aventura spa palace

[jszy10]

Thank you!  We are really just looking for some fun things to do, and we were just thinking of choosing zip-lining because it was free.  If you really didn't enjoy it that much, maybe we'll pass on it?  I was actually considering going to Xcaret or Xel-Ha, so maybe we'll do that instead?  My FI is big into fish/wildlife/etc. and we have considered doing the 'snuba' there too.

 

Has anyone been to Playacar Palace or Xpu-Ha Palace??  I know those are really close to ASP.

[sxcT]

Has anyone done (or know someone who did) the Wet n Wild water park?  Was it worth it?  Are there plenty of things to do there?

 

Any one know how much it is to swim with the dolphins there?

[J-me]

We actually visited Playacar Palace during our site visit to ACP/ASP this past March - it's only about 15 min. from the resort and great to offer guests who want to play on the beach/in the ocean! It's right next to Senor Frogs and there were a lot of people playing volleball on the beach, drinking by the pool, etc...so I'd definitely recommend if you/you're guests want to go play for a day in a lively atmosphere! It's also really close to their golf/spa, for any golfers in the group (although the spa at ASP is MUCH better!). I went to Xel-Ha a few years back and loved it - they have the snorkeling, dolphin swimming, etc...I heard Xplor was great (and it IS close to the resort), but not sure about Xcaret. Hope this helps a bit - lemme know if you have any questions!

 

Originally Posted by jszy10 

Thank you!  We are really just looking for some fun things to do, and we were just thinking of choosing zip-lining because it was free.  If you really didn't enjoy it that much, maybe we'll pass on it?  I was actually considering going to Xcaret or Xel-Ha, so maybe we'll do that instead?  My FI is big into fish/wildlife/etc. and we have considered doing the 'snuba' there too.

 

Has anyone been to Playacar Palace or Xpu-Ha Palace??  I know those are really close to ASP.

 

[jszy10]

Thanks!  That helps a lot!  I think Xel-Ha and Xcaret are very similar parks.  Now I'm just trying to see how far away XCaret is from ASP -- I'm not sure if they have transportation here or not.  I just asked the tour rep if we could use our vaca dollars for this tour too -- since I do see it on some of the lists.

[amberm390]

Angelov- what a beautiful picture!! thanks so much for the cocktail info. I wish it would stay light longer that time of year, but I can't change that!

 

Jessica- my FI and I went to Xcaret this past December. I would say its about 15-20 mins away from ASP...I definitely know it wasn't far. Xcaret is huge and really fun...you want a whole day to spend there bc there is so much to see and do. It's basically like a zoo/aquarium all wrapped into one, but with so much more also! We went snorkeling in an underground river which was fun...although, you really couldn't see much the majority of the time because its dark in there, but once you get to the end, there's more fish to see. It was just something fun to do. Xcaret had a beautiful view of the ocean, blue as can be, but I don't recall there being a beach. If there was a beach, we really didn't have time to sit on it anyway. It had a revolving tower that went up in the air and gave you an awesome view of the Riviera Maya. At 6pm (I think), there was a show in this huge theatre...it was kinda long (over 2 hrs if I remember correctly), but it gave you a taste of Mexican culture. There was singing, dancing, great costumes, playing w/ fire balls. It was really neat, but like I said, a little long. It costs around $100/person to get into Xcaret also.

[nicdeb928]

Hey Ladies..

 

