“Cancun es una ciudad de la noche.”
-Our Waitress, Royalton Chic Resort, Jul.25.2021
Unfortunately, we did not get the pleasure of experiencing much of the nightlife in Cancun during our stay due to COVID-19 restrictions. International travel adventures are not the same now as they once were. At least, that is what I am beginning to understand.
You see, my first international adventure was last spring when my partner fulfilled my Christmas wish and put a stamp on my brand new passport. Not a newly-renewed passport, but brand spanking new to me. I never had my passport before, I always wanted it, but never really had the means to even think about traveling across international boarders. As I began to approach this major milestone in my life, I finally submitted my application in 2019 in hopes of opening new doors. Receiving my passport in the mail was so exciting, the world was now at my fingertips!
In early 2020, Jamie took me to Colombia, his favorite place on Earth. We returned literally just days before the world shut down. I am grateful I got to experience one small section of the world beyond the US borders before COVID-19 changed everything.
Fast forward 12+ months… World wide pandemic, mass closures, businesses folding, economies collapsing, mask mandates, fear, World Wide Fear. After all the chaos COVID-19 brought, I needed a break. I needed a vacation of all vacations, somewhere I could rest my brain from the mental fatigue, rejuvenate my body from the daily grind, reconnect with my partner after an extremely taxing year, and re-calibrate my soul for the path ahead.
PART 1: Planning
My partner is so amazing. He put a plan together meeting all of my requests for a fantastic, relaxing, do nothing vacation. He worked hard to get his business in a solid place where he could comfortably unplug, and made it happen. We pulled the trigger last minute because I couldn’t find my passport *GASP*
I know, I know, how could I lose my newfound key to the kingdom?! It was misplaced in our move – my kiddo and I moved in with Jamie last August. My passport was not in any of the boxes I thought it was in – at least I didn’t find it the first time I checked. So, the week of our originally planned departure, I finally made time to try again starting with the box I just knew it had to be in. I had been so stressed out, just the mere thought of sorting through a box of papers sheet by sheet, then putting it back together, was completely overwhelming. But the thought of not getting to go on our much needed adventure was even more overwhelming.
So, there I am at 10:30 on a Tuesday night, sifting through papers hoping my passport is tucked between the pages of unfiled documents waiting to be dealt with. After about 10 minutes of diligently sorting each item I touched, ensuring no page went unturned, by golly gosh I FOUND IT!!!!!!
In true Neva and Jamie fashion, Wednesday night we booked our trip with our flight leaving Saturday morning! But wait! There’s more! Jamie was invited to play in a Golf Tournament/Fundraiser by one of his supply houses. The cocktail party was Thursday night and the tourney was Friday, in Wesminster. The supply house owner wanted to get some practice in at Top Golf beforehand, which meant we had to be in Denver by 1pm the following afternoon… SO, there we were packing as best we could in the short time we had.
We’d be gone for 6 days, 6 nights; 2 in Denver, 4 in Cancun.
One checked bag, containing both of our clothing and toiletry needs, and one backpack each with any peripherals we needed on the plane.
*PHEEEEW*
As always, we were cutting it close, we left 15 minutes after we had hoped to (which if you know us, is actually really good! LOL), just in time to miss some major traffic jams. We arrived at our first destination by 1:15pm… Not too shabby! Top Golf to start the vacation was a fun way to meet Jamie’s work peeps and get him comfortable swinging a club before a full day of “golfing.”
Jamie golfed and drank the next day away, in true golf tournament fashion. Then we had dinner with my sister before checking into our 2nd hotel to get as much rest as possible before heading to the airport.
Our hotel let us leave our car in their lot (for a small fee, of course), and provided a shuttle to and from the airport – making it all the more convenient. Getting through the airport was not too bad and for once we had plenty of time before our flight. I could take a deep breath and eat my breakfast before boarding.
PART 2: Our Stay at an All Inclusive Resort
Royalton Chic Suites, Cancun Resort & Spa – Adults Only: Beach Front, All Inclusive, Sunset View.
