Generations Riviera Maya 2015 Weddings (And 2014 Too)

[ChiTiff]

Ladies... My wedding is in about 2 1/2 weeks and I just got an email from my WC that read like a goodbye email. Did you start to work with the on site coordinator around this time, or should I just expect to have little contact with them until we arrive?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Welcome @@salutvie ! I will say that's it's tough to keep costs down. The resort is usually unwilling to negotiate the prices on their site, so you don't have a lot of wiggle room there. I would recommend thoroughly researching all available promos and offers BEFORE you sign a contract... So many people got deals that others didn't know about and it could save you a lot!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rtscent]

Good advice @@ChiTiff you're almost there! Yay!!!! I can't wait for you.... I'm bringing so much stuff I'm sorta dreading all this

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ChiTiff]

I will share lots of pics @@rtscent ! For the bags, I made a list of everything I included in each bag. We have four giant checked suitcases, two carry on bags, my dress, Tim's suit, and our two personal items. We managed to barely make it all fit, but I'll be happy to unload it all soon!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[salutvie]

Ladies... My wedding is in about 2 1/2 weeks and I just got an email from my WC that read like a goodbye email. Did you start to work with the on site coordinator around this time, or should I just expect to have little contact with them until we arrive?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Welcome @@salutvie ! I will say that's it's tough to keep costs down. The resort is usually unwilling to negotiate the prices on their site, so you don't have a lot of wiggle room there. I would recommend thoroughly researching all available promos and offers BEFORE you sign a contract... So many people got deals that others didn't know about and it could save you a lot!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Thank you!!! I am definitely scouring the interwebs to see what I can find. But goodness is there a lot of stuff

 

Can you ladies share what you were able to get? Right now all I have would be:

 

• the standard Bride/Groom stay 7 nights min and 5 rooms booked at 3 nights min for the 'Free Wedding' (which will still cost us $650 for the Priest anyway) and then

 

• the Private Events promo:21 rooms or more – Two hour cocktail event and Three course dinner/lunch event (1) per Day 

And that is with our ceremony on a Thursday.

 

• And then I believe we have the 1 free room/night for every 10 rooms.
• We're also getting a $500 cocktail credit for booking this early.

 

This will be for Early August 2016! We're a couple days away from our "contract signing" deadline and I'm getting nervous that we're missing something. The cancellation policy seems pretty strict! Not that I imagine FH is going to ditch me, but what if we decide this is all too much and just want to elope? LOL. GAH.

 

A part of us really contemplated Dreams Tulum as the deals seem a little better but reading all your insight really pushes us back towards Generations (And El Dorado!) because of the option to stay at 2 hotels and have it still count for any "freebies". So IDK! What am I missing? Am I overthinking this? lol

[salutvie]

welcome @@salutvie and congrats on your wedding! When is it? 

THANK YOU!

 

August 2016! I think...LOL I'm still very nervous about putting the final yes to this contract. What really convinced you to say yes?

[rtscent]

@@salutvie I received the same promos you did. The free events promo is critical! This will save you a lot of money. The only things that I got that you should ask for are the following:

 

$250 guest credit per room (can be used for the spa/ wine bottles/ & private candlelight dinners)

Free Catamaran Cruise when you book 10 rooms or more plus a $1200 credit for Food & Beverage on the cruise

[salutvie]

@@salutvie I received the same promos you did. The free events promo is critical! This will save you a lot of money. The only things that I got that you should ask for are the following:

 

$250 guest credit per room (can be used for the spa/ wine bottles/ & private candlelight dinners)

Free Catamaran Cruise when you book 10 rooms or more plus a $1200 credit for Food & Beverage on the cruise

OH! How do we get this? I'm currently using beachbumvacations.com to book and I haven't had any mention of those two!

[rtscent]

@@salutvie, honestly I've had a good experience with destination weddings, I'm not sure if beachbums would be any better. One thing that I didn't like about destination weddings is that they didn't handle the flights for my guests. If Beachbums handles and coordinates flights then I would go with them and ask them to match destination wedding's catamaran cruise at least.

