Travel Tuesday – How to pack for a tropical vacation

 

A friend of mine is heading off to Mexico on Saturday and we were talking about what she should pack for her 8 day 7 night tropical vacation. So I thought I’d share what I usually pack when we head to an all inclusive in Mexico for a week.

First things first. BIKINIS

Since we usually spend three to four full days on the beach I always like taking four statement bikinis. I also take two to three plain string bikinis that can go on under my wetsuit for diving, and if I need to I can use them on the beach as well, if I’m just working on a killer tan.

Every single resort we have been to has required for everyone to have clothes on when going into the buffets for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Since we usually grab a quick breakfast on our way to the beach and run in for a quick lunch if we can’t eat on the beach I tend to take anywhere from 3 to 4 cover ups. I tend to try to match them to my statement bikinis but that’s just my OCD. Cover ups are perfect because it’s almost as if you have a dress on, but you can just take it off and lay right back down on the beach. PLUS I think their super sexy, especially the loose chiffon ones.

I love loose, chiffon or lace dresses. I also like cotton and gauzy dresses. These are perfect for when you go to one of the restaurants for dinner, or if you head out on the town when you are in Cancun and decide to visit all the fun bars and clubs. These dresses are also great, because you can dress them up or down with minimal effort.

I love skirts, and honestly am not a huge fan of shorts, but I always pack at least one pair of cotton shorts, just because they are easy to pull on when we’re heading over to dive sites, or doing any other kind of excursion where I don’t want to be flashing everyone my panties. I also take a pair of “Daisy Duke” shorts just because the Mister loves them and if you have nice legs and a butt, go ahead and show them off !!

I always over-pack when it comes to tops. Just remember that you will only need about a top a day, and when you are on the beach all you really need is the cover up, and for dinner you’ll most likely wear a dress. So really about 10 tops is all you need. I’m in love with tank tops, especially loose, flowing feminine tops. I’d probably pack something along the lines of this, possibly a few statement ones.

Finally, shoes!!! You want a pair of flip flops for the beach and walking around, a pair of neutral wedges for dinners and dressing up. A pair of statement flats for going out and a pair of tennis shoes (I prefer all stars when traveling) for going on tours.

There are several other items I would throw in. But really these are my necessary clothing items.

What do you usually pack?!   

Tuesday Travels – Dreaming of Mexico

 

We love all inclusive and to us an all inclusive vacation to Mexico once a year is a must to reprogram our C drives (brains). Honestly, there is nothing more relaxing then laying on the beach, with a beautiful ocean and a pleasant breeze. An ice cold drink in hand and a good book to enjoy.

 

How I miss being away on the beach. It’s been a year since our last trip to Cancun and our blood is boiling to go back. We’re thinking sometime in November/December. Speaking of which I’m going to let you in on a little secret I learned from a good friend. If you want to go to Mexico, go the week before Christmas, the overall package price drops for the week, and then skyrockets back up for the week of Christmas.

Lots of people think that going in December the weather will be awful, however it’s the opposite. The average temperature is about 75 to 80 degrees, the water is warm from the hot summer (water takes about 3 months to catch up in temperature), and you get a nice enough breeze in the evenings that you can sleep soundly without being overheated.

Currently I’m lusting after the Secrets Maroma Beach Rivera Cancun which is an all-suites, Unlimited-Luxury resort fir adults only.

Here are some pictures from the website:

The first of our requirements when looking at hotels in Mexico, is that there is a large, white sand private or at least somewhat privet beach. Check that!

Second is that the pools and hot tubs have a nice view of the ocean, and a relaxing/friendly atmosphere. Check!!

There needs to be a nice sized pool with a swim up bar. CHECK!

Nice setting for the dinners, if you chose to eat at the “restaurants” rather then in the buffet. CHECK!!!  

And finally the room. There needs to be a king sized bed, and some kind of a sitting area. Considering that all the rooms at Secrets are suits we got that checked off! As an added bonus there is a hot tub in every single room! CHECK CHECK CHECK!!!!!!!!!!

Doesn’t it look just perfect?!

I’ve looked up some estimated pricing for a trip out from Denver for two adults for 8 days and 7 nights here are the dates and the estimated prices. Keep in mind that I’ve only skimmed prices and there are more then likely better deals and offers for this piece of paradise.

August – $3759.98 this includes a direct flight, transfer from airport to hotel and of course the stay for two adults. 

October – $3479.98 same thing here, a direct flight, transfer from airport to hotel …

November – $3819.98 Same deal!

December – $3639.98

All of these were priced through Apple Vacations. Keep in mind that these are not the only prices, and sites such as Kayak and BookIt have the chance to give you a better deal. Since we aren’t planning on shelling out $4000 for our next vacations it is highly unlikely we’ll go here, UNLESS of course I stumble upon a killer deal that I cannot refuse.

We will more then likely stay at either a Dreams, an Iberostar or another Secrets. We LOVE Iberostar and it is truly my go to when I need a quick get away. It isn’t all that cheap but it is worth every penny! Since it’s tried and tested I know you cannot go wrong with this resort.

Where have you been recently? Any all-inclusive that you are in love with?!  

