So, at the end of our last blog, we were disembarking Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady at the Port of Miami. Back when we started planning this trip, we were wondering what we should do after the cruise, as we were lucky enough to have over two weeks off (this was over Christmas and New Years). We decided to look at options out of Florida to an all inclusive resort in Mexico, and settled on Barceló Maya Riviera Adults Only All Inclusive Resort.
Barceló Maya Riviera is near Puerto Aventuras, and is about a 1.5 to 2 hour drive from Cancun airport, depending on traffic. This resort is the adults only part of the huge Barceló Maya Grand Complex, which is comprised of 6 separate resorts; the 5 others are: Barceló Maya Palace, Barceló Maya Colonial, Barceló Maya Caribe, Barceló Maya Tropical and Barceló Maya Beach. If you stay at Barceló Maya Riviera, you have access to the facilities and restaurants of all of the other resorts in the complex.
From Fort Lauderdale we flew JetBlue to Cancun on December 24th. The flight attendants were friendly and it was a great flight! We landed in Cancun and got through the airport without a hitch. It took a while for our shared van transfer to be ready, and there were several stops to make along the way to our resort to let other passengers off, so we would probably look at booking private transportation next time.
The resort itself was brand new and absolutely stunning. Every surface was spotless. Check in was quick and our room was huge and beautiful, complete with a large balcony with our very own private hot tub.
By the time we got settled in, it was kind of late and I was getting hangry so we headed to the buffet to grab a bite. There was a large selection and everything we tried was good. Here’s a picture of my buffet breakfast the next morning. Breakfast in Mexico is one of my most favorite things. I just love the fresh ingredients in the salsa/pico de gallo. Soooo goood!
We spent a gorgeous Christmas Day relaxing on the beach and by the pool. The sand was pristine and there was no sargassum (seaweed). The only bad thing was that it was quite rocky when you went in the water. Water shoes helped a little, but even with those it was hard to keep your balance. Also, after the first couple of days we had lots of wind and they put the yellow or red flags up on the beach most days. This was super disappointing to me, as I am a total ocean person!! For Jerry it didn’t really matter, as he prefers the pool.
Being Christmas Day, we of course had to get dressed up and take pictures in front of the huge beautiful Christmas tree in the lobby. That night we ate dinner at La Comedie – the French a la carte restaurant. Everything was absolutely delicious!
The next day was Boxing Day and we decided to go into Playa Del Carmen for a few hours. The hotel concierge helped arranged a taxi and we were off. We got massages and did a bit of shopping. Of course I had to get this gorgeous gold and white pineapple to add to my collection of pineapple paraphernalia! And we got a kick out of some of the signs outside the bars and restaurants.
Dinner that night was at the Mexican a la carte, called Agave. Once again the food was amazing. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that food at all inclusive resorts is expected to be bland! It definitely wasn’t here.
Every evening the resort had a different style of live music on a stage outside of the lobby. They had these cool chairs that lit up and changed color. We sat there almost every night and enjoyed the entertainment and the drinks. Jerry especially loved his chocolate martinis, while I usually stuck with gin & tonic or dark rum & diet pepsi. 🙂
The next evening we ate at Dolce Vita – the Italian a la carte. Yet another amazing meal. 😀
December 28th was spent… you guessed it… relaxing by the pool. Ha ha, what can I say? We are creatures of habit. That night we ate at Sapporo – the Peruvian-Japanese Fusion restaurant. We sat around the square table while the chef cooked our food right in front of us, complete with fire tricks and lots of laughs. Delicious food once again!
December 29th – after spending the day at the pool (we got one of these cool clam shell beds!) we ate at the Taco Bar. At Agave, the Mexican a la carte, you can either make a reservation for the main restaurant, or just the taco bar. If you choose the taco bar, you sit at the counter and watch them make your tacos. We absolutely loved the fresh ingredients and slow cooked flavorful meats. So yummy!
December 30th was the day we ventured to some of the other resorts in the Barceló Maya Grand complex. There is a bus that stops at the resort every 20 minutes or so, that takes you to each of the other hotels. We checked out Barceló Maya Mall, which is also part of the complex. There we found a casino, arcade, bowling alley, shops, bars, restaurants, mini golf, etc. We ate dinner at Brasserie, which is the French a la carte restaurant at the Barceló Maya Palace. It was really good, but we liked the food and atmosphere at our resort better,
The next morning we had to get up super early to get to the airport on time for our flight back to Fort Lauderdale. This made for some gorgeous sunrise pictures while the rest of the guests were still in bed.
After another uneventful and quick flight back to Fort Lauderdale, and we took the free hotel shuttle from the airport to our home for the night, SpringHill Suites Fort Lauderdale Airport & Cruise Port. Since it was New Year’s Eve, we walked to a restaurant near the hotel – Firebirds Wood Fired Grill – and crossed our fingers that they would be able to squeeze us in. They did, and we had a delicious meal and drinks to ring in the new year! Back at our room we could see tons of fireworks shows from our window at midnight. We were thankful we didn’t have to go anywhere to see them as we were pretty much exhausted from our two weeks away by this point.
All in all, I would definitely recommend the Barceló Maya Riviera Adults Only Resort! This resort complex would work great for multi-generational groups as well. Families could stay at one of the other resorts, like Barceló Maya Palace, and couples without kids could stay at Riviera. Then the whole group could meet for dinners at one of the other resorts if they all wanted to get together!
Let me know if you have questions or need more information! I would love to help you plan your next all inclusive vacation.
Thanks for reading and SEA you soon!
Shelly
Jerry’s Corner:
Hello everyone and welcome back to my corner of the blog.
Today I would like to share with you the one thing I look forward to when I go to a Mexican resort.
I absolutely love Mexico and their friendly people. Whether on the east coast or the west coast, I always enjoy myself.
So that being said, the one thing that we like to do is find at least a day to go see the area and get a massage. We always go online to source out a great rate in a safe and clean spa. We thoroughly read reviews and consider price/location. For this trip we chose Magic Hands Massage in Playa Del Carmen. Although most resorts do have a spa, I find it way overpriced for what you get. I guess you pay for convenience.
A cab ride or Uber is usually reasonable (we prefer Uber) and after the massage you can see the local sights or shops.
This is the just the way I like to take a day while on vacation. 🙂
Till next time, be safe!
Jerry
Before and after massage selfies! 😀
The Landlocked Travelers 