swimmer2
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Joined: 12/20/2007
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1/23/13 Wed. 7:45 AM We left for the Pensacola Airport running a little late, but Bob dropped Les off with the luggage and went to park the van in long-term parking. We had our boarding passes and were checked in and seated at the gate by 9:10 AM, with our plane (American Eagle by American Airlines) leaving at 10 AM. This all-inclusive 7-night trip was $1629 each with Apple Vacations, booked around Nov. 1st. You can have 10 or 11 nights in the 1st half of Dec. for about the same price. It’s a lot more expensive in January. Also we found it to be more crowded.
When we went through security Les got the full pat-down. They never did tell her why – she wore minimal jewelry this trip. It really sucks that Cancun is probably only about 1 ½ - 2 hours actual flying time, directly south of Pensacola, but because there are no direct flights out of Pensacola, we had to go through Dallas/Fort Worth and come back through Miami. It makes a couple hour flight into an all-day thing! We had an hour delay getting out of Dallas/Fort Worth, possibly because the plane going to St. Louis had mechanical trouble. We think they took our plane, and we had to wait for one coming in from Costa Rica. Our 1st leg to D/FW was on a small American Eagle plane (puddle jumper) so all our carry-ons got put in the belly of the plane. That sucked! Les did some quick shuffling around, putting a couple things in her small beach bag purse.
We arrived into Cancun about 5:15 PM, went through customs and immigration and got our luggage one of the quickest times ever-about ½ hour! Our Apple representatives were waiting for us. They had 1 other couple to drop off at Blue Bay Esmerelda, which is near Catalonia Playa Maroma, where we stayed once. We would not want to stay here – too far back from the highway, just like CPM was. We finally arrived at CRT about 7:15 – 7:30 PM, the latest we’ve ever arrived at a resort. I had sent a room request 1 week ahead for 2nd floor, Bldgs. 5 or 6. We had Bldg. 5 the other 2 times we were here, but now they are considered Jr. Suites and require a paid upgrade. The male desk person told us first that it would be $60 per night extra, which we wouldn’t have done. They ended up putting us in Bldg. 5 for no extra cost, but there was some confusion, and we ended up on the 3rd floor, which would be too hard for Les with her bad knees. They put us in #5212, which is 3rd floor. #5112 would be 2nd floor. We asked if we could get 2nd floor instead, and they said to come down to the lobby in the morning, and they would see if anything was available. There was a basket of fruit-we were celebrating our anniversary.
We decided to eat in the La Selva buffet tonight. The last time we stayed here (2 yrs. ago), they did not have a buffet, so we were pretty happy about that. Even though you don’t have to dress up here for the ala cartes, we kind of like to, and sometimes you just want something quicker and more casual. It was excellent tonight – lots of delicious Mexican dishes (found out later it was Mexican night). It turned out to be the best of the evening buffets we went to. Afterwards we had a couple of drinks at the Las Margaritas lobby bar. There are still not bar stools around the lobby bar, which is too bad because it is much easier to socialize than sitting at the various tables. We met a nice couple from Muncie, but they were leaving the next day.
We consider the only “not great things” about this resort are the lack of bar stools and the abundance of not very friendly Italians, but then the resort chain is owned by an Italian company.
1/24 Thurs. Bob went out to the beach and saved chairs under one of our favorite palms, right in front of the Ma Loo smoothie bar. We went to breakfast, which was really great, including lots of good cheeses. We then went to the front desk to see about changing to a room on the 2nd floor in Bldgs. 5 or 6. We didn’t unpack very much last night so we could do this easily. They did not have anything on the 2nd floor, but they had a ground floor room available in Bldg. 6. We had never taken a room on the 1st floor before, but we decided to do it. As it turned out with what happened later, we were very lucky to have selected this. It is Room 6004 and has 1 king bed instead of 2 doubles. One really good thing – there is excellent Wi-Fi in the room, which we did not have before here or at other resorts in past years. Les went on to the beach.
