The new Dreams Tulum thread! (Post all DT Qs&As here)

[Lite]

Achi, Great pics, thanks for sharing!!  Enjoy your honeymoon, what a special guy you have!!!  I can't wait to hear about it!!

 

Cookie, That's a great deal!  Our rate with Air Canada after the huppla of switching is $1845 for one week in a Garden View, we paid $3448.00 for two weeks in the Ocean View.  Much better than the $4683 we paid with Sunwing! 

Is your wedding Jan 22 or Feb 22??  We are Feb 22!

 

So i'm feeling somewhat better about things.  We got 10 ppl in our group with Air Canada, everyone has a fair price and there won't be any increases.  I'm not confident we will get a price reduction, but whatever.  And whoever else books great, if not we will have a very intimate wedding and i just can't wait for February!!

 

Enjoy the long weekend!

 

[cookiemunchkin]

OMG Sunwing wanted you to pay $4683?!!  That is insane.  We're travelling on the 16th (from Calgary though) and paying $1650ish for the gardenview room. 

 

Lite - I'll be there during your wedding!  I'll send happy vibes your way

 

Originally Posted by Lite 

Achi, Great pics, thanks for sharing!!  Enjoy your honeymoon, what a special guy you have!!!  I can't wait to hear about it!!

 

Cookie, That's a great deal!  Our rate with Air Canada after the huppla of switching is $1845 for one week in a Garden View, we paid $3448.00 for two weeks in the Ocean View.  Much better than the $4683 we paid with Sunwing! 

Is your wedding Jan 22 or Feb 22??  We are Feb 22!

 

So i'm feeling somewhat better about things.  We got 10 ppl in our group with Air Canada, everyone has a fair price and there won't be any increases.  I'm not confident we will get a price reduction, but whatever.  And whoever else books great, if not we will have a very intimate wedding and i just can't wait for February!!

 

Enjoy the long weekend!

 

[Ashleyciv]

Hey guys!! Ok im getting very upset about the dinner policy situation so i was hoping you guys could help me out by telling me what you did. We were planning on doing the free package becuase i am positive we will have more then 20 guests and we thought wed save money by eliminating cocktail hour. I read on here about the $20 menu option which i REALLY need to get to keep our budget down. It was posted that they will offer you the $20 restaurant option if you pay $750 private event fee. I emailed Natalia and was told that i would have not only have to pay private event fee but also either $55/$65 silver/ gold dinners for everyone. Then i asked her what options we have in order to be able to do the $20 dinners and she said have it in the ala carte restaurant..ok great, i said we want the seaside grill and was told we cant book that untila month before and if we do that we cant have a dj. Soooo that doesnt work because we already booked a dj!! We want the reception either on the beach or in Seaside grill...can you guys tell me what they let you do about this because seriously im getting very very fusterated with all the extra costs adding up. Thanks

[cookiemunchkin]

Ok, now I'm confused too lol.  Here's the things I was told (we also took the free wedding package and will have about 50 guests):

 

• we can have the Seaside Grill (and pay $750 for a private event) only if resort capacity is less than 70%.  They cant confirm this until a month before though.
• whether we choose to do a buffet or plated dinner at Seaside Grill, the cost is $55 per person plust taxes and gratuities
• if we want a cheaper/free option, we can eat in the buffet restaurant (World Cafe?) and they will just section off some tables for us
• I asked about DJ costs and was only told that we need a day pass for him.  Wasn't told anything about no DJ allowed at Seaside Grill

 

I wasn't told anything about a $20 option, but I would LOVE that if its available!  From what I've read on this forum though, its $20 if you want to eat in one of the a la carte restaurants, but it wont be private.  It just allows you to all be seated together.

 

Hope that helps.  I agree, the $55 per person (plus charges) is really high.  I expected to have to pay something for the service, but not THAT much.  It's an all-inclusive resort, I didn't expect to have to pay so much for food that would be eaten anyways!

 

Originally Posted by Ashleyciv 

Hey guys!! Ok im getting very upset about the dinner policy situation so i was hoping you guys could help me out by telling me what you did. We were planning on doing the free package becuase i am positive we will have more then 20 guests and we thought wed save money by eliminating cocktail hour. I read on here about the $20 menu option which i REALLY need to get to keep our budget down. It was posted that they will offer you the $20 restaurant option if you pay $750 private event fee. I emailed Natalia and was told that i would have not only have to pay private event fee but also either $55/$65 silver/ gold dinners for everyone. Then i asked her what options we have in order to be able to do the $20 dinners and she said have it in the ala carte restaurant..ok great, i said we want the seaside grill and was told we cant book that untila month before and if we do that we cant have a dj. Soooo that doesnt work because we already booked a dj!! We want the reception either on the beach or in Seaside grill...can you guys tell me what they let you do about this because seriously im getting very very fusterated with all the extra costs adding up. Thanks

[Ashleyciv]

Cookie,

 

What they told you sounds about right with what they told me..they told me there couldnt be a dj if i didnt rent it out as a private event because there will still be other people eating there.  Im just really upset because like you said it is an all inclusive resort and i have to pay 55 or more dollars per person??? I was trying to figure out other options but they wont give me any except to eat indoors which is definently not an option!! I just priced the free package out against the Love one and they actually are pretty similar. I just dont want to have to pay extra for the extra people at cocktail hour either bc i think thats like another $25 p/p...does anyone know if i can just tell them i want the cocktail hour for 20 people???

