The trip down was smooth. Our flights were on time, and for once there were no lines for immigration in Cancun. I think going mid-week helps, as well as just getting lucky with the timing of arriving flights. USA Transfers was great as always. We booked through the link here to try to support this great site.
After check-in, the membership rep talked to us for a bit showing us the coupon book that they were offering as an incentive for sitting through the full pitch. It was very low key, and when we said we weren't interested he just gave us his name and phone extension and said to give him a call if we changed our minds. One guy we talked to said he told the rep that he knew what he wanted to talk to him about and that he wasn't interested, and that was the end of the discussion. Others sat through the pitch and took advantage of some of the coupons and were fine with the whole thing. We also met a number of people who bought into the program and are happy with the decision.
We still had a little time to kill before our room was ready, so we made our way over to the lobby bar where we were welcomed back by Emilio, one of our favorite bartenders. The bar staff throughout the resort are great. They remember what you are drinking and are quick with refills (sometimes a little too quick?). Most of them are pretty good at coming up with something new for you to try if you give them a couple hints about what you like.
We unpacked a little while checking out the Germany Brazil World Cup game. Once the game was thoroughly out of hand we left our clothes in the room and headed out. Nobody was in the Jacuzzi area yet, so we decided to make use of one of the beds. This was a first for us, but we became much less shy as the week went on. Even though we tried to find a shady spot, it's pretty hot out there in the mid to late afternoon. So after a quick shower, still no one else in the Jacuzzi so we headed to the pool bar for a drink. The rest of our stay just kind of flowed from there.
The restaurants seem to have stepped it up compared to past years, and we liked them before. At first we were a little disappointed about the lack of outdoor dining at Aphrodite. We always enjoyed eating breakfast and lunch outside, but the remodel was well done and is definitely an improvement. The new buffet setup is very nice.
Breakfast and lunch service could be a little hit or miss depending on who you got and how busy they were, but Rudy and David were always outstanding. We really enjoyed our breakfasts. If you are looking for a hearty breakfast try the Mexican breakfast specials, otherwise the kitchen will make any style eggs, omelets or pancakes you want. There is plenty of fresh fruit, yogurts, cereals and pastries available as well.
The entrees on the lunch buffet in general didn't really appeal to us. We tried a few of them and they were OK, but we really enjoyed the fish tacos and shrimp tempura tacos that you can order from the kitchen. They also had a grill set up outside one day and we had some nice fresh grilled fish. R also enjoyed the selection of little deserts at lunch time.
We ate most of our dinners at Pearl. We liked having a different atmosphere for dinner. The menus were similar to past years, but it seemed like both the service and food quality were up a notch. We enjoyed all of our meals there. Hector was always checking in on us and bringing us chocolates after dinner which was a nice touch.
We did have dinner at Suki the one night that it was open. The sashimi and nigiri were good. We both had teppanyaki as our entree and we were both disappointed. Oh well, one disappointing dish in a week isn't too bad.
Days were spent hanging out at the beach when we weren't participating in other activities. Jared was great setting everyone up with towels in their preferred locations. After a couple days of choosing the same spot, he would see us leaving breakfast and ask if we were coming down later. We said yes, and he would have everything all set up for us when we arrived. We liked being on the beach for shade of the palapas, and for the breeze. It seemed like there was more foot traffic this year on the beach. It doesn't really bother us, in fact it can be entertaining at times watching the different reactions of people as they go by.
We were regulars for some of the daytime activities. We both did yoga on the pier almost everyday. There was a great guest yoga instructor for part of our stay. Otherwise the entertainment staff led the yoga which was fun because they each have their own style. R participated in almost anything dance related – Zumba when they had it, bellydancing, and T joined in the salsa lessons to refresh our skills. T played a little beach volleyball, but it's hard to transition from a nice relaxing yoga session to beach volleyball.
The entertainment crew were all great as usual – Ana, Jessica, Koko, Charlie and Marco. Ana and R really connected through their shared love of dance.
Happy hour at the hot tub is a great time to socialize, meet new people and make plans for dinner. It's like a big naked cocktail party. Well, a cocktail party that includes playing at times. Some days there was nothing going on, others a little here and there and others there was action everywhere you looked.
The evening entertainment was good. We often missed most or all of the lobby entertainment because we ate dinner late. We enjoyed the disco shows with the various dancers, strippers, acrobats, pole dancers etc.
After the show, the dance floor was open. It seemed like every night almost half the people would leave immediately after the show and, for the most part, the rest trickled out over the next hour or so. This is not to say the disco wasn't hopping. The dance floor would be packed for a while every night. We thought the DJs did a much better job this year compared to previous years. They played some of the same music, but it wasn't the same songs in the same order every night. They also had a different DJ on some nights with a different style, so that added to the variety. It's really hard to please a diverse group of people, but there was a little something for everyone. R is quite a dancer, so we spent a lot of time out on the dance floor.
Theme night participation varied as always. We enjoy it, so we had something for every night. There are plenty of people who do participate with outfits that range from fairly conservative to barely there, and others that are hilarious. One night, a lady came into the disco with a beautiful striped pattern all over her body. As she got closer, we could see that the stripes were made up of colored electrical tape. Turns out her husband had spent an hour and a half decorating her. On the other hand, some people didn't dress for the themes and nobody really cares at all. We're all there just to have a good time.
Some highlights from the disco (all different nights):
- A very hot female firefighter who could pole dance like a pro
Three lovely ladies dancing on the pole (R, the firefighter, and a beautiful blond from Argentina) slowly stripping down to matching black lace g-strings, and then removing those as well
A beautiful lady in the sexiest angel contest moving onto the floor into a downward dog position and then continuing through a very sexy sequence of yoga poses
A hot guy in the chipendale contest performing a very acrobatic routine including tumbling and kips
One night there were at least half a dozen couples still dancing and all the ladies and many of the guys were stripping down
An adorable little lady from the South who showed up every night in a fairly elaborate outfit and throughout the night removed a piece at a time until she was down to little or nothing
This trip was our first time using the playroom. Like everyplace else, the atmosphere there is different every single night. We were in there one night with half a dozen couples, everyone keeping to themselves. Another night we were politely approached by a couple we didn't really know, asking if they could join in. We were going to go in another night and there was no one in there and almost everyone had left the disco. Yet another night, we went in with a group of friends. That was a lot of fun.
Late night at the hot tub was another place where things varied. Some nights everyone was just chilling with a little playing here and there, and other nights there was action everywhere with multiple bodies on a bed. We felt like real veterans this year introducing newbies to body shots. We've learned from previous experience that we don't really like the free for all that can erupt, so we kept to a small group and had a full discussion about who was doing what to whom before we started.
By the way, playing on the beds at night was not without peril this year. The bugs were fierce. We wouldn't really notice at the time because we were a bit, umm, distracted. But the next day we would suffer the results. R had bites all over her legs, while T tended to get them on wrists, elbows and ankles.
Finally, while beautiful facilities and great staff make Pearl a wonderful place, it's the people who go there that make the place really special. You meet the friendliest, hottest, funniest, nicest, most interesting people there. The couples that go there are generally way more connected than the people that you see in your day to day life, and that adds so much to the atmosphere. There were way too many people who made this trip special to list the whole alphabet of initials, but I would like to mention some people from the forums that we ran into: thekastle, rsm, winterpast, kimmanderic and wildandwackypacpl. There were probably others that we talked to that we never even knew were on here.
We have never really gone to the same place more than once on vacation, but this was our third year in a row at Pearl, and it's hard to imagine not going back again.
