Sunday, July 10, 2011

Playa Del Carmen Day 3 & 4



Day 3 was just another day to relax at the resort. We had fun swimming in the ocean. We even learned that if you take bread out into the water with you, you can attract schools of tropical fish. Jason was the first one to try it. Soon as the bread touched the water we were surrounded by fish. It was so neat to see them swimming around. They would follow Jason around in the water hoping for more food. That is how Jason got the nickname "Fish Whisperer" on the trip.
On Trip Advisor everyone was raving about the hamburger grill on the beach . We were so excited to try it out, we were disappointed in the hamburgers but the guacamole was so good. We spent the afternoon snacking on guacamole and drinking Mango Tangos. It was so good.
Since we went in June and this is their off season. We had no problem finding a place to sit on the beach. The little Tikki Huts were so nice. You could get out of the sun for a while and you had somewhere to set your food and drinks.
It was so nice to do nothing. Trying to get a tan...in the shade. The sands were so white and soft and the ocean was such a beautiful blue I could just spend the whole day taking in all the sites around me.
Later that day we went to the platinum pool. It was so nice, the platinum staff would bring you drinks and the lounge chairs were so comfy. All the special service made you feel like some celebrity.
After a day of basking in the sun we went back to our rooms to get ready for dinner.
Jason and I on the balcony just before leaving for dinner at La Hacienda the resorts Mexican Restaurant.

Joe and Jessica
Jason and I. These photos were taken just outside the Platinum Lounge. It was the group's meeting place for all the dinners and activities we were going to as a group.
Jess and I waiting for the rest of the group to show up.

Jeremy and Ashley.
Our funny face shot. I guess Ash and Jer are too cool for funny faces.
We were so excited to eat at the Mexican restaurant. We thought that since we were in Mexico the food would be amazing. We had read that the fajitas were the best. They were good but not Joe Banditos good. We were a little let down with the food, it was a little bland. But the Strawberry Daiquiris were awesome and Huge!!
Of course the waiter made us try on the Sombreros. They were so heavy.
Yo and Yessica
The Christensens
More silverware measuring. Jason didn't want to give his sombrero back.
And more measuring.

As you can see we had a ton of food.
After dinner we sat out on the upstairs lobby and watched the fire dancers.

Jason and I watching the show after dinner.
The whole group after dinner. We were all dying of heat, the restaurant was so hot. They either didn't have the AC on or it was not working. That day the humidity had been 100 percent.
After dinner it was time to head down to the beach to cool off. We would go down every night. Most nights we were the only ones on the beach.
Someone decided that we should take some jump pictures. So this keep us entertained for about an hour.
We were trying to achieve the perfect Toyota jump.
We may be getting older but sometimes the kid in us surfaces.
After completely wearing ourselves out. We decided to go to the Bogard's room and order room service. They had the best room service. We stuffed ourselves again. We wanted to get in the water because it was so hot, but the pools at the beach close at 8pm. So we filled up the Bogard's out door tub and a few people got in to cool down.
3 is a crowd. We finally got tired and we all went back to our rooms.
Up bright and early to go to Xplor.

You have got to love the bright yellow hard hats we had to wear. They were pretty neat though. Every helmet had a number on it and they would take pictures of you doing different activities. All around Xplor they would have TVs and if you wanted to see your picture you would stand in front of them and it would read the number off your helmet and show you all your photos so far.
Jason waiting to hit the zip lines.
This is the Heart of Xplor. All of the activities branch off from the heart.
This is one of the waterfalls you get to zip line through.
We took the ATV around the park.
Ashley and Jeremy ready for their adventure.
Of course we are still waiting for our ATV. Finally one arrived and we were able to catch up to the group.

Jason was excited for the ride. It looks like I was going to take a little nap. HaHa.

On our way into the underground caves.
Jason taking his driving responsibility very serious.
The suspension bridge we had to cross.
Going through another cave.
This is one of the zip line towers. They had 13 towers and the highest tower was 130 feet.
The view from one of the zip line platforms. At first I was was a little nervous to go, but once they push you off it is a once in a lifetime experience to be soring over the jungles of Mexico.

This is one of the zip lines that takes you through the waterfall and into a water landing.

The other side of the waterfall.

The zip lines were my favorite part of Xplor. It was nice how they had it set up because you didn't have to walk all the way up the towers each time. You would zip line tower to tower.
We also went swimming in the under ground caves. We bought some underwater cameras, but the caves didn't have enough light for the cameras to work. They are natural caves and the water going through them is cold.
After a long day playing at Xplor we were so hungry and we could hardly wait to eat at the tepanyaki style restaurant.
Jason and I getting our nightly pre-dinner photo taken in front of the Platinum Pool.

