Any Playacar Palace Brides 2014?

[theresad18708]

MrsTobeD: Don't worry you have plenty of time to get stuff done. Remember my wedding is in June you have two more months more then me so don't beat yourself up to bad. I think once you have had your site visit you will feel a lot better about everything! Can't wait to see your pics when you get back!!

[MrsTobeD]

Thanks! Love your STD's 

 

Originally Posted by theresad18708 

MrsTobeD: Don't worry you have plenty of time to get stuff done. Remember my wedding is in June you have two more months more then me so don't beat yourself up to bad. I think once you have had your site visit you will feel a lot better about everything! Can't wait to see your pics when you get back!!

[VandD2014]

Hi Playacar Brides!  I'm new to the group.  We just booked our wedding for July 14, 2014 @ 6 P.M.!  What did you guys have to put down to hold the room block?

[theresad18708]

Thanks!

[MrsTobeD]

Vand, 

 

The resort told me I would hold the rooms by paying my 7 nights stay. With the TA works different, they require a 6% total price for the number of rooms you are holding. Hope this helps. 

 

 

Originally Posted by VandD2014 

Hi Playacar Brides!  I'm new to the group.  We just booked our wedding for July 14, 2014 @ 6 P.M.!  What did you guys have to put down to hold the room block?

[thatpiscesgirl]

My wedding is in June too!  June 6, 2014 Whats your date?  

 

We sent our STD out this week.  We are going to send out our formal invites August/Sept.  I booked 35 rooms, and to get a full refund they have to be reserved or let go of by december (six months)  I wanted my guest to have enough time to get organized and book their rooms.  

 

I also am having a beach ceremony and indoor reception.  I was wondering about plated vs. buffet.  Both menus look great.  

[MrsTobeD]

Hi all, 

 

So I came back from PP on Monday night... I AM SO CONFUSED...

 

Here is the deal. I have a couple pictures, let me know if you want me to email them to you! 

 

What I could see is what I loved the most about PP was the same thing I ended up disliking the most. 

 

The fact that the hotel is so small makes it perfect for a wedding, the fact that is so small, also makes you to have so many maybe unwanted guests, like all the drinking people clapping from the pool, less than 50' away, as you come down the "aisle" ~ I was lucky enough to get to see two weddings while I was there, Friday and Saturday, a wedding at 6pm each day.

 

There was this bride coming and I got to chat with her parents as I was having a drink by the pool bar and they came to get a drink before she walked down, very cool people. There was a woman tanning right behind the chuppah (thank god she moved a second before the bride walked down) and there were other people in the beach which was not much to my liking, I understand is a public beach and there are other guest at the resort but come on people, move away! People are so mean.  

 

There were two weddings on Friday, I did not know as I was seating by the pool bar, but then I later in the night and by mistake, walked right by the middle of where the sitting for a private wedding dinner was taking place, then as I walked one of the hallways to the lobby I got to see the bride that was having her ceremony by the pool bar (beach), their wedding reception took place at the Italian restaurant, this one was not a private reception as they had to share the restaurant. 

 

Other than the fact that I believe if you want your wedding a little bit more private the place is PERFECT. They do a very good job setting the areas for the receptions, my favorite was the "Deck" which is a wooden deck on the beach, its to the left side of the hotel, near Senior Frog and the Cozumel Ferry  ~ "Cielo Terrace" this is the one definitely more private if you don't want your reception right on the beach. It overlooks the pool and the beach.

 

I also have to say, they do a very good job setting up the south solarium for the receptions (cocktail or main event), my only problem with it is that the main buffet has outdoor dinning and is right next to where your tables will be, maybe 25" away. 

 

Now to the good. OMG their service is awesome, there was not a single moment when I was at the pool that I had an empty glass, there is always wait staff asking to take your orders, drinks or food. Everyone is friendly but give you your space, even the guest are very friendly. 

 

The rooms are great too, the food service, if you are not staying Concierge level, then you order simple stuff, sandwiches, pizza, chicken nuggets, etc, but if you are Concierge then you can order from the main restaurants as well. The room service food is good, I vaguely remember eating a club sandwich at about 2 in the morning, while in my sleep, we had ordered food and I feel asleep shortly after (too many margaritas). So when the food came, I naturally opened my eyes for a second and ate it all. It was so good. 