Just checking in to see how all your plans are going...I'll be celebrating my 6 month anniversary soon, I cant believe its been that long already.  You guys are all going to love having your wedding at ASP...they do an absolutely amazing job of making that day very special for us.  If any of you have any questions about anything please ask.  I just read some of the recent posts about making plans for the week of the wedding so I wanted to share my experience.  My husband and I got to the resort on a saturday, the very next day people started arriving, with a few ppl coming in every day and all of our guest there by Wednesday, our wedding was on Friday and then everyone including us left that Sunday.  If I could do it all over again I would come in on Wed and stay to the following wed, allowing my husband and I some time alone without our guests.  As much as we enjoyed our week with everyone, it was physically and mentally draining to be constantly on the run and making sure that 50 ppl were enjoying themselves every single day for a week straight.  Thats just my suggestion.  Beyond that, Sun, Mon and Tues we relaxed by the pool during the day and went to dinner at night with everyone that was there.  Wednesday is when the insanity began.  Wed morning we did swimming with the dolpins with 10 other ppl. This I DEFINITELY recommend.  Its 1 minute from the resort and a really cool experience.  Since we did it as a group, the 10 of us stayed together and then my husband and I bought the DVD and pics of everyone (when we got home we made copies for the other ppl w/us and they were so happy about that).  Wednesday night we had a Welcome Dinner (also highly recommended) we held it on Mundaca's rooftop and hired a dj.  The food was amazing, everyone complimented on it.  It gave my husband and I a chance to walk around and welcome everyone for being there and get to spend some with our guests.  The welcome dinner was from 6-8 at 8;30 we had 3 taxi vans come pick up about 40 of us and take us into town (playa del carmen) to Carlos and Charlies and Senor Frogs..this night was PRICELESS! i cant express it enought...all of our guests said that besides our wedding night, that night was the best night there...we had so much fun together and our group took over both of those bars.  I have an amazing pic of all of us at Senor Frogs with sombreros on our heads.. I cherish this picture....Thursday morning we woke up and 30 of us headed out to zipline.  This I wouldnt recommend.  The experience was cool and everyone enjoyed it, but the place was 60-90 minutes away so the transportation wasted almost 3 hrs while the zipling took about 30 min so it wasnt worth it to us that we were away from our other guests for that long.  I would recommend paying for the place that is close by if zipling is something you really want to do.  Thursday night we held our rehearsal dinner for the bridal party and parents at Mundaca Steakhouse out on the terrace.  That was wonderful and a great way to make those ppl very special to us feel extra special.  Afterwards we met the rest of our guests at the disco and partied the night away and Friday was the Wedding (i wrote a review of my wedding day on a previous post)  To sum it up, the whole experience was amazing, and something I will cherish forever...if you have any questions please let me know...otherwise enjoy your planning Nicole

[sxcT]

Gosh Nicole - I LOVE reading your reviews.  It got me all excited again.

 

This is our plan so far...

Tuesday: Arrive with some of the bridal party, meet with WC and check out the resort and wedding sites

Wednesday: Pool party all day to welcome guests and hang out / Bachelor/Bachelorette parties in Play Del Carmen at night

Thursday: Play Day at Playacar Palace (possibly) / Welcome Dinner for all the guests in the evening

Friday: WEDDING!!!

Saturday: Relax and have brunch with guests and hang out at the pool or swim with dolphins

Sunday: Most guests leave and we head to Sun Palace for 4 days of honeymooning!!!

 

I am thinking of doing an excursion on Thursday instead of Playacar and doing the resort on Saturday....decisions decisions LOL!!

 

 

Nicole - Thanks for posting your review of the nightlife in Playa Del Carmen.  We were debating between Cancun or Playa for the bachelor/ette parties.  Cancun just seems so far and Playa is so close and convenient.  We were in Cancun in 2009 and loved the nightlife so its hard to decide.  I've been reading about the nightlife in Playa on tripadvisor.  Did you check out any of the other spots or was it just Senor Frogs and Carlos and Charlies??
 

Originally Posted by nicdeb928 

Hey Ladies..

 

