We stayed at the Royal Caribbean March 29 thru April 5th and absolutely loved the resort. We were in unit B906. Don't panic if you are up on one of the upper floors because we rarely waited for an elevator. The view from our large balcony was breathtaking. I believe the resort was full, but there was always plenty of room around the pool and our kids were practically the only ones in the pool most of the time. We enjoyed pool bingo, water aerobics and of course 1/2 price happy hour started at 3 pm and we enjoyed many varieties of tropical drinks (alcohol or non-alcohol). My son couldn't get enough of the Nachos Grande that he'd order poolside each day for a snack or lunch. It was so convenient to just use our room card to charge food/drinks/etc.
We ate off site most evenings at Margarittaville, Senor Frogs, Rainforest Cafe, Captain's Cove, Shrimp Bucket and a reservation specialist at the resort made these reservations for us each evening, so we didn't have to wait. My favorite meal was at Captain's Cove -- My husband and I ordered the seafood platter for two and it is awesome. Senor Frogs was a bit too much excitement for the kids and the food/service wasn't very good. The atmosphere is always fun at Margarittaville and there are some nice souvenier shops close by. My 13 year old daughter enjoyed shopping at La Isla Shopping Mall. We took the city bus most places and found it very convenient. One day we rented a car from the resort and drove to Xcaret to snorkel, float in the underground river and take in all the sites. The car they gave us was a piece of junk. I was so nervous driving to Xcaret because I had to punch the brakes to the floor for them to work. There was also a red light on the entire trip that may have signaled trouble with the engine or something, so I was worried we'd break down in the middle of nowhere. To make things worse, we ended up downtown Cancun on the drive home and drove thru some seedy parts of town because we missed "the hotel zone" sign to get us back to the beach. So we learned some lessons from that experience. Xcaret was worth visiting. We booked (on-line) the all-inclusive day with the kids (ages 9, 13) and had a delicious buffet lunch at La Pennisula. Take plenty of dollar bills would be a suggestion for tips and bus fare. We never exchanged much US money for Pesos. The bus fare for 4 people is $2.60, so we'd always give them $3.00. We took the Royal Shuttle to the Royal Sands one day and enjoyed that. There seemed to be more action at that pool/beach and more college age kids. I prefer the less crowded, more low-key Royal Caribbean. At both pools, there was no music and that is one thing I would have enjoyed. One thing we wish we would have done was paint a piece of pottery on site at the resort. Each of the Royal resorts have an area to do this and it's really inexpensive -- would have been a nice remembrance. We were so happy to get this timeshare trade to the Royal Caribbean -- it was awesome to trade a one bedroom (Orlando, FL) and get a 2 Bedroom Villa (1,400+ square feet) for $150.00 thru Interval International. It pays to Deposit early!!!












