Resorting to the Riviera Maya

March 4-11, 2017

When we bought the RCI land and sea package that got us onto the cruise through the Chilean Fjords and around Cape Horn, we also received a week at any RCI resort (we went to Glacier National Park) and a week at a Mayan Palace resort in Mexico. We had blown off a similar deal when we did the Panama Canal cruise, so this time we thought we’d try out the Mexico deal. It was a good time to get away from rainy and cold weather in the Pacific NW.

3 Mar, Fri – Left home at 2045 for our 2350 flight to Houston (IAH) and on to Cancun (CUN). We left the car in the Park N Jet lot #2 where I had purchased a 30-day ticket good for three years. That gave us a good rate of less than $6/day and included even high traffic time like the holidays.

4 Mar, Sat – We tried to sleep in the dark on the way to Houston but neither of us had much luck although we rested as much as possible rather than reading or watching whatever was free on the seatback video monitors. The good shows were only available on DirectTV by swiping a credit card. We had a long, 4hr20min, layover in IAH, so we had breakfast tacos at Papasitos then waited around for our flight. We were up in the clouds again on most of the flight to Cancun but we broke out over a reef surrounding a bright-blue lagoon before we reached the Yucatan Peninsula. I had the Fly Above app working but there really wasn’t much to see except jungle. It would have been cool if we had passed over Chichen Itsa. After a long walk and the usual long line we cleared first the immigration and then the customs; we got a random green light so we didn’t have to go through the scan and inspection. In the small main corridor of the terminal we were stopped by someone wearing a uniform with “servicioos turisticos” embroidered on her shirt. She led us to a similarly attired young man who we thought was going to help direct us to our pre-arranged shuttle. Instead, he spent probably a half-hour signing us up for a couple of tours and a return shuttle back to the airport. The price was pretty good and he didn’t dwell overly long on the fact that we had to attend a 90-minute information meeting about a new timeshare opportunity. We felt pretty good about getting such a good deal on the tours but were a little concerned that we were supposed to hide the agreement from Vidanta, our hosts at the Grand Mayan. The area just outside the terminal was awash with shuttle operators from all kinds of hotels and resorts. We finally found our Vidanta

Meat choices at the Café del Lago buffet grill

“Cancun Bay” shuttle operator and had to wait another fifteen minutes or so until the driver filled up the van. It was about a 35-minute ride to the huge resort and the Grand Mayan (not the expected Mayan Palace) registration lobby where we got to stand in another line to get checked in. We found out that our “free” RCI week provided us only a studio room so we would not have any kitchen facilities like a stove or refrigerator. That seemed like it might put a cramp on our style, but we came down to Mexico expecting that since we had not paid anything extra for the resort stay, we could afford to do things we don’t usually do; in this case, like usually eat out. We had read reviews about the Mayan Palace and Grand Mayan before we came, and then we heard firsthand from the “servicios turisticos” guy and a passenger on the van about the hard sell that the resort put on everyone who signed up for the free breakfast, 10% off food and other purchases, and the refund of the $75 resort fee, so we were ready to skip the whole sales thing. However, when Gaby took us aside and told us we would get our already-paid-for tours as well as all the benefits, and a free shuttle back to the airport, we caved and signed up for a presentation with the promise that we only had to stay one hour after breakfast. Next,

Labeled Map of E. Vidanta

we went to get our bags and followed a bellboy to our room in GM bldg. 2, surprisingly close to the main lobby and not at all far from the pools, restaurants and the beach. I had taken out 3000 pesos, about $150USD, from an ATM at the airport so I had money for a tip but no change; the bellboy took my 200 peso note and gave me $5 back. After unpacking we were more than ready to eat since we had skipped lunch (nothing on the United flight, of course). It seemed like a good time to go for the buffet at Café del Lago. We were a bit early as it didn’t begin serving until 1830; it wasn’t that long a wait and we ordered a half-bottle of a Chilean red wine. Our seats were right on the edge of a lake

Iguana in a tree near Café del Lago

surrounded by jungle. After watching the birds for a while we spotted a long green and orange rope-like thing hanging from a branch. A closer look revealed that it was the tail of a large iguana, and we soon spotted another one! Dinner was excellent with many, many choices of grilled meat and fish, fruit, salads, casseroles, bread, desserts and other food. We tried an assortment of desserts and then stayed for the musical performance based loosely on the folkdances of Brazil. Back at the room we shut off the whirling fan (only one speed – high) and opened the balcony door a bit to keep the temperature down without AC or a gale from the overhead fan.

