Fiesta Americana Trip Report - Jan 2007

Discussion in 'Cancun Forum' started by michelleandcarl, Jan 28, 2007.

  1. michelleandcarl

    michelleandcarl Enthusiast Registered Member

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    We celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary by returning to Cancun to the same resort that we went to on our honeymoon. We flew on US Air and chose pay to upgrade to first class on our way over. The flight was uneventful and since the wind cooperated with us, we even arrived in Cancun a little early. Our travel agent helped us to arrange to have a private transport. We had read other trip reports that talked about how everyone comes at you when you walk out of the airport. I kept telling my husband to ignore everyone and keep walking but he thought that one of the people was from the company that we were looking for. It ended up the guy just wanted to get us a taxi. When we found the right representatives, we did not have to wait too long and we were on our way. There was a large group of people still waiting for the group van transport when we left.

    We tend to be a little corny and we even arranged to have the same room at the Fiesta American Condesa. We stayed in a suite, room #413. It had one bedroom, a living room and a balcony with a whirlpool on it. The bathroom had been redone with a limestone type tile which made it look much nicer than 10 years ago. The furnishing weren’t anything special. Some of my favorite rooms are Hyatt hotels that have tropical curtains, bedspreads and pictures. The Condesa is a large gorgeous resort but the furnishings are a bit too bland for my taste. The best part of the hotel is the pool area which is large and has pools on two tiers. The upper pool is an infinity pool with a waterfall going into the lower pool. They have jacuzzis in the pool area but the water temperature was tepid at best and they were not heated at all. The weather was overcast for a few days during our stay. We were comfortable lying out in the sun but the pool was too cold to go in when the clouds were out. They have a cool pool bar but it was too cold to enjoy it. I don’t think we would choose to go back during January again due to the weather. We’ll just have to celebrate our 20th anniversary on the day he proposed – LOL!

    We enjoyed lounging by the pool during the day drinking strawberry margaritas. I heard one of the waiters tell another waiter that “They drink all day.”, although that is not entirely the truth. We are very responsible sober people in our everyday lives, but on vacation, yes we like to drink all day! On the overcast days we went shopping. I took some Spanish classes in high school and college. I am not fluent and I don’t remember all the correct endings for the different tenses, but I love to try to speak Spanish on vacation. I remember enough to be able to converse with the taxi drivers and waiters. They seem to appreciate the effort to speak their language. We always get great service.

    On our first night on vacation we usually eat in one of the hotel restaurants. We flew out of Harrisburg on a 5:50 AM flight to be able to make our connection in Philly. I had been up since about 3 AM and I was exhausted so eating in the hotel was fine with me. Our first night was our actual ten year anniversary. We ate in Rosato, the Italian restaurant in the Condesa. We were the only people in the restaurant for a while which is always cool with me. It makes me feel like a celebrity having the restaurant to myself – LOL! They had a bread plate that the waiter brought to your table that had the most delicious cheese bread. I had a seafood dish with scallops, mussels, lobster and shrimp. My husband (hereafter known as DH) had a three medallion dish with shrimp, beef and lobster. They served quality dishes there. We were given a complementary dessert. It was a piece of chocolate cake with feliz anniversario written on the plate. They congratulated us and made us feel very welcome there. On our first full day at the hotel we had a couples massage. We were in the same room with each other and we each had our own masseuse. It was very relaxing and it was a great way to get the vacation started.

    At the beginning of the vacation I wanted us to do something fun so we went to Perico’s for dinner. We had so much fun there. After we walked in the door we were whisked to the side and given some traditional Mexican clothes to put on over our clothes. DH put on a serape and a sombrero and I was given a Mexican dress to put on. They took our picture and later we bought it. Their food was good authentic Mexican food. DH had a dish called Poncho Via. He remembers the name of the dish but not what was in it. He did say that it was really good. I had a burrito dish. We ordered a banana flambé dessert which was very yummy. During the night we were drinking and having fun watching the performers. It was an atmosphere similar to a circus or Sabado Gigante. I was pulled up on stage to participate in stacking glasses on the head of one of the waiters. I also got up on stage and played the marimba. I used to play it in high school but I’m not that good anymore. Oh well, I had fun! They had a performer that made balloon animals. He made us a big heart with small bears on each side of the heart. He wrote “Happy Anniversary – 10 years” on it. Our fun night came to an abrupt halt when we got back to the hotel and I realized that I did not have my purse with me. I was carrying our picture and the balloon heart and I’m not sure if I left my purse in the cab or in the restaurant. I was very distraught and felt stupid for not being vigilant enough with my purse. The hotel staff helped us by calling the restaurant and the taxi association but my purse was never found. The worst part is that I had my wallet and our digital camera in it. We were lucky that we had a second credit card with us that I did not have in my wallet. The next day we spent a few hours speaking with our bank at home to notify them of the lost info.

