Excellence Riviera Cancun Brides?

[TrishaJ34]

Two weeks from today!! Eek! I think we'll do the cheesecake also. That cake looks delish!

[TealMarie]

Originally Posted by ampanda52 

 

Also, I read on this forum somewhere that a past bride asked the resort to charge them in pesos not USD and they saved about $300 based on the exchange rate.  I'm wondering if this is true or if the resort will even do that? 

 

Thanks everyone.....1 month from today I'll be getting my hair and makeup done.

 

Mandy

 

Originally Posted by TrishaJ34 

 

Two weeks from today!! Eek! I think we'll do the cheesecake also. That cake looks delish!

I can't believe you girls are so close to leaving. You must be so excited! I hope it all goes wonderfully for you both.

[TealMarie]

Rhiham - thank you SO much for your detailed review. Your wedding looked wonderful and you managed to answer so so many of the questions I'd been thinking about. I'm glad you mentioned something about the food during your cocktail hour and reception because I feel like not too many people have talked about that. Good to hear it was delicious!

 

I was about to ask you "Where did the beautiful woman at your cocktail hour get her divine purple dress?"...and then I realized it was you! You looked gorgeous! Thanks again.

[rhiham]

We didn't have any extra fees charged to our credit card...the price of our stay was charged about a week before we left and the price of the wedding + extra things we did at the resort posted about a week after we left.  The amount for the wedding and stuff was exactly the total on our receipts. We used an American Express card if that matters.  

 

TealMarie - thanks so much for the compliments! You so sweet.  I'm glad my review helped.  And my dress for the cocktail hour is from Torrid (http://www.torrid.com/torrid/Clothing/Dresses/Purple+Cutout+Sleeve+Dress-500394.jsp) 

 

Excited for all of you with weddings coming up soon!  You're going to have a blast!

[danysanmls]

I have a question for anyone who has gotten married on a Friday at Excellence Riviera Cancun. I'm contemplating doing a Friday wedding at the Lobster House, but am concerned it may be irritating to have my ceremony at the beach gazebo and reception in the Lobster House while the Mexican fiesta is going on. I'm concerned we may not be able to hear our own music.

 

Any feedback is much appreciated!

 

Thanks in advance!

Melissa

[imaking214]

DO NOT HAVE YOUR WEDDING AT THIS RESORT!! They did not live up to expectations and failed us in so many ways.

 

1. Their most epic and devastating fail was that the videographer for our wedding did not show up! We brought our own photographer, but since the hotel backs you up against a wall by charging a ridiculous $500 fee for each outside vendor, we decided to trust them and use their preferred videographer instead of hiring our own. What a huge mistake that was! Not only did we get screwed by the videographer not showing up, we got screwed by the hotel wedding planner (Gloria) because she knew the videographer was not there, and chose to not tell ANYONE, which gave us no chance avert the disaster by using our own video camera to record the ceremony. It would have been better than nothing, and it would have been nice to know what was going on before it was too late to do anything about it.

 

2. The officiant that performed our ceremony was also a disappointment. I had emailed with a woman who said she would be performing our ceremony, then it was a man who showed up instead. He didn't come to our rehearsal, so we had not been given the chance to meet him before we showed up at the ceremony. I had assumed that the officiant would be standing behind us during the ceremony, but instead he stood in front of us, blocking the guest's view of us. Gloria never told us where he would be standing and that would have been nice to know before hand, so we could have agreed on a better location for him. Then in weddings I saw in the days after ours, the officiants were actually standing back behind the guests, so that they didn't block the view or obscure the photos by being either behind or in front of the bride and groom. That is exactly what I would have chosen, had Gloria discussed it with us ahead of time and given us the choice. The officiant also cut the signing of the marriage certificate out of the ceremony, which I am not happy about. Now we don't have pictures of our MoH and Best Man singing it with us, and we didn't even get it back from Gloria in time to have them sign it before they left to go home.

 

3. Gloria failed to execute several things well on the wedding day. Flowers were supposed to be placed on a table behind us at the ceremony, and were not there. Mats were placed across the sand as a path from the walkway to the pier, but were placed incorrectly and ended too soon, leaving guests to walk through the sand in their nice shoes. Brushes were supposed to be placed at the pier for guests to brush off their sandy feet, but were put in the wrong place, at the walkway instead, negating their usefulness. The videographer finally showed up after the ceremony, and had the nerve and extremely bad judgment as to approach me during the reception to negotiate what he could offer us in lieu of the videography! That was how I found out that the ceremony had not been recorded as it should have been, which was VERY upsetting. It almost ruined the reception for me as it was very hard to shake that off and enjoy the rest of the party. Gloria should have never let that happen. She should have known he was there and kept him away from us.

 

4. The hair and make-up services at the resort salon were not too good. They weren’t very good at giving us the looks based on the pictures we showed them. My sister has very curly hair, but wanted a straighter up-do. They didn’t straighten her hair properly first, so it just looked kind of fluffy instead of sleek. They also could not get my eye makeup right, and my photographer had to fix it for me after we left the salon.

 

5. The staff at the reception never cut and served the wedding cake. That is terrible service and my guests mentioned that they didn't get any cake. As a host, that is embarrassing.

 

6. There were flowers and wedding favors left behind at the reception, which were not returned to us. We paid good money for them, and the staff should have known that we wanted them saved and returned to us.

 

7. Their customer care in the wake of all the errors and failures that were made during our wedding is shameful. They are not really accepting fault and are not willing to compensate us properly AT ALL. They should be ashamed of themselves for being unwilling to refund our money. We did not receive the level of quality in their product that we paid for, and should not have had to pay full price. They are a huge corporation and can afford to give our money back much more than we can afford to be ripped off for a sub-par wedding.