Jungle view from our room

Stormy weather at the beach

05 Mar, Sun – We got up early enough to get to our 0830 timeshare presentation. First, we met our salesperson at the lobby and then walked over to the Del Lago for another big buffet meal. Leanne Saunders was very pleasant as she explained that the timeshare laws had changed and that there was a way to avoid having to continue paying maintenance fees. Of course, there was a big cost involved but, even so, what really sold us was that this contract allowed you to sell your “timeshare” back to the company. We were feeling that we were pretty much stuck in our two, traditional timeshares and didn’t know how we were going to get out of them. Anyway, it took a lot longer than an hour to hear the facts, decide to go for it. Then there were two separate meetings (one with Kim and the other with Marcos Guistiniani) to confirm  that we really knew what we were doing and that Leanne had not given us bad or misleading information; there was even a telephone call which was recorded. Next Leanne took us to the booking desk for tours and got our already-paid-for tours ticketed. She also told us about a cenote that she likes to swim in and drew a map for us in case we wanted to rent a car and go there. C.J. and I went back to the room to drop off all the paperwork, and then headed for lunch at the deli in Jade. We shared a ham and cheese on ciabatta and a fruit plate. We ate outside in a courtyard shielded from the NE wind so it was kind of hot and sticky. Then we took a walk to the beach passing one smaller pool, then the really big pool, neither of them rectangular, more free-form shaped. There were a lot of people lying on deck chairs and in palapas, but also quite few were In the water, or in the water at the wade-up bars, at least. We stopped to look at the menu at Havana Moon, the only beachside restaurant.  Then we walked along the sandy beach. The waves were rolling in strongly and carrying lots of broken seaweed. The workers were raking it up and digging holes to bury it. No one was in the water (red flags at the lifeguard towers) but we could see how the sand had been eroded from the beach and left it rocky. The waves were crashing over the reef maybe 100-200 ft offshore. On the way back we stopped at the lobby and booked two seats at Joyà, a Cirque du Soleil residential show just across the street from the resort entrance. And then we checked at the Alamo desk about renting a car for a day (about $70 all inclusive, cheaper than booking a tour to a commercial cenote). We were ready for a little break so we went back to the room and rested, relaxed, read and napped until we felt like it was dinner time. It was after 1900 when we got to Blue Fish, a cevicheria, and it was already full with a 45-min. waiting list. We signed up and then went back to Jade to get some lunch stuff and a muffin for breakfast (no milk or eggs, or yogurt since we didn’t have any way to keep things cold).  Back at Blue Fish we didn’t have long to wait and got seated against the wall where we had a good view of the Andean flute and pan-pipe band that was playing. C.J. had a good filet of red snapper and I had the Peruano Ceviche. While we waited, we munched on a bowl of various chips: tortilla, platano, sweet potato, and a thin bread. Weather had deteriorated and we had some light rain, nothing like the downpour during our initial timeshare meeting after registration. We were about ready for bed by the time we got back but I spent an hour or so catching up on this journal.

6 Mar, Mon – Up at 0715 for our 0930 pickup for a half-day tour to Tulum. [A bellboy delivered a Styrofoam cooler around 0830, from Leanne. Apparently she wasn’t able to finagle a deal to change our room to one with a kitchen.]  For the tour, unfortunately, we had assumed that the meeting point noted as “central lobby” was the same as the Grand Mayan registration lobby. When we got

C.J. at the Green Break Cafe

there at 0920, we found out that we had to go to the edge of the property by shuttle. We walked to the shuttle station (pergolado) at a roundabout and then waited for the shuttle to the Central Lobby. By the time we reached it, even though the shuttle people had called ahead, the Tulum Express van had left. A staff member called the tour office and got us rebooked on the same tour on Tuesday (but an hour earlier). We shuttled back to the roundabout and then walked to Green Break, an open-air restaurant on the golf course. It was also on the nature trail so there were informational signs that identified the trees and animals. We stopped to look into an enclosure with a big cocodrilo before going into the restaurant for a late breakfast/early lunch. C.J. had a good omelet  

