OK, here’s the trip report. I took along a note pad for daily notes but came home with the damn thing blank. Seems it would take notes on its own. Damn stupid thing. So, this trip report is done strictly from memory and various pictures I took. Anything I forgot, well I forgot but others can add. If I mess up names I am truly sorry and everyone knows I suck at names but am great with faces. Friday May 9th So the day is finally here. Suitcases packed and we head out the door. Easy check in at DIA. Had to take one last work call at the airport but then we’re good to go. We chose the window and isle seat hoping that the middle would stay empty but no such luck. But the flight is fast and soon we are descending into Cancun. You never know how immigrations is going to go but today we get extremely lucky. We walk off the plane, down the hallway, down the escalator, into the maze and stop and the Immigration Officer. We didn’t even slow down along the way. Talk about lucky. On the flip side we have to wait about 15 minutes for the luggage to arrive and off to the stop light push it and go.. Wait.. What? A RED light? Do they even have those? After a quick look about, we’re on our way again. Trans Beach Shuttle is waiting and we’re on our way. Into see Norma and get our room 3204… Wait is that the old Section D? Yup.. all the rooms have been renumbered and now make a little more sense. The Building surrounding the Quiet Pool is Building 1. The one around PadyO’s is building 2. The one overlooking the Sexy Pool is Building 3, and so on. The second number is the floor number and the last 2 are the room number. So Chris goes to unpack and I make the rounds saying hello to our old friends. Plus I get to meet T for the first time. After reading reviews that covered the gambit of great girl to trashy mouth female, I was really interested to see what I would think. Let me say this – this is one classy lady. She plays the part of Temptation Entertainer exactly like us guys would want to see her, but she is also one deep, insightful, and thought provoking woman. She is sexy, sensual, funny, playful and tough all in one. She is the only female that Chinos hasn’t made cry yet and that is saying something. I got to talk with her one on one several times over the two weeks and yeah, I was taken by her and hope that she stays around for a long time. So we change for dinner and hit PadyO’s for the first time. There have been lots of changes at Temptation during the renovations. Some dramatic and some small. But overall I didn’t see one that I didn’t like. Some could go a little further or have small things changed but overall I loved every change as it was an improvement over what was there before. PadyO’s is a perfect example. I used to love the feel of Margaritas. But PadyO’s has it’s own feel and makes better use of the area. It has the beds as before but they are off to the side, there are couches and eating areas but the core of the area allows for lots more seating and so the overall bar and seat more people in a less crowded feel. OK, chairs with backs would be wonderful and fixes to the toe breaker on either end of the bar on the restaurant side are improvements that could be made, but overall I give it an A. We run into Pedro, the guest not the Captain, and find out he’s still up to his usual antics. Noticing the time we see it is about time for Beatcats and OriginalPatrrottHeads to arrive. So I keep an eye on the front desk and pretty soon two couples arrive. I take an order for 4 cervas and tell them we’ll catch up with them after dinner. After dinner it’s time to check out Nice Shoes for the first time. Tonight is The Temptations Dance. OK, it’s not Broadway in its presentation but that is in no way a knock against it presentation and content. Each week they add a little more to the show so it’s never the same and always improving. This was my introduction to Asisa (I know I’m not spelling that right) as she worked the pole in the show. This wasn’t your average BBG show of old. If you’ve been to Coco Bongos then you know of the act that the folks climb the sheets. Welcome to that show up close and personal. Luckily I had seen the show at Coco Bongos and knew what was going to happen and the guy climbed to the top and wrapped the sheet around him, right over my head. I quickly slipped off my chair, back it up a foot and sat back down as he spun right down to my feet. We both smiled at each other and did a collective whew! Next week, the chairs were backed up before the show. Anyway, go see it, you won’t be disappointed. Back to PadyO’s till closing. It’s been a long day and I need to get up early to get the right beds in the morning. Saturday May 10th OK… so I was slow this morning and got out at 6:30 am but was able to grab the last umbrella at the pool. Need more umbrellas. Found the best place for us was down from Diego’s bar where you can only get one row of chairs, before they get into the double layering of chairs. Kind of have mixed feelings about that the double chair thing. Yes they doubled the amount of chairs available at the pool but it makes it crowded as you try and walk about the pool. Also you can’t sit on the end of the pool in the shallow end anymore because there is a chair there. So I just got up early and got the chairs I liked and was done with it. So on the first morning out