Yes it is. It is right at the northern tip of the hotel zone and just a few hundred feet from all the stuff in the "party zone" area.
We'll be staying at Dreams this October. How safe is the walk from Dreams to all the clubs, expecially late at night?
Very safe, only takes 5-10 minutes. We've walked at night with our kids and have never had a concern. PM if you want more info. Beth
Does anyone know if dreams has a secure parking lot for guests? and whether or not it costs extra. Also, does dreams offer tours you can book when you arrive? ie. Jungle tour or snorkelling? Thanks
Trip report for our week in Cancun: Wednesday: We had a pretty early flight out of Huntsville, so setting the alarm and then actually getting out of bed at 5am wasn't a great deal of fun after being able to get up whenever we wanted to for the last 3 months. The flight took us out of the way, considering that Cancun is due south of Huntsville, but the flight took us to Dallas for our connecting flight. Both flights went off without a hitch and I actually handled the flights pretty well, not getting my normal half queasy feeling I get when I fly. We arrived in Cancun around 1:30pm. The weather was hot and sunny. As we learned very quickly, Cancun is no exception when it comes to high pressure attempts to sell tourists tours, goods etc. There was a collection of about a dozen men in uniforms waiting just past baggage claim, and they did their best to make it look like they were there to help you find your ground transport. They'd call you over, ask where you were from, what kind of airport transfers you had, etc. Then they'd say, your transport will be here in less than 10 minutes, how about some local tips... They gave us maps, descriptions, etc... but it was all a scam to get you to first go see a time share... I kinda figured as much, but they were pretty convincing about just being there to guide and give directions. As soon as he said one word about it, we told him he could have saved his time and ours by just being up front.... As the trip wore on, we realized that you just can't even listen. They won't take no for an answer, only the sight of your backside walking away worked, and even then they were calling after you. Once outside, we found our airport transfer company. It did take longer than we would have liked, but it was day 1 of 7 in Cancun, so we were still just happy to get there. The trip to the hotel was only about 20 minutes and the ride was interesting. The hotel zone along the beaches must have at least 100 plus huge resorts. You could still see damage from past hurricanes, but for the most part Cancun looked pretty well recovered. We arrived at the hotel and were immediately greeted by two employees that asked our name, and took the bags. They didn't want us moving a muscle to get our own stuff and sent us toward the front desk. There was no line at all (we never waited in line once for anything - well except maybe conga lines for tequila) and we were presented with damp wash clothes to freshen our face and then the concierge brought us two glasses of champagne. We were then told we had been given a free upgrade (which as it turns out - had a reason...) of our room. We headed up to the room, and found the luggage already there. I was initially happy with the room, and a tad disappointed at the same time. The room had that beach-front/tripical feel which was very nice, but it was also a little small and had that damp odor of a pool house. I suppose that'd just normal for such a place, where everyone spends so much time in the pool or the ocean. We quickly got settled in and headed out on the balcony. Our room had its own very large private balcony and a fabulous view of the resorts central activity area and pools. See the room view pictures (below or attached depending on your mail reader). Directly below our room, was the dolphin pool, which was really pretty great to have such a close view of. We got a few pictures and videos of the dolphins. trying to keep the size of the email down, those can be downloaded off our server at http://24.214.192.187/images/Cancun2007/ . The dolphins were always playing and swimming even when noone was around. They truly seemed happy. Every day when we got up, at night when we went out on the balcony and each time we went to the pool or one of the restaurants we got to walk right past them. Out the front door of the room was a lush tropical courtyard. Unbelievable really. After we saw the views and took a few pictures, we changed into pool attire and headed down to the main pool (seen at the back middle of RoomView3. The water seemed a bit cold at first, but we settled in for a bit and waded over to the underwater bar stools at the swim up bar. We ordered our first of what would be quite a few of the frozen drinks for the trip. We met the bartender (Miquel) and a couple of other people and then decided to try the jacuzzi to warm back up. That first hot tub trip was probably the only bad time we had, but it was nice too. It was bad, because we met the only people that we did not like. A group of what I think was a mom, her two kids were in the tub and the mother was obviously wasted. They were the kind of people that