 

We decided to venture to two other Palace resorts because my fiance is the one that gets impressed by the huge splendid hotel lobbies and he was not happy with the PP lobby, if you get impressed by that too, then you are not going to like it, its a very simple lobby, outdoor and right in the city center. His point was, we are going to make people pay all the money for a vacation and they are going to walk into "this"... 

 

Also great, walk down in Playa, it is safe, clean, nice shopping and restaurants if you get bored of the food at PP. there are places that have beers at $.85

 

Moon Palace... PP offers a free ride to the Moon palace (both ways), it takes about 40 minutes to get there, and is only about 15 minutes from Cancun Airport.

 

 I have no words to describe their Moon Sunrise Lobby, its impressive, more amazing than Las Vegas hotel lobbies, elegant, big, their lobby bar is bigger than the Italian restaurant at PP. 

 

The Moon Nizuc lobby is also great. I did not get to go to the Moon Grand lobby as the resort is TOO big to explore in just a day, we had to take a bus to take us over from  the Sunrise lobby to the Nizuc, which is were their wedding offices are located. I had a site inspection there too. (I advise you, if you are going to a PP site visit, try to have a meeting at the Moon Palace too)

 

Then we had to hop on a golf cart to go over the wedding areas which much to my liking, are more private and secluded than the PP, they are no were near the pool areas, they are distributed thought their garden courts. 

 

I loved their gazebos, they have 3, my favorite was "the Chapel" which serves as just a regular gazebo if you are not into the religious ceremony, so nice and big, with a big "aisle" to walk down and best yet, I get to wear heels as the way to the gazebos is paved. The chapel is enclosed in glass, I saw it set up for the Lavender wedding, there was nothing religious in there as it was just a symbolic ceremony, so with the gazebo enclosed in glass, you get to see and feel the outdoors, minus the freeze hair. 

 

For receptions they have the Grand Terrace which is by the end of their beach at the Moon Grand (their newer of the Moons) and they have areas near the Gazebos in which you can have your receptions, I got to witness a farewell brunch there for about 75 people.

 

The turn off about the Moon Palace is the beach, there is no way you can bathe in there, is so full of seaweed and the water color cant be compared to the PP. The beach at PP is AMAZING! Also a turn off is the fact that they have... 2450 rooms, yes, its like a city in there, you need transportation from one place to the other, the bus runs every 10-15 minutes from lobby to lobby, they stop at 2 am but if you get "stuck" at the Disco at Moon Sunrise and you are staying at Nizuc or Grand, then hop in a golf cart back to your room.

 

I think that if you don't set a point to meet with your guest, I bet that you all can be there for a week and never see each other. 

 

The Moon Wave rider at the Moon Sunrise is also AMAZING, specially for people that likes surfing and snow boarding. Their pools are more like rivers, so many of them, be aware, the resort is always almost book to capacity, so finding a lounging chair by any of their the pools can be difficult, it took us about 20 minutes, that problem is non existent at the PP, there are always lounge chair available. 

 

One other thing, after seeing the horses and carriages at the Moon, I wouldn't go down the aisle in any other way. LOL 

 

If you are staying at the PP for more than 2-3 nights, you are certainly bound to get bored by their food. I got bored and we were not there long, only 3 nights and two of the days we were not there, one day we visited the Moon, another day we got on the Ferry and visited Cozumel Palace, crazy I know but I wanted to see all the possibilities, and since we could enjoy the facilities at all of their hotels, we did it.  I wouldn't have my wedding a Cozumel palace, this one is even tinier but lovely and amazing too. I am actually mad at myself I didn't discover the palace resorts before. What an awesome All Inclusive chain. I loved the Cozumel palace but for a more private ocasion, like a honeymoon which is where I would put the PP too.

 

Now, the reason I am confused. We loved PP, I want the privacy, beach and location of the palace, with a little more space for the reception and ceremony to be more private, I would also love if they had more amenities as the Moon, including the disco club, more restaurants, the horses and carriages.

 

We loved the Moon, but is too big, we feel like we will need a way to communicate with our guest, don't even think walkie talkies would be in range. but also, we feel like guest would feel more comfortable if they can have a vacation away from us, instead of walking into everyone on the wedding party at all times, and there is the fact that the beach is mostly unusable. 