and I had the huevos rancheros which came with sides of bacon and refried beans. On the way back we walked a little way down the cart track next to the fairway to get a close up of an iguana (we needn’t have bothered since the critters are everywhere) and then found a side path that lead to where the young crocodiles were located. Then we continued along the boardwalk nature trail to the Grand Mayan buildings and through GM#3 to the trail to the Flamingaria/Flamingo Island. A flock of the bright pink birds were located within a large enclosure at the opposite end of the lake from the Del Lago restaurant/buffet. From there we returned to our room where we consulted a map to see where we had been. It has been slow getting a handle on the winding paths and roads in this huge resort. After resting a while, we took our swim stuff and went over to the Grand Mayan pool. We got delayed a little when a big iguana waddled right down the path out of the pool area. Next we realized that we didn’t have our sunscreen or free-drink tickets with us. We took a quick dip in the infinity pool above the lake then headed back to the room for the missing items. Back at the pool we traded in our tickets for a Miami Vice and a strawberry Piña Colada. We drank them while wading in the relatively warm water. The wind was again strong from the northeast and the sky was partly cloudy but it wasn’t at all cold. We kept our towels and wandered over to the main pool (alberca
) and hung out there for a while watching the kids play in the shallow water near the head of the huge stone snake. Then we walked around the pool and went down to the beach where the waves were still crashing across the reef and depositing seaweed on the shore. The water was definitely colder than the pools, and the lower piers were roped off as the waves were breaking over them. From the higher pier we could see the tall hotel buildings of Cancun to the north. We returned to Jade and bought some food for breakfast – yogurt, bananas, a fruit plate and a bag of cookies. At Santuario Maya, the lobby for the

Kukulkan, plumed serpent, w/warrior

Grand Mayan, we talked to the concierge about dinner choices and I booked a rental car through Alamo for Thursday. Back at the room we took showers to wash off the particularly sticky sunscreen and then discussed our options for dinner. The Del Lago was having some kind of Mexican street-fair instead of a buffet so we settled on Frida’s (which is what Balché, the pool snack bar, turns into after 1800. We got there around 1900 and the waiting list was 40 minutes long already. We took a pager gismo and waited in comfort on the loungers around the pool until it was our turn. When we were shown to our table, it was a table big enough for four. We asked the hostess if she would invite another couple to eat with us. Bob and Julia from London were quick to take us up on the offer and we had an enjoyable, if difficult to understand, time with them. There was also a Mexican band playing guitars and harp and singing (they even did “La Cucaracha”!). We shared a make-it-yourself taco dish which was plenty for two, but we also ordered sopa de Lima Yucateca and a cactus-leaf (nopales) soup, both very good.

7 Mar, Tue – This time we left early enough to get to the “central lobby” [which is actually closer to the entrance gate than to the center of the property] before the Tulum Express van arrived just before 0830. There were exactly enough seats to fit the mixed group of guests from the Vidanta resorts. We were surprised to head north toward Cancun rather than south toward Tulum. But we soon found out that we had a scheduled stop at the Mathis jewelry factory showroom and adjacent tequila tasting room. We wasted 1hr 45min there. It wouldn’t have been so long except that some  

