Barcelo Maya Palace Brides

[TaraW]

Hi there Yooyooo,

 

Sounds like you had very similar problems to us with regards to dealing with reception and checking in your guests. I also had many issues like that but left it out of my already lengthy review. Like me, glad to hear that your wedding was everything you had hoped it would be! Thanks for sharing your pics - beautiful!

 

It seems like there was definitely some huge issues with your shuttle but I wanted to add some info as well, hopefully to put you a bit at ease as to why this company had your contact info.

 

We also booked through Barceló.com for ourselves and our guests, and one week before hand we went online and paid for everything. The only amount we couldn't pay for ahead of time for any of the reservations was the shuttle amount of 73 USD return pp, which we paid at the resort when we arrived. I thought this was weird since we were able to pay thousands of dollars ahead of time, but couldn't prepay the shuttle, so I asked the gal at the front desk about it. She said it's because they don't always know which shuttle you will be transported on. Over the 3 weeks that we were there, we saw our guests come and go on a few different company shuttles even though they were all booked through Barcelo.com so clearly there are different companies that share the business/workload, etc from Barceló.

 

With regards to the Vacciones Barceló shuttle service specifically, we also arranged for the shuttle as part of the option during our online booking. Shortly afterwards I received the corresponding emails from Vacciones Barcelo, with references made to the correct/corresponding reservation number as we received with each reservation that we made. (Their layout was exactly as you copied and pasted to your post here -  asking for flight info, etc.) We provided all the flight details and we received shuttle confirmation back from the company ... some came immediately, others took a few weeks. The confirmation page had clear instruction on what we needed to do once we got to the airport, photos of the guys in their yellow shirts, and clear direction not to go with any other shuttle company or else we would not be reimbursed. They do this because there are lots of shuttle companies at the airport not working with resorts directly that do try to scam you! When we got to the airport the guy was waiting for us with a sign with our names on it, we got on the shuttle and carried on to the hotel.  As I said there was certainly something sneaky happening with your experience, but it sounds like almost infighting amongst the companies that do service Barceló, or a bad employee trying to scam you ... but this is why they had your name, email etc.

 

Hope this helps a bit!

 

 

[yooyooo]

Hi TaraW,

 

Thanks for sharing your experience in detail! I feel much better knowing they had our contact info because they divide up the workload.

 

However, our issue was that unlike you, we were already charged for the shuttle when we booked it along with hotel and flight. Otherwise they would have mentioned it when we checked in, as in your experience. Funny how they bugged us at 11pm to finish the transaction for the wedding, but never mentioned the shuttle charge until checkout!

 

In your case, it makes sense Vacaciones Barcelo contacted you, but they should have never contacted us since we were already charged with Lomas Travel. When I finally met up Lomas Travel they had our name on reservation.

 

So the only conclusion I can come to is that Barcelo passed on our information to two different agencies, hopefully by accident. Even then, I'm disappointed that they would make a mistake like that and dump all the responsibility on us, knowing what exactly happened.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SammyMac]

@@yooyooo and @@TaraW - I had the same sort of issues with reception but our experience at Bahia Príncipe was kind of similar so I just kind of chalked it up as part of the resort experience. @@TaraW they forgot our breakfast too and when we got it the next day instead it wasn't very good so you didn't miss out ! One thing I didn't mention which is still bothering me is there was a guy on our 4th or 5th day that kept pouring all his beer on the dance floor at the disco. The staff knew he was doing it and kept mopping up after him but they continued to serve the guy and not kick him out. One of my friends fell hard on one of the spills and fractured his ankle in 2 places and tore through some ligaments. The resort charged them 30 usd per day to use their wheelchair ! They also tried to get one of my friends to sign a letter releasing them from any liability. And then one of my friends went to the disco the next day and the same guy was dumping beer on the floor again. It's like they didn't even care about my friend's well being. I'll probably write them a letter and try and get them to refund the cost of the wheelchair to my friends. It was pretty upsetting.

[TaraW]

We definitely didn't have the shuttle experience that you did! That was a total scam whatever that woman was trying to pull with you without a doubt. 