Free access to 9 out of 12 restaurants; 4 out of 6 bars; 3 out of 4 swim areas/pools; 24-hour room service; and a Coffee Shop.
Most food, beverages, and liquor was included, what wasn’t could be purchased for a “small” up-charge. Spa services were not included, but coupons were provided to make them more affordable or lucrative. Some food specials were exclusive to “Diamond Club” members, and some were offered to all patrons, depending on the restaurant and availability (I am guessing, based on what we were offered).
At no point where we given the option for the Diamond Club upgrade, so I have no idea how much extra the other amenities would have cost. We were only offered the ability to upgrade our room to Ocean View for $350 for our whole stay, plus the use of a coupon to drop it down to $300. We stuck with the sunset view over the lagoon and Cancun proper.
Our room key was our bracelet, which made it incredibly convenient. It is also what was used to check in at restaurants for meals – cause you know contact tracing? No, probably mostly in case we chose to upgrade our food to the items that cost extra, or buy a bottle of wine or tequila and charge it all to the room.
This was a first experience for both Jamie and I; he, a seasoned world traveler, and I, a novice in my international adventures. We both had a great time and felt like we should have taken advantage of more of the “all Inclusive” perks offered. The only thing we ordered from room service was ice when we first arrived (they removed the ice machines on each floor due to COVID-19), it took so much time to arrive we both didn’t think much of ordering and waiting for food in our room the whole time. We wanted to explore instead… Plus we didn’t find out it was available 24 hours until the night before we left.
We arrived just in time to settle in before dinner time, we went to Hunter’s Steakhouse for our Saturday evening date night. It was delicious! The steak was cooked to melt in your mouth perfection and the ribs were falling off the bone. For sides we had their mixed greens salad, mashed taters, and creamed spinach. Jamie could not get enough of the creamed spinach. The service was top notch – Enrique took great care of us! We were there for the sunset and the view was spectacular! Which made us happy we didn’t spend the extra $$ for the ocean view.
The Martini Bar just outside the restaurant was the spot for late night entertainment. Unfortunately, they stopped serving alcohol after 11pm (due to statewide COVID restrictions all establishments were held to this rule), but we had so many shots and drinks, that after our long day of travel we were exhausted and ready to hit the sack.
Unfortunately we slept in and missed breakfast the next day – they stopped serving at 11am – we finally roused out of bed at 11:02am. DdddAAAAng it! But we found the coffee shop, got some latte’s and some pasteles (pastries), yumm! We ran into a cute honeymooning couple we met at dinner the night before and ended up spending the afternoon with them. We went to the Buffet when it opened at noon, had some delicious food from the cutest spread. A very well put together buffet that almost didn’t feel like a buffet.
After filling our tummies we went to the beach for a swim, the water was so clear, shallow, and warm, it was the best ocean experience I’ve had, yet! Jamie and I both proceeded to lose our glasses, mine prescription transition lenses and his expensive favorite sunglasses. I warned him to leave his, because I had lost mine by the time he decided to get in the water. But he had the little neck thingy (not sure what it’s called, LOL!) to help keep them attached – the ocean had different plans! She took his with the first wave she hit him with!
Lucky for us, the life guards take their breaks and snorkel around looking for peoples’ lost things… For a fee!! Jamie paid a pretty propina (tip), for his, I gave up on mine since they are basically the same color as the sand. BUT, they found them! The propina for mine was not as large as for his, but we were glad it worked out in our favor!
We parted ways with our new friends and headed to our room. We washed the salt and sand away in our luke warm shower *shivvvvvver*, then took our sweet time getting ready for the evening. So long, we almost missed dinner! LOL!
The only restaurant that had a table was the Sports Bar. Typical American fair with much smaller portions, an attempt to be high-end but they just missed the mark. The view was incredible, the moon rise over the ocean was absolutely gorgeous! I couldn’t take my eyes off it and made poor Jamie sit outside in the humid air so it was less obstructed… It was his Birthday, but he let me pick our table!