Right before Bob arrived, Les’s favorite silver vendor showed up. He started at $35 for a wide .925 silver bracelet. She started at $20. She got it for $22. Then she swam ½ hr. straight-small waves. It would have been great for snorkeling. She went out quite a ways beyond the rope, laying her face down in the water and seeing some coral. She came back earlier than she really wanted so Bob could go on a ½ hr. walk before it got any hotter. We had to go back to the room to change rooms at 1 PM. After changing rooms, we unpacked and relaxed awhile.
We then went back out to the Deli-Pizzeria Sorrento, the beach snack bar and had a couple slices of pizza, then Les had a chicken sandwich, and Bob had a hamburger and fries. The beach had already lost the sun, so we stayed around the bar and had a couple drinks at the pool bar. We then rushed back to the room to shower and get ready to meet our Apple rep. at 5:30 PM, only he/she never showed up. We had a few drinks at the lobby bar, not eating tonight because we ate lunch so late.
1/25 Fri. This was to be the day we were to go to the Tulum beaches for the 1st time and meet Lamour de Guylene, Les’s jewelry lady at noon, but the forecast called for a lot of rain. We had breakfast and changed some money into pesos at the hotel exchange window. We went back to the room, and, luckily, Guylene called before noon. We changed the time to between 11 and 12 tomorrow. It was hard, steady rain this morning. We got wet with the umbrella just walking to the lobby for breakfast. We got a new card for our room, as one of ours did not work, and told them about taking the new beach towels from our old room to our new room. The way the beach towel thing works now is to leave the used ones on the floor, and they bring new ones. We also told them about our Apple rep. not showing up last night. Bob relaxed in the room then, and Les went to the beach.
Les waited about ½ hr. for Bob, and then she just had to go in. It was wild and great – 3’ crashing waves and huge swells, but they did not seem as dangerous with the red flag as a lot of the Gulf Shores, AL yellow flag waves are. She was the only one that went out as far as the ropes – she swam ½ hr. Then later, right before we left the beach, she swam another 20 minutes. – It was even wilder! We stopped at the snack bar, and Bob had another hamburger, and Les had nachos. We also shared some pizza. The weather channel on TV had said it would get 89 today, but it felt like it was only in the high 70s because of the wind and not a lot of sun. At least the beach wasn’t as crowded. Yesterday it was definitely more crowded than it is in December.
1/26 Sat. Yay, no rain! We skipped breakfast and caught a colectivo (about $3 each) to the San Francisco market corner (the Coba road) in Tulum and then got a taxi to Ana y Jose Beach Club for 70 pesos – higher than last year. What a surprise we got! Always before the beds were free if you ordered food and/or drinks. Not anymore! - $120 pesos for a bed. Also there was some uncovered dead coral on shore now, but it was sandy where Les went in. It was wild today, with 3’-5’ waves crashing in close, along with a lot of them breaking out in deep water also. Les stayed in 25 minutes. There was some outward pull where they were breaking so she didn’t go out as far as usual (she thought). She had to dive under several large waves to get out there. She didn’t think she was even with the large rocks to the north, but Bob told her later that she was out beyond the rocks. There were even waves breaking out there occasionally. It took her longer to swim back in than it took to go out.
Guylene showed up about 11:40 AM. After chatting and looking over everything Guylene had with her (Les was one of the 1st to see her new collection), Les selected an agate necklace and earrings. The agates were from Mexico. Bob also encouraged her to get this one- it was different than anything she had. After Guylene left, we went up into the restaurant to eat and found the menu totally different with higher prices also – about twice as high! This platform and tables were on the right side of the Beach Club, looking from the ocean. They did not even have the nachos Les got last year anymore. We shared 3 tacos for $15 – ridiculous! Bob got a beer and Les a margarita. The margarita was $7 and really sucked.