    We had made a reservation for the next night to go on the Captain’s Hook Pirate Ship. We had gone on this 10 yrs ago but it wasn’t as big then as it is now. This time they had two ships that sailed. They served lobster that was grilled right there in front of you and it was great! One thing that I don’t understand is that they bill the cruise as open bar but then they sell tickets for kids to go on it. I think that they should have one boat be the “family boat” and the other be the party boat. After dinner they had some silly games that ended with all the kids going on a scavenger hunt on the boat. I think that it was really to get them out of the main area so the adults could dance. The service on the boat was very good. The cast was all dressed in pirate costumes and the open bar promise was honored. The waiter kept bringing us “dos mas”. The music that they played was really good for dancing. They even played the song, Follow the Leader. I have a version of it on a CD from Kukoo Kunuko that I got in Aruba. We had a fabulous time on Pirate Ship. I have gotten seasick in the past but I didn’t that night. I wonder if it was because we were primarily sailing in the dark and I couldn’t see the water or if all the dancing and alcohol distracted me. At the end of the night the “pirate” from the two ships staged a duel on each ship. There was a lot of cheering from the crowds on each boat and I noticed that each ship seemed to think that they won the duel. Oh well, I know that our boat really won – LOL!

    On Sunday we went to Catholic mass that they conveniently held in our hotel in one of the conference rooms. They recruited members of the congregation to do readings, take up the communion and even to translate the priest’s homily. The priest said the mass in Spanish and told everyone to answer in their regular language. They had two local people who sang and played music on a portable keyboard. It was a good mass.

    During our stay we received a phone call from Olympus tours telling us that they wanted to schedule a meeting with us to go over their tours and give us our voucher for our return transportation. We really value our vacation time so I told her that we have already booked what we have intended to and that we just want to them to provide the private transportation that we paid for. She then gave me a phone number to call to arrange for our pick up on our last day.

    We also went back to Senior Frog’s this time. We ate a late dinner there and stayed for a little bit of dancing. I had a mahi mahi dish and DH had a specialty mahi mahi dish with cheese and spinach. The music was much better during dinner. They had older music and conga lines. I got one of their yard margaritas. We also bought a picture that the staff took of us. The highlight of the night for me was the electric slide. I am an eighties girl and I never pass up the opportunity to do the electric slide. Later on in the evening when there was a rush of people who came in and the music started to be more techno, we decide to leave. The next day DH started to get some stomach symptoms. He tried to wait it out, but eventually we went to the hotel’s doctor and he got some meds to help. We are not sure why he got it and I didn’t. I don’t like vegetables and I wonder if one of his dishes had unwashed vegetables in it.

    We had wanted to go back to El Mexicano, but they closed after the hurricane. We decided to go to Casa De Los Margaritas instead. I love this place. The restaurant is decorated in festive colors and they have a small elevated area in the middle of the main dining area where they had a small show with Mexican dancers and costumes. They also had a mariachi band that played songs. I requested a song called Guantanamera. Back when I was in grade school we used to sing this in music class and I always liked it. I remember the chorus but I don’t know what the song is about. The mariachi band knew it and they even had a little dance that they did to it. It was really cute. Again we got a picture taken in the restaurant. We both have sombreros on in this one and DH is holding a plastic gun and flask. We had just too much fun there. For dinner I ate sea bass and DH had a margarita shrimp dish. The main dishes were good but the corncake dessert wasn’t too good.

