Gran Caribe Real 2011 Brides

[ssantos78]

Here is my review on this place...

 

I returned from my wedding at the Gran Caribe Real Chapel & The Royal Cancun reception today. For those of you considering on having a wedding at a real resort I would highly reconsider.   The location is awesome, chapel is beautiful and the reception had to be changed indoors because it started to rain but still was very nicely decorated.

 

The people there are horrible, I am not sure how this location received a 5 star diamond award. I have traveled all around the world and have been treated better at a 2 star hotel.  The food is excellent at The Royal but all the troubles they cause during this special process makes it not worth my time and money.

 

1.  From the very beginning I was told certain things by the wedding coordinators in Michigan that later were not fulfilled. At some point they closed down the Michigan location and my account was transferred to someone in Mexico.  Initially, I was happy and upset at the same time. Happy because the new coordinator Ana, was a lot more responsive then my old coordinator Aja but unhappy because many of the initial statements e.g. price, food options, room upgrades were changed and not honored. More sadly was that this unbalance between coordinators continued until I arrived in Cancun.  I was told that I could have 4 of my girls arrive at the resort the day of the wedding to help me get ready and take pictures. Upon arrival I was told that no they could not come to my room but could go to the spa. The day before I inquire about the Spa and they said this was not possible.  The day of my wedding I had to put on my own dress and asked the photographers to help button my dress. 

 

2.  At check in I asked about the upgrade that was included in my wedding package, initially I was told I could have two upgrades but when I was there they said I could only have one but of course nothing was available the only availability was the presidential suite we agreed to upgrade since I was still thinking that 4 of my girls would be able to come to my suite the day of and get ready.  What really upset me about this issue was that the people at the hotel make it seem like you are lying as if no one said that and they say it with confidence so imagine arriving as a happy bride to be and not only are they not honoring what they said via email but they make you feel that you are a lying!

 

3.  At check it I was told that we had the room until 6pm the day of check out. I called that morning to ask if we could have dinner at the resort after our 6pm check out. The concierge said that my check out was not at 6pm but 3pm, I was so upset again they failed to stick to their word.  I called my wedding coordinator she looked into it when she called me back she said that I had to be out by 12:30 and 30 minutes past the check out time. I was so furious and asked to speak to the supervisor on site. When I asked if he spoke English he rudely answered, Miss...I speak four languages!... SO SO rude!

 

4.  The reception inside was ok you can't do anything about the rain but the ballrooms are not well ventilated, it was super hot and nothing could be done.

 

5.  Most of the time people/wedding party did not know what to do as the coordinator did not do a good job of letting people know what was needed and what to expect. The whole time we were going based on our own assumptions.

 

6.  We had a welcome dinner the night before the wedding. The food was decent but at the end the supervisors were making faces, looking at each other as we took a couple of pictures. It was sad as we spent over 13,000 dollars on this event you would think they would treat us with a little more respect.

 

7.  We decided to extend the party for another hour at the end of the night. We had family who traveled as far as NYC and people were having a good time. Well they needed us to pay them the $960 there and then, imagine you have already spent all this $$ and they can't trust you to pay $960???  Since no one was allowed into our room my husband had to run up to our suite to get his card and pay the coordinator! I'm sorry but I think that's RUDE!

 

It's difficult to make any initial comments there because your event is on these peoples hands but I am so unhappy with them.  I usually stay at the Moon Palace or Dreams resort I wish I would have had my reception at another location where I am always treated with respect.

 

But I had it at a real resort because of the chapel which is definately beautiful, looking back I wish I would have had the ceremony there and the wedding at a seperate location.

 

My lasting impression of this place: I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO THESE RESORTS I THINK THEY PAID FOR THERE 5 STAR!

 

Hope this helps any future real resort brides; make sure you get everything that was promised in writing!!!!

[Bride2B22]

Ssantos- sorry to hear about your bad experience! i am having my ceremony at the chapel and the reception on the beach at the Royal.....mostly everyone (at least the importatn people) are staying at the royal which will make things easier......it really sucks taht you had such a bad experience......I got engaged there this past June and loved it! we were really treated like royalty......i think all of the reviews i have read on the resort, some brides have an amazing experience and some have a horrible experience......which sucks.....but i know for sure that everything i plan is in writing, confirmed by my WC......if i have a phone conversation with her i immediately follow it with an email to have her confirm everything we spoke about........I def thank you for your review, and this just helps me be more cautious!

