Our first trip to temptations, Monday May 19-25th 2008. The direct flight to Cancun was great, no screaming kids on the plane or anything but we were delayed about 20 mins on the plane before we could takeoff, medical emergency on a different plane. They give you the customs forms on the plane to fill out, and don't have any pens for you, but lucky for us we read the forums before hand, and Paige had one. The forms are tricky and we messed ours up in about 4 places, and were pretty worried. But when we get to the airport, they didn't even look at it- the dude just made a mark on it or stamped it or something, and gave it back and said "don't lose, keep it for when you leave". So that was that. Next came the tricky part of getting out of the airport- we didn't know the people trying to stop and "help you find your shuttle" were not really trying to help. They are trying to steer you over to their salespeople and sell you tours. Lesson learned, Run outside and look for your shuttle people- they are outside the airport, and all of them are right there together. After the shuttle ride to Temptations with about 15 other people, none of them from Temptations, we get to the resort about 12:00, and are happy that there is a room there for us to check into. Then they steer us over to the little booths in the lobby where a cute, friendly little girl tells us a couple of things we need to know and books us for a "tour" of the resort in the morning, and will have breakfast with us she said to answer any questions. So we were fine with that. We get to the room,(2303) and although it is "ocean view" you have to kind of position yourself right on the balcony. But we are overlooking Margeritas, and can see the side of the sports pool, so we're prtty happy. We asked someone how noisy this side was going to be at night, because we were worried about sleeping, but it turns out it is a nice spot to be. And we verified from what we read on the board, the air conditioner is On or Off- no temp setting, but that's fine. The room looked to be recently refurbed, everything looked fresh and clean and smelled nice. We checked out the little fridge and opened the 2 Dos XX in there and they were quickly emptied on the balcony. Also a bottle of water, 2 cokes, 2 sprites and 2 V8's were in the fridge. Next stop was a quick lunch at Margeritas for some wings, chicken "tacos" which we would have called rolled taquitos here, and Paige had a shrimp cocktail. After that we went to the sexy pool, and all I remember was meeting Autumn and hanging out with her and Mike, and Paige got brave and lost the top after about 2 hours, and the rest of the day is blurred for me- I was in bed with the beers catching up fast at about 9:30, I think Paige went to the buffet that night, and she took some pictures of my naked butt in bed while I was pretty much passed out. Day 2- Tuesday, we got up and went to the "tour" which was a thinly disguised timeshare sales pitch, which they don't call timeshare sales anymore. Basically, if you have the 40k to spend, it is a great deal and would pay for itself I would think over the years, but we weren't willing to finance the $ for it, and we are buying a new house in the next month or so so we weren't willing or able to part with that much cash. If you have the cash, there is no reason to not check it out, I would say give it a look. It seems like you are prebuying your next 25 years worth of vacations, and buying them at todays rates instead of inflated future prices. Enough said about that, they gave us $80 and we went to immediately use that to buy some sunglasses to replace the ones that disappeared on the blurry Monday at the sexy pool. Lesson learned, tell them you are not interested in the "Sales pitch" even if you are- they will increase the incentive to go to $100 or more instead of the $80 we got. Also, when you need sunglasses, suntan lotion etc, walk to the corner of Temptation's parking lot, there is a little store there and most things are just a little cheaper than the gift shop. You can pay with dollars, but they give you change in Pesos. 10 pesos to the dollar, so exchange rates were easy. We had reservations for Asian that night, but missed them. BECAUSE< Tuesday afternoon was the day we hooked up with the majority of our Cancun Care friends- I recognized some faces from the board in one of the hot tubs, and we quickly exchanged names, screen names, and started talking. We had so much fun talking and hanging out with everyone, we ended up getting pretty hammered Tuesday night. We think it was Tues night that Paige got bit by a spider. We made one trip to the front desk where they had someone come by with a tool box and rub some stuff on it. It took a couple of days to get better, and now that we are back home it looks like she will get to keep her leg. Weds We were going to go to Isla Mujeres with everyone that was going from CancunCare, but Paige was feeling pretty queasy in the lobby and was looking kind of pale, so I convinced her it was ok and we could go back to the room. We didn't make it out again except a couple of snack runs and I went to the store to get some Pepto tablets, drinks, and crackers. BIG LESSON- here is where we figured out, it is a vacation, and we wanted to relax and rest some. It would have been way better to have just rested and relaxed the first day or so, instead of "Screaming cannonballing into the deep end of the partying". You want to get there, relax, realize you are on vacation, and pace yourself with the partying and drinking. It will make recovering a lot easier and more fun. We had reservations for the Asian place again, Paige didn't make it past the soup, and had to go back to the room. I stayed and ate, very good. Thurs recovery day- we spent by the quiet pool in the shade, (Very little can be found) and tried to make Paige feel better. We even missed the lingerie party, and Paige had a very nice set she bought just for the trip- tiny tight boy shorts and a cute matching bra. Gardy was going to show up in Monty Python PJ bottoms. Instead we slept. Fri- Paige better, back into the action. Had Bkfast in the buffet, and made it quickly back into the sexy pool. We partied all day, hung out in the room some, and managed to miss the buffet and found ourselves hungry with no place except the