Must read for Newbies! Coming from a Newbie that just got back!

This was our first trip to TTR and it was probably the most fun my wife and I have had in years! We arrived not truly knowing anyone and left making close friends with 4 other couples whom we plan to meet up with in the future! I'm sure I'll think of other tips and will try to post them but this should do for now.

That being said, we are hotel snobs and the rooms there are awful! Here's a semi time related version of what to expect and do:

1. Transfer from airport - Definitely set-up a private transfer through USA Transfers! It's about $35 each way but well worth it. Even if you have transportation set-up with your package, cancel just the transportation and go through USA Transfers.

2. Check-in - When you check-in they will direct you to your "concierge" for "orientation". All it is is someone that works for the time share people and they're trying to pull information from you so they can entice you with free stuff to give you at the end of your time share presentation. They ask you to give them $20 which they give back to you when you show up for the time share schtick. IF you decide to endure the presentation for free stuff, make sure you tell them EVERYTHING you want to do (Including the Boobs Cruise) and you can actually get quite a bit out of them. We got $75 cash in hand for doing it. Another couple got $100. The bad part is it took us 3 hours to do it!

3. Rooms - I swear they put us in the crappiest room they had just to get us to upgrade. Do yourself a favor, just upgrade to the quiet pool side and be done with it! Our first room was 2146 and it was right over the steps from Patty-O's which was cool but the plumbing didn't work right, the room needed another coat of paint, and the shower had one of those crappy rain showers that relies on gravity for actual water pressure. We upgraded to the jacuzzi suite Room 1110 the next day and it was WAY better! Still not the greatest but this is Mexico we're talking about. The location of this suite overlooked the quite pool and was so centrally located the walk to get anywhere was less than 50 yards in any direction. Perfect! From the sound of it, all of the rooms around the quiet pool side have been renovated/semi-renovated so even if you get the partial ocean view you's good to go.

4. Cable television - We like to relax to a random movie or TV show when we go to bed and the cable there SUCKS. There was one channel that had English and that wasn't even full time. We brought our computer with us but didn't bring the HDMI cable and we could barely hear it due to the a/c running.

5. Meeting people – If you’re on this site do yourself a HUGE favor, put up a photo (even if it’s private and only your friends can see it) so other people know what you look like. They’ll remember your profile name but if you have no photo it’s tough to meet-up at TTR. Also, pay close attention to who is on your flight to Cancun! Not everyone that goes to TTR is on here. When we were checking in, there was a couple behind us that was on the same flight we were but not on cancuncare.com. They ended up being some of our best friends on the trip and we are already making plans to meet in San Diego soon. We recognized so many people from here and had a great time meeting new people even if it was just briefly.

6. Break out of your shell – You know how the shy kid from high school went to college and is now the friendliest, hottest, coolest kid in town? That can be you too if you get out there and meet people and have a good time!

7. Clothing – I made my wife get a Very Sexy swimsuit bottom from Victoria’s Secret and she said it was too revealing, she’d never wear it, etc. I wish I had bought a thong instead if that says anything. She loved the fact that she could walk around without her top and feel sexy the whole time! If you or your wife think that there is no way you’d be seen in public with something “wild” on trust me, you’ll wish you'd bought and brought it on the trip. Worst case scenario is you leave the tags on and return it if you don’t wear it…..but you will! We met the most introverted couple that became our friends and she wore a see though Malibu String bikini! We were all shocked to say the least but she looked awesome in it! Shop on Yandy, get some cheap sexy stuff, and don't worry, whatever you pick will be tame compared to others.

8. Suntan Lotion – If you hate the rub-on style bring a bottle anyway. I swear we sprayed 60% of our two bottles all across Cancun! It’s the beach, it’s breezy, spray lotion sucks, end of story!! Bring the lotion for your body and spray for your face if you want.

9. Pool Floats – Bring the Swinways spring floats from WalMart. Both a regular and a Papsan (circular one). We were the ONLY ones that had them and if they didn’t belong to my parents I guarantee that we could have sold them for $20 each when we left! The ladies were laying on the regular float and we were all doing body shots off of them…….super fun!

10. Sexy Pool vs. Quite pool – Yes, everyone is at the sexy pool and yes, that’s where all of the action is. However, after 4 days of non-stop dance music thumping in your head and a voice that can’t say 2 words without sounding like a 12 year old going through puberty, you may appreciate the solace of the Quiet pool. Our group ended up there Friday just so we could talk in a normal voice without having to yell. I was yelling enough at night, I didn’t need to do it all day too! The last night we were there, our group went to the sports bar and played beer pong and Cards Against Humanity all night instead of dancing. It was a blast and the bartender enjoyed it because he was finally getting tips!