[KathyW]

 

 

Originally Posted by LeahZ 

 

I am getting married 4/15.  I also have Elsa as my WC.  She has not said anything about an increase of fees for the DJ.  We reserved Dorremix.  You would think they would honor their price list for the year?

 

I would make sure because it was just yesterday she informed me that the price went up and she initially wasnt going to honor the original price but I threw a fit and showed her the email she originally wrote stating it was 850 then this morning she wrote back saying she would honor the lower price.... Thank goodness

 

[KathyW]

Claire who is your WC? I have Elsa and she was the one who told me that if my photographer was a guest they wouldnt have to pay the outside vendor fee...Im just not going to say anything and hope they dont give me an issue...I will be upset if they do... Im finding it quite frustrating that now that its a new yr everything is changing and prices are going up and they think they can charge us the higher price even after we have already discussed everything for months prior... Ugh

Originally Posted by Claire83 

Hi, I am using Juan Navarro for the photos, as I wasn't sure about the hotel's photographer and he has great reviews.  I have also booked a room at Gran Caribe instead of paying the outside vendor fee.  Just to let you know my WC has advised me they have changed their policies and if your photographer lives in Cancun you need to pay the outside vendor fee whether they are staying at the hotel or not.  My WC has only let me off the vendor fee as I asked her months ago about it.

 

So I would double check with your WC before you book your photographer!

[KathyW]

Oh Wow, now Im super nervous as to what Ive gotten myself into with this resort..I pray I have a better experience! Sounds like these coordinators really dont care what they have told their brides, they will do what they want to do regardless... Im scared!!! Thanks for your imput!
 

Originally Posted by ssantos78 

Here is my review on this place...

 

I returned from my wedding at the Gran Caribe Real Chapel & The Royal Cancun reception today. For those of you considering on having a wedding at a real resort I would highly reconsider.   The location is awesome, chapel is beautiful and the reception had to be changed indoors because it started to rain but still was very nicely decorated.

 

The people there are horrible, I am not sure how this location received a 5 star diamond award. I have traveled all around the world and have been treated better at a 2 star hotel.  The food is excellent at The Royal but all the troubles they cause during this special process makes it not worth my time and money.

 

1.  From the very beginning I was told certain things by the wedding coordinators in Michigan that later were not fulfilled. At some point they closed down the Michigan location and my account was transferred to someone in Mexico.  Initially, I was happy and upset at the same time. Happy because the new coordinator Ana, was a lot more responsive then my old coordinator Aja but unhappy because many of the initial statements e.g. price, food options, room upgrades were changed and not honored. More sadly was that this unbalance between coordinators continued until I arrived in Cancun.  I was told that I could have 4 of my girls arrive at the resort the day of the wedding to help me get ready and take pictures. Upon arrival I was told that no they could not come to my room but could go to the spa. The day before I inquire about the Spa and they said this was not possible.  The day of my wedding I had to put on my own dress and asked the photographers to help button my dress. 

 

2.  At check in I asked about the upgrade that was included in my wedding package, initially I was told I could have two upgrades but when I was there they said I could only have one but of course nothing was available the only availability was the presidential suite we agreed to upgrade since I was still thinking that 4 of my girls would be able to come to my suite the day of and get ready.  What really upset me about this issue was that the people at the hotel make it seem like you are lying as if no one said that and they say it with confidence so imagine arriving as a happy bride to be and not only are they not honoring what they said via email but they make you feel that you are a lying!

 

3.  At check it I was told that we had the room until 6pm the day of check out. I called that morning to ask if we could have dinner at the resort after our 6pm check out. The concierge said that my check out was not at 6pm but 3pm, I was so upset again they failed to stick to their word.  I called my wedding coordinator she looked into it when she called me back she said that I had to be out by 12:30 and 30 minutes past the check out time. I was so furious and asked to speak to the supervisor on site. When I asked if he spoke English he rudely answered, Miss...I speak four languages!... SO SO rude!

