K guys, heres another one from Jenn! r u ya'll getting tired of me yet? how much do things cost in cancun compaired to the U.S. Like, clothes from the mall or little shops,souviners,(probablly spelled wrong but oh well) going out to eat, jewelry,ect. Are things going to be more expensive there then in the u.s? round about estimates are fine,thanks in advance! 34 days to go!!!!! :clappyinghappy:
I dont think things are more expensive, although it depends on what you are shopping for. Since we stayed at all inclusive the only places we ate out was puerto madero=108 (but we both had steak, i had a margarita & he had a few beers) JC Capitan= 60 (i had seafood & margarita, he had beer and chicken pasta) and Rainforest Cafe was around 40. and senor frogs we at there and i think it was around 35. We ate at several smaller stands/rest and i thought they was very reasonable. We bought t shirts for our kids at the market and was able to neg the price. We spent the most $ at the clubs. Sounds kinda steep at 1st but its open bar all night so its worth it, just tip your server and they will keep the drinks coming
Yea the food prices are about the same as here in Tx. But where your going to save/spend will be on the gifts. Pretty much everything is negotiable there. Just remember that what you buy has to be taken back home so take an extra bag to pack the stuff in or leave room in yours for it.
yeah were only taking one carry on with us and an extra bag in our suitcase. So my husband will just carry our gift bag as his carry on.
Downtown or Hotel Zone?. Hotel Zone times the price by at least 4 is a general rule in my eyes. Marlboro - 30 Peseso (£1.50) Beer in bar - 10 to 40 Peseo. Loaf of bread - 20 peseo Small bottle of water - 6 peseo Petrel (Gas) 450 peseo to fill up a normal car. Quarter Pound with cheese meal - 35 Peseo Taxi up to about 10mins max 20 Peseo I'm pretty sure this covers everything? There are plenty of sites that will change Peseo to Dollars, being English I have no idea. I beleave theres about 12 peseo to a dollar round these ways...
Get into downtown for at least 1/2 day.....wander in and out of the stores there.....find Wal-Mart, Chedraui stores, as they have souveniers and hats and shirts...less pricey than out in the Zone....have a great trip! Get one of Cancunmaps Cancun version......priceless for finding your way around....
jenn, As a person living in Cancun, I would say that the prices in the tourist area of Cancun, we call it the Hotel Zone, would be similar to those found in resort areas of the US, like Disney, Universal, Kings Dominion, Six Flags or what have you. Food and drink are really pricy in the HZ here. I went out with some friends to Pat O'Brien's to watch some World Cup and large beers were $90 pesos, a shade over $7 US. Prices here include IVA which is our equivalent of sales tax. I think a regular 12 oz beer was $60 or like $4.75. Same for souvenirs. Rarely does one find an incredible bargain EXCEPT maybe on jewelry. Many places price things in dollars and that hurts you actually as you don't get to take advantage of exchange rates, which are usually going up since Mexico is more inflationary historically than the US. Downtown on the other hand, is loaded with bargains and you can do more bargaining. For souvenirs I would suggest Market 28, an easy walk from the Walmart stop on the R-2 bus. You can also get cheap stuff at Walmart. For booze, I shop at La Europea which is across the street from Walmart and for beer Walmart is more convenient in terms of cold beer. You can also take the R-1 bus and get off at the first stop after making a curving turn onto Avenida Tulum, downtown. There is a nice market where you can always get stuff cheaper than what they ask for. You can also cross Tulum at this point, you will be looking at a big store called Chedraui. You can find groceries, food, beer and lots more at Chedraui but it would be more fun walking along that side of Tulum and checking out the stores. For mall shopping the HZ malls are more costly than the downtown malls. The one you would be most comfortable with downtown is called Plaza Las Americas. Take any bus downtown, get off anywhere and flag down a cab. $20 to the mall or anywhere else downtown, so call that $1.60 US. To get back to the HZ catch a cab from the mall for about $35 pesos to Walmart, then the bus stop (R-2) is along the right side of Walmart as you are facing the front of the store. They just raised the prices to $8.50 per person or about $.70 US. Try to have as close to the correct change for the bus and taxi as possible. Confirm the taxi price when you get in before he takes off. The bus drivers are not above thinking of you as a stupid rich tourist and short changing you. So not having to get change is in your favor. Feel free to ask more questions on this thread or if you get too specific it may be best to send a Private Message, aka PM. Oh yeah, there are tons of great, interesting, safe places to eat and or drink downtown and they are maybe half of what you would pay in the HZ for the same stuff. Have fun.
wow T.J thanks for all the great info. going to make it way easier now trying to figure out this bus and taxi thing for sure. I'm just so nervious about using Pesos! I will for sure have my calculator with me. LOL