 

8. The food and the drinks at the resort were only OK. The drinks were pretty weak and the food was not good, except for the Indian restaurant & the Mexican restaurant. The bar food, room service, The Grill, etc, were a big disappointment, and the food at the wedding was bad. It was over cooked and dried out.

 

9. Some of the service from the resort staff was really great. We loved Sofia, from the entertainment staff. Jean Luc, the manager of Basmati was also great. But the service overall was not amazing.

 

We have stayed at All Inclusive, Adult Only resorts before, and LOVED them. We had an amazing time at Sandals in Negril, Jamaica, which had much better service and amenities. However, based on Jamaica being more difficult for our guests to travel to, we chose to have the wedding in Mexico, and after seeing what a beautiful property the Excellence Riviera Cancun is, we were excited to spend our wedding and honeymoon there. We were VERY DISAPPOINTED though, and will never return to an Excellence property. We are terribly upset about the loss of our wedding video, and nothing can make up for them causing us that loss.

 

Do yourself a favor and have your wedding somewhere else. You can find better service, better food, an all around better vacation, and most certainly a better wedding elsewhere.

[TrishaJ34]

Wow, sorry you had such a bad experience! My wedding is Friday, so too late to change now! Luckily, 99% of wedding reviews I've seen have been very favorable, so I'm hoping mine will be the same. I have seen the cake thing come up one other time, so I may bring some of your concerns to Gloria ahead of time to try to prevent them (mainly cake). I've been to Excellence before and loved everything about it. Hopefully, the service and quality haven't gone downhill since I've been there last. I'll report back to you ladies sometime after Friday :0). I'm still very excited :0)

[ampanda52]

Wow, that's a shame that your experience was bad.  I wouldn't wish that on anyone!! 

 

Good tip on the cake TrishaJ34!  (Btw, congrats and I'll look forward to your report when you get back.)  I'll be sure to mention it to Gloria as well.  I'm also bringing basic cake bags in hopes that our guests can take some back to their room.  I leave in two weeks from today!!!   

[Mayerlis]

Hi Ladies!

 

I had my wedding here last Friday (I'm actually still here until tomorrow but couldn't wait to post a review) and it was amazing! I really could not have asked for better service or better wedding. All of my 35 guests had an amazing time and kept saying it was the best wedding they have been to.

 

My wedding planner, Mayla was great. The box that I shipped was someone in Cancun and would not have been delivered for two weeks and she graciously picked up for us. She was extremely helpful before, during and after the wedding. 

 

My hair and makeup were great- I had my hair down and curled- very simple. I loved my makeup. I used the Derma Doctor wipes to prevent sweating and they makeup artist used waterproof makeup- I cried ALOT and my makeup did not smudge at all.

 

I had my Welcome Dinner at Toscana (the Italian restaurant) with a set menu. It was semi-private so that way we didn't have to pay the $24 per person for a private event. They were extremely accommodating and great about changing my dinner time. It was supposed to be at 5:30 and got changed to 7:00 on the same day because some of my guests had had flight delays and would not get to the resort on time.

 

My ceremony was on the beach and it was perfect- the officiant stood in the back as to not get in the way of the photographs and only came in the front when we had to sign the paperwork. It was short and sweet and to the point.

 

My cocktail hour on the pier was great too- we had the mariachi band. The food and drinks were awesome. We didn't even have a signature drink but the bartenders made one for us.

 

The reception was in the Foyer- I was going to have it in Barcelona but changed it last minute to the Foyer because I thought it was nicer after seeing Barcelona. It looked beautiful and we had a nice breeze coming in.  My wedding planner (Mayla) provided us with two huge fans as well because the dance floor was a bit hot. The food was delicious. The only thing I also noticed was that nobody got to eat the cake. I was asked if I wanted it passed out with the dessert and I said yes but my guests said they never got it. That would be my only complaint.

 

 

A quick review about the resort:

Everyone we have talked to at the resort and our family and friends have said this is the best resort they have stayed at.

The service is outstanding, the food is great (our favorites were Spice the Asian restaurant, the French restaurant and Mexican restaurant).

We are leaving tomorrow but have been here for 10 days and they have been great!

 

My only two complaints are that there is no 24 hr pool- they close at 8pm and there is no restaurant or cafe open 24/7- but there is room service.

 

I hope you all have wonderful wedding days- enjoy it..it goes by so fast!

 

Let me know if you have any questions at all! I will post some pictures when I get home this weekend!

[TealMarie]

Originally Posted by ampanda52 

 

Wow, that's a shame that your experience was bad.  I wouldn't wish that on anyone!! 

 

Good tip on the cake TrishaJ34!  (Btw, congrats and I'll look forward to your report when you get back.)  I'll be sure to mention it to Gloria as well.  I'm also bringing basic cake bags in hopes that our guests can take some back to their room.  I leave in two weeks from today!!!   

Mandy! It feels like just yesterday we were discussing centerpieces and now you're leaving in less than two weeks!? That is so crazy! I hope it goes perfectly for you. You are so super prepared, so you have nothing to do now but enjoy your vacation

 

Originally Posted by TrishaJ34 

 

Wow, sorry you had such a bad experience! My wedding is Friday, so too late to change now! Luckily, 99% of wedding reviews I've seen have been very favorable, so I'm hoping mine will be the same. I have seen the cake thing come up one other time, so I may bring some of your concerns to Gloria ahead of time to try to prevent them (mainly cake). I've been to Excellence before and loved everything about it. Hopefully, the service and quality haven't gone downhill since I've been there last. I'll report back to you ladies sometime after Friday :0). I'm still very excited :0)

Trisha! Your wedding is tomorrow?!! I hope you have the absolute best day and best time!