    I had read that Pat O’Brian’s had dueling pianos so I called them to ask what time they started. The woman on the phone thought I was calling to ask for a job because they are
    looking for a piano player. I told DH that if I could play the piano I may have gotten a job offer on vacation – LOL! Needless to say I don’t play the piano and neither did
    anyone else that night. We did end up going there for dinner. They had fabulous music from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s and again I got to do the electric slide. I would definitely go back there for the music. We had a good seafood baguette appetizer. We had steak and grouper for our main entrees which were good enough, but the entertainment was better. They had waiters that brought drink orders on their heads to the tables. The waiters also did dances on a stage area.

    We had been looking forward to eating at Lorenzillo’s. I had heard that it was a romantic restaurant with excellent seafood. We got a really nice outside table overlooking the bay but our waiter was extremely unfriendly to us. This was such a contrast with what we had been experiencing during the rest of the vacation. I had asked him about the soft shell crabs when we sat down because that is my favorite dish and I saw in advertisements that they served them. The menu only had them as a fried appetizer. I asked if they could sauté them and make them as an entrée. I have ordered off the menu at many upscale restaurants and have never had a problem. He said that the soft shell crabs were already breaded and couldn’t be prepared any other way. He didn’t even bother to ask anyone else. From then on he was not nice to us even though I spoke to him in Spanish. I heard him fawning all over the table next to us, but he barely said a word to us. I did order the soft shell crab appetizer and I could barely taste the crab with all of the fried coating on it. DH had lobster with chipotle and garlic seasonings and I had a stuffed calamari dish. The food was great, but the waiter kind of spoiled it for us. Again we bought a picture taken by a very friendly staff member. When we had gone in to the restaurant I had mentioned to the hostess that we were on a 10th wedding anniversary trip. After dinner we were given a free dessert which was very nice of the restaurant. I really wish we would have had a different waiter because I think that our feeling toward the night would have been dramatically different.

    We ate at Captain’s Cove which was very close to our hotel. We went there 10 years ago and I had remembered the restaurant as being casual but very expensive. Carl really wanted to go back so we did. I am so glad that he wanted to because their food was excellent. It is an unpretentious restaurant with very good quality food. I had my favorite, sautéed soft shell crabs which was served in a generous portion. Carl had a specialty Tikan Xic grouper. They also had really good salsa there.

    We took taxis at each night to the restaurants that we went to and I usually spoke Spanish to the drivers. I had asked a few of the taxi drivers which restaurant they thought served the best soft shell crabs. A few of them told us to go to the Crabhouse. I hadn’t heard of it before, but we decided to go anyway. We ate outside on a deck overlooking the bay. We could see the planes flying into the airport from where were sitting. On their menu they had fried soft shell crabs listed and I asked if they could make them sautéed instead. The waiter said that they used to have them on the menu prepared that way, but that a lot of people don’t like to look at the crabs. I laughed and told him that it won’t bother me.

    They had no problems at all making something off the menu. I was very impressed with their customer service and with the taste of the food. It was delicious. Carl had lobster there and said that it was very good. It was grilled and served with a garlic butter sauce.
    We had a great time on our anniversary trip. I don’t think I would want to go back in January because the weather was a little cool. I do think that someday we’ll return to Cancun. Yes it is commercialized and very Americanized but it is also very fun. The people there are overwhelming friendly and hardworking and made our stay there great.
     
  2. R.I. GAL

    R.I. GAL Guest

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    Great TR :!: :!:


    :lotsofmichaelf: :partytime: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY :partytime: :lotsofmichaelf:
     
  3. Klaw

    Klaw Guest

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    Sounds like a nice trip. :D
     
  4. janie

    janie Guest

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    Thank you for sharing your trip with us ...

    so sorry about your purse :(

    Happy Belated Anniversary! :D
     
  5. Tbonita

    Tbonita Guest

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    Wonderful report ! Do you have any pictures to show us ?

    All that food talk is making me hungry. :D
     
  6. michelleandcarl

    michelleandcarl Enthusiast Registered Member

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    Our digital camera was in my purse so we don't have as many pictures as usual. We brought a 35 mm camera along as a backup in case the battery died on the digital so we do have some pics but I don't know how to post them here. Can anyone give me instructions? We have a scanner if that helps.
     
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