 

4.  The reception inside was ok you can't do anything about the rain but the ballrooms are not well ventilated, it was super hot and nothing could be done.

 

5.  Most of the time people/wedding party did not know what to do as the coordinator did not do a good job of letting people know what was needed and what to expect. The whole time we were going based on our own assumptions.

 

6.  We had a welcome dinner the night before the wedding. The food was decent but at the end the supervisors were making faces, looking at each other as we took a couple of pictures. It was sad as we spent over 13,000 dollars on this event you would think they would treat us with a little more respect.

 

7.  We decided to extend the party for another hour at the end of the night. We had family who traveled as far as NYC and people were having a good time. Well they needed us to pay them the $960 there and then, imagine you have already spent all this $$ and they can't trust you to pay $960???  Since no one was allowed into our room my husband had to run up to our suite to get his card and pay the coordinator! I'm sorry but I think that's RUDE!

 

It's difficult to make any initial comments there because your event is on these peoples hands but I am so unhappy with them.  I usually stay at the Moon Palace or Dreams resort I wish I would have had my reception at another location where I am always treated with respect.

 

But I had it at a real resort because of the chapel which is definately beautiful, looking back I wish I would have had the ceremony there and the wedding at a seperate location.

 

My lasting impression of this place: I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO THESE RESORTS I THINK THEY PAID FOR THERE 5 STAR!

 

Hope this helps any future real resort brides; make sure you get everything that was promised in writing!!!!

[Claire83]

Hi Kathy,

 

My WC is Maritza, no-one else seems to have her!  She offered straight away to honour what she had previously told me, luckily I didn't need to argue.  Providing you have an email from your WC to confirm you don't have to pay an outside vendor fee if they stay at a Real resort I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Although I am getting more worried the nearer it gets to my wedding!

[wanda]

 

Hi ssantos78,

 

I know exactly how you feel. I had similar problems with my wedding. We just got married last week too. We stayed at the Gran Caribe for a week then moved to the Royal for our honeymoon. I also don't recommend this hotel for weddings because I agree the service was terrible!

 

I agree with you the location is great and we loved the chapel as well.

 

Our reception had to be changed indoor as well due to the chance of rain. It ended up raining for only a few minutes but I was glad we moved it indoors because our WC said if it rains while we’re outdoors, the wedding gets cancelled. They will not move you indoors due to the time it takes to set everything up (understandable). I recommend all brides who are getting married there to view all ballrooms ahead of time even if you don’t think it’s going to rain. I didn’t do that so when I was asked on the day of our wedding (while getting my hair done) I didn’t know what room to choose. I ended up getting a family member to choose one for us. So I saw the ballroom for the first time when we walked into the reception. 

 

I agree the food is excellent at The Royal. We had really good service there. I have no complaints about the Royal.

 

1.  I was also told from the very beginning certain things by our WC Angie that later were not fulfilled.  

 

2.  We also didn’t get a free upgrade at check in. We ended up paying extra to get into a decent room. They also told us that our suite category was not available. I wonder if they do that to ALL brides. We were pretty upset considering we brought 50 guests down (25 rooms booked under our wedding code). Most of our guests had to switch rooms too because they were unhappy with what they got. My parents and aunt had bunk beds!

 

4.  We also had a problem with the AC during our reception. They said it was broken and there’s nothing they can do about it. It was so hot that day. Every one of us went outside at least a couple of times to get fresh air. Some guests went to their rooms to change. It’s pretty annoying for a bride to be sweaty and have your hair and makeup messed up so quickly.

 

5.  You mentioned, “Most of the time people/wedding party did not know what to do as the coordinator did not do a good job of letting people know what was needed and what to expect. The whole time we were going based on our own assumptions.†We had the exact same problem. I brought our WC Flora to our room to show her and go over everything with her in detail. I even left her notes to explain everything. But on the day of the wedding, she didn’t do anything I asked. I even had 3 family members leave the cocktail hour to help her but she was a complete idiot! For example, I asked for a head table for 10 of us. She ended up putting us around the table rather than have all of us facing our guests. So those who were facing us (the bride and groom) had their backs to our guests. Which also means they won’t be in most of the pictures. As soon as we arrived at the reception, I asked Flora to change it, and it took her an hour to say she could do it but would have to move my parent’s table to the back! So we just left it as is. She said it was my fault for not specifying how we wanted the head table. I thought it was self explanatory (but not to an idiot).