11. Ocean – There is a seaweed problem right now and swimming in the ocean sucks. We did wade out for a bit one day but that was all. They do their best to keep the beach clean but there’s nothing they can do about the water. Go over to Isla Mujeres and swim over there if you want to get in the water.

12. Restaurants – The restaurants that you need a reservation for only take them between 9:30am and 4pm so make sure you do it early. Luckily people in our group already had dinner for two so adding another couple or two was actually doing the resort a favor because they do have bigger table that go unseated. We had no trouble changing their res from 2 to 4 or 6 an hour beforehand. Obviously you need to make sure the original couple don’t mind you sitting with them! The food though is actually pretty good unless you’re gluten free and then the options are EXTREMELY limited. Also, my wife kept getting sick every evening and we think it was due to cross contamination. Get the sexy coffee at the Italian restaurant, if nothing else the presentation is awesome, definitely illegal in the states!!!!

13. Breakfast, Lunch – Breakfast is pretty basic, the best thing to do is have them make you a fresh omelette, scrambled eggs, or the like at the grill. For lunch, the absolute best thing we found was if you go to Margarita’s and ask for a plastic plate then go to the buffet they have at lunch there and load up on hot wings and fries! Absolutely the best thing we ate there! They do make chicken and steak tacos at the grill for lunch which are pretty good.

14. Last but not least……the Boobs Cruise. I’m sure with the right crowd it would be so much fun. Ours however was pretty lame. Chino (the MC) was even telling us how lame we were. Would we do it again with a different crowd?......maybe. We even had other couples that had done boobs cruises before tell us that wasn’t what it is normally like so..... That’s not to say that the people on board were lame, we just didn’t gel and get crazy like other cruises I guess. BTW, YOU CAN PAY BY CREDIT CARD WHEN YOU CHECK-IN AT PATTY-O'S. We were told on here it was cash only but they were allowing cards.

Like I said at the beginning, this was our first experience here and it was literally the best vacation we’d been on in years. So much fun! We didn’t feel the need to leave the hotel once the entire time we were there. Of course we had been on all of the excursions and things before so we didn’t feel the need to go again. All kinds of age ranges were there and EVERYONE was friendly!

The biggest tip I could possibly give you would be to let your guard down, introduce/invite people that are sitting alone to join you, and you will have a blast!

One last tip, bring a roll-on suitcase for your carry-on bag and stuff it with feather pillows(they pack down better) and snacks from home for the flight. Even if you have to expand the carry-on, when you go to board the plane you can take them out and put it on your lap for the flight. You may not sleep going down but you definitely will coming back!

 

Another great review...spot on!

Good idea bringing Cards Against Humanity....could really make for an interesting rainy day or evening with the right group.

They do still have the non-stop porn TV channels, right? I'm not sure our TV was ever on anything else!

 

Sorry your Boobs Cruise was not as much fun as it could have been. Thanks for the report and the tips! So overall, you guys had a good time?

 

Thanks for the review! We're leaving next week for our first trip to TTR.

 

Yes, they have two porn channels but you may as well be watching it on an old school tube television with rabbit ears. The signal was horrible. Bring the HDMI cable and watch some HD porn if you want.

 

It was fantastic! We've been to Mexico several times, Hawaii, Europe, and all over the states and were always bored at some point or other. Not this trip! Time slips by VERY fast!

 

Great review! Wish I could of met you two! I actually didn't meet anyone on this forum in person. I looked around & didn't come across anyone I recognized. I was at the sexy pool 4 times out 5 days & danced the night away at Paty-O's almost every night. I met a couple last year Scott & Lisa from Texas who surprisingly booked almost the same travel dates as Rick & I.The 4 of us hung out & had a blast & we will remain friends for life.

 

We were looking for you too but couldn't tell if it was you or not!

 

Be sure to log-in to your airline and reserve your seats on the plane as soon as you make your booking!! There were couples that didn't and they were splashed all over the plane and didn't get to sit next to each other.

 

So what was the deal with the Boobs Cruise. Nobody was into it? Nobody getting into the games and participating? Seems like you couldn't go and NOT get involved...but I've never been on one so I don't know.