don't care about anyone else, or what the hell they are doing. They were rough housing in the hot tubs, pushing each other under. The mother was falling all about, WITH A GLASS BOTTLE in her hand... This was a cement hot tub. If that broke, they'd basically have to shut the tub down. I mean she was hitting the metal rails with her body, just missing the cement with the bottle... Total idiots. They finally got out when one of her sons held her under water for like 20 seconds and she swallowed tub water and almost got sick. Fortunately, we met no one else like that the whole time, although we saw those people every day, and they pretty much acted that way the whole time. No tact, being rude to waiters, etc. Speaking of waiters and service. This place was the best I've ever seen. Shortly after the idiots got out... a waiter comes over to the jacuzzi with a fresh bottle of champagne, pops the cork and pours us both another glass. That same thing happened again the next day. Gratuities were included (though we did give some extra to Maguel at the swim up bar on the last day) but the waiters all acted like we were all tipping them with big tips. I mean they came around every 5-10 minutes asking if we needed anything. There was no skimping or trying to save $$. If you said yes, you got new drinks, food whatever, all day long. After seeing the pool and jacuzzi and hang out a bit in the sun, we made an early night of it, as we were tired from the trip. That's when we found out the downside of our "upgraded" room. 1st, the view was fabulous, but being that close to the "action" pretty much means no sleep or quiet until at least 11. For the rest of the trip that was not a problem, but for night #1, I wasn't really happy. I was tired, and was basically forced to lay awake. I don't think I'd change a thing looking back, the location was great, but it was hard to think that way when you're really tired. Secondly, we found out why we got the upgrade. The previous tenant complained and demanded another room because of the loud neighbors. We learned all about that around 2am when they got back ands shouted, laughed, dropped things and slammed doors for like 25 minutes.. This sucked, and happened twice more on the trip. However, once we got into the mood of being in Cancun, it was really a grain of salt. We got home very late (early ourselves quite a bit after that. Of course, we weren't assholes about it and respected that other people might be sleeping... even is we were drunk... (yeah, I got drink once.... first time ever). Thursday: We had plans to do more, being it was our first full day in Cancun, but we really just ended up enjoying the day at the resort. We started the day with a walk down toward the party area of Cancun, which was just 10 minutes down the strip. We picked Dreams Cancun because of the great reviews we read, the location (only resort with a beaches on both sides of the resort (on a peninsula) and 10 minutes walking distance to the party clubs. We quickly learned that we were not going to be able to do any casual shopping at the smaller venues. They were horribly high pressure, you could not come within 20 feet of a store without being "sold" something. After a very short walk, we basically fled back to the resort. We ended up really enjoying the pool area, the swim up bar and frozen drink variety and the jacuzzi. We spent 4-5 hours relaxing, having a few drinks (including a double "sex on the beach" I drank off Darcy's stomach ;P) and did one of the days events. That event was the salsa dance lessons. We now know the first 4 steps, so we could look good for about 45 seconds at a salsa dance club after which we'd be totally lost, but it was fun. Dinner was a bit of a highlight, as we ate at the Oceana Grill. The food was actually not that great, but it was good and the setting was amazing. The Oceana was a quaint, elegant restaurant seating only about 60 people with the ocean view, breeze and sound of the waves right in front of you. The soft Latin music and the lighting really made the experience very nice. It was all open air, no walls and thatched roof. There's a picture of it on that same web address. After dinner, we got changed and went to the jacuzzi again, and were again greeting by a new bottle of champagne. Despite our Desire to go out "clubbing" we ended up being so relaxed and comfortable that we ended up making it a quiet night back in the room. (Well, as quiet a night in your room can be in Cancun /wink) Friday: We decided to be more a part of the activities at the pool and go out on the town Friday. We did our typical time at the Manatee swim up bar (including more drinks off Darcy), got sucked into the water aerobics (which was actually quick a work out - but led to some silly pool games which helped people get to know each other. We followed that up with the water volleyball and a trip out to wade into the ocean. We wanted to do the follow-up salsa dance lessons, but the instructor didn't show up. We were actually tired again, and almost took another night off clubbing, but we'd already bought tickets to the show at Coco Bongo which was the craziest place either of us has ever been. I'd say there were probably 3000 