Questiona about Club Med Cancun

[123LuckyMom]

Our family has never vacationed in an all-inclusive resort, and I'm a little nervous about going to one in general, let alone at Spring break time! I'm concerned that Cancun at Spring break is NOT where I want to be, but I'm just feeling a bit desperate to swim in a warm ocean. I find it so healing! This would be a budget vacation for us, so we're looking to keep costs low. I think the kids will find the pyramids and river caves beautiful and fascinating, too, so we're looking at Club Med Cancun with a couple of day trips. I want to lie on the sand reading a book and occasionally swim in the ocean without having to watch my children like a hawk, so the kids clubs are appealing. I really don't want to be somewhere that's loud with music always playing or to be bothered by staff encouraging me to join in activities. I'm hoping for good food and not any sort of drunken atmosphere. I know a few of you have stayed at Club Med Cancun. Do you think this will be able to be a restful trip for me? Is it likely the kids will want to be in the kids' club? Do the staff have mad skills like preschool teachers so that I can leave a reluctant kid whom I know will be fine in 10 minutes, or not? Will it be a loud, party atmosphere, and will anyone, ever try to pull me up on a stage? I'm concerned it's an atmosphere more for people who are excited to be active and partying, which is wonderful, but not what I'm seeking this time around. What do you think?

[essnce629]

If you want a more family friendly atmosphere, try Club Med Ixtapa. We went 2 spring breaks in a row when my boys were 11 and 5 and 12 and 6. They LOVED it. DS1 loved the tween (11-13) club so much that we NEVER saw him. He'd eat breakfast on his own then head to his club and we wouldn't see him till dinner time! Then he'd eat dinner with his club and we wouldn't see him again till after the 2 nightly shows. Because the resort is fairly small and contained, I had no issue with him heading out on his own. Every day the kids clubs do trapeze school, archery, kayaking, sailing, beach, and pool games. No screen time, which I love and they'll make friends easily. DS2 was a little more hesitant, but he'd go to the kid's club for at least a little bit each day. Everything I've heard/read is that Club Med Ixtapa is more families and Club Med Cancun is more couples.

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[123LuckyMom]

If you want a more family friendly atmosphere, try Club Med Ixtapa. We went 2 spring breaks in a row when my boys were 11 and 5 and 12 and 6. They LOVED it. DS1 loved the tween (11-13) club so much that we NEVER saw him. He'd eat breakfast on his own then head to his club and we wouldn't see him till dinner time! Then he'd eat dinner with his club and we wouldn't see him again till after the 2 nightly shows. Because the resort is fairly small and contained, I had no issue with him heading out on his own. Every day the kids clubs do trapeze school, archery, kayaking, sailing, beach, and pool games. No screen time, which I love and they'll make friends easily. DS2 was a little more hesitant, but he'd go to the kid's club for at least a little bit each day. Everything I've heard/read is that Club Med Ixtapa is more families and Club Med Cancun is more couples.

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Thanks! Maybe another time. We definitely want to be in the Cancun area if we're going to Mexico so we can go to Tulum, Chichen Itza and do a Cenote swim. I'm just worried about the resort being relaxing rather than having a super party atmosphere or feeling pressured to join in activities. I would worry about that at any Club Med, because drinks are included and they seem to have a lot of group activities.

[Percycat]

How old are your kids? We have stayed at several Dreams all-inclusive resorts -- which are targeting family friendly customers. They have an explorer club for younger kids and a teens club for older kids plus lots of activities throughout the resort for families/adults/kids who want to participate. There are several resort locations -- including one in Tulum.

My family has stayed at the location in Cancun (with dolphins on site), Puerto Adventuras, and Punta Cana and had a great vacation at each resort. We book through Apple Vacations, which includes charter air fair from our local airport and all ground transportation logistics. I usually reserve the resort my family has selected, but at least one time I reserved a 6GoldApple Square Deal for the Cancun/Rivera Maya and specified I was bringing children -- The Square Deals are a discounted reservation program where you agree to let Apple choose the hotel and you learn where you are staying when you come to the airport. Because I specified 6 Apple and children, I knew I would be assigned to one of the Cancun/Maya Dreams hotels and my family would be happy with any of the locations.

If you choose to stay in Cancun -- the hotels are bigger and closer together and feels more busy/crowded -- but still fun. The ride to the airport is shorter. You can take a day trip into the markets of Cancun.

If you choose to stay further away -- Riveria Maya, the hotels seem more spacious. The ride to the airport is longer.

Dreams will have an onsite activities coordinator that can help arrange excursions for additional fee. You can also arrange excursions on your own, but it is convenient to have the Dreams staff make arrangements.

Chichen Itza is a two hour drive from the club med or dreams tulum.

[essnce629]

I'm just worried about the resort being relaxing rather than having a super party atmosphere or feeling pressured to join in activities. I would worry about that at any Club Med, because drinks are included and they seem to have a lot of group activities.