The Tepinaky Chef was great. It was fun to watch him crack eggs with his spatula and throw bowls of rice in the air.
The Miso was our favorite restaurant. We actually ended up eating there twice during our stay.

The whole group after dinner. We stuffed ourselves with the best fried rice I have ever had and a fried banana desert that was to die for. Of course we were hot and ready to relax from out adventurous day so we headed for the beach.


Thursday, July 7, 2011

Playa Del Carmen Day 1 and 2

We arrived in Playa Del Carmen around 4:00pm. Our travels were good, except for a little turbulence as we were descending into Cancun. I have to admit I was a little bit sad when the Captain came on the intercom and told us the current weather conditions were cloudy with a chance of Thunderstorms. I wanted to cry, I was landing in what was supposed to be sunny paradise and it was raining. Once we went through customs we found our transfer service and headed out to our resort. We were the last couple to be dropped off, so we got to see some different parts of Cancun and Playa. I was surprised at how swampy the area was. We finally arrived at the "Grand Sunset Princess". I was amazed at how beautiful it was.
This is looking back at the lobby area. We hurried and checked in and headed to our room. The first night we were staying in a Jr Deluxe suite because we came in a day early and they were sold out of Platinum rooms for that night.
The Jr Deluxe suite was nice.We were so excited as soon as our bags arrived we took off to explore the resort.
We wandered down to the beach and around the resort. The resort is huge and it takes about 10 minutes to walk from end to end. The grounds were gorgeous and very well keep. While we were walking around we met up with Joe and Jess. We waited for them to get settled then we went to the buffet to get something to eat. After dinner we walked around and enjoyed paradise.
Outside the buffet in the courtyard. After a long day of traveling we all were tired and ready for bed.

 The next day we woke up to RAIN. I was so grumpy. We sat on our balcony and watched it rain. Normally I love a summer thunderstorm, but not while I am in Mexico. This Thunderstorm was so different from home, the rain came down so hard and the the thunder was so loud. It was neat to see a Tropical Thunderstorm, I was just hoping it was not something I would get to experience everyday while we were there.
 In this photo you can see how humid and rainy it was. My camera lens keep fogging up. After getting ready for the day we headed down to breakfast. Since we had to stay in the Jr Suite we had to  check out at 12 and we couldn't check into our Platinum room until 3 so we had some time to kill. We had been planning to go to the beach but that was not going to be happening.
So we decided to wait out the rain and  go and sit in one of these cute little huts and just relax.

Me just sitting in the hut pouting about the rain. The staff at the resort keep telling me that it is the rainy season but it always clears up in the afternoon. And sure enough a couple hours later the sun came out.
 Around 3 we went and checked into our Platinum suite. We were greeted with a cool towel and a glass of champagne.
I loved the lobby at the Princess, it is all open air,
This is the view from the lobby. You can see the main trail that takes you through the resort and to the beach. It is lined with palm trees and statues. It is a beautiful walk and you don't mind the distance between the beach and the restaurants.
We wanted to take a photo of our room number so when we come back we can get the same room.I am not sure why Jason is smiling so odd.

Jason outside our door. We were so excited to see what we would find inside.
We ended up on the top floor. This is the awesome sight outside our front door.

This is actually Jeremy and Ashley's room, but our room was exactly the same expect we some how ended up with 2 queen beds. But the view from our room made up for the queen beds.
Jason seeing if the beds are comfy.

I loved the bathroom sinks. The rooms were so clean and the marble through out was beautiful.

The jetted tub was huge. I loved all the little details like bath salts, fruit baskets fully stocked fridge and it was all included in the price. I think I could live at the Princess.
More photos of the bathroom. You could  fit about 5 people in the shower if you wanted to.
The amazing view from our balcony. We overlooked the Platinum pool.
This is the view from the other direction. You could see the beach and hear the ocean. We spent a lot of our time out on the balcony. I got up early one morning and watched the sunrise over the caribbean blue ocean. It was breath taking and one of the highlights of the trip.
These were our neighbors. Joe and Jessica happened to get the room right next door to us.
I was so giddy with our room and our view. It was so surreal to be in such a beautiful place. It was hard to believe that there is actually a place like this that is so absolutely beautiful.

After all the excitement of checking out the rooms we decided to go to the beach.Jason taking in this view. It looks like something you would see as your computer's screen saver.

There was no one on the beach by us. As we were sitting on the beach Ash and Jer showed up to join us.
We spent the rest of the afternoon catching some rays on the beach.
We had a ton of tropical drinks and a blast hanging out on the white sandy beach. After the beach we decided to try out the pool. It was so much fun, but I don't have photos of us in the pool. Lets just say it was a wild and crazy day.
After such a long exciting day everyonewent to thier rooms and passed out.