September 11th thru 21st, 2020
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2020 7:52 amWow, what a great trip. A lot of the old faces and some new as well, both staff and guest!
Air travel to Mexico was uneventful, not as busy and everyone had the attitudes of the old air travel days when you were not in as much of a hurry. Maybe because of all the safety protocols that make things slow down. We wore KN95 mask the entire time until arrival at Pearl. Did not eat what little snacks they served on the plane, and did not drink any beverages on the plane. Just our precaution. Cancun airport was quicker than ever, no stop light, just a quick question, didn't even collect our customs form. USA travel was waiting as always. A quick temperature scan, sprayed our luggage handles, and we were on our way. At the resort, we had an IPAD temperature scan, filled out the "have you been anywhere or had covid, or exposed to covid" government form on our phones and checked in.
All workers are masked 24/7, but not a big deal. We removed ours and put them back on 10 days later for the return trip.
Pool chairs are spaced 6 feet apart in groups of 2, staff don't hug, well not until we had been there 9 days, then we got some good bye hugs. All dinner restaurants are reservations except when they had outside dining at Aphrodite. Breakfast is still buffet but less items and they get you what you want cafeteria style, plus eggs to order and usual specialty items. Lunch is an expanded menu and there were more choices and better choices. The menus at Suki and Pearl never changed. There was a chef special each night which was always good. Of course, who goes for the food?
Pool games were the same as always, but not enough people for beach volleyball. Water volleyball was usually 6 per side when in the past it has been 9 or more. Still a lot of fun. The foam party was the same except no jello shots. Only squirt bottle shots which are a pass anyway. Good crowd for the foam party.
Guest were like guest always are. You had some that stayed to themselves, watchers or Covid paranoia. Exhibitionist around the hot tub on the beds. Watchers in the hot tub talking about which couple put on the best show. Ladies on the hot tub bar having shots removed from private areas, typical hot tub activity. I guess people have been so isolated at home that they take chances thinking that they will be home before anything happens. Not to mention lack of fear of STD's that some folks have always displayed. Over all, not much different from past trips.
Night time entertainment by the Playmakers was a little less and mainly in the lobby so people could space out to their comfort level. Doors were always open and made those that stayed for the Disco appreciate the strong A/C in there. The Disco wasn't crowed most nights, but enough to make it fun. 8 to 10 couples was the max on the floor at any one time that I remember, so only slightly less than usual. Late night hot tub was hit or miss as always. Midnight Tacos in the lobby are back and appreciated, even though through the language barrier, not sure if it was pork or raccoon tacos one night.
Playmakers are Charlie, Kia, Candice, Yuni, and Cesar. We met Yuni on the Desire cruise last fall, Cesar is a former model and is the eye candy for the ladies. He is nice but quiet.
The return to Cancun airport was not as easy as the arrival. The survey for leaving causes a lot of confusion for travelers. They will not let you leave until you prove you completed it. It is the same one we did upon arrival at Pearl. I would recommend printing out a blank one and filling it out with pen before heading back to the airport. There were issues doing the on line one for us and you had to show a QR code from your phone for them to scan at TSA. This created a slow down.
Occupancy was raised to 60% while we were there and Desire is offering some great specials to get people to come back. We are seriously considering it before the end of the year.
Remember, don't drink the water from the faucet, don't buy drugs from people on the beach, and don't take Covid on your vacation! It is worth all those risk to us, we will go back again!
Air travel to Mexico was uneventful, not as busy and everyone had the attitudes of the old air travel days when you were not in as much of a hurry. Maybe because of all the safety protocols that make things slow down. We wore KN95 mask the entire time until arrival at Pearl. Did not eat what little snacks they served on the plane, and did not drink any beverages on the plane. Just our precaution. Cancun airport was quicker than ever, no stop light, just a quick question, didn't even collect our customs form. USA travel was waiting as always. A quick temperature scan, sprayed our luggage handles, and we were on our way. At the resort, we had an IPAD temperature scan, filled out the "have you been anywhere or had covid, or exposed to covid" government form on our phones and checked in.
All workers are masked 24/7, but not a big deal. We removed ours and put them back on 10 days later for the return trip.
Pool chairs are spaced 6 feet apart in groups of 2, staff don't hug, well not until we had been there 9 days, then we got some good bye hugs. All dinner restaurants are reservations except when they had outside dining at Aphrodite. Breakfast is still buffet but less items and they get you what you want cafeteria style, plus eggs to order and usual specialty items. Lunch is an expanded menu and there were more choices and better choices. The menus at Suki and Pearl never changed. There was a chef special each night which was always good. Of course, who goes for the food?
Pool games were the same as always, but not enough people for beach volleyball. Water volleyball was usually 6 per side when in the past it has been 9 or more. Still a lot of fun. The foam party was the same except no jello shots. Only squirt bottle shots which are a pass anyway. Good crowd for the foam party.
Guest were like guest always are. You had some that stayed to themselves, watchers or Covid paranoia. Exhibitionist around the hot tub on the beds. Watchers in the hot tub talking about which couple put on the best show. Ladies on the hot tub bar having shots removed from private areas, typical hot tub activity. I guess people have been so isolated at home that they take chances thinking that they will be home before anything happens. Not to mention lack of fear of STD's that some folks have always displayed. Over all, not much different from past trips.
Night time entertainment by the Playmakers was a little less and mainly in the lobby so people could space out to their comfort level. Doors were always open and made those that stayed for the Disco appreciate the strong A/C in there. The Disco wasn't crowed most nights, but enough to make it fun. 8 to 10 couples was the max on the floor at any one time that I remember, so only slightly less than usual. Late night hot tub was hit or miss as always. Midnight Tacos in the lobby are back and appreciated, even though through the language barrier, not sure if it was pork or raccoon tacos one night.
Playmakers are Charlie, Kia, Candice, Yuni, and Cesar. We met Yuni on the Desire cruise last fall, Cesar is a former model and is the eye candy for the ladies. He is nice but quiet.
The return to Cancun airport was not as easy as the arrival. The survey for leaving causes a lot of confusion for travelers. They will not let you leave until you prove you completed it. It is the same one we did upon arrival at Pearl. I would recommend printing out a blank one and filling it out with pen before heading back to the airport. There were issues doing the on line one for us and you had to show a QR code from your phone for them to scan at TSA. This created a slow down.
Occupancy was raised to 60% while we were there and Desire is offering some great specials to get people to come back. We are seriously considering it before the end of the year.
Remember, don't drink the water from the faucet, don't buy drugs from people on the beach, and don't take Covid on your vacation! It is worth all those risk to us, we will go back again!