This time, by the time we were done eating, the Martini Bar was closing down. So we got our last few drinks of the night and wondered down to the beach. We met a new friend and ended up spending the rest of the evening enjoying their company. It was a nice way to end the evening, just much earlier than we had hoped.
The next morning I had a pedicure, so I jumped out of bed and ran to the Spa. I was the only one in the room, the service was fantastic and my toes were so grateful for the care donned by the young nail tech. We then went to breakfast at the buffet, which was great! I really enjoyed the fruit spread they had – Dragon Fruit is my new favorite fruit, so delicious!
After breakfast we walked down to the little “Bar District” (not sure of it’s official name}. We bought tickets for a show later that evening, enjoyed some complimentary drinks in their day drinking bar “CocoBongo Beach Party”… If I were 15 years younger and on spring break that would have been a better experience. But getting drunk and shaking my ass for a bunch of dudes in broad daylight wasn’t really my jam. LOL!
We explored the tienditas (little shops) looking for souvenirs for the fambam. The souvenirs are expensive and repetitive between shops. Not many unique, hand made items. And, boy do you pay a “Tourist Tax” if you choose to purchase any. There was not much activity in the heat of the day, but it was nice to see what this area had to offer before walking around at night.
We eventually found our way back to the resort, washed up for dinner and our show, then decided on Asian cuisine at Jade Restaurant. It was a fusion of many different Asian cultures, there was Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, and sushi. Jamie ordered the Thom Kha, but received the Pho. The waiter brought an order of Thom Kha so Jamie could taste the one he wanted. The Pho was better, but was served in appetizer portions. I had the Salmon with Yellow Curry, Jamie had the Miso Seabass. The Yellow curry was the better of the two. Our waiter offered us the lobster special, with no extra charge. It was pretty good.
I’ve never really been a huge fan of lobster, I feel it’s overrated and doesn’t have that much flavor for all it’s cracked up to be. So I’m not the best to offer an opinion here. But overall the food was tasty and the experience was pleasant. We were there early so we could try to catch our show on time, we were still late! LOL!
The show at CocoBongo was amazing! It was very high energy and the production manager has done a fantastic job at coordinating all of the details! There were so many transitions between skits, the DJ took over while the crew reset the stages, prepped equipment, and the performers changed costumes and make-up. They chose people from the crowd to be “Go-Go Dancers” between sets, the camera men picked people out of the crowd and they were put on the spot to dance. You could tell who their favorites were ;)…
Jamie and I finished a bottle of vodka between us, and hardly felt a buzz – this was in addition to day drinking and drinks with dinner. But what else would you expect when your tolerance is built in the high altitudes of Colorado!
The show let out at midnight and the resort was pretty quiet when we came back from the show, so we made our way up to our room and proceeded to pass the fuck out! LOL! We woke up at a decent hour the next morning, Jamie got us coffee and we met at the buffet. Still trying to make it before 11am was difficult – they should really offer later brunch hours for us night owls!
After breakfast, we hemmed and hawed about renting a car and driving down to Playa Del Carmen. Google Maps says it is 1hr 15 minutes away, locals said 45minutes. We made pretty good time, until there was an accident that slowed traffic to an almost stand still – reminiscent of I-25. Eventually we found our destination and explored the area around El Gran Coyote Golf Course – any golfers know of this famous course?
We thought it would be closer to Playa del Carmen, maybe there is a route option we missed that is faster?! We wish we had more time to explore, as we never actually made it down to the beach and tourist area. Our drive there and back were pretty uneventful even with the accident. It seems like a nice area that I look forward to exploring more of in the future.
We made it back to our resort just in time for our couples massage, which was a fantastic way to close out the day! We had dinner at Hunter’s Steakhouse again, we both had steaks *MMMMmmmm* Victor was our waiter this time, he had quite the sense of humor and kept us laughing all evening. We were able to sit in special “Diamond Club” reserved seating – since Tuesday and Wednesdays are their slow nights. Which was perfect, because we were able to see the circus show below from our window.
