ShannonAlbert.com - June 2009

On Tuesday, July 1, Andy and I woke up around 5 to start getting ready to head to the airport. We had run 4 miles the night before so we didn't have to get up at 4 to do it this morning. Good call, us! Since we were traveling without the kids, I really wanted to try to do just carry-ons this trip to avoid baggage claim going in and out of the country which takes a while coming back home. I'm a notoriously plentiful packer (to put it nicely) but I always use everything I bring. Stuffing clothes for a week, running shoes/clothes, snacks, a few books, blanket (for the plane...I don't like using their blankets), etc., was tough but I got it all in. Andy did the same.

Get to KC, remote park the car, get to the terminal quickly, bathroom break, through the security check and to our gate. I note that they've allowed more freedom at the KC airport once you're past security - you can walk to other sections now, get food drinks, use the bathroom, etc.

Flight is on time and easy enough. Land in Houston for 2 hour layover. Make our way to our next gate which is right next to a food court and shopping area that seems custom-made for me: Panda Express, an ice cream creamery, Pappasitos restaurant (though I'm not the biggest fan of it, I appreciate having it as a non-fast food Mexican option), Starbucks, Brookstone, Museum of Modern Art store, NASA store, etc. Made the layover very easy!

Flight to Cancun was pretty easy and we were kept entertained by the two 18-year-old boys that sat next to us. They were cousins from Long Island and had been given a 5 day trip to a Cancun all-inclusive by their parents. They were fun and excited and the crew teased them a lot. I helped them get their forms filled out prior to landing and it was no surprise that their first stop once we landed was to get a beer before boarding their van.

Once we landed, we came down the stairs to clear customs and my jaw must have dropped as we encountered a line of over 200 people waiting to go through. We probably stood for about an hour waiting. We felt so sorry for the families with small children who had just been on a flight and now had to stand. For an hour.

We FINALLY exit the airport (skipping right past baggage claim thankyouverymuch) and make our way toward the outside area where transportation is waiting to pick you up. Nearly everyone knows to walk straight outside and avoid the sharks that want to sell you timeshares and other various things but the senior couple we were walking near got taken aside by one of the salesmen and I felt so bad for them.

I had arranged for us to have our own van to our hotel because it's not much more than sharing one and because our hotel wasn't in a main area like Cancun so I didn't want to have to wait on other people to board and take a long time getting to our hotel.

Finally make it to our hotel, Catalonia Playa Maroma. Andy was waiting to see what I would do at check-in because I had been trying to get transferred to their sister property which has more English-speaking staff and activities. This hotel caters to Europeans (Italian and French primarily) and with all of the activities at all-inclusives, I was concerned we'd need more English speaking staff. I decided against it at check-in and just requested an upgraded room which includes the mini bar, upgraded bathroom, decor, etc. As the week went on, we would come to decide how we felt about being the only English-speaking guests at the hotel.

Hotel entrance...


The room...




Walkways leading between the buildings and to the beach. Enya music played through speakers in the jungle areas.




After getting settled, we headed toward the beach for our first look which was probably a 5 minute walk on one of the pathways. Grabbed a drink at the bar and found a couple of open chairs.




After a while at the beach, we decide that we are starving for dinner so we head for the main building where the buffet is. The restaurants on-site require reservations made one day prior so we do that while in the main building as well.

The buffet area, where we would eat most of our meals, was a nice open-air eating area.



Afterward, we hung out in the lobby listening to the piano bar music and of course, drinking. And drinking some more.



Every night at 10, the resort has a show in El Teatro that varies each night. This night, it was Broadway theme...right up my alley! They lip-synched various songs and danced and some of them were pretty cute. Some of them could use some work memorizing the words...but since English is their second (or third or fourth) language, I'll cut them some slack.

She wasn't exactly Catherine Zeta-Jones but she was very enthusiastic...





Off to a good start and looking forward to the next day, our first full day. It would be a day of a few obstacles where we get a frantic call from Payton and we run into issues with the language barrier. More to come tomorrow....