[OceanWonderland]

Hey Ashley,

I've emailed them back and forth and back and forth about this $20 menu thing and believe you me...it's VERY upsetting. I have come to the conclusion that there is absolutely NO WAY you can get the $20 menu option anymore. Just no way. I'm doing the same thing, having a private event at the Seaside Grill and I have told them numerous times that I booked in 2009 when they offered it, but they don't seem to care. It's either 55 or 65, no other option. And I have 80 people at this point, so it's SUPER frustrating. If they even TRY to make it buffet only for that price, I'm gonna have my dad call and give them a word off his mind. They will not be happy if it comes down to that. Because I will be insulted if they make me pay $55/per person and do buffet style. But I hear over groups of 50 they force you to do a buffet. We'll see about that...

 

I also remember someone mentioning that if you have a cocktail hour they will still charge you per person (even if you clearly state that you only want enough food/drinks for 20 people). I'm still gonna try to get cocktail hour covered for only 20 people so I'll let you know in 2 months how it goes. So it sounds like either cocktail hour for everyone, which I think is another $15/per person, or no cocktail hour at all. A way girls get around this is just having all their guests meet at the Lobby Bar or something similar and just lounge around and get drinks when they feel like. No snacks though.

 

I've already booked a DJ, which they are aware about and they know about my plans for the private reception at SSG and I've yet to hear that I can't have a DJ there...so I'm thinking they messed up with that one. But what I have heard is that the reception is only 3 hours long (6:30 to 9:30)..but my DJ is for 4. Once again, if they try to nickel and dime me for having the DJ play another hour...I will refuse to pay. I don't care if we have chairs or servers anymore after 9:30, but we will continue dancing until my DJ has supplied for the time I've already paid.

 

It seems like these problems only happens at Dreams TULUM. I talk to brides who were married at Dreams PV or Los Cabos or Cancun, and it's so much easier it seems. They can switch out photography for extra video; give their hair appts to other people...basically costs are switched around for services you don't use...but not at Dreams Tulum. You don't use it, you lose it. I shouldn't get this upset so close to the wedding, but it just really feels like they want to rob you with your forced consent. I'm crossing my fingers it all works out when I get there.

 

Oh and one more thing, I think we also have to pay another $6/per person if you want a champagne toast after you get married..so don't forget to add that into your spreadsheet. Sigh.

[Ashleyciv]

Oceanwonderland,

 Thanks for your help, at least i know now that im not the only one dealing with this crap!! My fiance and i got into a huge fight because we had a set budget and with all these charges i had to tell him our budget was not going to be enough. Ugh!! So i had to do the spreadsheet to show him it wasnt me that was making it sooo much extra money!! What package did you get? Because if i get a package i dont want to have to pay to rent the seaside grill out too! The beach was my first choice anyway but i was trying to get the $20 menu so i thought i coudl do it if i rented out the seaside grill...nope!! I think that the beach area is included in the packages for the reception...or i hope its included..i emailed dreams about that today!!

 

For the cocktail hour, if we went with the free package we were just oging to have people hang out at a bar and relax  until dinner but if we do a package its included for 20..and i dont want to add more money on for people to have crackers! lol i think theyd be ok with limited snacks!!

 

The Dj, they told me i couldnt have if i didnt book the seaside grill for a private event! Because i argued that it clearly states in their prices(that they annoyingly keep telling me to read haha) that for a group  in the ala carte restaurant you can use the $20 menu. They told me i was correct but i couldnt have music if i did that!!

 

 I havent even gotten around to thinking about them cutting off the reception earlier then its supposed to be!! We also have ours from for 4 hours (6-10) and for our ceremony. Youll have to let me know how that goes!!

 

Thanks for the champagne toast..i also didnt even think about that...the Grand Total keeps going up and up. The funny thing is that we picked Dreams bc it looked to be the most cost efficient for what we were looking for! Obviously we shouldve looked further..bc its really adding up!! Im just hoping when i get there everything works out and its not as bad as i think. Maybe they work with you better once you get there..bc now we're just a million women emailing them a million times!! lol...lets hope!!

 

Please keep me posted im so interested in how everything goes for you!! Good luck ill keep my fingers crossed for ya!!

[sstryker]

Hey Ladies,

 

I'm pretty sure that the $20 dinner option is only if you don't have a private event. So it's like you're going for a regular dinner out, hence the no DJ because it isn't private. I also think there are restrictions on the number of people. Not sure if this is in the guide or I read it on here somewhere...

 

We are getting the Ultimate Pkg, & not having the cocktail hour (there is no credit for this...), but it is still cheaper, considering what is included, vs paying piece meal for stuff. I'd recommend doing an excel spreadsheet to compare the packages vs what you actually want.

[Ashleyciv]

sstryker,

 

Would they have let you have the cocktail hour but not pay extra for the extra people? I dont think paying an extra $15 or whatever it is is worth it for the snacks they provide...but at the same time id hate to see something go to waste in a package that i was paying for. Im still so confused about what package to use. If we werent having over 20 people i think it would be ok..but once it goes over 20 people its really adding up. And my fiance and i just took a look at the dinner options and we want the surf and turf so that creates another dilemna..do we get the love package and just upgrade the meals or go with the ultimate package that includes a few extras?? Soooo frustrating!! Maybe we should just make these decisions when we get there.

[sstryker]

Ashelyciv

 

I don't know if they'd let you have the cocktail hour and not order extra snacks/booze for the extra people. I don't think so though, how do you tell people only 20 of them are allowed drinks? I don't think there would be any way to monitor that...

 

I don't know if i'd recommend leaving it till you get there, do you really want to have to deal with the stress while on vacation?

 

Aurora is suppose to be contacting me next month to really get down to the planning, & I want all of this stuff dealt with before we get there. All I want to do when we arrive is pass over my box of decorations, pick which bouquet I want and then relax by the pool! Oh ya, and get blood tests.