Guylene had walked the beach to see if she could make any more sales. When we saw her going by again, we invited her up and bought her a drink. We had a great time chatting for awhile. After she left, Bob went to the restrooms to change into his clothes. Bad news! He had told Les not to go down the steep steps from the restaurant platform back down to the beach beds, but to use the other side – not as steep. But his straw hat blew away, and Les did go down those steps to get his hat. After getting it (she had had no problems) she went back up to get our other stuff left at the table. This time, when she went down, the bottom step gave way (it was broken) and she went down onto the sand. It was not that far onto the sand, but the bad thing was that she fallen on her worst knee, with it twisting under her. How totally stupid of her!!! Since she already had caught his hat, she could have gone up and down the easier way.
A table of Italians had been sitting near us. When this happened, the waiter and a couple good-looking young Italian guys rushed up to help her. She thanked them, but said she just needed a couple of minutes. The knee really hurt. We had been going to take our stuff and walk down south on the beach for about .8 of a mile to Cabanas Tulum and Ziggy Beach Club – 2 x 1 Margaritas 1 – 6 PM. That eliminated that possibility. We got a taxi back to Tulum pueblo for 60 pesos to Don Cafetos and shared an order of delicious nachos for 75 pesos and got a light coke and lemonade. They then brought us free chips and salsa with their well-known good pickled vegetables. When the order of nachos came, it was huge, and between the 2 of us, we could hardly eat it all. After this we limped to a nearby store, but that was all Les felt like doing. We spent a long time trying to get an uncrowded colectivo back. We finally got one. We limped up the drive to CRT, and, luckily, a bell boy offered us a ride to our room when he saw Les limping – how nice! Les hated to think what she would have done if we had gotten another room on the 2nd floor instead of the 1st. The cart driver told us to call room service (7151) for ice. By the time Les got out of the shower, the ice was there. It was unbelievable how much worse her knee was later, despite using the ice on it for quite awhile. When Les tried to put weight on it, it felt like it would give out, plus it really hurt. She used the umbrella as a crutch to get back and forth to the bathroom. She was really scared this was going to ruin the rest of the trip. This is only the 4th out of 8 days. Les told Bob to go ahead and go eat, but he didn’t want to go alone, so we ordered room service – Les, a chef’s salad and club sandwich, and Bob a chef’s salad and hamburger. It was all excellent – just as it had been the other 2 trips.
1/27 Sun. Thank goodness, Les was afraid last night she would not even get around at all, but she was able to get around slowly for short distances – even without the umbrella. Of course today it’s a beautiful sunny, windy day. Bob told her she should stay out of the ocean today. She hates that, but knows it’s for the best. If she could just start swimming, it would be ok, but she has to get in and out of the ocean, and the same with the pool, although the cooler water of the pool would be good. Bob was able to go up to the lobby and get Les a crutch – this should really help. She actually made it out to the beach palalpa for lunch. She thought about coming back later and swimming in the pool since there were steps down into it, but decided not to chance it today. In the evening we went back out to the Royal Grill, which was at the luncheon buffet, overlooking the beach. It is a little closer out there than up front to eat anywhere. Then we had a couple drinks at the pool bar. Les hopes to be able to get to the beach tomorrow and swim in the sea, if Bob will help her, and maybe the pool also. The Royal Grill was good, but kind of a light meal, so we ordered room service again later. We saw the coatis this morning near our building.
1/28 Mon. Bob took our stuff out to the beach at 6:30 AM. What a guy! Before we got out there at 9:30, it rained with the sun out, so our towel probably got wet. We made it slowly out to the beach. Bob went on a ½ hr. walk south on the beach. The earlier rain had only lasted about 15 minutes, but shortly after Bob left, it started pouring rain. Les sat in it for awhile and then went back to a deserted palapa with the stuff she didn’t want to get wet. When Bob returned, he walked Les into the sea just deep enough for her to swim, and she was good. She swam 50 minutes, including out to the rope. Then she waved, and after a little while, Bob went into shallow water to help her walk out. The sea today started out with a red flag when Les went in, then changed to yellow while she was swimming – easy 1’-2’ waves and large swells. Other than the rain shower, it was sunny and windy all day. Today Les bought a pair of large silver hoop earrings for $14 and 2 delicate silver bracelets for $20 – one for herself and and one for Angie. We left our stuff on the beach while we went to lunch and then went back out for awhile.
