Cancun

Trip Details:
Where: Cancun, Mexico
# of Nights: 5
When: January 2007
Who: Me and my 4.5 year-old daughter
Booked through: AAA Travel/Pleasant Holidays

Our latest trip was to Cancun for 5 days. We arrived at the Moon Palace Resort on New Year's Eve. Since I'd been up since 3:30 AM PST, I'll admit to falling asleep long before the New Year was rung in. This was a completely spontaneous trip. Three days earlier, I called AAA Travel and asked where I could go that was warm and sandy. Hawaii was completely sold out, so the agent suggested Mexico. We have our passports so that was not a problem. Tip: Get your children passports. It has been very useful to me when navigating through airport security, even domestic security. I also carry my husband's death certificate so that I can prove I have sole custody. Starting January 23rd, 2007 passports will be required for non-domestic travel. See the State Department's site for more info.

When we got to the airport in Mexico I wasn't able to find my itinerary. Opps...I think it fell out of the backpack on the plane. The man with the Pleasant Holiday's sign said he'd charge $20.00 per person to take us to the Moon Palace. Hmmmm...I smell "rip-off" but at that point I was so tired and Kei was so hungry, I said okay. Tip: Always carry another copy of your itinerary. Once we got to the resort they had my reservation so there were no problems. The first room I was assigned to was on the 2nd floor. I could just imagine hearing every footstep above me, so I asked for a 3rd floor room. There was one available and since it was on the end, there was no one to the side or above us. Tip: Always ask if there's a better room available. There usually is. All the rooms at the Moon Palace have jacuzzi tubs in them. We had a wonderful view of the ocean from floor to ceiling windows. Each room has a large flat panel TV, which we hardly watched. The pools at the resorts are amazing and Kei had a blast. Though, the beach is not really that nice. There is tons of sea grass that washes up on the beach and rather ruins the experience. I brought Kei's swimming life jacket so she was able to float all around the pool. She discovered the "swim-up" bars and took to ordering a "Miami Vice" which is a drink of half strawberry/half coconut smoothies.

The resort was wonderful. The last time I stayed in an "all inclusive" was my my honeymoon 17 years ago. I'll admit it was really nice not to have to figure out where to eat breakfast or lunch. Dinner took a bit more planning even there because the "nicer" speciality restaurants fill-up very quickly. Tip: Eat on the earlier side 6:00 to 7:00 PM, otherwise you'll be waiting a long time for a table.

I did several spa treatments while Kei spent time in the Kids Club. I'll admit though, she didn't like all of the kid's club activities and apparently spent some time crying. It seemed that they should have split some of the activities to be more age appropriate. Two evening during the week they offered a puppet show in the lobby and Kei loved it!

We did a one day trip to Xcaret which is a Mexican, outdoor water park. It is hard to describe. There are recreations of Mexican villages, plus real Mayan ruins, a lagoon where they provide inter-tubes to float on, beaches, swimming with dolphins and snorkeling trips. However, this place is still expensive and I didn't bring enough money for all the things Kei wanted to do. For example: the towel rentals (2) and one locker was $18.00 (in U.S.) and you get about $8.00 back in only pesos. (Even though they've go a ton of American dollars in their cash drawer.) Tip: Bring your own towel, water and snacks. The food on the beach was $6.00 for hotdogs and hamburgers and $2.00 for water. At night there's a musical/dance show covering the history of Mexico. The reenactment of the Mayan fire ball hockey game was definitely cool. Xcaret is an all day trip; we left at 9:00 am and didn't get back until after 10:00 PM.

More Travel Tips
Instead of a purse, I carry a CatalinaTravel backpack I purchased from E-Bags. For my wallet I use a metal one because it's tough and easy to find in my bag. Kyle Design

Bottom Line: I'd go again to an all inclusive when I'm ready for a true "vacation" but I'd research which resort has the best Kid's Club so Kei has a good time too.