 

In the end were also charged twice for the shuttle and spent about an hour at the desk the day before we checked out trying to get the charges removed. (paid for the shuttle separately when we got there, then the shuttle charge also showed up on our room charges as owing) So my other piece of advice is check your invoices as well, ladies!! 

 

More advice for all the brides that I forgot to mention:

 

TAXI VS SHUTTLE In the end we cancelled the return shuttle 24 hours ahead of time, had the amount credited back to our hotel account (they wont refund you, but will let you apply the credit to cover your room charges) and just hopped a cab by ourselves  We were flying out of Cancun at 7:20pm and the shuttle wanted us on the bus at 2:30pm. No thank you! We enjoyed the beach for an extra hour instead, got a late check out, left at 3:45pm instead and had tons of time at the airport. And the cab was cheaper anyhow and it was just us, with no other pick ups to slow us down.  We found out while we were there that a taxi to/from the airport to Barcelo is a set fee (most destinations are)  - 830pesos or 70.00 if you pay in USD. With the current US/pesos exchange rate it's a lot cheaper to exchange some pesos before you leave, hop a cab and go directly to the resort and pay the driver in pesos. The shuttle was basically 50 bucks for two of us when paying in pesos, the shared shuttle was 73.00 per couple.  One of our guests was stuck in a 2.5 hour shuttle ride from the airport to the resort because of all of the other drop offs that they did on the way, as not all passengers on the shuttle are going to the same resort. Cab ride was 50 min door to door. Time is money to the cab drivers, so they will get you there as fast as they can!!   

 

INTERNET - Many people get  "free internet" when they book through Barceló.com, but this only covers one device at a time. You can't log on and off as easily as you may think either - it's a real pain and an obscure code that's different for everyone and a challenge to remember for most. It also boots you off fairly regularly and you have to keep signing on. My advice is to pay the 40.00 US for a second code if you and your hubby both want to be connected with your phones, ipads, or whatever. They will tell you that you need to come back after 7 days and pay for a new code but DONT I decided to see how long it would work for, and it was good the whole three weeks! I did notice there was a date on the bottom of the card that appeared to be an expiry date, that was June 15th or something like that. All of this to say they just try to get you to come back and pay for a new code - chances are you don't need to!

[TaraW]

@@SammyMac

 

That's terrible about your friend falling and injuring himself! You said they tried to get him to sign a release form - hopefully he didn't? Gawd, I don't even know what that would be like trying to come after the resort for damages. Long distance wedding planning was stressful enough! every morning on the way to breakfast we thought we were going to slip on the wet soapy floor while they were cleaning the hallways in front of the room. My hubby and I joked about trying to manage a lawsuit after everything else .... But seriously, hopefully your friend is doing well since he's been home?

@@Bcari16

 

Sorry for the late reply Thank you for the wedding wishes on our wedding day! That was so sweet!

 

I just realized you day is just around the corner as well. Hope everything goes as smooth as possible and that your day is everything you imagined it to be! I still have my internet codes/passwords .... I think they are good until the first week of June. Let me know and I will email them to you!

[MikeCantarellFilms]

Thank you for sharing your experiences. Definitely Barcelo is a great resort for weddings.

Take a look at this film, it was full of great moments.

 

[smfahey]

@@SammyMac would you mind sending me your wedding pictures from Playa Azul or whatever you have regarding the wedding please?  I am planning a Feb 2017 wedding and am struggling to picture what the location appears like.

 

Thank you so much!

[smfahey]

Has anyone had Guillermo Sierra as a wedding coordinator at Barceló Maya? Any reviews?

[TaraW]

@@smfahey

 

Check out my pics that I posted on here May 12 - we had both our wedding and reception at Playa Azul. It's a GORGEOUS location, and wonderfully private. You can't go wrong!

Edited June 2, 2016 by TaraW

[SammyMac]

@@smfahey here are a bunch of pics from the wedding . Everything took place at Playa Azul. If you give me your email address I can share some more pics and send you some of the planning docs .hope this helps !