Honeymooning in Mexico

Update on the pro photos: I called our photographer yesterday. He said he would have our photos online for viewing at 7-8 weeks. So we have another week or two to wait until we see anything ::minor sad face::

In the meantime, I'll share with you our awesome honeymoon to the all-inclusive resort, Excellence Playa Mujeres. If you're an avid reader of Weddingbee (aren't we all?!), then you'll recognize this as the same place that Mrs. Penguin and Mrs. Elephant went on their honeymoons. No coincidence... this resort is phenomenal.

On to the photos!

When we arrived at the resort, we were greeted with hot towels and champagne. I look a little beaten from the travel, but we were thrilled to finally be there...

We stayed in a Junior Excellence Club Oceanview Suite. Excellence Club is basically the VIP section of the resort. Our room had a honeymoon banner on it during out stay. I'd say about 1/3 of all the doors we saw had some sort of banner on them...

When we walked into our room, we saw a bouquet of flowers with a welcome letter...

... Along with fresh fruit and a bottle of champagne (which we never drank, because the bottle wouldn't fit in our mini fridge, and warm champagne is gross)...

Our suite had a jacuzzi that opened to our patio overlooking the ocean...

After all the wedding planning and wedding week overload, it was truly wonderful to spend a week just relaxing by the beach with a drink in hand...

 

 

One of the only times we set foot in the ocean...

 

I loved all the comfy beds and hammocks around the resort. I took a daily nap around 3pm to sleep off the booze and refresh myself for our evening ahead. These beds were the perfect setting for that...

As for entertainment, there was plenty of it at the resort. They had shows every night...

 

Ryan even got called up on stage during the Circus show (he's second from the left)...

We brought some cards and small games to keep us busy between dinner and the evening shows...

 

 We did take one excursion off the resort. We went to Selvatica to do some zip-lining and 4-wheeling. We don't have any photos of that (they want you to purchase them, and I just look terrified in most of the pictures!), but we have some photos of us hanging out at the base camp, along with swimming in the cenote after our 4-wheeling adventure...

 

 

But the best part of our honeymoon was the reason you go to an all-inclusive resort... the free food and alcohol!

 

Free room service is the greatest idea ever...

It was all totally delicious, and I ate dessert with almost every meal. I gained, NO JOKE, 8 pounds during our honeymoon. Ryan gained 7. It was ridiculously awesome. When we returned home, all I wanted to do was shove my face and drink mimosas every morning. Too bad real life isn't like that.

  

That's pretty much our honeymoon... a lot of lazing around and eating. Overall, we had an amazing time, and would recommend the Excellence Playa Mujeres to anyone. Any complaints I had about the resort were minor, and have since been forgotten.

 

It was the perfect way to start off our marriage.

Vacation Lessons

Apologies for the extended absence. The boy and I were on vacation in sunny warm Florida. I pinky swear it won't happen again (seriously... no more trips until our honeymoon!).

I thought now would be an appropriate time to cover all the handy things I learned on vacation that I can apply toward the perfect honeymoon experience.

1) Bring your camera everywhere. You never know when that rainy evening will turn into a gorgeous sunset.

2) Forget about your diet. As much as you might try, it's pretty impossible to keep on track with your diet while on vacation. But that's okay... it's one week, and you don't want to be stressing about it the entire time.

Eating a giant ice cream.

3) Pack plenty of books. There's surely nothing better than enjoying a good book or solving a challenging crossword puzzle as you lay by the ocean.


4) Bring your competitive side. Friendly competition is fun. Ryan loves when he can beat me at something (let me tell you... it doesn't happen often).

Losing at mini golf.

5) Pack plenty of sunscreen. We didn't check any bags for this trip, so all our sunscreen came in tiny 3 oz. bottles. Apparently 6 ounces of sunscreen won't last an entire week.

Getting sunburnt on the beach.

6) Prepare for something to go wrong. On the way home, our plane was deemed broken. They ushered us back off the plane to wait at the gate a little longer. Then we had to take a second plane home. It set us back over an hour, and foiled our plans to pick up our dog from the kennel that night.

Broken right engine.

Yes. Perhaps that was just an excuse to show off some vacations photos.

Our short trip to the Gulf of Mexico made me really excited for our long trip to the Gulf of Mexico in 2011. Honeymoon, here we come!

