2nd trip.. June 6-10, 2016

[Coupleat302]

First of all, I owe somebody here an apology. We discussed doing a photo shoot one afternoon a few weeks before our trip and I totally forgot. Man, I feel bad about that.

Okay.. now for the review...

Planned the trip in November. Used it as motivation for exercise and having our lives in general order so we could go and relax for a few days without the troubles of the world weighing us down. Six months spent waiting for a Desire trip is great for those things!

Flew from our small, southeastern US airport, connected through Houston IAH and landed at CUN at 11:30am. Sped through customs and baggage claim in 30 minutes. Three trips, and we've yet to get the dreaded red light. Straight out the doors and to USA Transfers which we booked from here again. Shuttle arrived a minute later and we were off.

People always ask us how we like Cancun. Don't know... never seen it.

Arrived at Pearl well before 1pm. The drive down there gets shorter every time.

As we planned, our room wasn't ready, but no worries. Pulled our "to-go" bag out of our suitcase that had cover ups and sunscreen and went off to the spa to change while leaving out bags at the front.

The next 5 days are a blur of good times. Pool games, beach volleyball, good food, laughs, conversations... There's really nowhere on earth (that we've found) that compares to the two Desire resorts.

Rather than a daily play-by-play, I think I'll hit some of the highlights for us... and then mention a few critiques.

HIGHLIGHTS:

The staff. I know everybody says it, but dang.. they go out of their way to accommodate every request. From Rocky and Miguel in the dining room to countless staff manicuring the grounds. If they're bothered by working in the service industry, it never shows. They are incredible.

The bar tenders. I couldn't do that job. 20 half drunk naked guys staring at me, all waiting on a different drink. Kudos to them. They're amazing. Made me feel guilty the times I didn't pockets with a dollar or two to stick into the jar.

The food. In general, our food was freaking outstanding. The variety offered (especially at lunch given the a la carte menu) is great. We wish we could get fresh fruit like that at home.

The beach. It's small and compact, but the amount of shade it provides is amazing. Even under full sun, with the palapas and coconut trees it's heavenly. The seaweed was hardly noticeable this trip. The water was warm and blue.

The guests... It's amazing who you meet there. Some people from our part of the world with whom we obviously shared a lot in common... to people from other parts of the world with whom we never imagined we shared so much in common. The beautiful resort, the great staff, delicious food.. but without the rest of you it would just be another vacation spot on the RM.

The new gym equipment (from 2 years ago) is nice. It got used daily. Wish they would put some sanitizing wipes in there so you don't have to talk out tot he foyer to get them.

The spa.. we're talkin Erotic Massage... OH EMM GEE... We would urge you to not read too much about it. Just do it and allow yourself to go on the journey. One of us.. not saying which... might claim that it was by far the best thing about the trip. It, alone, is probably worth a plane ticket to Mexico.

A FEW NITPICKS:

The new lobby is perhaps.... too white. It's a minor thing... and granted the air conditioning is REALLY nice in the evenings. We just found ourselves missing some of the Caribbean feel. But really.. who cares?

Pearl restaurant.. man, it takes awhile to eat in there. The food is always different and interesting, but it can be a two hour commitment. We've eaten there 4 times and it's never been less than an hour and a half. Still.. every effort is made to give you a unique dining experience.. so maybe we're just impatient.

Mosquitoes.. although we're not sure they're the same kind we have in the South since we never actually saw one. But... the Mrs. got eaten alive (not in a good way) one morning at the beach. Like, 50-100 small bites. We've read about it before, but never actually experienced it. And this was the one trip we didn't pack insect repellent. It made her gun shy about lying out there again.

The low lights around the patio of the penthouse suites. Holy shit!.... We had friends who had a PH. Invited us for a visit a couple of nights. While standing against the railing one time my leg contacted a light. Now, mid calf on the outside of my left leg I have a golf ball sized blue whelp with a literal hole burned through the skin. Those are an incredible hazard. I'll bet the surface temp of those light covers is 500 degrees F.,easy. ..If it had happened to my wife, I'd be none too happy about it.

The EC has a tough job.. when people aren't volunteering to participate, what are they to do? But.. (and here's where I'm being an ugly American).. they all need to speak English. They lean on Marco so much that if he's not there, neither is the party. I feel guilty for saying that, because they all try. It's just.. something was a little missing this trip in that respect. The girls need to be more involved. If you're asking my wife to lie naked on the counter and be covered in chocolate for the human sundae.. having a girl talk her into it is huge. (just an example) Anyway.. they were still great and kept things going.

