I want to first say there was a lot of good on our trip, but there were also things that I have learned through my first experience of being in Cancun. First of all, don't book through Studentcity.com. We looked at booking through expedia.com (my friend and I have both graduated college recently), but our friend who is still in school was a studentcity rep so we booked though them. Studentcity gave us a pricebuster deal thing since it was cheaper through Expedia, but in the end it would have been cheaper to do an 8 night stay with Expedia. Here's why. After booking through student city about a month before we left we got emails saying there was going to be a $50 fuel surcharge. We logged in to the site to pay our unpaid fuel surcharge balance only to find out the invoice was for $150 and to this day I do not know what the extra $100 was for. We got to the airport and they did arrage for transportation for us right away. We got to the hotel and started getting our info and what not, but before we could check in we each had to pay another extra $27.50 for an insurance deposit thing although it wasn't a deposit because they said no matter what we wouldn't get it back. We also got charged for an American Eagle beach party thing but their last day was the first day we got there, so we basically paid for nothing. There were no games or contests or anything at the pool deck. We also wanted to go to Chichen Itza so we booked a trip there through them and they never told us there was an "optional" side trip that cost an extra $6. Then at the buffet lunch, they wouldn't let us bring our drinks in so we had to purchase a drink in the restaurant, and then they had little kids dance a bit and they also expected tips. Even though some of it wasn't too expensive I thought we really got nickeled and dimed a lot and I was tired of it by the end of the week. I was on a budget and if I had known and been properly informed I could have planned more accordingly. Also the party package we bought wasn't the best. We realized all we ever saw were the same people out each night at different clubs, and all mostly from Delaware. We felt like we would have met more people going different places. After the extra expenses they added on, we could have done this without losing the extra $50 we saved with the party package. The theme parties were also not the best. The hot tub party was 6 girls up in this hot tub on the wall dancing to see who could win a 2008 SB trip. I presonally wouldn't call that a hot tub party. The New Years theme party was supposed to have new years come every hour as I understood it and it came twice at random times in the night. The booze cruise was a lot of fun, but we were rushed through dinner and back by a little after 11. We went to bed since we were going to Chichen Itza the next day, but if we weren't we would have had to spend more money to go out somewhere else. I really liked Basic, that was by far my favorite place of the week. That was a white theme party. Bulldog was too small with the dance floor and the bar in the middle. The city wasn't bad, I thought it was fine and they did an acrobatic show. Senor Frog's was fun but they had a lot of contests and games. I felt it was a little too gimmicky. We also ate dinner there and I didn't think the food was very good for the expensive price. Daddy O's and Daddy Rock were fun also. Another complaint with student city was the overabundance of men on the trip. We nicknamed the place 'mancun' because of it. Back to Cancun though, the airport was fine, the line was long, but went quickly when we arrived. The transportation was fine to the hotel, and it was just as we expected upon getting there that check in would't be until 3-4. So we left our bags with the bellboy although I had to carry around my backpack all day because for some reason they didn't watch those. When we got to the hotel itself the staff was cleaning the sidwalks and overall did a decent job of cleaning. The bathrooms by the pool and in the lobby were never very clean but with the amount of people there was understandable. The food was fine at the buffet, not always the best, but not horrible. There was a tap for corona in the buffet, which was nice. The restaurants we ate at were better, the sitdown one by the pool and the sushi bar was good. The bars though served pretty watered down drinks and it was all very cheap liquor. Our room was very nice although we were on the 6th floor. We had hot water, no mold, no leaks and it was clean. No complaints there. The taxis weren't too bad to take, you could negotiate depending on how busy it was. The bus was very cheap, but a BIG caution on this one. If you haven't been before, make sure you are familiar with the currency. One time when riding the driver gave me my change in a handful of coins and some bills and it took me a while to count it all out to realize he'd stiffed me $10. Another time the first night we were there I was going home and after I gave him my money, he yelled at me twice to sit down and didn't give me my change. I just wanted to get home, but they were pretty bad. We also met some really nice people too, some of the staff at the hotel they were great. The pool there was enormous and very nice. I think a lot of people went to the bathroom in it though. As many people were at the swim up bars for long periods of time. The beach was very nice and large, and the water was great. There were no sea lice. The water was warm and blue as can be. Overall it was a very nice trip and it was nice to get away. I just wanted to point out some things that I would personally do differently so that maybe someone else can learn something from this. I will definately go back some time. I also was able to meet up with one of the trip advisor board members, JayBK and it was a pleasure meeting him and getting to see Blue Bay Getaway where he was staying. almost forgot about tipping. I wanted to tip in pesos and so we got out $200 worth at the ATM in the airport, but it came out in two $500 peso bills adn like 4 200 peso bills and then like 2 100 peso bills. Because of this I would say bring American dollars and use those. They seem to accept them everywhere and you can get the smaller denominations because we had a hard time getting the pesos broken down for change. If you didn't specifically say how much they should get the bar tenders would take your whole note, and the watered down drinks they were giving out weren't worth more than a dollar tip. I don't tip more than that here. So in conclusion I'm saying use dollars, unless you can get your pesos in small notes. I'll be happy to answer any questions if you have them. I've got a post in tripadvisor.com you can also check out where some people have asked questions and I've responded. http://cancun-hotels.tripadvisor.co...om_Oasis_Cancun-Cancun_Yucatan_Peninsula.html
thanks for the report..yeah the thing with going with Student Companies is that they require some hidden fees for insurance and such... Got any pics you wanna share wiht us? :lol:
I didnt go with StudentCity and we still had to pay the $27.50 for health insurance or whatever it was... my first year we booked with Studentcity and there are a LOT of extra stuff. (we didnt go all inclusive.. cause we were idiots) For 08 though.. maybe we'll book with them. since its AI and everyhting..
Dennis I showed you all the pics..? Didn't i¿ I wouldnt go through any student company myself, they seem to have hidden fees galore. And when you read they all inclusive stuff, you have to be somewhere off the resort at a certain time for drinks between a certain time and such..personally I much rather getting the all inclusive through the hotel
I think it all depends on the week you go, we went march 9-16 and there was a LOT of girls!! So............. thats likely why you didnt see as many girls, you likely went a different week other than peak week, but happy you enjoyed your trip!!
Using the ATMs in Cancun always an adventure. You never know in what denomonation you are getting. Once I got like 50 $50 peso bills.
I was soo drunk one night in Cancun, I went to use the ATM Came back with a ticket for some car park :? just doesn't make sense.....lol
the atms are awesome!!! I took out 2000 pesos.. ($200 us)... i got home and my bank said i took out $185!!! wooooo haha
ATMs use bank exchange rate which is better than any local exchange place. I usually carry both dollars and peso. If the store exchange rate is 10 to 1, I use peso. If the store exchange rate is 11+ to 1, I use dollar.