[ChiTiff]

@@salutvie

 

I wish some one had told me about ALL of these free items and discounts before I signed the contract!  I really think it would have saved me a lot of money, and I would have had a lot more negotiating power if I had done this upfront.  As I was writing this, I realized it could helpful for other Brides, so I pulled together everything that all the girls have mentioned in one list.  Ladies - feel free to add to this!

 

Discounts and deals that you should negotiate before signing your wedding contract

 

Lomas Travel/Wedding

• Policy/rate for outside decor.  Negotiate for them to either waive this or come up with a flat fee for all of your events.  This can really add up, since it says in their docs that any outside decor is $5/per person per item which is CRAZY.  I think some other girls got a flat rate $100 - $500 for them to set up the decor they were bringing in at all of their events.
• Guest Count at "Free" events.  The limit for some of the events I got for free was 40 people, but since I have 55 guests, I ended up paying the per person rate for 15 people at each event.
• Fees for "special" locations like the pier/sky deck.  Confirm locations for all of your events (even if it's a non-special location, like the beach or pool).  The fee for the Pier and the Sky Deck can be waived since you're booking early
• Lighting at locations - This sounds crazy, but one of my "free" events is on the beach because there is no where else available to host it.  Unfortunately, the resort provides no lighting on the beach, so I had to spend $100 on tiki torches for lighting at the area.  This also goes for the lights on the balcony of the Sky Deck.  
• Unlimited Free Events - If you have at least 30 guests (I think) and have your wedding on a non-weekend day, you get unlimited events every day!
• Free Catamaran Cruise - when you book 10 rooms or more plus a $1200 credit for Food & Beverage on the cruise
• $250 guest credit per room (can be used for the spa/ wine bottles/ & private candlelight dinners)

Travel & Travel Agency Credits

• Deal for Free Flights:  If you and your guests book their trip on a Funjet charter flight, usually the bride and groom will get a free flight.  I'm not sure what the exact specifics are since we didn't use it, but I would have explored it more thoroughly.
• Lowest Price Guarantees:  If the price of rooms at the resort drops or there is a sale AFTER you book your trip, get an agreement from the travel agent that they will give you a credit for the price change.  @@rtscent recently posted about a 50% off sale at the GRM that ended up saving me about $300 in a credit because it was less than the rate I booked at!
• "Free" Gift from your travel agent at the resort:  If you use one of Karisma's GIWC, you get one of the following: 1) a free brides package (I think it's mani/pedi for the bride, a guest, hair, makeup, and something else?), 2)one hour cocktail party, or 3)$500 credit from Caribe Photo.  
• 1 Free Night for the Couple for every 10 guest rooms

@@rtscent - Did you get the $250 credit for guest rooms from the travel agent or Lomas Travel?  It's waaaay too late for me to add in a catamaran cruise (and I am lame about boats anyways), but I know my guests would appreciate that!

Edited April 8, 2015 by ChiTiff

[salutvie]

@@salutvie, honestly I've had a good experience with destination weddings, I'm not sure if beachbums would be any better. One thing that I didn't like about destination weddings is that they didn't handle the flights for my guests. If Beachbums handles and coordinates flights then I would go with them and ask them to match destination wedding's catamaran cruise at least.

I will absolutely do that! And yes! They are handling flights as well as keeping an inventory of everyone who books in a spreadsheet and sending them to us for our records so that I can have a copy as well. I love our Agent, she's very sweet! and super thorough. But I am always curious as to the advantages of one vs another you know?

 

I had asked about the Catamaran and looks like you are right, it's a DW.Com special. The extra thing she can offer is just the $500 cocktail credit or $500 spa credit or $500 photo credit.

(Looks like it is this one that @@ChiTiff mentions! ) - Free" Gift from your travel agent at the resort:  If you use one of Karisma's GIWC, you get one of the following: 1) a free brides package (I think it's mani/pedi for the bride, a guest, hair, makeup, and something else?), 2)one hour cocktail party, or 3)$500 credit from Caribe Photo.

Edited April 9, 2015 by salutvie