre booking thing that we can do where we pay a deposit and get a booking number but don't actually get prices until July with Air Transat.  I am super nervous because I have mostly looked with West Jet and Orbitz for prices and West Jet seemed pretty reasonable, I have no idea what to expect with air transat.  If we fly out of the US we can prices in April, but we are wanting to fly out of Calgary with our bridal party, even though we live in BC very close to the border. 

 

How did you find the prices for Air Transat FireyNurse?

[FireyNurse]

We did the " no deposit wedding" with Air Transat, so my FI and I each paid a $200 deposit and now 30 seats are held for us; each guests deposit is due within 90 days of our deposit - this was the best deal as most other ones needed deposits within 30 days of getting a quote. THe final amount is due 60 days prior to departure.

 

AT prices are the best we found so far and that's after getting multiple quotes from Westjet and Air Canada and other i think sunwing or sunquest, Westjet was next best with Air Canada being the highest. Each company offers different deals too so whatever you do make sure you ask for one! LOL! They don't always offer it if you don't ask! It may be each 6th room is free (not flight) or the 16th or 20th trip is free (excluding taxes) etc, etc.

 

We are flying out of Calgary and Toronto so have prices from each airport, here are the #'s from some of our quotes:

Westjet:

Calgary Tropical - $1587, to Palace $1814

Toronto to Tropical $1491, to Palace $1714

 

Air Canada:

Calgary to Tropical - $1736, to Palace - $1819

Toronto to Tropical $1587, Toronto to Palace we didnt have quoted the second time around

 

Air Transat was more than $100 cheaper than the westjet prices so we went with them! We don't have the flight times yet but will soon...our fingers are crossed for good ones!

[ANGELA2013]

Thank you that helps a lot. We have only 25 people going so i am not sure about group bookings but I emailed my travel agent to ask. Most guests are Vancouver and Calgary.  With the Deposit did your wc accept that as a way to start planning?  We were told it gets us a booking number and I hope Xhail accepts it  because waiting until august seems to long in order to get the location we want.

Originally Posted by FireyNurse 

We did the " no deposit wedding" with Air Transat, so my FI and I each paid a $200 deposit and now 30 seats are held for us; each guests deposit is due within 90 days of our deposit - this was the best deal as most other ones needed deposits within 30 days of getting a quote. THe final amount is due 60 days prior to departure.

 

AT prices are the best we found so far and that's after getting multiple quotes from Westjet and Air Canada and other i think sunwing or sunquest, Westjet was next best with Air Canada being the highest. Each company offers different deals too so whatever you do make sure you ask for one! LOL! They don't always offer it if you don't ask! It may be each 6th room is free (not flight) or the 16th or 20th trip is free (excluding taxes) etc, etc.

 

We are flying out of Calgary and Toronto so have prices from each airport, here are the #'s from some of our quotes:

Westjet:

Calgary Tropical - $1587, to Palace $1814

Toronto to Tropical $1491, to Palace $1714

 

Air Canada:

Calgary to Tropical - $1736, to Palace - $1819

Toronto to Tropical $1587, Toronto to Palace we didnt have quoted the second time around

 

Air Transat was more than $100 cheaper than the westjet prices so we went with them! We don't have the flight times yet but will soon...our fingers are crossed for good ones!

 

[ANGELA2013]

Wow just got a quote from our travel agent today and we might have to find another resort it would be $2000 per person for a week and I was originally told around $1700. Our for 2 weeks is $3000 each, and to top if off she said it will most likely go up.  I am devastated. that's to much to ask of our guests.

[FireyNurse]

Our original quotes were great, our second round of quotes were pushing $2000 and we started to re-consider resorts until Air Transat's quotes came in! 

 

Also, I don't know if you are really set on your travel agent but I have heard that people have gotten different rates quoted from different agents, and some will work very hard to get trips within your budget. It may also be the timing of when you are going as I have heard February is quite a bit pricier, you may want to be sure you aren't going during Canadian Reading Week as prices tend to go much higher then.  Perhaps something else to consider too, go onto Westjet, or call their group booking line and give them your request and they will provide you with a quote directly, we did this and the rate we got was better than what our travel agent got...weird!

 

As for booking a group, we aren't having a huge group, less than 40 and still qualify for group rates, we were told by a few providers we just needed at least 10 from each departure gateway.

 

Good Luck! I hope it all works out for you and your guests to make it to the Barcelo!

[JoanneIreland]

That seems very high. Is that school vacation week, is that why maybe it's a bit higher?

Myself and my husband had return flights from Boston, 13 nights/14 days at the Barcelo Palace club premium, and then we transferred to the Excellence Riviera Maya for 6 nights/7 days for our honeymoon and the whole thing cost us just under $3,000 each.

Did you compare the travel agent quotes with online prices such as Expedia, Apple Vacations etc to ensure you are getting quoted in the right ball park?

 

Originally Posted by ANGELA2013 

Wow just got a quote from our travel agent today and we might have to find another resort it would be $2000 per person for a week and I was originally told around $1700. Our for 2 weeks is $3000 each, and to top if off she said it will most likely go up.  I am devastated. that's to much to ask of our guests.