people jammed into this place all going crazy. If you were down on the main floor (we were) you got to know your neighbors on the floor really, really well - whether you wanted to or not ;P Check out some utube videos to get an idea. It was voted the numnber 1 nightclub in the world! Crowd: [media=youtube]V11vvUhBh6c[/media] Green Goblin: [media=youtube]pkJs7l-bcYA[/media] Umm-Sexy: [media=youtube]Z4zuIz18pnc[/media] DancingonBar:[media=youtube]u-eIlqu_pZk[/media] We spent the whole night on the dance floor, until about 2am. When they did the various acrobatic acts we actually had to kneel down a couple times to get low enough so the performers could swing above us. The women down on the dance floor were pretty nuts.. Its a good thing I am married I think they got closer to me than some wives do to their husbands... Saturday: We were pretty wiped out. We hung out at the pool, ate, drank and relaxed. We did play more pool volleyball and we tried out another restaurant at the resort, the Seaside Grill. I really enjoyed it there. We actually were pretty lame and took a nap or two and watched a movie in the room It sucks being old Sunday: We decided to make Sunday night our biggest night out as far as clubs. We signed up for the "bar hoppers tour" which is a seven hour tour (no, not on the SS Minnow) and hits multiple bars back to back for one open bar price and cover charge. We got more sun early, and then headed to Hooters to see the Colts game. The food was great, in fact it was the same menu but the portions all seemed much bigger. There was a whole table of New England fans there going crazy, so I had to remind them which team was super bowl champions. For dinner we enjoyed the outdoor "Carribean theme" dinner party before heading out. There we met the people 2 doors down from us and found out about the loud neighbors and why we got that free upgrade. We got a chuckle because these neighbors were continually calling for a wake up call at 5am for the drunk people that got in and raised hell at 2am... /smile The bar toor started at a place called Congos. This place was pretty fun and it got a bit crowded for awhile. Their "thing" seemed to be getting the women in the crowd to dance up on the ends of the dance floor up on elevated platforms. Darcy and I were the first couple on the dance floor, and she immediately was greeted by one of the handsome waiters dancing up behind her. We three danced a bit (or butt) and we got relaxed pretty quick. After an hour or so they did this little show of there. They got about 6 women up on the back platform with the waiters and did a little sexy dance. Most of the women seemed fine with it, a couple didn't want to do up, and 2 were pretty darn enthusiastic. The waiters had them all dance and grind with their face the crowd, with their rears to the crowd and then grinding with the waiters. After a few minutes they led them all to the streetside open air platform. I guess anything goes in cancun, as they mocked.. ummm... well pulling their faces into them and then reciprocating... You get the idea.. Well, we were entertained greatly and a couple of the women seemed permanently attached to their waiters after that. We also got a few pictures of us there, including a souvenir bottle of XX beer with a label that bears our attractive (not) likeness. We needed to come back before 2:30 am to get it... we didn't manage that We did pick it up a couple of nights later. See attached picture. The one crappy part of the whole tour happened then. The shot girl, whose deal is just like most of the mexican bars... whistle and bug you endlessly until you let her give you a shot, then basically assault you (shaking your head, boobs, butt) and then demanding payment. Darcy thought she had put my credit card in my billfold, but when went to pay, I had nada. The couple we were hanging out with (a retired 40 something with his wife) paid for the shots (the waitress gave us 5 between us) and I ran back to the hotel for cash. Pretty embarrassing. By the time I got back, the tour was headed to the next club, Senor Frogs. Senor Frogs was a 10 minute walk from Congos. Some people were complaining which I though was pretty friggin sad... We were greeting at the door by a air jet in the floor, which was apparantly controlled by a guy behind the bar. Darcy was wearing my favorite clubbing skirt that we bought in Cozumel.. and well, the guy liked it and hit the air jets... Lets just say that its a good thing she's been working out on the stepper... They were pretty much in full swing at Frogs. Barely after we got drinks they were asking the crowd for a women to come flash and start the party. The wife of our party-mates ran right up and bared her top to all - on the big screen... We were shocked actually, as they're just a nice, smart couple like us. I guess there are alot of us that like to just let loose when we're out of the country The next time they pulled people up on stage, we got picked along with 3 other couples. I'm not big on being in the spotlight, but I'm tired of not having fun so we went up. Well, I can't say I was happy when I heard the contest! Each of us was given 15 seconds to display as many sexual positions as possible. I