there I begin to catch up with the folks that checked in before we got there. Caught up with Janice and Scott (JanScott), D&T (D&Tnewbies), Roger and Janna (Rlin2050), Dale and Cherri (dmac), Brandon and Carly and their friends that I referred to as Plus2 for the whole trip (did I tell you I suck at names) (BCE4800) (BTW she’s much prettier that her pictures suggests) … Oh… sidebar… everyone on this trip agreed that we ALL need to update our Avatars so that they sort of look like we do… Kena and Shannon (twoleos) and Chuck and Em (hathondo) at the pool. Over the course of the trip I seemed to meet just about everybody that was there from the board. I’m realizing by this list that it’s going to take forever to call out everyone I met and will enviably forget someone. So suffice it to say that as I said before everyone from the Board, I met was great in person and I’d love to party with them at anytime. I’ll only call out meeting those that were not on the Board but hopefully will be. The talk of the morning is Greg and Tina. It seems Tina has lost 40 pounds since the beginning of the year. She did and she looks great. Turns out that Greg lost 30 pounds too but he’s a guy so no one noticed. Doesn’t seem fair…. So we’re sitting around the pool watching people go by and I see these three ladies go by. They look presentatble enough until I notice that one of them has a tattoo running down her spine. I poke Dale and then I saw that one has a wide streak I think. Turns out I was right as it was Tina (Welshgirl and her friends)….. OH… another sidebar… OK I suck at names but when you hit me with Tina, Tina, Trina, T and T… well shit I can’t keep up…… Across the pool I see this one lady that just looks hot. Real short blonde hair and a body that won’t quit. Didn’t know it at the time but I was admiring T aka the Librarian. Damn. Librarians never looked like that when I was in school! Needless to say, she would be part of our group by the next day. Somehow later that night I ended up on the beach with a group that wanted to take a dip. Security was present so I just happen to lead them down the beach to another location where they could satisfy their needs. Hence the Girls Over 30 Gone Wild session and our introduction to Nicola and Roland. Sunday May 11th Today we saw something new and interesting. They started off the day with an introduction to the Cast. Then they demonstrated the water sports that were available to each guest. Now most know, sort of, that they are there but forget about them during their stay. So they bring them up to the pool to show you what they have. OK, we’ve all seen the kayak in the pool. But we were impressed when they took the sailboard for a spin, but when they sailed out the hobie cat in the pool… now there’s a sight you’ve never seen before. Oh and it did generate another rule. “No doing the mast as a pole by the guests while sailing in the pool.” We can thank the Librarian for that one. Told you she was like no Librarian you’ve ever met. Made the Walmart trip with Dale. He had never been and I needed some Gatorade and stuff. We bought lots of chocolate for his wife. (Sort of an inside joke) Tonight I met Martini and Rossi. OK, it was Martina and Regen but when you’re bad at names you do whatever it takes. They were sitting there trying to figure out what happened earlier in the day. OK.. Martina knows she suffered First Day Syndrome and went back to her room for a while. When she came back Regen was feeling no pain so they went back to the room for a little while. They woke up at 11 PM and said “Where the f*ck are we? It’s 11 PM! What are we doing in the room? We’re on vacation! We should be drinking!” So here they were in the window at Margarita’s. Regen seem to have a bump on the side of her head that she didn’t know where it came from. They had a hint when some folks walked up to her and asked how she was doing after the fall. What fall? We’ll they hadn’t seen it but heard about it. Took four days before we found out the Roy had witnessed the fall. Seems she was walking up to Diego’s bar when suddenly her feet were in the air. She dropped about four feet to the deck then bounced right back up and said I’m OK and kept walking. Regen had no clue. A little while later Martina spots AJ. Seems they met AJ and Pete earlier in the pool and when they showed up it was time for me to make room. So off to bed I go. Monday May 12th Tonight instead of the Quest, we went to the Cigar Bar. This is where the old Theater was. It’s really done up nice. Wasn’t quite ready for the Hash Pipes they brought out. Seems they cook tobacco with pieces for coal and the smoke is pulled through a liquor. Folks said it was great but since I quit smoking in October, I didn’t try it. They had a couple of entertainer that to do some acrobatics and a guy with a crystal ball that just mesmerized us as it looked like he had it floating in the air. They played a couple game before the might was over. The Cigar Bar strikes me as a very cozy venue. I can see when the hotel is operating at capacity that you could have Nice Shoes up and going for dancing, the Alternative bar for Pool and fun, PadyO’s for drinking and talking and the Cigar bar as a coy romantic alternative playing Jazz music or something of that sort. Tonight was Coco Bongos. Chris hasn’t been to the show in about 8 years and I thought