 

7.  We also paid for an extra hour for the reception and had to pay for it before the wedding. We weren’t too surprised about that but I know what you mean.

 

My other comments about the wedding…

• We didn’t get the cake we ordered from their catalog. The design was way off. The service for the most part at the reception was good except when we got the cake. They didn’t serve it to everyone. They missed a few tables. My husband ended up cutting it. Although I have to say it was delicious!
• We also got different color chair ribbons then what we ordered. Funny thing is we ordered them the day before. She even showed us a sample. I don’t know how she messed that up.
• Flora didn’t really do much with setting things up for us like she promised. We had my husband’s aunts do all the work. They missed out on the cocktail hour and were rushing all day to finish things up.
• The photography (the 24 pictures included with the Luxury package) was not good. Thank God we brought our own. We used Claudiaphoto.com. We had Citalli Rico who brought 2 of her assistants as our photographers. They were excellent! We haven’t seen our pictures yet but the service we got was more than I could ever ask for. I will write a separate review on them soon.
• We had Funever video our ceremony since it’s included with our package. I hope no one uses them because they were terrible! The videographer didn’t make any effort in moving around. When I was walking down the isle, you couldn’t see me because of a guest who got in front of the camera to take pictures. I’m sure that happens often when a guest gets in the way. But I think the videographer should’ve moved the camera instead of filming that person’s back.
• One thing that really upset us was meeting Flora. She asked us to meet her the day we arrived at 6pm. We were scheduled to arrive at the airport at 5:30pm. We advised her that there’s no way we can make it in time with airport security and travel time. So after 4 emails, we agreed on 7pm. The morning of, we found out our flight was going to be delayed due to a snowstorm. We emailed Flora immediately advising we were going to be late. She agreed to wait. We ended up arriving 20 minutes later and she was already gone. Front desk called looking for her while we were checking in. The next day she said that she waited until 7:45 for us. She denied she had left and pretty called us the liars.
• If you’re not having a DJ, I recommend you create playlists (for example, dinner songs, entrance song(s), party song, cake cutting, etc) it makes it a lot easier. We had a guest monitor it. If you have a bunch of playlist then at least the music will pause when you want it to ( ie for the cake).

 

I hope this helps. If anyone has any questions, please ask. I’m sorry to report such negative feedback. Our experience wasn’t the greatest. In the end, our wedding was a blast. We had a lot of fun because of our company. It’s not the wedding I’m complaining about, it’s the service we received from the wedding centre. I wanted to post this so other brides can learn from my mistakes and I hope no one else goes through this. I’m a very detailed person and I worked really hard at putting in little details for our wedding. If any of you are like me, I suggest you have someone you trust set up your wedding rather than rely on your WC.

 

[Bride2B22]

Hi Wanda, so sorry to hear about your negative experience!! I hope you can post your pro pics when you receive them! we would love to see! I am sure the wedding was still beautiful. 

 

I do have one question....about the sound system.....did that work well for you? was the music loud enough...did it have that "party" vibe? I just dont want to spend almost 1k on a DJ when the sound system and a well organized ipod will work.....Thanks!!

[KathyW]

SSANTOS:

Who was your onsite wedding coordinator?

Originally Posted by KathyW 

Oh Wow, now Im super nervous as to what Ive gotten myself into with this resort..I pray I have a better experience! Sounds like these coordinators really dont care what they have told their brides, they will do what they want to do regardless... Im scared!!! Thanks for your imput!
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssantos78 

Here is my review on this place...

 

I returned from my wedding at the Gran Caribe Real Chapel & The Royal Cancun reception today. For those of you considering on having a wedding at a real resort I would highly reconsider.   The location is awesome, chapel is beautiful and the reception had to be changed indoors because it started to rain but still was very nicely decorated.

 

The people there are horrible, I am not sure how this location received a 5 star diamond award. I have traveled all around the world and have been treated better at a 2 star hotel.  The food is excellent at The Royal but all the troubles they cause during this special process makes it not worth my time and money.