The Honeymoon Reveal

After weighing our options and eliminating some fierce competition, Ryan and I have decided to spend our honeymoon at the Excellence Playa Mujeres.

So what was it that sealed the deal? This YouTube video, actually. The resort has absolutely everything we could ask for in a honeymoon, plus things we had never even thought of. The video highlights just how unbelievable gorgeous and immaculate it really is.

Here's just some of the stuff we'll enjoy on our trip...

• 7 swimming pools
• 8 international restaurants (reservations are never required)
• 11 bars
• 24-hour free room-service
• Pool and beach waiter service
• Free non-motorized water sports (sailing, windsurfing, kayaking, snorkeling, etc)
• Food and drinks whenever you want (omg, you know this is my favorite part!)
• Daily activities and nightly entertainment
• All taxes and gratuity included (so you don't have to carry around money... ever!)

And of course, here are the special honeymoon perks...

• Fresh basket of fruit upon arrival
• Bottle of sparkling wine
• Romantic dinner
• Turn-Down service
• Champagne breakfast in bed
• 15% discount on spa treatments (I think this calls for a couples massage!)

Here are some photos of the resort...

Who wouldn't want to enjoy that view during lunch?

The lazy river, which wraps around the entire resort.

Private romantic dinner on the beach.

You can even get a suite with your own private rooftop pool!

Perhaps we should have held off on making this decision until later in the year. Now that I know where we're going, I just want to go now! I may or may not be looking forward to the honeymoon just as much as the wedding.

Ryan says he plans on having alcohol with every meal. Looks like we made a good choice.

Sun, Sand, and Cocktails... Oh My!

We decided on our honeymoon! Yes, that was quick. What can I say... we know what we like.

Our criteria:

• under $4,000 for 6 nights
  
• all-inclusive (we really like to eat and drink)
  
• tropical (duh)
  
• fun things to do (excursions, etc)
  

My original list of possible honeymoon destinations, and why some locales got the boot...

Jamaica - It seemed too built up and commercialized. We're looking for something with a more secluded feeling.
Dominican Republic - I had been here before. We really preferred to choose a place that neither of us had ever been.
St. Lucia - Too secluded. The #1 resort on the island didn't even had air conditioning or TVs in the rooms! We like our modern comforts.
Aruba - Again, with it being too built up. I was surprised at this one, but it just didn't feel "right".
Costa Rica - Can we say bugs?! I hate bugs. I've heard Costa Rica is beautiful, but it's a little exotic for our tastes, and I couldn't find any all-inclusive resorts that didn't get terrible reviews.
Belize - I had a hard time finding all-inclusive resorts in Belize. It's a pretty small country.

So that left us with Mexico. A country that had originally started at the very bottom of my list had quickly shot up due to ideal climates, stellar reviews, and pristine beaches.

Our list of possible resorts in Mexico...

Royal Playa del Carmen: $3,053 for a Royal Oceanfront suite with indoor jacuzzi. The resort has a 91% rating on TripAdvisor. Negative reviews: heavy on the party scene, rocky beach.


Excellence Riviera Cancun: $3,141 for an Excellence Junior Oceanfront suite with indoor/outdoor jacuzzi. The resort has a 92% rating on TripAdvisor. Negative reviews: I had a hard time finding any.


Excellence Playa Mujeres: $3,258 for an Excellence Junior Oceanfront suite with indoor/outdoor jacuzzi. The resort has a 92% rating on TripAdvisor. Negative reviews: Crowded pools (which might not be an issue since we're going in the off-season).


El Dorado Maroma: $3,906 for a Beachfront suite with indoor jacuzzi. The resort has a 90% rating on TripAdvisor. Negative reviews: Boring, low on entertainment.


Well, it was obvious to us that the Excellence resorts just stood out above the rest (at this point, I don't even remember what drew me to the other 2 in the first place!).

But the idea of having 2 resorts owned by the same company in the same city confused us. They both have between 400-500 rooms. They both have 8 restaurants. They both have roughly the same number of pools and bars. And they're practically the same price.

Oh, how will we ever decide?!

So we discussed them both to death, flipped back and forth on a daily basis, and finally made a decision last night.

Which resort will we be spending our honeymoon at? Stay tuned for the reveal, along with tons of drool-worthy details!