Last one.. probably going to take some heat for this one. The jacuzzi is too quiet. It needs music. The atmosphere was a little dead in the afternoons and a lot dead at night. One day a couple brought out this huge, obnoxious bluetooth speaker (think: Yeti cooler huge) and started playing music. At first I thought it was completely inconsiderate. But after 10-15 minutes I enjoyed it. The crowd livened up.. people were singing and dancing, making out... But then security showed up and shut it down. People booed... 20 minutes later we all got out and went our separate ways before dinner. The evenings in the water are so quiet that you're scared to talk too loud for you might disturb the handful of folks using the beds. Add a little music, and the place would get rowdy.

Anyway... I probably typed more on the few nitpicks than I did on all the highlights, but don't let that give you the idea that the trip wasn't enjoyable. We had an absolute blast and it's difficult to think about spending our valuable vacation days doing anything other than heading to Desire!

[scuba_couple]

The jacuzzi is too quiet. It needs music. ........ The evenings in the water are so quiet that you're scared to talk too loud for you might disturb the handful of folks using the beds. Add a little music, and the place would get rowdy.

First of all, great trip report! Thanks so much for taking the time to write it. We are exactly 32 days from touch-down.

Now, for the lack of music at the hot tub - I got a mental picture. So a while back we were watching Playboy Swing. There was this red room scene (if you don’t know the red room, go watch an episode of swing). Anyway it’s really hot. It just so happened that there was a ‘behind the scenes’ take of that same show. In the behind the scenes, there is no background music - it would interfere with the music they will dub in later. This made the red room scene go from erotic to …. I have no word for it… just strange… Anyway, that is the mental picture that you conjured up describing the hot tub. Hopefully I am over-thinking it.

Take care,
Scuba

[Rocky&Debby]

Mosquitoes.. although we're not sure they're the same kind we have in the South since we never actually saw one. But... the Mrs. got eaten alive (not in a good way) one morning at the beach. Like, 50-100 small bites. We've read about it before, but never actually experienced it. And this was the one trip we didn't pack insect repellent.

We are planning to bring the mosquito repellent wrist bands with us. Do you think that will be adequate protection or do you think we should bring something a little stronger? Maybe something with deet would be better if the mosquitoes are really bad, but we hate that smell.

[Coupleat302]

I honestly don't know what repellent would work best but I'd be surprised if wrist bands would've helped sine most of the bites were on her lower body and legs. And I'm not even sure it was mosquitoes since I never saw one. Whatever they were though... They were some hungry little suckers.

[bobsharon79]

Repellant: 1 spray bottle- 1/2 listerine 1/2 151 rum 5 drops pure peppermint oil

[tikihutguy]

I honestly don't know what repellent would work best but I'd be surprised if wrist bands would've helped sine most of the bites were on her lower body and legs. And I'm not even sure it was mosquitoes since I never saw one. Whatever they were though... They were some hungry little suckers.

We wore the wrist bands and they did help but the mosquito issue was not bad last 2 trips (early August). We did also have the deet wipes and I think used them on ankles a couple of times as preventative....

[STL-MO-CPL]

We were at Pearl the last week in March and didn't notice the bugs at all. Maybe it was too early in the season?

[someonesomewhere]

They were probably sand flea bites. They are basically no-see-ums . Repellents barely effective against them. I got eaten alive once, and it's no the reason I spend very little time at the beach. I'll go, jump in water, get out and back to the pool.

[Coupleat302]

We suspect it was sand fleas as well. It happened on a morning after a big rain overnight. It was cool and wet on the beach. That's always when they seem the worst on Gulf Coast beaches in the US.

[tumbler]

Umm yeah, Im bringing music. How in Christs name is there not music there at the hot tub? I got this.....

[wetintally]

A person in our group was also burned by the lights in the PH. They need to address that. If you pour water on the cover its sizzles and turns to steam instantly. It is very dangerous.

[youme69]

Pretty sure they have music at the jacuzzi those fake rock speakers, but with the bubbles and the people talking and partying you would have to have it very loud. Never thought it was a big deal

[Coupleat302]

Has been quiet as a mouse in there both of our trips. Very different from DRM.