think we actually did quite well, but the couple that went last got to plan it out. I think the crowd cheered second loudest for us. Of course, that might just have been for Darcy's outfit ;P We danced for another hour, did a conga line in which they led Darcy over the air jets again, and then we headed out to Coco Bongo again. This time the place wasn't as packed, but we were more into it than the 1st time, as we knew what to expect. We stayed down on the main dance floor (or in Darcy's case up on the main bar for half that time until about 3:30 am. I have to say, I'm not a big drinker, or really into being around people that drink, but this place just seems different. Everyone is relaxed, uninhibited, and not really drinking for the sake of drinking, but drinking to relax and have fun with everyone, the music, the show and the dancing. I was completely relaxed and had a blast, although I really didn't drink much. They had the air jet thing working on the bar here too... I can't say I minded too much. Darcy and I both danced with a couple of the other people while we were there as well. Monday: Recovery day. 4 movies and alot of sleep. We had though about doing a day pass to one of the adult only resorts to see if they seemed fun, and something we might want to try, but the day was rainy and we were beat so we didn't get the chance. They did have Monday night football on the big screen, we tried watching it on our TV instead, but caught 3 hours of eyelids instead. Tuesday: Our last full day. We had more sun and fun, spent a fair amount of time in the pool. I really wanted to drag Darcy back to Congos and get her on stage when the waiters did their act and I got to use the excuse that we didn't make it back to get the bottle. I don't think she was too bummed actually I had gone shopping with her months back and bought a clubbing dress that I wanted her to be able to wear out, and we got the chance and went back to Congos. Congos was a blast - open bar was only $15 USD per person - which I don't see how they make money on. We had the same waiter all night and I wanted to make sure we remembered our last night so I tipped him $20 after the first drink and he never stopped replacing our drinks all night. He brought two shots (blue kamikaze) with almost every round of mixed drinks. We picked up our souvenir bottle and danced and drank all night. Lets just say Darcy's dress was a huge hit and we had a great time. Darcy was seen a great many times up on the platforms where the waiters kept draggin her and I was dancing the whole night (while I could stand straight). We were both soaking wet when we finally left (which I might add made Darcy look great). Sad to say... nah... not really - yes - I got drunk for the first time in my life. I had a blast, needed Darcy to walk me back to the hotel as I swayed from side to side and then passed out on the bed trying to kiss Darcy goodnight. Wednesday: UGH. And I thought plane travel made me feel sick. I can't say I'll be a party animal more than once or twice a year, but we had such a blast I guess it was worth it. I wasn't saying that on the bumpy ride to the airport though. We basically slept until about 9am, ate breakfast and relaxed until we needed to check out and go home. Overall, not a vacation I think some people would like because we didn't do touristy things. I wouldn't change a thing. It was great to act young, and Mexico is the place to do that. The crowds were very mixed in ages and backgrounds and everyone feels relaxed and at home together. I think the locals really know how to get travelers to relax and just forget the real world for awhile, and isn't that what vacations are about? Paul and Darcy
Hi all. Looking for information on Dreams. Ian and I were suppose to get married at Blue Bay Club next Oct 2008 but now with the Stay at 1 play at 2 no longer valid as of Dec 15, 07, we're now in search for another wedding location. Has anyone ever seen a wedding at Dreams? The pictures are breathtaking and I'm absolutly in love with what I've seen, but because it's our wedding, we'd love to have everyones opinion on this as this is the one day to never forget. Thanks Nat
Dreams We have seen weddings at Dreams while we were guests there and they appeared to do it right. We were not wedding guests, but have stayed there with our teenage kids and they loved it and wedding site was great. The pictures from the point are awesome!! In our experience with Dreams they do everything right and would expect this to continue. They are part of the Secrets chain so the service and quality is great, that may be reflected in the price. Feel free to pm us with any specific questions. I know you guys feel backed in a corner and trying to make a good decision but we can't help but say that we don't think you could go wrong there if you choose it. Good Luck - it will work out.
So, I received 3 free nights at the Dreams from the campaign at lastminutetravel.com. Just one question: How late is the pool open. I will be staying at the Grand Oasis for 6 nights right before our stay at the Dreams, and their pool is only open until 5! And if there's anything else you'd like to include about the resort, please do! =)