 

1.  From the very beginning I was told certain things by the wedding coordinators in Michigan that later were not fulfilled. At some point they closed down the Michigan location and my account was transferred to someone in Mexico.  Initially, I was happy and upset at the same time. Happy because the new coordinator Ana, was a lot more responsive then my old coordinator Aja but unhappy because many of the initial statements e.g. price, food options, room upgrades were changed and not honored. More sadly was that this unbalance between coordinators continued until I arrived in Cancun.  I was told that I could have 4 of my girls arrive at the resort the day of the wedding to help me get ready and take pictures. Upon arrival I was told that no they could not come to my room but could go to the spa. The day before I inquire about the Spa and they said this was not possible.  The day of my wedding I had to put on my own dress and asked the photographers to help button my dress. 

 

2.  At check in I asked about the upgrade that was included in my wedding package, initially I was told I could have two upgrades but when I was there they said I could only have one but of course nothing was available the only availability was the presidential suite we agreed to upgrade since I was still thinking that 4 of my girls would be able to come to my suite the day of and get ready.  What really upset me about this issue was that the people at the hotel make it seem like you are lying as if no one said that and they say it with confidence so imagine arriving as a happy bride to be and not only are they not honoring what they said via email but they make you feel that you are a lying!

 

3.  At check it I was told that we had the room until 6pm the day of check out. I called that morning to ask if we could have dinner at the resort after our 6pm check out. The concierge said that my check out was not at 6pm but 3pm, I was so upset again they failed to stick to their word.  I called my wedding coordinator she looked into it when she called me back she said that I had to be out by 12:30 and 30 minutes past the check out time. I was so furious and asked to speak to the supervisor on site. When I asked if he spoke English he rudely answered, Miss...I speak four languages!... SO SO rude!

 

4.  The reception inside was ok you can't do anything about the rain but the ballrooms are not well ventilated, it was super hot and nothing could be done.

 

5.  Most of the time people/wedding party did not know what to do as the coordinator did not do a good job of letting people know what was needed and what to expect. The whole time we were going based on our own assumptions.

 

6.  We had a welcome dinner the night before the wedding. The food was decent but at the end the supervisors were making faces, looking at each other as we took a couple of pictures. It was sad as we spent over 13,000 dollars on this event you would think they would treat us with a little more respect.

 

7.  We decided to extend the party for another hour at the end of the night. We had family who traveled as far as NYC and people were having a good time. Well they needed us to pay them the $960 there and then, imagine you have already spent all this $$ and they can't trust you to pay $960???  Since no one was allowed into our room my husband had to run up to our suite to get his card and pay the coordinator! I'm sorry but I think that's RUDE!

 

It's difficult to make any initial comments there because your event is on these peoples hands but I am so unhappy with them.  I usually stay at the Moon Palace or Dreams resort I wish I would have had my reception at another location where I am always treated with respect.

 

But I had it at a real resort because of the chapel which is definately beautiful, looking back I wish I would have had the ceremony there and the wedding at a seperate location.

 

My lasting impression of this place: I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO THESE RESORTS I THINK THEY PAID FOR THERE 5 STAR!

 

Hope this helps any future real resort brides; make sure you get everything that was promised in writing!!!!

 

[happygal]

The last two negative experiences are unfortunate.  I do have to comment though that room upgrades and late check out are NOT gauranteed.  It clearly says "subject to availibility" (or something like that) on all documents I have read.  Although an upgrade or early check out would be nice, it's not to be expected, especially if it's during a busy time of year. 

 

Ssntos-were your girls not guests at the Real?  I can imagine that you may run into some conflicts with them not being Real guests. 

 

I think we have to remember that being guests in another country, and not having the opportunity to see/taste/set things up ourselv, etces wedding planning does become limited.  I've chosen a DW b/c I want everything to be taken care of for me.  It's very possibe not everything I expect will be accommodated to a tee - but remember that appens here at home all the time, so it's even more likely it will happen over seas where you are unable to oversee the whole process.

 

I think all email communication should be printed out.  This can help avoid a lot of "he said - she said" type complaints.

 

Happy planning ladies!!!