with just a few folks here tonight might be the right time for her to go. Chris gets migraines with bright flashing lights and load music, you know the Coco Bongo show. So we weren’t sure how long she could stay but we gave it a shot. So I get her prime seating next to the DJ booth in the VIP seating area, directly across from the stage. Now I’ve told her over the years that they use less big flashes of lights. So we sit down and BAM! They hit her with everything they’ve got. Her head snaps back. OK.. that was a fluke, it won’t happ.. BAM! Oh man… BAM! Damn… this isn’t going to last long.. BAM! But this time her head doesn’t snap back. BAM! She didn’t even as much as flinch….So I slide around to see what’s up. She’s got her sunglasses on and ear plugs in. We’re good to go! She lasted 2 ½ hours. What a Trooper! Tuesday May 13th OK.. today I met Bitchkitten. Couldn’t really go around asking all the ladies “Are you Bitchkitten?” Although it would be a great icebreaker. Anyway.. a couple of days before there was this lady from Denver that was in a contest. 86 became my new favorite number as it made up the vast majority of her swimsuit bottom. Took me a couple of days to find her again but then found out not only was she from Denver but that she was BK. But alas they leave tomorrow so we’ll have to see them another time. Wednesday May 14th Today we have Smartass trivia contest. OK, being a repeater I know that the losers have to do a lap dance on the winners, hence be a winner. So while T and Omar are getting players I slide up to the table and pop open the chip container and get about 15 chips out. Having secured the win I sit back to enjoy the show. Lalo and T both notice that there seem to be fewer chips than they are used to but have no idea where they are. After a hard fought game I have two chips that seem to grow into 12. Omar is asking if anyone has more than 6 and I say I have 12. So as Lalo and T stare at each other and say how could that happen, Omar pulls me up as the winner. And since we had so many more chips than the ladies.. let the lap dances begin. Sitting next to me was Felix. Felix was a young guy that happened on Temptations and was living his dream. He was across from Lisa of Bearcats. Well when she was done it took two days for the smile to fade from his face. That boy will never be the same. I submitted myself to Lalo and water aerobics as punishment. Met Dean and Melissa that night. Seems they bought a new camera just before the trip and forgot to get a memory card. So they got all of 6 pictures before the camera quit. So I promised them I’d be their photographer for the rest of the trip. There was some talk about the Drop of Love room, use of the hot tub and needing pictures of that but it never happened… dang it! Thursday May 15th Today was the first Horseshoe Tournament. Dale and I held off everyone, including Chinos and claimed the prize. Tonight was the Casino Night and lingerie Contest. I read somewhere that this didn’t go over so well. Well tonight it was great. Remember Flex? Well he was naked at a table to keep playing. Soon he had another guy and a lady joining him. Chinos’ topless ladies table was full all night. If you dressed the part you got more money to bet. If you didn’t you still got some money just not as much. The following contest had at least 20 ladies. It was a great night Friday May 16th Today was the debut of Sheila new Saturday suit at the Body Shots contest. I understand last year Sheila’s suit was big enough to hide the lime. This year…. well no. But it was interesting. Needless to say it was the hit of the day. I understand that it is still there and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that it shows up in a contest where someone has to change suits with the female cast member. Naked T-Ball was great as usual unfortunately T was on the other team and had to lose. I always love the crowd we seem to draw. Went that night out on the Temptation Booze Cruise. That night it was sold out. Drank and danced all night. The only thing I didn’t like is that they don’t close off the cruise folks from the rest of the restaurant (Carlos & Charlie’s) anymore. So there seemed to be a couple of tables of photographers sitting there waiting for us. We had to take taxis back to the resort because the buses weren’t available. That seems to be coming, a more frequent occurrence. That night after PadyO’s closed it was Laundry night. I spent the rest of the night in the parking lot doing laundry. When I finished I just changed into my swimsuit and got an hour’s worth of sleep by the pool. Saturday May 17th Today’s highlight was the Desire Show. Last week it was OK. They had some dancers come out and then a lady dressed as a Playboy Bunny. She did a strip tease that following Friday at the show which allowed me to show Chris why guys go to Titty Bars. They then had a guy come out and suddenly I was a little uncomfortable sitting in the front row but the ladies loved it. This week was even better. The whole show consisted of 2 ladies and 2 guys dancing. Let’s just say there’s a whole new reason to bring your ones to Cancun. Sunday May 18th Dirty Joke contest winning entry – How do you spell Pussy backwards? SlurP! We had a nice quiet game of Lazy volleyball today. No nudity, no tequila, just plain old volleyball. Well that’s the way it started. We were