 

I can not differentiate the service from one resort to the other as the three of them were great! 

 

What to do, what to do? not counting the fact that after coming back we got greeted by all the negativity of some family members talking about how we are being unfair to people by having a destination wedding... 

[theresad18708]

MrsTobeD,

 

First let me thank you for sending me the pics. It was nice to get to see a wedding in action lol. Sounds like you had a fun but very busy trip down there!! For me, I don't care too much about the lack of privacy that PP holds. You would get that at a lot of other places with outdoor venues that are open to the public (parks etc). For me it's about the beach. I want a beautiful beach and I want beautiful pictures on that beach. PP was the best beach that I have seen from the resorts that I looked at online.

 

My other decision for having it at PP is that it is a small resort. I want to be able to hang out by the pool and go to dinner and see my friends and family around the resort without having to make meeting times and places.

 

I have stayed at Sun  Palace in Cancun and knew that  I wanted to stay at a Palace Resort. Everything is fantastic with them. The food and the bar and the service are awesome! I liked PP because it is a lot like Sun. Small and intimate but also family friendly which Sun is not. I also like that the rooms have hot tubs and mini fridges in them!

 

I thought about Moon Palace when I was first planning my wedding but it is just waaaaay to big for me. The amenities are nicer yes, but over 2000 rooms? Yikes! No thank you!!

 

Some of my family were a little bummed about the Mexico wedding thing but they got over it. I am having an at home reception a few weeks after we get back so that everyone can celebrate with us and not feel like they missed out completly on the wedding. It is going to be outdoors at my family's grove under a big tent and a pavillion. Nothing fancy, casual dress and picinic type cuisine. Easy to plan and cheaper then a traditional reception but will help keep my family from freaking out about the DW.

 

I am excited even though it's over a year away!!

[MrsTobeD]

Yes, Yikes about the 2000+ rooms. 

 

It is nice you are having the reception back home, I dont want another expense, the engagement party is in about three weeks and that is costing as much as a wedding. So I figure if they cant be in the wedding pictures, then the engagement should do :-) 

 

What would you do if the mother of the groom tells you that she would never go to Mexico, that she is terrified of the idea?? LOL I laugh now but it was so upsetting. 

 

Originally Posted by theresad18708 

MrsTobeD,

 

First let me thank you for sending me the pics. It was nice to get to see a wedding in action lol. Sounds like you had a fun but very busy trip down there!! For me, I don't care too much about the lack of privacy that PP holds. You would get that at a lot of other places with outdoor venues that are open to the public (parks etc). For me it's about the beach. I want a beautiful beach and I want beautiful pictures on that beach. PP was the best beach that I have seen from the resorts that I looked at online.

 

My other decision for having it at PP is that it is a small resort. I want to be able to hang out by the pool and go to dinner and see my friends and family around the resort without having to make meeting times and places.

 

I have stayed at Sun  Palace in Cancun and knew that  I wanted to stay at a Palace Resort. Everything is fantastic with them. The food and the bar and the service are awesome! I liked PP because it is a lot like Sun. Small and intimate but also family friendly which Sun is not. I also like that the rooms have hot tubs and mini fridges in them!

 

I thought about Moon Palace when I was first planning my wedding but it is just waaaaay to big for me. The amenities are nicer yes, but over 2000 rooms? Yikes! No thank you!!

 

Some of my family were a little bummed about the Mexico wedding thing but they got over it. I am having an at home reception a few weeks after we get back so that everyone can celebrate with us and not feel like they missed out completly on the wedding. It is going to be outdoors at my family's grove under a big tent and a pavillion. Nothing fancy, casual dress and picinic type cuisine. Easy to plan and cheaper then a traditional reception but will help keep my family from freaking out about the DW.

 

I am excited even though it's over a year away!!

[theresad18708]

Yea, yikes that would be upsetting!

 

I thought that maybe my parents wouldn't come and that was a worry for me but they have said they are coming and my fiances parents are coming too. My sister who is my MOH though told me that because she is trying to have a baby that she is probably not coming to the wedding that she is suppossed to be in. So I have that to deal with lol.

 

Yea, if I was having an engagement party I wouldn't have this post wedding reception. One or the other would be sufficiant I think.