After this, we found a table up around the beach bar. Les swam in the pool for 10 minutes – easy to get in with the railing and steps. We had several drinks before going back to the room. Ingrid is a great waitress out here. We met Irene and Greg from New Jersey. They are scuba divers, having dived as deep as 140’, and have been to Fiji and many other places. They said Micronesia was the best place they’ve ever dived. We had been going to go to Centenario, the Mexican Restaurant tonight, but Les’s knee is always worse at night, and she decided it might be better not to go all the way up to the front. We ordered room service again – chef’s salads, club sandwiches and brownies – so good! The brownies were better than any of the other desserts we’ve had here, other than the ice cream.
1/29 Tues. Today is a beautiful sunny, windy day. Bob went up to have the concierge call Apple Vacations because they had never been there or even called us for departing instructions, while Les packed some things since tomorrow is our last day. We will get picked up at 12:15 PM tomorrow. Checkout is 12 noon, so that will work out well. Our flight leaves at 4:15 PM. We had planned on snorkeling for our only time this morning, but there are huge waves so we played in the waves instead about 35 minutes. The best day for snorkeling was the 1st day when Les just swam. Today was the 1st time Bob has been in, and he really enjoyed it. We walked north and played in the waves down there – really great. We took several pictures of each other. After lunch at the beach palapa, Les had planned on going back out, but they changed the yellow flag to red. Bob did not really want to get wet again, and it would have been a little risky for her knee getting out beyond the waves, so she didn’t swim again. We went up to the pool bar. On the way there, David (he was one of our waiters) stopped Les and asked her how she was. He said “You guys are special people”. That was so nice of him. Genny is the beach waitress. Ingrid is the one at the bar that signed my Locogringo cooler. The scuba divers from New Jersey and Guylene are the only other ones who’ve signed it. We ate Centenario, the Mexican Restaurant that night. The Mexican Restaurant had a great dessert – a chocolate mousse concoction!
1/30 Wed. Les had been going to swim in the sea this morning, then shower, and hopefully have time to get up and eat breakfast and check out before our pickup time at 12:15 PM, but after considering the extra time and wet clothes she’d have to pack, she decided it would not be worth it, because breakfast ends at 10:30 AM, and lunch did not start in time. We finished packing and then called for our luggage to be brought up. We got to ride up with the luggage. Our cart driver was Julio, who had given us a ride to our room after Les’s injury and got Les her crutch. We tipped him well, giving him 60 pesos plus $2. After eating breakfast we went ahead and checked out, leaving Veronica at the front desk 40 pesos plus $2. She was the one who helped us change rooms. After filling our comments on CRT on a form we got from the concierge, we settled in to wait – it was still over 2 hours until Apple would pick us up. Now, of course, with this much time, Les wished she had swam, even if it met she would have missed breakfast.
Apple actually was a few minutes early, and we had a fairly quick ride back to the airport and no problems there, having time to shop. Les had about $20 in pesos left. She found a silver ring in one of the shops, which cost about that much. We came back through Miami, and it’s a good thing Les’s knee was better, because we had to walk about ½ mile for Customs and Immigration and picking up and rechecking our luggage. Then an airport cart took us across the airport to our gate. We might not have made it in time by walking. We arrived into Pensacola, got our luggage, stopped at a Checkers for some sandwiches to eat on the way home, arriving home about midnight. What a great trip considering Les’s injury. Things could have been so much worse.
Les is going to try to find a travel agent from our area in Alabama, hopefully someone who can get us better transfer cities instead of Dallas/Ft. Worth and Houston, if we can’t get any direct flights from Pensacola or any nearby cities
Below are our comments on Catalonia Royal Tulum:
Bob’s rating of CRT (with 5 the highest) Les agrees unless she has her own comments added.
Service – 5+ or A+ because they are helpful to the extreme. They set the bar high for other resorts to meet, from a great check-in to meeting a room change request from Building 5, 3rd floor, to Building 6, 1st floor – plus helping with Les’s knee issue. They also provided a ride back to our room after we arrived from the Tulum beach with Les’s knee injured.