I don't drink at all, but DH does and says all the drinks are pretty weak! At least at Club Med Ixtapa, not once did I ever see anyone drunk or any rowdy behavior at all. I think most Club Meds are probably pretty family friendly. We stayed in the Riviera Maya last spring break, at the Grand Palladium, and MUCH preferred the smaller feel of Club Med. Club Med also had way better food. In the Riviera Maya we did a day trip that included the Tulum ruins, reef snorkeling, and cenotes/caves. We didn't do Chichen Itza because it was too far. The day trip was probably the highlight for everyone except that I got food poisoning the day of and spent the first half of the day feeling miserable and throwing up in the back of the tour van!!! We also spent a day at Xel Ha which was lots of fun.

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[Minnifer]

This would be a budget vacation for us, so we're looking to keep costs low. I think the kids will find the pyramids and river caves beautiful and fascinating, too, so we're looking at Club Med Cancun with a couple of day trips.

May I ask, where are you finding spring break prices for Club Med Cancun that are "budget"? I'm dying to get away and would love to try a club med with the kids but the pricing I've been seeing is all super high. TIA!

[123LuckyMom]

May I ask, where are you finding spring break prices for Club Med Cancun that are "budget"? I'm dying to get away and would love to try a club med with the kids but the pricing I've been seeing is all super high. TIA!

I haven’t fully priced it out yet, but it definitely seems like this won’t be as inexpensive as I thought. I’ll let you know if I find any big discounts. I’m planning to pay for about half the trip, maybe more, with credit card points, so for us it will be budget.


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[123LuckyMom]

I don't drink at all, but DH does and says all the drinks are pretty weak! At least at Club Med Ixtapa, not once did I ever see anyone drunk or any rowdy behavior at all. I think most Club Meds are probably pretty family friendly. We stayed in the Riviera Maya last spring break, at the Grand Palladium, and MUCH preferred the smaller feel of Club Med. Club Med also had way better food. In the Riviera Maya we did a day trip that included the Tulum ruins, reef snorkeling, and cenotes/caves. We didn't do Chichen Itza because it was too far. The day trip was probably the highlight for everyone except that I got food poisoning the day of and spent the first half of the day feeling miserable and throwing up in the back of the tour van!!! We also spent a day at Xel Ha which was lots of fun.

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This is really good to hear! I haven’t heard of Xel Ha. I’ll look it up!


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[mmsmom]

Just be aware that the US State Dept has issued a travel advisory for Playa del Carmen. You can certainly go to Cancun and avoid Playa del Carmen but you will pass by it between Cancun and Xel Ha/Cenotes/ruins. Here is the link- scroll down to Quintana Roo which is the state.

https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...-advisory.html

[magnoliaparadise]

How old are your kids? We have stayed at several Dreams all-inclusive resorts -- which are targeting family friendly customers. They have an explorer club for younger kids and a teens club for older kids plus lots of activities throughout the resort for families/adults/kids who want to participate. There are several resort locations -- including one in Tulum.

My family has stayed at the location in Cancun (with dolphins on site), Puerto Adventuras, and Punta Cana and had a great vacation at each resort. We book through Apple Vacations, which includes charter air fair from our local airport and all ground transportation logistics. I usually reserve the resort my family has selected, but at least one time I reserved a 6GoldApple Square Deal for the Cancun/Rivera Maya and specified I was bringing children -- The Square Deals are a discounted reservation program where you agree to let Apple choose the hotel and you learn where you are staying when you come to the airport. Because I specified 6 Apple and children, I knew I would be assigned to one of the Cancun/Maya Dreams hotels and my family would be happy with any of the locations.

If you choose to stay in Cancun -- the hotels are bigger and closer together and feels more busy/crowded -- but still fun. The ride to the airport is shorter. You can take a day trip into the markets of Cancun.

If you choose to stay further away -- Riveria Maya, the hotels seem more spacious. The ride to the airport is longer.

Dreams will have an onsite activities coordinator that can help arrange excursions for additional fee. You can also arrange excursions on your own, but it is convenient to have the Dreams staff make arrangements.

Chichen Itza is a two hour drive from the club med or dreams tulum.

Percycat, this is really helpful - do you like the Dreams all-inclusive better than the Club Meds? This is not the same as the Disney resorts (the ones outside of Disney I mean), right?

123LuckyMom, thank you for posting - sounds like the Cancun Club Med would be great for you! I will just add - take it with a grain of salt since I have zero experience with Club Meds - that when I called Club Med reservations to see if I could book a trip for Spring break, I asked two of them at different times which Club Med they all preferred... and they both preferred two of them - one of which was the Ixtapa. I think that was the favorite of both. I can't remember the other one... but if you call customer service and ask these questions, they seem pretty frank about their experiences. I was looking at the FL resort and they were not pushing that one - said it's not on a beach, though is cheaper. I thought they were very helpful.

In any event, is there anything to do in Ixtapa which might make it worth it in terms of day excursions?