Okay, back to try to answer some more of the questions. Peaches you asked about the service/staff. I agree wholeheartedly with Denise. The staff is more than agreeable & friendly. They go out of their way to help make your stay an enjoyable one. Other than the front-end staff, many of the other staff speak little to no English, however a Buenos Dias y Gracias go a long way. Last year the service in the Italian restaurant, on the Nizuc side, was impeccable. I contacted the restaurant manager to commend him on the service, & also wrote the Palace Resorts separately to do the same. The food quality is very good. The first year we stayed (1999) the food was typical of any resort in Cancun. However, we have noticed over our last few stays, the food quality & variety has gotten much better. (Especially the desserts. They used to be very bland, but now rival what we eat here in the States) With all the different restaurants, snack bars, etc, I'm sure you will find something (maybe everything) to your liking. I even enjoyed the little octopus thingies I ate in the Japanese restaurant, although I was a bit lit at the time. TCB2317 you asked about the differences between the Sunrisa side versus the Nizuc side. Funny you ask. I have a little story about that. The first stay, after driving you down the longgggggggggg driveway, the van took us to the reception desk on the Sunrise side. Large beautiful lobby!!! Then the desk told us our reservations were for the Nizuc side. We were then taken over there. Beautiful lobby, but no where near as large. I was cranky from the plane trip, and pitched a fit, They switched us over to the Sunrise side. Now I was happy. The rooms are newer, life was grand. Since then we have always stayed on the Sunrise side. That is until last trip! Again, after the longgggggg drive to the lobby (Sunrise side) we were told that our reservations were for the Nizuc side. Oh boy, here we go again. The good news was the room was ready for us at 9:30AM. Not as cranky this time, I told my wife we'd check it out, and ask to be changed if necessary. Long story, short, we LOVED the Nizuc side> So much so, we are now requesting it. The rooms are a little larger, and we enjoy the beach area more on the Nizuc side. Our favorite breakfast restaurant (Bogenvillas sp?) is on the Sunrise side, but all that means a little walk to work of the food. No big deal. Whichever side you end up on, the amenities are there for you. And if you figure out the short cuts, the walk from one to the other is only 5-10 minutes. Both sides of the resort have 2 swim-up bars. Both have 2 pools side reataurants &/or snack bars. However, the Nizuc side only, serves Modelo Negro. (maybe that's why I like this side) Although, its not required, tipping does go a long way. A few dollars here & there sure helps the staff. They love the $2.00 bills. dswfondy we'll be there the same time as you. Maybe we can catch up at the swing bar for some shots (Jaime if you read this, this is not to be confused with a swingers bar!)
MOON PALACE SPA/MASSAGE My wife and I will be staying at the Moon Palace April 27 thru May 1, and I wanted to see if anyone has any input on the spa at the Moon Palace. Has anyone had any good (or not) experiences with getting a massage there? Can you recommend a particular massage therapist. My wife already said that she would only use a male therapist. Would appreciate any info. MG[/b]
MG, we have never tried the spa/massage services. However the facilities look first class. I believe you can arrange for a day trip to the Adventura/Spa Palace. I'm sure you could get what you'd like there. Have an awesome trip! We'll be there a couple of weeks after you, so save me some cold ones.
Thanks for everyones help but I have a few more questions. I was looking at paperwork from the travel agent today and noticed that they booked us the honeymoon package. My problem is I didn't think the resort offered anything out of the usual for this. Except a dinner and a fruit basket. Are we getting an upgraded room or something?? For what I understand they only offer 3 different room types. a suite, a deluxe suite and the prez. room. Am I correct and is the travel agent trying to pull the wood over my eyes??
Peaches, to the best of my knowledge, the room types your talking about are for the time share rooms. There is basically the presidential suite, which includes the deluxe suite and the standard suite. The presidential suite can be split into the other two, and rented separately. The good news is that these are always at the end of the rows of rooms, and have the best ocean view possible. Does your travel agent reserve the time share units? If not you'll receive the standard rooms. The std rooms are what we always stay in, & enjoy greatly. As for the honeymoon package, it does include the fruit basket & champaigne (sp?). It may include something more, but I don't think so. Michael F. are you out there??? (He did spend his honeymoon there, so should know better) Don't know if I helped or made you more confused?? :-|
By stroke of luck I was just lurking by... When we sat down with the honeymoon/wedding coordinator (strategically located at a desk next to the "guest services" representatives) in 2003, we were told the following were gratis for honeymooners: 1. Candlelight dinner for the bride and groom with special menu and decorations. 2. Fruit basket and bottle of sparkling wine in room. 3. Honeymooners weekly cocktail party. A picture will be taken and given to the couple. We were on the Nizuc side, so we had our candlelight dinner at Arrecifes, which sports an indoor pool. See the link to the last installment of my TR posted earlier in this thread for a description of our experience at Arrecifes. We got signals crossed or something about the weekly cocktail party and we forgot to go. It might have conflicted with plans we had already, so we probably just dismissed it. We did not get a special room as far as we know. We did get a choice of rooms due to my wife's handicap but we chose the best one (3rd floor of in the Armadillo building).
Arrecifes Restaurant Michael/Barry, Just thought I'd mention.. They changed Arrecifes Restaurant from Spanish to Brazillian. It was AWESOME!! You're seated and then invited to the Salad Bar. You name it, the Salad bar has it. Then back to the table. Once done with the Salads, they take your plate and replace it with a new plate containing baked potato and veggies. We had grilled Red/Green/Orange bell peppers. The baked potato was prepared perfectly! Then, just like a US brazillian restaurant, they came to the table with Skewers of meat to carve for you. Perfectly prepared and plentiful. The Beef Fillet was the best. Medium, cut with a fork delicious!! The best meal we had all week. I'm glad we saved it for our last romantic evening in Cancun. It wasn't quite Fogo De Ciao or Texas De Brazil, but definitely comparable. +++ to us. Barry, try it and let me know what you think.
Well, in that case, I can't really say whether the honeymoon candlelight dinner is held there anymore. Hmm. Need someone who has honeymooned there recently to speak up on this thread. Palace resorts is doing an awesome job updating/upgrading its website to include such things as maps and sample menus. Here's what the Arrecifes restaurant menu now looks like: http://www.palaceresorts.com/Images/Menus/Moon/Menu-Arrecifes.pdf I hope they still serve the flaming Mayan coffee by request...
Thanks for the extra info Michael, we can always count on you. Maybe one of these days you'll celebrate an anniversary down there, and perhaps get to meet. Denise, that sounds yummy! We will definitely try the new format and let you know. We'll also toast you & Jayson with the Mayan coffees!! Denise, do you know if they are still offering the restaurant tour. I have missed it the last few visits, and swore to myself I would do it this year. Hope so. Let me know.