Travel Tuesday

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

In the past few weeks I’ve heard a good deal of my friends and family talk about travel, where they are going for summer and how it is so expensive to get out of the house and get to somewhere with a beach. I’ve heard many people talk about the headache they had when looking for the best deal, and how they can only afford that one vacation and by God it better be the best.
I’ve looked at these people and thought to myself, they are sucking all the fun out of their trip by thinking of all the negatives.
Yes, it is a hassle trying to find the best deal, yes it can cost a good chunk of money to travel, and yes things may go wrong and you might not have the best trip of your life, however to me it is the positive attitude that makes all the difference in the trip.
SO on the note of attitude I’d like to share our last trip to Cancun with you.

----------------- May 15th to 22nd 2010 -------------------

First thing you should know, I tend to refuse to fly “hop” or “connection” flights, I also absolutely refuse to fly American Airlines due to previous awful experiences. So we had paid a bit extra to have a direct flight from Denver to Cancun on a charter plane. This was great! We left Denver around 10 am and arrived in beautiful Cancun around 2 pm local time. The flight was nice and easy.

This picture was taken as we were waiting for our cab to get back to the airport on our last day in Cancun, Mexico

However, when we got to our hotel, it had become cloudy and started to rain. We figured it was just a late afternoon shower and would go away, clearing up in the morning. Let me tell ya, we were very wrong. Six of the eight days that we were in Cancun we saw rain and gloom. Only one full day of sunshine and another beautiful day as we were leaving.

It was really disappointing to be on the beach, with the ability to lay out in the sun and swim in the ocean to have it ruined by the awful weather. Lots of people were getting upset, some of the guests were even booking flights back home and checking out early. The Mister and I stayed, and had a ball!

We beat the weather by going diving, and while the sun wasn’t shining on the surface the bottom of the ocean was as beautiful as can be. Unfortunately we didn’t have our underwater casing for the camera and have no pictures of this.

Here are some of the things we enjoyed:

We met Courtney and Josh halfway through our trip and had a blast with them.

Especially since we got to share that one day of beautiful sunshine with these two!

 

We tried out all the specialty restaurants that the resort offered.

The steak house was located on the patio right by the beach

The Japanese restaurant offered a covered few of the patio and the ocean. 

The dinner at the French Fusion restaurant was fantastic, and we got to share it with Josh and Courtney and celebrate our 6 month anniversary all in one. 

In addition we made sure to check out the famous clubs and bars in the area, and even though it was raining outside we walked from one to the other. The tequila helped keep us warm!

In all, we had an amazing time, made some great friends and lots of good memories that will keep us laughing and smiling through the years.

This may be one of my most favorite pictures from the whole trip. That is actually the Mister and I on the beach at night. The photo was taken with our Rebel

Tuesday Travels – Cruisin’ Away Part II

 

Last Tuesday I told you all about the fantastic excursions we did while on our Anniversary Cruise in the Western Caribbean. You can read all about them here, and while you read that keep in mind that there were a ton of other excursions that you could choose, such as diving in a submarine, or going to the Sting Ray Cove in Cayman, or even visiting a Rum Cake Factory in Jamaica. Since we only had enough time in each port for two dive we chose to dive.

In Part 2 of our cruise adventure I’d like to tell you a little bit more about what you can expect on the ship. It really was very different from what we had in mind, and exceeded our expectations by leaps and bounds.

I never got a picture of our stateroom, but it looked something like this. We had a balcony room which I’d highly recommend if you have scuba gear with you that needs to be spread out to dry, otherwise an inside cabin (which are much cheaper) is fine since you end up spending very little time in the room.

Our room attended was also amazing and I wish I had brought along more cash to give him extra tips. Our room was always made and ready to go. I felt that if we stepped out of the room even for half an hour we’d come back to our clothes folded, the bed maid and anything extra removed from the room. Not to mention we kept coming back to these babies:

      

 

The only complaint I had about our room was that the shower was TINY, and if you tried to shave your legs you encountered a bit of a problem. But I can’t really complain since we were in the middle of an ocean and had the ability to have hot water to shower with.

The room service was also excellent and you could order food at almost any time of the day and night. Of course tips were always welcomed by the room staff, so again I wish our travel agent had told us to bring more in cash with us.

Speaking of room service and food… the food was AH-Mazing, way better then some of the expensive restaurants we had dined at. Every night we had a more formal dinner, with two nights of black-tie dinners. You also had your choice of several buffets you could go to for breakfast, lunch, dinner and anything in between.

At the first formal dinner, I wore my wedding dress

      

And this is what we had, lobster ravioli for me and pot roast for Donald. Both were fantastic, and we both wish we had some wine to go with it, but since we were diving the very next morning we strained ourselves from putting alcohol into our system.

 

The last formal dinner, with my parents.

At our last dinner with our server, Guro who was fantastic. We also got a Royal Caribbean cook book.  

 

The buffets had a tone of food, and always fun decorations with fruits and veggies to go along with it.

 

There was also a ton to do on the ship while out at sea. On our first full day at sea we explored the upper decks were you could find the pools, hot tubs, gym, spa, recreation room, several bars and lounges. There was also an ice skating rink, a theater, and a movie viewing room.

There was lots of drinking and some karaoke singing

 

     

There was also some laying out by the pool and enjoying the sunshine

Not only this, but the ship was HUGE!! And it was constantly being cleaned.

This is the Royal Promenade where you could shop, eat, hang out and so on.

Over all, this was one of the best vacations we’ve ever been on, and one that was very affordable, even with a balcony room. 

This picture pretty much sums it all up.

OH… and we got to witness one of the most beautiful sunrises in the world.