Just checking in to see how all your plans are going...I'll be celebrating my 6 month anniversary soon, I cant believe its been that long already.  You guys are all going to love having your wedding at ASP...they do an absolutely amazing job of making that day very special for us.  If any of you have any questions about anything please ask.  I just read some of the recent posts about making plans for the week of the wedding so I wanted to share my experience.  My husband and I got to the resort on a saturday, the very next day people started arriving, with a few ppl coming in every day and all of our guest there by Wednesday, our wedding was on Friday and then everyone including us left that Sunday.  If I could do it all over again I would come in on Wed and stay to the following wed, allowing my husband and I some time alone without our guests.  As much as we enjoyed our week with everyone, it was physically and mentally draining to be constantly on the run and making sure that 50 ppl were enjoying themselves every single day for a week straight.  Thats just my suggestion.  Beyond that, Sun, Mon and Tues we relaxed by the pool during the day and went to dinner at night with everyone that was there.  Wednesday is when the insanity began.  Wed morning we did swimming with the dolpins with 10 other ppl. This I DEFINITELY recommend.  Its 1 minute from the resort and a really cool experience.  Since we did it as a group, the 10 of us stayed together and then my husband and I bought the DVD and pics of everyone (when we got home we made copies for the other ppl w/us and they were so happy about that).  Wednesday night we had a Welcome Dinner (also highly recommended) we held it on Mundaca's rooftop and hired a dj.  The food was amazing, everyone complimented on it.  It gave my husband and I a chance to walk around and welcome everyone for being there and get to spend some with our guests.  The welcome dinner was from 6-8 at 8;30 we had 3 taxi vans come pick up about 40 of us and take us into town (playa del carmen) to Carlos and Charlies and Senor Frogs..this night was PRICELESS! i cant express it enought...all of our guests said that besides our wedding night, that night was the best night there...we had so much fun together and our group took over both of those bars.  I have an amazing pic of all of us at Senor Frogs with sombreros on our heads.. I cherish this picture....Thursday morning we woke up and 30 of us headed out to zipline.  This I wouldnt recommend.  The experience was cool and everyone enjoyed it, but the place was 60-90 minutes away so the transportation wasted almost 3 hrs while the zipling took about 30 min so it wasnt worth it to us that we were away from our other guests for that long.  I would recommend paying for the place that is close by if zipling is something you really want to do.  Thursday night we held our rehearsal dinner for the bridal party and parents at Mundaca Steakhouse out on the terrace.  That was wonderful and a great way to make those ppl very special to us feel extra special.  Afterwards we met the rest of our guests at the disco and partied the night away and Friday was the Wedding (i wrote a review of my wedding day on a previous post)  To sum it up, the whole experience was amazing, and something I will cherish forever...if you have any questions please let me know...otherwise enjoy your planning Nicole

 

[jszy10]

Thanks so much for the advice Nicole!!  That definitely helps.  Our plan so far...

 

Wednesday -- Arrive at the resort with 3/4's of our guests  (we have a small group of 17) 

 

Thursday -- Wedding meeting (i'm assuming?). welcome cocktail party

 

Friday -- I like the idea of the 'playacar palace play day'!!  We were thinking of doing a group to zipline, but I'm thinking more and more of skipping that.

 

Saturday -- Wedding Day!!  The boys are going on a deep sea fishing trip in the morning (yes I know, groom on a boat..the day of..lol) and the girls are spending the morning at the spa.  Our wedding is at 5pm.

 

Sunday -- Brunch, TTD session

 

We are staying at the resort until the following Friday, so we will have Monday - Friday to honeymoon!  We are planning on doing Xcaret and swimming with the dolphins during that time. 

 

Now that I have it mapped out, I feel like I need more entertainment??  Any other suggestions?  We aren't doing any private events because of the cost -- we have such a small group and are spending a lot of money on the AHR too.  I just couldnt see spending a lot on private events when everything is free.

[jszy10]

Oh, another question...is there really any type of organized "rehearsal" or do you kind of take care of that on your own with the information you get from the wedding meeting? 

[adales]

Well since everyone else is putting their plan of attack, I figured I will do the same.

 

Monday- Arrive at the resort with both sets of parents, my future step-kids and my brother.  Meet with the WC and discuss the details.

 

Tuesday- Spend the day at either Xcaret or Xplor.  Which one is better?  We want to do something with the kids before everyone arrives.  The kids are aged 11, 13 and 16.

 

Wednesday- Couples massage at 9 am then hang out in the pool and the lobby and wait for the rest of our guests to arrive. 

 

Thursday- Boys are going deep sea fishing and girls are doing a spa morning.  Welcome cocktail party from 7 to 8 at the Maracas Terrace and then bachelor/bachelorette party festivities.

 

Friday- We are doing a "play day"at Cozumel.  We are going to take the resort transportation to Playa del Carmen (aka Playacar Palace) and then hop on the ferry and do Cozumel for the day.

 

Saturday- Wedding day!!! Ceremony at Coba Gazebo and reception at Solarium Mundaca.

 

Sunday- Our TTD session followed up by pool time and a beer pong tournament to "recover" ha ha!

 

Monday- Our flight leaves in the late afternnon so we may try and figure out an activity to do that morning.

 

Just like Jessica, I feel like I may need more entertainment.  Any suggestions?

 

Should I do a Welcome Dinner on Wednesday?  I feel like I have to decorate every time I do any kind of event, anyone else feel that way?