going along just fine when T missed a shot. So I told her she had to give up her top. So off it came.. no big deal… Then one of the guys on our side missed a shot and T said, OK you have to get naked and she turned away. Then we missed another shot and she told him he had to get naked. Then she turns back and says “you guys are naked” with this surprised smile on her face. Well you told us to… So now we’re playing naked volleyball. In the middle of the second game Chinos comes by and elects me as captain of our team and T as captain of the other. The captain of the loser of three games gets the ice. After losing 2 games T is getting talked to by Chinos, your choice he says, sit in the ice for 5 minutes or run the beach naked. She thinks for a second and says option 2 is looking real good right about now. So Chinos makes it ice for the whole team. Dave of Dave and Rosa got talked into playing the game by me and ended up on T’s team. For the rest of the week I had to keep my eye on him as he wanted to return the favor. Monday May 19th In the new lobby area there are three artsy fartise things. They are plastic flower type huge vase things that are pretty. Unfortunately they are not braced or anchored well. Chris was down in the lobby talking to Ricardo the day time Manager when there was a loud crash. Liz and Garry, the newlywed couple, were trying to take a picture with these things and bumped into them. They knocked over two but Derrick was able to only save one. The one that dropped got a huge crack. The new GM was in the area and dropped the bomb on Ricardo to bill them for the damage. That trapped Ricardo into the path he had to follow. He was able to find the single piece rather than having to replace he entire set but that was the best he could do. So here they were, married 18 days with a 1 Yr Old at home and a $650 bill on the first day of their Honeymoon. During the exchange the kids were scared and thought they might even be kicked out of the hotel. Chris got Nichole of the Welcome desk to go over and act as a translator to help where she could. We met up with Liz and Gerry later at PadyO’s and they were still shook up. We tried to get them to look past what had happen. It was their Honeymoon and they needed to try and enjoy it. They were going to need to call their parents to get the money to cover the costs but until then they had to go on. We all felt so bad for them. Ken of (Ken and Rhonda) suggested that we take up a collection to help them pay down the bill. So I spread the word that tomorrow morning I would start the collection. Anyone who wanted to give could give with no pressure or expectations that one must give. I went out with Liz and Gerry to Coco Bongos that night and for a while they seem to forget about what happened earlier in the day. Tuesday May 20th A lot of the folks headed off to Isla for the day so it was really quiet around the pool today. However I was truly blown away that morning. One by one folks came up to me and gave me donations towards the newlywed’s bill. The generosity of our folks to someone they never met before was overwhelming. The overriding sediment was that we were all young once, just starting out and had unexpected bills come along that really threw a monkey wrench in our lives. If we could each give, a bit and help make this go away or at least shrink then let’s do it. That night we had dinner with the newlyweds in the Seafood restaurant. During dinner I told them of the collection. They said we didn’t need to do that but I said we couldn’t give it back. Both fought back tears as I told them that we had collected $350 towards their bill. They were truly moved by the generosity. From that moment forward I think they were truly able to enjoy their trip. I know personally I’ll look at our little family much differently in the future. Wednesday May 21st Tonight we ate in the Wok. We took along Christina and Teria, aka the Alaska Girls. We had a couple of Lobster Dinners and let them enjoy them. The meal and service were great as usual. Tonight Chris and Rick (osiferrick) and I went out to meet Karina and Jose who were staying at another hotel. We decided to do the small clubs tonight. We started off and Mextreme and then went over to the Corona Bar. At the Corona Bar they passed out the balloons. Jose made himself into a warrior with a helmet and body amour with the ballons. You have to see the pictures. We saw this little boy collecting ballons and gave him all the ones Jose was using and any others we could find. You could see it in his face that he just wanted to scream SCORE! We hit some other small bar and then the Congo bar and ended up at DosXX bar. It was going to be an early night but we partied till 2 AM. It was kind of a different night and ended up be fun. If you’re looking for something different you might try it. Thursday May 22nd Today was another Horseshoe Tournament. Derrick and I were ailing along to another win when we ran into Kathy and Gary. They ended up taking us to the house and taking the prize. Tonight was the CancunCare Booze Cruise. With a few cancelations and additions we sailed with 60 folks. We added the Navy Flag to the back of the boat to honor Kenny’s upcoming retirement. It was a little rough going over. The Captain went for his life jacket. We put it on Karan along with a rope to keep her from falling