Facilities – B or 4 because of the issue with the rough stone walkways (the rough stones are hard on anyone with back trouble) and bars with no bar stools, and no swim-up bar. Great jungle-like landscaping with coatimundis, 1 ½’ iguanas and pigeon-like birds. There are 8 restaurants, 4 bars, and outstanding room service included, ideal for this size resort (288 rooms). The pool is the ideal size with many palapas, beds, and shade.
Room – 5+ or A+ (in Buildings 5 & 6). Rooms were large with 1 king-size or 2 double beds, large walk-in rain showers and long vanities, with a bathroom door that closes – excellent. Large mirror and rotatable mirror. Lots of towels and tissues. The mini bar is stocked with cheap Merida beer, plenty of water, and both regular and diet Pepsi brand soft drinks, along with delicious peanuts, no wafers anymore. The maid service was excellent, with towel animals many days. You leave dirty beach towels in your room, and new ones are left for you.
Pool – 5 or A The pool is great with many palapas, beds, and shade. For this size resort it is the right size with easy entry and 4’5” depth. Even thought there is no swim-up bar, there is easy access to the bar at the end. The waitress comes around or go to the bar at the end. It has a long stretch to swim in and a fountain and steps with a hand bar to go in. Comfortable in the winter for Les, but, of course, cooler than the sea. Les thinks it’s better with no swim-up bar, because at resorts we have been to that have them, some people never seem to leave! What does that tell you?
They have daily bingo at the head of the pool, along with aerobics in the pool and on land. There are free scuba lessons in the pool. Full dives cost big bucks - $100+ a few years ago ?
Bars – 3-4, or B, mainly because no stools at bars, which help you get to know other people. Service is 5+ or A+ though. Most bartenders make good drinks. Beer (draft) is Corona. They also have light (diet) soda and regular soda. There is a wide variety of drinks with a menu listing both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.
Workout room (gym) – Good a/c room with bikes and weights. You can watch TV while working out. It is included in the all-inclusive.
Spa – costs extra – didn’t use
Jacuzzi – Good on on end of pool. It looks good and fun – many used it, but not us. Too busy otherwise – couldn’t rate it.
Deli-Pizzeria Sorrento - near beach bar 3-4 or B Bob didn’t think much of pizza, but Les like it – mostly cheese. They had great hamburgers and chicken sandwiches, also nachos. You order through the waitress, not at the grill, but you can get pizza slices at the grill.
Xpuha Beach – 5 or A, but can be crowded in high season (Jan.-Mar.), much more so than the 1st half of Dec. Les rates it #2 of all the beaches that she’s ever been to – after #1 Tulum beaches. It is the best of resort beaches. There is fair snorkeling and mild or big waves based on weather. Les could see 10’-15’or more deep out about 300’ by the ropes-without a snorkel mask! The coral was about another 10’-20’ beyond ropes and in close to shore about 65’ to north of vertical rope. There was a good sandy beach out quite a ways 300’-400’ to north (left) of vertical rope. Within the hotel’s rope, it is sandy with some dead coral about 50’ out. You might need aqua shoes there on rough wave days, but not to the north.
Silver vendor comes to beach – Les buys, but she has gotten some really cool outstanding pieces a lot cheaper than anywhere else! A trinket vendor comes also, with hand-made woven bracelets, and a hammock vendor, but from what we’ve seen, they don’t have much luck. To the south is a souvenir shop (from which in previous years Les bought a couple pieces of jewelry – good deals), a beach club, and a small RV park/possible hotel. Farther south is an abandoned resort, the former Xpuha Palace-so sad. It looks like it could have been a good resort in a nice cove. Bob walked to here in the rain and took pictures. To the north is Cielo Beach Club and possibly Hotel and the former Club Maeva Tulum, which used to be a popular smaller resort. Bob walked to here and took pictures.