people were actually interested in buying stuff. While we were waiting we talked with a couple of young men from NYC who had done some interesting travels. We got to Tulum at 1147 and were dropped off at the market with our entrance tickets and a voucher for lunch at…wait for it…Subway. It was more than 2- or 300 m to the entrance along the entrance road and once inside the gate we were on gravel trails and stone stairs. We took the route that followed the wall toward the sea and then continued south passing the temple of the god of the winds, some mini temples, and down into the lower perhaps residential part of the town. We passed a couple of buildings on the right and then passed beneath the hill where El Castillo and the Temple of the Descending God were located. We climbed up around the south and west sides of El Castillo where there were good views of the shallow Caribbean Sea (with the now usual big waves – this was not going to be a day for swimming on the beautiful beaches). We backtracked a bit from the dead-end trail and took the eco-archaeological trail through the jungle to the south until we reached the exit gate through the Great Wall. Instead of exiting and walking back to the entrance along the wall we headed north through the central area of the archeological area passing some residential platforms (they seemed not much larger than a big tent platform). The Temple of Frescoes (held up now by steel girders), the House of Columns, more platforms and narrow streets.  Along the way we caught sight of a coatimundi marauding through a trash can. We exited through the Great Wall on the north side and returned to the entrance where we looked at some pictures and photos of what the frescoes looked like (maybe). And we bought a postcard and a small book on
Tulum. We returned to the market area and ordered our Subway meal and I stayed in the shop where it was relatively cool to eat while C.J. checked out the market for a colorful bowl and/or an embroidered blouse. Having found nothing she really liked (She had seen a bowl she liked at the tequila-tasting/souvenir place early on but it was $26-32 USD which seemed a lot for a bowl), C.J. returned and ate lunch with me. By then it was getting pretty close to 1420, the time we were supposed to meet our driver, but we had a few moments to check out some more blouses before hurrying through the winding lanes of the market to find our van just before 1420. It took almost exactly an hour to get back to the central lobby and we did not have to wait for the shuttle train so it was a quick trip back to the stop at Mayan Palace. We walked from there on a boardwalk we had not used before to get to Jade and pick up another fruit plate for breakfast. The Joya desk was too busy for us to see about getting our tickets, besides, we probably needed our receipt. Back at our room we caught up on uploading/downloading pictures and writing in journals. We walked back over to the Green Break, which becomes a taco joint after 1800. We got there around 1900 and had a half hour wait, not bad for around here. A mixed melted cheese, mushrooms, peppers, pork and other stuff for an appetizer, a big pork quesadilla and three chicken tacos were too much to eat (we brought some home – not sure why since we have no way to heat them up). I tried to contact the Albatros Catamaran outfit to see if they are going to run their trip tomorrow in the windy and wave-y conditions we’ve been having. Guess we’ll have to go and find out. The concierge whom I called had no clue, either, and the tour booking desk was closed for the day. I went to bed late after getting caught up in the most recent book in the Safehold series by David Weber. I was hot, or at least it was uncomfortable, probably because I had not taken a shower in the evening.

8 Mar, Wed – Up at 0645 so we had time for breakfast and for getting our equipment ready for the catamaran cruise and snorkeling. We didn’t find anything online about whether the trip was on or not, and there was no FAQ section where we might find out information like what we should bring. We settled on bringing our own masks and snorkels, small towels, rain jackets, long sleeve shirts and, for me, a shorty wetsuit. We wore our Tevas and lots of sunscreen. There were two vanloads of Vidanta folks going to Cancun for the cruise, and there were no stops at tourist traps along the way. In 40 min or so we reached the Albatros (al BAH tros) dock (near Temptations Resort) and found a large crowd of mostly young people and long lines. We were taken to a table and asked if we wanted to sign up for an upgrade, a "special today promotion" deal for $28 each. We’d get an almost new boat (the Atlantis), larger, uncrowded, and with free drinks, and a better lunch. We opted in and later we were glad we did when we saw how crowded and noisy the other boats were.

Cattleboat Catamaran, not the Atlantis

Everyone also had to pay a $12 dock fee (not sure if it was for the mainland or Isla Mujeres) ($80). There was an interminable delay which we later found out was due to an accident during the morning and the port captain had stopped all boat traffic to the snorkeling area where it had occurred. Finally the crowded party boats were able to clear the dock and soon we were boarding and pushing off. We received a welcome aboard drink and as soon as we finished that one, we were offered beer and mixed drinks. We motored through some pretty good waves (no problem for anyone, and just to be sure, I had taken a left-over sea sickness pill from one of our cruises). We reached the dock at Isla Mujeres around 1130 and we joined another Vidanta couple from Seattle area in renting a golf cart, a popular activity. We drove down to the south end of the island hoping to see a Mayan ruin and maybe go inside it. But it was already getting late by the time we found it and realized you had to buy a ticket and then walk a little way to the ruin. We

returned by the same route and got back about 1245 and had just fifteen minutes to browse in the souvenir shops. Then we waited around for the rest of our group to get to the dock. From there we motored south a ways to Playa Lanchero (I think) where we had a buffet lunch with lots of choice including fish, chicken and pasta with mushrooms, fruit and salads. We stayed there until 1530 resting in the shade on the beach in deck chairs. We motored to the west side of a small island W of IM and got our snorkeling gear on. While we were motoring, the photographer brought his cruise pictures around and we ended up getting a deal of two photos for the price of one. We refused the other three pics, even though they were all good.  The water was not cold, but I was glad I had put on my wetsuit. The water was reasonably transparent but not gin clear because of all the wind recently and there were bright reef fish to see, notably a parrot fish. Swimming against the current to catch up with the boat was really tiring and I was glad to get out of the water. C.J. was the last to get back to the boat. After getting dried off we moved to the bow where the raised sails provided late afternoon shade. We were sailing right toward the Riu Palace resort, the one with a big square opening through it. We could see a few boats giving some of their passengers rides on their spinnakers, but our more sedate, and less drunk, group did not insist on joining the “fun”. We didn’t arrive at the dock until well after the 1700 meeting time for our ride back to Vidanta. [Still, we had a great time and I left a big tip.] Fortunately, our transportation company had us covered and after a longish wait we got on a couple of vans and returned to the central lobby. C.J. and I decided that we’d just grab a sandwich at Jade Deli  and while we were waiting we ate dessert first, two scoops of gelato-like ice cream. We brought the surprisingly good Reuben on a ciabatta roll back to the room and ate on the balcony. We had a lot of stuff to rinse out and get dry before we have to go home early Saturday.

