Anybody been to Cancun? Anybody, Cancun

Nox

Which hotel resort did you stay at?  What facility you have at your hotel?  (Tennis courts, pool bar, water sport centers?)

dkam22

I heard Cancun is more Americanized than other parts of mexico because so many tourist go there.
But they hv white sand beach

Nox

I'm trying to decide if it's Cancun or Mayan Riveria

utopia

Cancun is for young fellow and Mayan Riveria is very relaxing and pretty much for senior. If you are decided to go for Cancun, the best time to go is early May which mean before... May 16 I think? Because during that period all the kids are at school so they are sort of at low season and the price drop a bit. It's cheaper to go during winter but then you don't get to enjoy as much sunshine.

I done lot of research before I went to Cancun. So feel free to ask me for detail

I would suggest Oasis Playa; that's the hotel I went and I picked it base on the different tourist comment. It's not the best hotel out there but I would say it is average standard. I enjoyed my trip there very much.

One thing you have to keep it in mind is don't pick the ground level room. Pick the upper level unless you enjoy the company of small spiders.....................

It costed me only $1100 included airfare and I booked through agent because I felt bad to reject an auntie offer ... it should be slightly cheaper on the web. I checked the price it was $50 dollars different compare to the price I booked through agent. So it's not too bad.

And also, get a bunch of $1 US bill with you because if you want t o receive 5 stars services and make sure your drink have alcohol. TIP every single opportunities then you will feel like you are living like a king in cancun

Well, I have a lot more to share with you but I gotta get back to work.
Feel free to ask about the tour or whatsoever, so you can save your time to do the research. I done so much research and read so much before I go on vacation. One of my weird habit

Nox

OMG, thanks a lot Utopia!

I'm considering Barceló Costa Cancun, have you heard of that place before?  Got any comments?  Their website looks nice enough, just not sure if the facility is really that great.  Here's the website: http://www.barcelo-costacancun.com/

There was a deal for Sens Cancun actually but when I checked, the hotel looks like Harrison Hotspring and they do not have access to beach....  On the other hand, Grand Princess Rivera is too expensive lor...maybe when I get richer.  But man, they have tennis courts, rock climbing, golf fields within the hotel, that gotta feel like a king already!

Got a few questions
1)  I know that most of the hotels don't have water centres, so where do you go to rent stuff?  Is it walking distance from hotel area or do you need to get a ride to somewhere else?
2)  What are some "Must See" and "Must Do" things at Cancun?
3)  Any tricks and tips that helps get around, or get "upgrades"?  (Like getting a nicer room by tipping the check-in counter, does that work?)

THANKS AGAIN!

utopia

I picked Oasis Playa because the hotel is right by the beach like a walking distance and there are no rocks around it , so I'm safe to swim.

In mexico, you have to be careful. Don't ever cab to anywhere. Bus is very cheap and fast. Just be friend with everybody in the hotel, they will love to help you.

Water equipment has to be rent..and remember one thing very important. Whichever hotel you are staying on, MAKE SURE you have your towel with anywhere you go. As a tourist, you might always forget your towel on the bench or anywhere, but the hotel will charge you if you cannot return your towel to them.

A must see, I would say you gotta book the tour at tulum and the water park. May be I'm too chicken but I rather book my tour at the hotel. There are stands in the hotel which accept Visa while you book your tour. There are cheaper tour in hotel zone but I rather to be safe after all.... I actually seen a guy riding a bicycle with his AK-47 tide on the bike...........

If you want to make your trip living like a king, as I told you, tip everybody. Even the reception, you can generally have a better room or cleaner room. Some of the hotel rooms have weird smell because the hotel is too close to the ocean...so kinda wet? So, you don't realy need to tip them ALL the time but a dollar or two, dun hurt you eh? So get a big pile of 1 USD will do the trick.

The bartender in Cancun is amazing, I can't taste strong alcohol in the drink but got me drunk very quick :p Just tip them once every 4 drink is good enough.

And, if you want your room to be neat and tidy,most tourist slip a dollar bill in the room for the maid. Depends on the maid, I actually received a towel swan folded on the bed one day. Which is something given on a ocean view room but mine is just a normal room.

And when you book the hotel, read all the review carefully. That help alot but I wouldn't suggest you book an "adult" only hotel unles you are gonna party hard because you will hear people screaming loud @3am............ til' 7am.

Try to go around early May because there will be no kids and it's low season for Mexico. But slightly passed 16 or mid-May it will be an expensive season again. So watch the date. Some of my friends prefer X'mas but....... you will have lot of cloudy day....