little bar beside the courtyard where they were serving up small potato puffs, mexican potsickers and stuff like that. Last day, Saturday, we got up late, cleaned the room some and packed up. Our flight out was at 1:45, so we wanted to be there by 11:45. We went to the pool to say bye and hug everyone then had some lunch at the buffet. Since the shuttle person from Olympus that was supposed to meet us Monday didn't show, we didn't have an arranged ride, so after checkout we went to the curb and after cutting off our bracelets they whistled and a taxi popped right over. Rate to the Airport was $25 dollars or 250 pesos that I had from change from all the trips to the corner store- plus I gave him another $40 pesos tip which he seemed truly happy with. The taxi ride was about 15 to 20 minutes- or twice as fast as the trip up the strand to the resort on the shuttle. Lesson learned, just get a taxi to maximize the time at the resort, and have a no worries ride right when you want it. No waiting on the van to fill up, or stop at other resorts. Then we got into the godawful long line to get our boarding passes and check our Monster bag. It weighed about 47.5 pounds this time. We had a $9 beer and some $15 wings at the airport, bought a bottle of Kahlua and perfume which they later told us in Miami could not be carried on the plane but had to be in our checked luggage. Flight was to Miami, which we quickly termed the "Romper Room" flight because of the number of screaming, seat kicking crying kids which seemed to at the ratio of 4 kids to every adult. 3 hour layover in Miami, and this was the last time we saw our big bag for a couple of days. Lesson learned, even though they tell you that your bags will go straight to your destination and you don't need to pick them up- go to the conveyor belt and pick them up if they are there, and carry them to the check in and recheck the things. If your bag isn't on the belt, then I guess it is safe to say it should be on the way to the destination, but if it is on the belt take it and go recheck it. This is likely just a Miami problem, or perhaps an international issue, I have never ran into it on domestic layovers. Lesson learned, if at all possible, go direct with no layovers. We got back to Charlotte about 10:30 after leaving the resort at 11:00 that morning- which should have only been a 3 to 4 hours flight from Cancun to Clt. We'll post more details if they seem important things we forgot to mention, or if someone notices something wrong with it. Also, as soon as we can sort the pictures, we'll post a link. PM me for my email address and I'll send it right over.
Great TR you guys...It was great meeting you two... Hope to get together and have some more fun...lol.. Take care
sounds like all in all you had a good time. pace yourself with the drinking, that is easier said than done.
Great TR, I am amazed at how much detail you remember. After the 1st couple days it all blurs together on me. Anyway, it was great meeting you guys, hopefully Paige is feeling better.
By your TR, I could not tell if you had a good time or not, but assumed you you did. I am sure this is not your first time traveling, but our trips have definitely improved after we started using Brant's USA Transfer for airport transfers. Not much more than you paid, and non stop private car directly to the resort. Same for the return flight. Too bad you ended up talking to the timeshare hawks at the resort. Doesn't US Air fly direct to Cancun from Charlotte? I am sure you don't need me to tell you this, but stay the hell out of the Miami airport. Annette was sick most of the time for our Feb trip, and it definitely takes a lot of fun out of the trip. Glad you passed on spending $40K on the timeshare. There are lots of Premier owners on CC that you can hook up with to try out the Premier rooms before you consider buying. Next trip coming soon??
Was great to meet you guys and take at least one picture that you can show the folks back home. :wink: Jamie
Sorry for the lack of detail on the fun, I was too busy trying to document all the stuff we could remember. I would say the most fun was meeting and talking to everyone from Cancuncare. Its hard to describe just hanging out in the sexy pool talking to everyone for about 3 days, but there were many, many trips to the bar. Also I forgot to say that Paige did sing in the Karaeoke contest, and did a great job on CCRs Travelling Band. But she went outside to smoke during the judging part. The guy that won should have won though, he sounded just like the Temptations on My Girl. Also, the meals we had were all great- I miss having the chorizo and eggs in the mornings now- I think I did like the Margaritas breakfast a little better than the buffet, but the buffet was so convenient to just go pick what you wanted. I think next time we will be brave enough to join in on more of the pool games, and volleyball and stuff. The tequila scared us more than having to get naked- tequila would have made for a quick end to the day for both of us. Thanks for the follow up posts guys- and again, I just can't say enough the crowd of friends we made was the best part. I will try to get pictures posted somewhere this afternoon and a link up tonight. I will probably have to go to the other thread and do the password protected post- I don't think Paige would like having a lot of the ones I took out on the Internet accessible to the public.
Great TR - very sorry Paige was sick - I wonder if it was a general reaction to the spider bite? Or, was it simply "turista" or "Montezuma's Revenge"? Guess we don't need to know the gory details there though. Shoot out a PM to twinmini - he can fix you up with a password-protected album there that you can then share the PW with those you choose to share with. Agree that by far the best part of the resort is the friends you make and the people you meet.
Sorry about getting sick Paige.....hope all is better now, glad to see you had a good time in spite of it you did a fine job at Nice Shoes!!! but the guy who won could almost be professional, he did an awsome job. Glad you got home ok, and with all the lessons learned on this trip the next time should be a breeze!!! I agree with BB&AB take Brants transfers to and from the airport, have never had a problem. Here's to next year~~!!!
