My wife Alisa and I returned from a great stay at The Royal in Cancun :clap: . Since I rely on and enjoy reading as many trip reports as I can, I thought I’d return the favor. I’ll also add an abridged version to the hotel review section so people don’t give me a hard time about things that they don’t want to hear about- i.e. the flight, transportation, towel art etc. Sunday Pre-flight tradition of breakfast at our favorite diner. Arrive at Phil International at 7:30am for our 9:35am flight. No line, check in, both bags under 50 pounds. Things are looking good. Smooth flying gets us into Cancun a half an hour earlier at 12:10. Breeze though immigration, wait a few for bags, direct Alisa to 'just keep walking' until we are out of the airport. Olympus Tours shuttle to the hotel is quick with 2 other stops before we arrive 'home'. We arrive at the lobby-, which by the way the pictures don’t do justice. Our bags are taken and we are escorted promptly to the 6th floor concierge. As promised, cold towels and champagne are waiting for us. We are early so our room isn’t ready but we don’t care because we are off to lunch at Pelicanos. Almost- a brief detour by the Real Club for 10 minutes. We never made the presentation-, which by the way we will look more into at our next stay- and we were never approached again. Anyway, lunch was amazing. We had our first of many Mango Tangos. After lunch it’s a brief tour off the hotel and our room is ready. WOW! Amazing room. Cake and champagne are waiting as it is Alisa birthday and our anniversary (OOPS it says honeymoon lol). Towel art and rose petals on the bed. A very nice touch. Room 633 is a non-smoking Royal Ocean front room on the quiet poolside. There are concrete walls on both sides adding to the privacy. The view is amazing- especially from the hammock. Quickly unpack and then off for a quick dip in the sea and then to the pool and the swim up bar for a few welcome drinks. Truthfully we didn’t spend much time here during the week as the pool side drink service was amazing especially Jessica and Guadeloupe. I also met Caesar the playadormo today. I went up to him and said, 'are you the famous Caesar from Trip Advisor '. He smiled and said yes and he was very appreciative of the nice things said about him. I might add it is all deserved because he is always working hard to make your stay more comfortable. From cooling mists, to scalp and hair sun block, to aloe lidocaine mixes, to frozen grapes. Also, I don’t know what he uses but he’ll clean you glasses so well you won’t believe it. Back to our room, shower- again AMAZING! Big enough for both of us! Get ready and off to dinner at Asianas. We chose the hibachi seating for the show. Met some great people who we spent a lot time at the pool at for the remainder of everyone’s stay. What a great presentation and everything from sushi, soup, and entrée was just perfect. Since it was Alisa’s first time in Cancun, we took the bus to party central and we walked around taking in the experience. On our way back to the hotel we stopped at Senor Frogs for a few hours and had a great time. A couple yard drinks and shots or tequila and dancing with my lovely wife. Not a bad first night. I’m glad we did since we didn’t make it back during the week. We returned to our room, which was all set with the romantic turn down service (which we had every night). We even received the ortho and anti-snore pillows as requested by Alisa. Good night. Monday A wonderful nights sleep and its up at 6:00 and get ready. Relax on the balcony for a few and down to the pool. Towel game was never that bad all week. Great spot at the activity side of the pool. Relax for an hour or so and then grabbed breakfast at Spice. Great selection at the buffet and made to order eggs, waffles, hotcakes, and French toast. A nice relaxing morning at the pool followed by a few games of pool volleyball with 'Mexican Rules'. This was constant every morning at 11 and afternoon at 3. Great time with the entertainment staff- especially Alex, Sayid, and Oscar. I can still hear 'San-fran-cisco' over and over. Lunch today at Pelicanos again- scallops for Lisa and enchiladas poblana for me. Coconut Ice cream for desert (soo good- I think I had it 1-2 times a day). I headed to the gym and Alisa took a run down to Senor Frogs and back (about 2 mile). I hit the spa and the cold plunge, which is refreshing to say the least. Dinner at Maria Marie’s tonight. The Caesar salad, fillet with shrimp (me), halibut (Alisa), creme brule (shared). Headed down to the lobby bar to sample a few anejos and respados with sangita. Good stuff/ We headed out with the staff to Dady’O. Great time. For $40USD each- transportation to the club, admission, and VIP bottle service and shots. A great mix of music with a couple shows ( the infamous ex-wrestler dressed as an indian’s 'Sex, Drugs, House' and others were great. Lisa who has taken a few pole classed decides to give the pole a try. In order for the guys to do their tricks on the pole, it has a rubber gripper on it. Well take a fairly intoxicated girl, great music, a great crowd, and a pole that is not frictionless and what do you get?