09 Mar, Thu – Great day of touring with a rental car! But first we had breakfast at the Café del Lago, even better than the first breakfast we had there with Leanne Saunders, our Vidanta sales rep. After breakfast we walked over to the sales office and asked for Leanne because we had some questions. She wasn’t in but Toody, a knowledgeable contract specialist (?), volunteered to help us figure out what we had purchased. She was really helpful and we stayed until after 10:00. Then we went back to the room and got everything we might need for a trip out to some cenotes near Coba, a two-hour drive. The rental contract signing went pretty smoothly and by 1120 we were being driven out to the central lobby where we picked up our mid-size Nissan. It had manual windows and door locks which was pretty old-school, but we could handle it. There was nothing wrong with the air conditioning or any other electro-mechanical stuff, and the agent checked the car for bumps, dings and scratches before we left. The exit from the Vidanta gate is only to the north so we had to use a “retorno” or u-turn lane to get going south toward Tulum and Coba. An hour or so down the road

we stopped at Akumal to see the turtle beach (photo, left) where people can swim with wild turtles. We lucked into a free parking spot and walked down to the beach. It was beautiful, with sand and gentle waves, so unlike the beach at Vidanta. People were swimming, at least out as far as a rope on buoys. We asked an information guy and he said that just a few months ago the federal government had set the limit because people were abusing the former laxly enforced rules by chasing the turtles or bringing large numbers of people in from outside. It still looked like a good place to snorkel with at least a chance to see a turtle. From there we headed south to Tulum and then west toward Coba. Just outside the first little town we passed through, we stopped at a big pottery shop (photo, left) and C.J. finally got the Mexican bowl she wanted and at the best price we had seen so far. It wasn’t much farther before we reached the roundabout and headed south again passing the entrance to the Coba archaeological park. We really didn’t have time to enjoy the cenotes and do a tour of Coba so we opted for the underground water-filled sinkholes. At the entrance the agent explained the features of the three local cenotes controlled by the municipal collective. We chose two relatively quiet ones – not the one that you can jump into the water from 10m. We entered Choo-Ha through a small entrance hole and went steeply down something like 60 steps on a wooden staircase. At the bottom was a small platform and a couple of stairs that went down into the clear and relatively shallow water, wade-able in some places. I thought the water was kind of chilly, but nothing like the water would be like in a cave in the northern latitudes; “refreshing”, C.J. called it. We had brought just our masks down and we could see to the bottom easily. Looking up, there were lots of big stalactites. And on the bottom there were some stalagmites, as well. The bottom was mostly sand and there were a few small catfish-like fish. After we were cold enough we climbed back out (the sales guy had emphasized what a long climb it was). We ate in the park on a bench while we warmed up. We ate the last of C.J.’s quesadilla from two nights ago, plus some of the tostadas/crackers we had bought at Jade. My water had remained cold in my new insulated bottle, much appreciated. After lunch we drove over