PART 3: My Thoughts on the Experience
Being of Mexican decent and never having visited the land of my ancestors felt wrong. I am 36 years old, why have I never made it across the border?
When you grow up in near poverty, with three siblings, it is simply not a realistic vacation. My classmates were regularly vacationing in Mexico, coming back with lovely tans, their hair braided, some with beads, and awesome stories of swimming in the beautiful Caribbean Ocean. I was envious – one of the few times in my life I felt that wretched feeling.
How could these people of European decent visit my homeland and I couldn’t? A question that lingered until I began to understand the reality of income, living expenses, and the cost of raising a family. My grandparents and their families immigrated here from Mexico to try to offer their families a better life than they would otherwise be able to provide – or so they thought – the “American Dream.”
After having many conversations with with my dad regarding us visiting Mexico, I learned that he did not feel comfortable taking us kids because he felt he would be negatively judged for being of the same decent of the people and not being willing to give them anything – i.e., buy chicle – because he didn’t have any extra $$. He didn’t think they would understood nor accepted this. He was afraid of the potentially negative recourse that would occur, with kids in-tow. Not something he wanted to put our family through, especially back in the 80’s and 90’s when things weren’t as developed as they are now.
So, as an adult, I got to visit Mexico for the first time. I visited an area that is pretty well developed, a tourist trap if you will. An area heavily policed by a militarized police force. An area were people are not begging, they are working – for tips.
We didn’t spend much time outside of our resort – ’cause when it’s all inclusive, why venture off to pay more money for stuff you can get for free on your resort?
As detailed above, what little time we did spend off resort was for entertainment and adventure. Speaking of, driving in Mexico is quite the adventure – Jamie is great at it!! His confidence and abilities continue to amaze me (read, turn me on ;)). He is so fearless, at least he doesn’t show it if he feels it. He remains poised in the most uncertain situations and it inevitably works out in the end, maybe not exactly how we planned, but it still works out!
On Resort vs Off Resort:
On resort is the most Americanized version of Mexico you can find. If that is what you are looking for – creature comforts, amenities up the wazoo, English speaking staff and menus/signage – than this is the place to be. SOOOOOO MANY AMERICANS.
The food, Americanized. The drinks, Americanized. The entertainment, Americanized. The shops, the music, the coffee, the décor, everything.
There was very little Mexican culture found in the resort. Simply the native language spoken by the staff, should you choose to engage and attempt to honor their culture. Otherwise, they spoke pretty good English.
Off resort, in Cancun, what little we saw was pretty much the same. Americanized bars and restaurants, appealing to all types of tourists – the young, the old, BIPOC, white, well-off, and budget travelers. There were even shopping malls with stores I see in the US…
Please tell me, why would I want to go shopping at a store I can shop at here? Why would I want to pay more there? What is the appeal? Just to say I bought it in Mexico? No thanks, I’m good!
Where were the mariachi, where were the folklorico dancers? Why was there a high end Mexican food restaurant in my resort, but not a taco stand? And by high end, think Mexican food that is Americanized to appeal to the masses. Not real traditional foods. There was a pizza stand, but no taco stand. I wanted real street tacos, tortas, sopapillas, pico, and salsa galore. Nope, not on the resort. And not really even that much available off resort – unless you go really far off resort, and even then it was tough to tell what was open.
At CocoBongo, the skits were all based on U.S. Pop Culture. What about Mexican Pop culture? What about Mexican heritage? Why not build a spectacular show based on the country we are visiting? I guess United States citizens aren’t the only ones visiting, so other cultures may find it entertaining and something they don’t get at home. Now, don’t get me wrong, it was a fantastic show! I just hoped for less United States and more Mexico.
I guess if you can afford to go to another country, and your chosen destination is a well known tourist area, you can expect less of the native cultures and more appeal to the international cultures of the majority of the visitors.
All in all, it was an AMAZING ADVENTURE. The people we met, both staff and fellow tourists, were kind and welcoming. I would definitely go back, if given the opportunity. But, I would choose to spend more time off resort, looking for the culture – in safe ways!