Lobby – 5 or A. Good check-in. There are a small amount of vendors set up on some days. Beautiful tall grass palapa ceiling, 1 large expensive shop with adjoining photo shop, helpful concierge. Money exchange station near lobby desk. Tour reps. are here also, but we never saw our Apple rep. – we waited 45 minutes for our appointment with him/her! Had to call to get pickup time on day before – ridiculous!
Colectivos – easy short walk to Hwy. 307, 300’-400’. Cost about $3 ea. To Tulum. Safety depends on driver. They can be crowded, especially at shift change times.
Wi-Fi – excellent in lobby and both rooms we had. No problems.
RESTAURANTS
La Selva – near lobby, open for breakfast and dinner, no dress code, a/c. The night they featured Mexican dishes (Wed.) Les thought it was excellent, and Bob enjoyed it also. The chalupas were good, as were enchiladas and other Mexican specialties. A couple of other nights it was ok, but we were not overly impressed.
La Palapa - overlooking the beach, open for lunch, no dress code, open-air. We enjoyed eating here most days. There was a good variety – lots of different meats, some Mexican, good ice cream, lots of veggies, fruits, and salads.
Centenario – 4 or B Mexican ala carte restaurant near lobby bar. We ate here one night, and Les really enjoyed her chicken fajitas – really great, chicken very tender. Bob had beef fajitas – not bad. The chalupas were also good. The dessert here “Tamal de Chocolat”, warm chocolate mousse wrapped in corn husk with ice cream with toffee – outstanding, the best dessert except for the chocolate brownies we got with room service. In the appetizers and salsa they also had an outstanding green tomato sauce with guacamole. Bob’s salad was very small – had apple slices, spinach and bits of cheese – it sounded large on the menu, but was not.
Royal Grill – 4 or B, Les’s rating. This was in the La Palapa restaurant, the lunch buffet out by the beach. We ate here one night, and Les loved her steak. It was thick, but a very small portion on all the sides – you go away hungry here. Bob thought his steak “sucked” – 3 or C. It was tough and too small servings of the sides. We ordered room service later – large hamburger for Bob, hot dog for Les, and 2 chef’s salads with a chocolate brownie dessert – excellent! Les thought they were the 2nd best dessert, after the “Tamal de Chocolat” at Centenario Mexican restaurant.
Deli-Pizzeria Sorrento – 4 or B, restaurant next to the pool and close to the beach. Les liked the thin, mostly cheese pizza, but Bob didn’t care that much for it. He loved their hamburgers though.
We did not eat at Toscana Italian Specialty Restaurant this time, but found it so-so in the other 2 years we tried it – 3 or C. We never tried the Terrace Tapas Lounge & Bar, either this time or the other 2 timers. We also did not try the new Thai Restaurant.
BARS
Las Margaritas, the lobby bar – 4 or B, only because there are no bar stools around it. The service of the bartenders and waitresses was excellent, and there was a wide variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks on the menu, or they would make you whatever you asked for.
Beach Bar – near the pool – 4 or B, only because, once again, there are no bar stools around it, but the service is great, both from bartenders and waitresses. The same drinks are available here, or whatever you want.
Ma Loo Beach bar – 5 or A, directly on the beach, in back of where we always sat, offering a great variety of natural blended fruit juice smoothies, outstanding.
Cats or Disco bar - we did not try this.
Outstanding People:
Veronica – front lobby – helped us change from 3rd floor Room 5212 to 1st floor room 6004.
Ingrid – pool bar waitress – she was great – always checking on us, and signed our Locogringo cooler. She hugged us when we left.
David - waiter. When Les ran into him near the pool bar, he asked her how she was, and called us “special people”. He is “special” also.
Julio – He was a bell boy who gave us a ride to the room after Les hurt her knee in Tulum. He also got her a crutch and gave us a ride up front with our luggage when we left. He also gave us all kinds of interesting information about the plants here.
Alexander – breakfast waiter really good.
Roberto – the concierge. He called Apple for us and was very helpful. Her also gave Bob a name tag with “Roberto” on it. Bob gave him a $2 tip.
In closing, we wish to say how pleased we were with the attention and service we received from this outstanding resort!
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