Choo-Ha

to the second cenote, Multun-Ha, and were somewhat bummed to see a tour bus there. But that group was just leaving as we arrived so we had the much larger and deeper pool to ourselves for a while before the next tour arrived. This one was accessed by a wooden, spiral staircase that went down 71 steps below the surface. We brought our masks, fins and snorkels (and I wore my shorty wetsuit which made it easier to convince myself to get into the water). There was no wading area but the pool had a few ropes crisscrossing the water and everyone was supposed to wear a life jacket (but very few did). We did a loop around the pool even under the platform before having had enough cold water. Having the fins was really nice and the snorkel should definitely be required when using a dive mask. Back at the surface we dried off as best we could with our sketchy towels and headed toward home. There was not much traffic to speak of even though it was around what we would consider rush hour in the states (still, we did see an accident in which a tour van had ended up in the median of Rte 307). We returned to Akumal and drove almost to the beach and parked right behind the Lol Ha Restaurant which Leanne had recommended. The restaurant was open to the beach and there was a table available right on the

edge. (photo, left) The near-sunset light was great on the beach, boats and trees so we settled in and ordered a couple of drinks (excellent tamarind Margarita, and a sweet Akumal Bay Splash) and an order of guacamole. Those were so good that we stuck around and ordered a shared conchita pibil pork plate with refried beans and rice. The pork was excellent on the warm corn tortillas, one of the best meals of this trip. It was dark by the time we left and we made only one stop - to get gas to fill the tank back to the halfway mark. [The gas had to be paid in cash and we both thought that C.J. had another 500p bill, but she couldn’t find it; luckily, I still had enough to pay for the gas, but I had to give up some smaller bills I was saving for tips.] We parked the car in the rental car lot at the central lobby and caught the shuttle back to near the Mayan Palace as usual. Then we stopped at the concierge desk to ask about arranging for a ride to the airport. Apparently, we have to pay for the taxi (it’s too early for the shuttle) but Vidanta has credited our account with 600p which we can use for the cab or just help pay off our other charges like meals. We stopped to see our Grand Mayan building 1-2 concierge and left a request for a wake-up call at 0400 and bellboys (who call the taxi) at 0445. We catch the cab in front of the Grand Mayan/Santuario Maya reception area. Looks like we have to do the check out, i.e., pay our bill, after the Joyà CdS show Friday night at the GM front desk which is open 24/7.

10 Mar, Fri – We had fruit and yogurt on the balcony before heading off for a bunch of errands. First I turned in the rental car key and documents while C.J. got a postcard stamp at Jade. After finishing that up we went back to Jade to pick up our Joya tickets. A sign said to ask about last-minute deals; we did and got upgraded to the more central seating with champagne and appetizers for $26 each – we’re only going to do this once, so we might as well get the most out of it. Then we went to the Vidanta Sales building to meet with Toody to go over our contract and get some questions answered. She was helpful and later she contacted Marco Guistiniani (who had done the confirmation after Kim had gone over the contract with us after Leanne had finished the sales presentation) and asked him to change the dates and location of the Summerfest promotion from March to 20-27 November at Riviera Maya. That way we get the $6000 Vida dollars for coming back to our home resort in 2017. There’s still plenty to do around here (and Toody told us about where and what to look for when buying hupiles, embroidered blouses). Leanne popped in just as we were finishing so we had a chance to thank her for the map she drew to the cenotes and her recommendation of Lol Ha Restaurant (and the Styrofoam cooler for our room). Toody showed us where the ATM was in the building and I took out another 1500 (about $75) so that we would have enough for tips and the taxi ride to the airport which is 530p. We walked back to the Alamo counter to get a receipt for the car rental return then returned to the Grand Mayan where we stopped to walk through the GM master suite showroom. We are staying in the one bedroom lockout ("master room") of the master suite this week. Back at the room we started packing and I checked us in for our United flight. Around 1230 we went out in search of a hearty lunch to make up for the dinner we would miss at the Cirque du Soleil show (not counting the appetizers and drinks, of course). We thought we might try the Burger Bar at the Grand Luxxe but when we got to the entrance to the GL, a staff member told it was only for GL guests. We looked at the Havana Moon but all the outside tables were taken and the music was loud inside. We doubled back to

Balché which surprisingly was not

 crowded. C.J. ordered a mixed ceviche and I had the Maya Wrap with turkey, veggies and gouda cheese. A limonada made with sparkling water made a very good drink. After lunch we walked back down to the beach where we had seen a tandem parasail. There was no sign of it by the time we got there but the water was much less active than it had been on previous days. Even though the red flags were still flying at the guard stations, a few people were swimming. We walked out on one of the piers and noted that even though there was plenty of wave action, the visibility still looked good. We walked back up through the pool area and went to take a second look at the showrooms for The Bliss, the accommodation level we had bought. It looked fine to us, not as well appointed as the Grand Mayan, though. We took the path around the south side of the lake and saw a bunch of iguanas, another crocodile pool, and the flamingo island. Back at our room we got a little more serious about packing. All of it has to fit since we gained only one bowl and some souvenir leaflets (plus our contract stuff, of course). By 1645 we were ready to head for our big splurge at the Cirque du Soleil. We were a bit early for the shuttle from what used to be called the pergolada,

