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Advice for first timers to Cancun

Yorkshire
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Advice for first timers to Cancun
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Thinking of going to Cancun in November. Never been before, so don't know anything about it, ie good hotels, how near to bars and restaurants, is it expensive to eat out, etc. Can anyone help?

Braidwood, Illinois
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1. Re: Advice for first timers to Cancun
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I would check out hotels in the hotel zone especially for my first visit. Look at hotel reviews on this site. Decide what is important to you - beach, resort size, no kids, all inclusive, etc. It really depends on what you like to do.

Newcastle upon...
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2. Re: Advice for first timers to Cancun
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Also look on UK travel agent sites (Thomas Cook, Thomson Direct holidays) etc. as there are only a few charter flights per week from UK in Nov (Manc & Gatwick are only 2 i know of apart from BA flights from Gatwick) as it limits the amount of places / hotels you can stay at if booking a package deal. It will also show how much you are likely to pay.

A lot of hotels in Cancun aren't available through the big TA's so you might want to look at smaller ones if those hotels aren't for you ( Caribbeanwarehouse, beaches4less, theholidayplace have been mentioned by others).

Then once you find the hotel look at a map of Cancun, in reality all hotels in Cancun ( apart from Moon Palace) are within walking distance to buses that run 24/7 that can take you to the bars/resaurants within 20/25min

London, United...
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3. Re: Advice for first timers to Cancun
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As you're coming from the UK, package deals with all inc accommodation work out cheapest; if you want to go self-catered you will need to look at booking flights and accommodation separately, or seeing if a company like the Caribbean Warehouse can price it for you. For this reason, most Brits go all inclusive, and all inclusive in Mexico really does mean all inclusive, with several choices of restuarants for breakfast, lunch and dinner, most drinks included (certain resorts charge surcharges for certain brands, and most only include house wine and champagne), and food and drinks available 24 hors, with many resorts offering 24 hour room service free of charge. With that in mind, you may not eat out a great deal; however, while I cannot comment on Cancun, I've recently returned from Playa del Carmen and found the restaurants to be very reasonably priced (starting at maybe £4 for something simple like a burger, maybe £5 for fajitas, from £10 for seafood, etc)

Drinks-wise, again we found Playa reasonable (soft drinks from about £1 or less; beer from about £1.20 a bottle, cocktails from £4 (cheaper in 'happy hour')), but can't comment on Cancun. I know many of the bigger bars and the clubs often charge for entry, which is sometimes tiered (so you can pay entry and buy your drinks as you go, or pay a more expensive all inc entry which includes unlimited drinks)

As far as proximity goes, really it depends where you stay, but be wary of UK tour operator descriptions as properties listed as being in Cancun can sometimes by 15 minutes away by taxi.

For what it's worth, we're not keen on Cancun personally and much prefer Playa, so I would keep your options open and look at other areas too. We stayed at the Royal Playa del Carmen this year which is steps away from bars and restaurants, so is in a good location. However, even when staying at resorts that are further away we've not found this to be an issue as you can always get a taxi into the nearest town should you want to go off-resort, plus these resorts are huge with loads going on.

I would do some more research, then come back when you've narrowed it down to a few hotels; a lot of members are from the US, and recs aren't always helpful as UK tour operators have a smaller choice of properties, and our prices are also very different; by doing more research you'll get better and more specific advice.

HTH!

Louisville
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4. Re: Advice for first timers to Cancun
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We got our best deal the 2nd time we went to Cancun by using Tug2.com and rented from an owner at the Royal Sands. We also rented 3 years in a row from an owner at the Royal Hacienda's in Playa Del Carmen.

You can rent condos (one or two bdrm units) for a very good price.

Here is the web site.

http://tug2.com/timesharemarketplace/

Go to Rent Ads and click on Mexico. You can sort that information by Resort or date (by clicking on the "RESORT" or "WEEK / YEAR").

Manchester, United...
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5. Re: Advice for first timers to Cancun
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hi yorkshirescor

the best advise i can give is so simple

go all inclusive

and book the golden parnassus, it is soooo special.

barry and mary

Glasgow, United...
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6. Re: Advice for first timers to Cancun
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look at http://www.caribbeanwarehouse.co.uk they offer the largest range of hotels and prices are better than TC or thomson, you can choose who you prefer to fly with, going by the posts on here Thomson seam to be better.

Oak Island, North...
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7. Re: Advice for first timers to Cancun
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When we were at the Riu Palace Las Americas, we noticed lots of people from Great Britian there. It seemed like they liked the idea of the All Inclusive, and most of them were staying for 2 weeks at a time.... Made our little 4 day trip seem so short... Next time it's at least a week for us!

Manchester, United...
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3,117 posts
85 reviews
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8. Re: Advice for first timers to Cancun
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hi dan

2 weeks is the norm as cancun is 10 hours away, no good for only a few days

barry and mary

Yorkshire
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9. Re: Advice for first timers to Cancun
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Thanks to all of you - plenty to be checking out here!

Davie, Florida
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10. Re: Advice for first timers to Cancun
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cancun is a huge tourist trap, like miami but with pesos. look at Playa del carmen. skip the all inclusive if you like to get out amongst the culture and be away from tourists. all inclusives are fine if you just want to sit by the beach and eat mediocre food.

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