overboard. We only had one person feed the fishes. The party at restaurant was good but the boat ride back was just a little rougher. Needless to say we survived and overall had a good time. Friday May 23rd OK.. so all week I’ve been on the other team and T has lost, to today I take pity on her and join her team so she can win at least once. Well her ability to lose overwhelmed my ability to win. We didn’t even win one game. Sorry T but next year you are on your own. One last chapter on the Newlywed Saga. So we had collect $350 of the $650 bill. The hotel lowered the cost to $600. After dinner while we were having drinks at PadyO’s and I was approached and asked what the outstanding balance was. I said we got 350 out of the 600. He said, here’s the rest. I said you are not putting $250 in my hand. That’s way above and beyond. He said they could so they were, enough said. I was blown away again. These folks are the kind that you would least expect this of. Not that they were bad people just unassuming easy going folks. The money was passed on. ICE met two Louisiana girls tonight that seemed like they were going to be a handful. I want to know how that came out and why they didn’t come sooner. Last night, what better way to go out than at the city with the Alaskan Girls. Ended up running into Karina and Jose there too. Got in about 3 AM with Pizza and French fires. Saturday May 24th Today is go home day and go home days suck. We “sleep” in till 6:30 and then it was up shower and pack. Chris has been nice enough to fold and stack the clothing and other stuff, so for me in the morning it’s just layering into the suitcases. We got 2 separate calls within 15 minutes of each other, asking if our bags were ready to go. It’s not like they are in a hurry to get us out our anything. So we head off for Breakfast and goodbyes. I don’t care how long you’ve been there you hate to say goodbye to your new and old friends. If you haven’t done it yet, don’t be surprised to choke back a tear or two. We stop by to see Norma to complete our checkout. Had a little problem there. Chris had a massage during our stay that she charged to the room. I hate having charges on the bill when we check out, never know just how much cash we will have on that day. So a few days after the massage we went to the front desk to pay the charge. We also changed money so I could do the laundry. We got two receipts but Chris accidently kept the money exchange rather than the payment one. Of course the payment didn’t show up. That’s OK, you have several copies of the receipt so just check with the front desk. Well it Saturday and the accountant has all the copies and they are closed till Monday. But they said they would check it and lets us know. They have our CC number. Moral: Keep all your copies of your receipts until after check out. I will say that in all the years we have been going, this was the first mix up we’ve had. So I’m confident it will all work out OK. Shuttle to the airport, check in, flight home all uneventful. Stopped at Outback on the way home for dinner, carried the suitcases in the door, dropped them and fell into bed. It’s now Monday and I think I’ve been awake for 10 hours out of the last 38 hours that I’ve been home. One would think I didn’t get any sleep the whole time I was gone. Fancy that! Here are the Picture that are postable: http://travel.webshots.com/album/563599616QjovpL?vhost=travel If I think of more I’ll add it later….. Jamie
wow Jamie what alot of pics.............lol ahhhhhhhh thanks for scratching out the butt........... and tits. We had lots of fun and well we all know we will do again.
Thanks Jamie, great tr.......great pics, we had a great time, good to meet everyone, and thanks again for making us feel so welcome... already talking about next year!!!!
How awesome that people pulled together to help out the newlyweds. To be honest I am not surprised at all that you got the total amount or that one "donor" went beyond what most would. Great report.
Great TR Jamie. Pics too. Sent you a PM. We need to swap some pics. Talk to you soon. Tell Chris I said hi. Dale
Wow, Great trip report Jamie. Fantastic pics also. Looks like you guys had a blast. Glad you enjoyed your vacation and thanks for sharing.
Jamie - It was great to see you again. Suz and I were very proud of the Cancuncare people that stepped up to help a young couple that became "new" friends to so many of us during our trip. They say that character is what you do when nobody is looking. That's what comes to mind when I think about the way so many chipped in on the sly to help these young people salvage a honeymoon. Maybe they will join us again next year or maybe we will never see them again BUT I guarantee they won't forget us! I hope that you all cut an email to the Temptation management to let them know your feelings on how they absolved themselves of any liability in this situation. It wasn't like some drunk smashing something in their lobby, it was just an excited young couple taking pictures on vacation. I was afraid to touch anything in the hotel after that - everything I looked at had a price tag on it. Anyway - I'm sure my email is in some Mexican trash can by now but I felt good writing it - LOL. It was great to see everyone again and thanks to the Mayor of Temptation (Jamie) for making sure everyone had a great time! Firm
