From The Corner Of My Mind - Vacation Thoughts

* I don't know where to start actually. Other than the cruise we took a few years back, this was probably the most extravagant vacation that I have ever taken in 50 years. It was worth every penny. W-spouse has been after me to take a vacation on the beach somewhere in the Caribbean since we got married 7 years ago. Honestly, just hanging out at the beach didn't sound that appealing to me, but I decided to give it a try and see what all the hoopla was about. I have friends that have taken vacations there and they all love it. Some of them even going year after year. We decided last year that for W-stepsons graduation present that we would take him and a friend to Mexico and we started planning. W-spouse made all the reservations and after many nights staring at the computer screen and reading thousands of reviews, she chose The Grand Palladium resort in Mexico. It's actually about 36 km south of Playa Del Carmen on the Riviera Maya. It's a long ride from the Cancun Int. Airport, approximately 1 1/2 hours. It's even longer if your shuttle has to stop at any other resorts and drop off passengers along the way. Along the way you will enjoy/hate the sights of small towns, larger cities and Mexican Police checkpoints where you will encounter Police heavily armed with machine guns and pistols. We didn't get stopped or checked, but we observed others doing so. On the ride south you are far enough away from the coast that you never see it, even when going over the elevated highway as you pass through Playa Del Carmen. Our flight left DFW early and we were on the ground in Mexico around 10 am. I have flown on a few different major airlines before, but in my experience Sun Country was the best so far, but it may be because W-spouse and I were able to upgrade to first class round trip inexpensively making the ride very comfortable for both of us. That is something neither of us had never done before and probably will never get the opportunity to do again. We arrived at our resort early and after checking in with our Apple Vacations representative  and then stopping by the front desk to inquire about upgrading our rooms, which we did, we started venturing out around the resort. We strolled down to the beach and had lunch at one of the buffets and then hung out in the lobby to check in at 3pm. Check in was painless for the boys because they were staying at the resort where we checked in, but ours took a little longer because we had upgraded and there was some confusion as to whether or not our room was ready. That and the fact that we had to catch a shuttle across to the other side of the resort. Let me explain here that this resort is actually 4 resorts in one.

Grand Palladium Kantenah and Colonial on the north side and the Grand Palladium White Sand and Riviera on the south side. The boys were staying in the Kantenah 42 and we stayed in the White Sand 53. Approximately a mile apart. The Villas numbered 60-71 were for Club Palladium members and were mostly off limits to anyone else. After waiting, and finally catching a golf cart, we made it to our suite. The resorts call it a Junior Suite. We were stunned as we walked into a beautiful room with a Jacuzzi tub next to the California king size bed. Granite flooring, granite shower and bathroom made it look even more elegant. The view out the patio into the jungle was spectacular.

There were 6 swimming pools for resort member use and 2 others for Club Palladium members. One pool was at the Spa for spa members and their guests and one at the top of the picture, near the ocean was member only also. The big pools that you see behind each of the two main resorts were very busy and each had swim up bars. There were a few smaller pools that for the most part were adult only and seemed to be in a more private setting. The swimming/snorkeling area access to the beach was directly behind the Katenah/Colonial resort and it was the only place on the beach in front of the whole resort that didn't have a rocky bottom. There was about a 300 yard wide place to swim that was was marked with rope and if you got on either side of it, you encountered rocks. It was great to snorkel over, but not good to hang out in the water and play. The swim area was excellent and only once during our stay did it seem to get crowded.

There were many places and types of food to eat. You could do a buffet style meal 24 hours a day or A la carte in the evening hours. The buffets near the beach and pool had minimal dress codes and the buffets inside you had to wear a shirt with sleeves, but you could wear shorts and flip flops if you desired. The A la carte restaurants required long pants and were a little more casual dress, although we saw evening gowns and suits a few nights. The wait at the A la cartes were nearly an hour each night, and once you did get seated it took a long time to get your drinks, then your meals and then desserts. One night at the Japanese A la carte it took us two hours just to eat, not including the wait time to be seated. After that we chose to eat at the buffets. The food was excellent at either, and I must say that I like the buffet style the best. The food selection, either at breakfast, lunch or dinner was vast. Endless choices of salads, meats, vegetables and desserts. In our experience, the desserts were hardly ever sweet and satisfying, but the fruit choices were also endless and you could satisfy your sweet tooth with fruit after every meal.

We had 4 full days on our vacation and chose to spend 2 of them on excursions and 2 just hanging out at the beach or pools. The first excursion we went on was a 20 minute ride to the south and then we turned off the highway and headed deep into the jungle. We pulled up to a locked gate. No fancy entrance, nor big signs, just a no frills place. Which at first had us worried. Our tour guide, "Eeliu" pronounced L-E-U, was a very nice and informative guide. As we started into the jungle, he fires up Welcome To The Jungle on the stereo and we start driving wildly down a narrow jungle road, twisting and turning. Now that would have been fun if I had been at the wheel and on the Teryx4, but I was seated in the rear of a 12  passenger van and it was like riding a bucking horse for the next 10 minutes till we arrived at the start of the adventure. After getting our gear we went snorkeling in an underground cave. 

Next, we repelled off of a 70' tower. We? Yep, W-spouse even did it. Here's proof.

The we did a series of three zip lines. The first was 550' long. The second was over 700' feet and the third was 1220' long. W-stepson, W-spouse and I got to do all three, but Raymond had to set out the third one because he exceeded the weight limit. They told him they didn't want to have to clean up all the rocks, so he set that one out.

After the adventures in the jungle, we met back at the rendezvous point and had a wonderful Mexican style buffet in the big screened in porch area. Grilled chicken, potatoes, rice and beans with a marvelous guacamole, chips and salsa. We then loaded back up in the shuttle van and headed back to the resort. 
The next day was spent at Xel-Ha. This place was magnificent and you could spend 2-3 days there just exploring all the sights, and you could spend a fortune on all the things available to do(at and extra cost). Such as swimming with the dolphins and manatees, or swimming and interacting with the sting rays. We chose to snorkel the river two different times. The boys jumped off the cliffs, zip lined into the water and also did a rope swing into one of the Cenotes. We spent all day just snorkeling and enjoying the underwater sights. Late that evening we made our way back to the resort and had a wonderful dinner together. The last full day at the resort was going to be just rest and relaxation, but the day before I had made my way over to the spa and made reservations for W-spouse and I to get a massage early that morning. After that she got a pedicure, a facial and then a hair cut. I just hung out in the room till she got finished and we then met the boys for a late lunch. The rest of the day was spent lounging on the beach or hanging out at the pool and swim up bar. We were back in our room early that evening to get packed and ready for the journey back home. I am so lucky to have gotten to go on this vacation and spend the time with those that I love and care about. I wished that I could afford to take the whole family on a vacation like this in the future, and someday perhaps we can. For now, I thank God that I was able to do it this year and I feel so blessed that we made the trip safe and sound. Sorry for the long post and I hope that you enjoyed sharing this time with us.