- a girl who receives a number of friction burns on her legs and back. No real pain until the following night. Back to the room by 3:30. Tuesday Not such an early start- 8:30. Still plenty of choice spots at the pool. Relax and try to recharge after breakfast at Spice. Alisa does pool aerobics and seems to be feeling ok. Lunch at Spice today was great. Alisa is not feeling too well but we try to head out to Tapas. The Parmesan soup was delicious!! After ordering its clear that she is not going to make it though dinner. Chills and nausea from the pain. The captain calls the medical staff to the restaurant to check her out. To her embarrassment they send a wheel chair and oxygen. They giver her some burn ease gel as some sulfa powder and we head back to the room. I treat her and we call it a night. Open the patio door and fall asleep to the sound of the surf. One of the most relaxing and sound night’s sleeps I have ever had. Wednesday Up at 6 and Alisa is feeling much better. Breakfast at Spice, relax, spray from Caesar, Mango Tangos, volleyball- a typical day in paradise. Lunch at Asians was delicious. A nice siesta in the pool side cabana then back to the room for our 6pm Chefs Plate reservation. Elegant, gorgeous presentation, delicious food, and great company. If you are a fan of Top Chef or a foodie, you will thoroughly enjoy this. The week’s menus are available at the Romance Concierge. We enjoyed every course. A mini Trip Advisor meet up at Pancho and Willy’s for karaoke with Chubby. Met Ella Bear as well her daughter and her friend, 3 of the 7 scots and Goran. Since we also had plans to meet up with people from The Royal for a night out, we had a few drinks, Alisa sang 'Me and Bobby Magee' and we bused it back to the Royal. Tonight was Basic. What a cool place!! It’s opened at the top and very unique. It was our first but definitely not out last time. Again- 40USD gets you transportation to, admission, VIP bottle service and a member of the entertainment staff who will take care of you all night. The center dance floor of Basic is on springs and moves up and down while you dance. Takes a little getting used o but definitely cool. They also make it 'rain' inside the club at times as well as have water shoot up from the floor. The music was a great mix and the crowd was mixed as well. Really got to know our new friends from Chile- Alfonso and Fransisca, as well as Alex our 'guide' from the Royal. Alisa and a few of the girls headed upstairs to dance and were quickly recruited for the wet T-shirt contest. PM me for additional video and pics. Alisa came in 2nd next to a local more 'professional?'. Not bad for a 31 year old mother of 2 LOL. 500 pesos, a bottle of champagne and 2 shirts plus lots of fun memories. Also met Sommer and Marshall from Louisiana who we ended the night with. Many shots, drinks, and body shots followed. We walk back to the Royal ( 5 minute walk at most), hit the 24 hour lounge for some munchies and water, and back to our room at 4:30. Room service was quick and delicious burger for me, and pancakes for her. What a great night! Big thanks to Alex who looked after us, in particularly Alisa, when I wasn’t around. Thursday Up at 8, breakfast at Spice, pool stuff. Still got a great spot. Brief early am showers might have cleared it out a bit. Lunch at Pelicanos followed by my last pool volleyball game. We head back to our room to pack and get ready for our massages. Outside of the Spa at sunset- perfect. Alisa got the relaxation, and I got the deep tissue massage. I fell asleep with about 10 minutes left. Truly an amazing experience. Out for dinner with some new friends at Asian’s. After dinner we ran across the street for some shopping for the kids. We thought about heading out to Coco Bongo with the staff but between the night before, the massages and wonderful dinner, as well as our 10:30am pick up the next morning we decided to relax at the lobby bar with some of our new friends. While we missed Coco Bongo, it was the best call as we were able to relax that night and actually use the Jacuzzi. Friday Up at 6. Finish packing. Take a long walk on the beach, visit the Gran next door and head into the sea for a bit. Final breakfast at Spice. Head to the pool to say out good byes. Back to the room, check out/return the I-pod, and painfully say good bye to our wristbands. While waiting for our transport back I see that there is just enough time for one more coconut ice cream for the road. With only one other pick up we are at the airport with more than enough time. Check in for USAir was quick unlike the HUGE line we saw for Continental. Security was a breeze and then our first look at terminal 3. Like walking through a mall. Pick up a few more t-shirts, a Dominos Pizza and Ice cream for Alisa. Flight is on time and we are off to home. Arrive a half an hour early but still have to wait 15 minutes for the other plane to embark. Overall An amazing resort, beautiful room, the best bed, great view, great pool, above and beyond service, and a nice beach (definitely the best of the hotels in that part of the zone). Many times during our stay Alisa became choked up and was overwhelmed by how perfect everything was at The Royal Cancun. We tipped everyone- bellboy, housekeeping, minibar person, bartenders, servers, pool service, Caesar, and the activity staff. They all work so hard and always have a smile on your face. Tips seemed appreciative but never expected. We are already planning our next trip in October, and one in either May or June of 2009. We also plan on taking our kids to Playa’s Gran Porto during spring break. I guess the time-share might be a good option for us. Lol. Any questions please ask way.