where we usually caught the shuttle to the Central Lobby near the gate. We hid out in the cool of the busy Mayan Palace lobby for a while watching as new guests arrived looking just as confused and tired as we must have on Saturday. Finally we got the shuttle to the CDS theater

across the highway from Vidanta (where, according to Vida Sales, there will be a CDS theme park like the one near Puerto Vallarta). We had time to wander around on the boardwalk which followed 

the perimeter of what the signs called a cenote, but the water was awfully brown for a cenote. There was a photography station where guests could dress up in Cirque-like costumes for a picture or two. We also checked out the Nektar restaurant and chatted with the hostess. The prices were on a par with the other resort eating places. People who had signed up for the dinner-music- champagne-appetizers-show experience got to go in at maybe 1745; we who had the music-champagne-appetizers-show package were seated around 1810, but not before a dugout-shaped boat was paddled across the cenote with a costumed Indio welcoming us with smoke. The theater itself was a fantasy as far as design both inside and out, even the rest room was interesting. Our seats were excellent, almost in the center and while they weren’t in the front, we had very good sight lines. Our table was already set with a bottle of champagne and a set of seven appetizers each, four savory and three sweet. It was all very decadent, and very unlike us, but we certainly enjoyed it! A trio of musicians were playing on the stage as we came in and there was a dancer and singer as well. At 1900, the musicians disappeared, sinking into the stage, and the main show began. The story line for Joyá was vaguely that a girl, Joyá, was to be given a book that contained all the knowledge of her grandfather. There were fights with pirates, undersea adventures, and somehow the story fit in aerialists, jugglers, a contortionist, four trampoline guys, a bungy-cord aerialist, and incredible jump-roping, music and lighting. It wasn’t exactly like the trailer that was being shown all around Vidanta, but a show probably does evolve and change over the two years it

has been in place. Since we didn’t finish the whole bottle of sparkling wine, we didn’t stagger too much on the way out as we found our way back to the shuttle to Vidanta. We stopped at the reception desk and went through the checkout process. We were not charged for the catamaran cruise or Tulum Express, but we had already paid $100 for those to the guys at the airport.](left, curtain behind "trampoline")(above left, G, cenote, Cirque du Soleil)

Back at our room at the Grand Mayan we set another wakeup call with the operator, packed everything we could and got to bed a bit earlier.

11 Mar, Sat – Up at 0400, we got ready and then waited for the bellboys who were supposed to come at 0445 according to our concierge, but that was the one time that things did not happen when they were supposed to. We had only two bags so it was no hardship to roll them over to the Grand Mayan lobby where the bell captain/transport organizer had a taxi for us in just a few minutes. The taxi driver was quick and we reached the Cancun International Airport by 0520. That gave us plenty of time to check in and then get some breakfast omelets at Wolfgang Puck’s, orange juice and a bottle of water before boarding for our 0800 flight. I slept a good bit of the early part of the trip, but later I could see part of northern Mexico, the end of the Sea of Cortez, the mouth of the Colorado River and then the coast of CA, the islands off the coast of Los Angeles, the Channel Islands, Big Sur Area and SF Bay as we approached SFO. We passed through a pretty cursory inspection (although I declared our Mexican cheese, just in case) and used the Global entry kiosks. We thought we might take United up on their offer to put us on a later plane for $150 each but they must have had enough seats because at the very last moment they hurried us onto the plane. There was still even a place for my carry-on in the overhead bin. We had pretty good views leaving San Francisco of the city, the bridges, Pt. Reyes, Clear Lake, even Williams and the gliderport. Later it got cloudy; still, we saw Lake Shasta and snowy mountaintops. The Flyover Country app on my phone showed where we were and named the natural features [I just have to remember to set it up before we leave a wi-fi source]. We landed in some turbulence at SEA and had a longish wait for the Park N Fly shuttle; the driver called me to say he would be several minutes late, a nice gesture. On the way home we stopped to use our Groupon at The Gyro House in Renton. We drove into hard rain as we neared North Bend but it wasn’t raining as hard by the time we reached home. As expected, the house was cold but a fire warmed it up quickly, though not as warm as the Riviera Maya!