Just like China, Mexico way of shopping is pretty much like you shop in China. Just remember to Bargain EVERYWHERE. For souvier, they have some "worm tequila" for sales everywhere. so shop around for the price first.

If you are not well prepared for the trip, I wouldn't suggest to go downtown. I bus to downtown and it's totally different than Hotel Zone Hotel Zone is well protected by the mexico government. Only people who work in the hotel can access t his zone. So that way tourists are more secure.
I went downtown just to shop for cigar to sell on internet, try to cover my trip. But it's pretty scary because I think we either miss the bus stop or something and we almost went toward the desert.......... lucky I get off the bus and someone who also work in the hotel know english and told us how to get back to hotel zone or the shopping mall.

Because the water bottle are extremely expensive in hotel zone, we bought a bunch of bottle water in the supermarket in downtown. Make sure you ask people how to bus to that supermarket.... or else it gonna cost you like 15 USD just for one bottle or water.

And just in case if you are going to the water Park in Caucn. I would say buy the sun tan lotion in Wal-mart before you go. They will not let you use the regular sun tan lotion because that will kill the fishes. (yes, you have chance to swim with the fishes and turtle or even dolphin) so they will ask you either not to apply the sun tan lotion or you have to buy their environmental friendly sun tan lotion. I forgot the name, you can ask the staff in wal-mart or drug store. Becuase that kind of sun tan lotion is expenxive again in the water park.

IF you want to go party, book those party shuttle bus. It's all inclusive again, you don't have to pay cover in all th ebar and lounge. It worthed it.

Again, no matter whick kind of tour you join or shuttle bus you join, ALWAYs stick with the group because mexico can be pretty dangerous.
Shopping is good in Cancun too, of cuz' cannot compare with China or HK but it's still generally cheaper than Canada and no tax.

utopia

Nox

Search for tripadvisor on google. That website is true comment based on tourist.
Nothing commerical. I done my detail research on that website

Hopefully, this site can you decide where to go. Those members give very detail report on all the hotels and tour. So you have a general idea what you gonna bring and gonna expect.

utopia

Nox, and you can have a better idea on how the hotel look like in reality because those are the pictures posted by tourist not by the hotel. THat's how I picked Oasis Playa.

Mini

i'd suggest to pick a 5 star hotel as last time i went to a 4 star in Maya Riveria, i think it's just comparable to a 3 star lor.  and the staff there can't speak much english and i had a little communication problem when asking for help/service.  but when i went to a 5 star hotel in cancun, the staff can speak fluent english which will be very helpful when you cannot speak spanish.

ppl in mexico are generally very friendly (tourist area and airport).  even if you reject to buy something from them, they'd be upset but would still thank you for your time.  but as utopia said, it's tipping everywhere.  when you land at the airport and if someone pass a cart to you, tip is required so you better get your own cart if you don't have that many luggage.

at the airport, there will be lots of ppl trying to sell "sound like cheap tour package" to you.  they'll tell u that u only need to go to their hotel for a 1/2 day trip then they'll give u a 1/2 price deal to travel to tourist site like tulum or chichiniza (can't remember exact spelling).  however, those are no good at all as i've met ppl in my hotel telling me these stories where they accepted and those ppl kept persuading them to switch to their hotel and they wasted like the whole day with those ppl.  so don't be greedy to get "jet so" like this.  it doesn't worth.

i went to a local supermarket and i found that the liquor are much cheaper than tourist sites.  but of coures if u want special liquor, then u may still need to go to tourist site as they may not be available in the local supermarket. and u need to speak spanish if u go to local supermarket as no one can speak english.  but if u just buy and pay, then it's fine without speaking anything.

when you join the local tour at the hotel, make sure you check that the tour is done in english.  there are lots of different tour agents in the hotel.  if u go to a "mix" ppl tour, it may be mainly speaking in a language that u don't understand.  and again, as utopia said, u can be a king in those tour.  there's one that i joined which is so deluxe that the tour bus is so comfy and they give you snacks and drinks on the tour bus for free.  so u leave the bus on a tour site la.  when you come back, your drink would already been refilled!  the tour guide has been taken care of us so well that the whole trip was very enjoyable.  ^^

you may also want to bring a bottle of aloe gel with you, in case u forget to apply sun tan lotion and gets sun burn.  last time i was exposed to the sun for 1/2 hr and i was already like a "burn pig".  but after applying the aloe gel for 2 to 3 days, my skins are pretty much okay lar.

since cancun is in the east coast, check the weather and avoid the hurrican season.  or buy trip cancellation insurance when you buy the tour package.