Weddingbee

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Our goal was to get international round-trip airfare to Canada with multi-destination flights, three different 4- and 5-star hotels, and a rental car for under $3,000. Oh, and did I mention that the nearest airport to our destination was 2 hours and 45 minutes away? And that we wouldn’t be flying in until after dark? And that some of the hotels were off of unpaved roads? You see my dilemma. Yes- I’m a Geographer by degree, but how well can I really find my way around a foreign country in the dark? Yeah- not too well. So, after secluding myself for days, changing some plans around, and forfeiting a good part of my working brain, I did it! And we’re even under budget! YAY! YAY! YAY!

But believe me- it came at a price. Check out scary/frustrated face of me below (embarrassing as it may be).

 

This was me signaling ditto to William Shatner on Priceline. Yes- it had gotten to that point. Look at my desk: travel books, cups, scattered papers and pencils… it wasn’t pretty

Are any of you traveling abroad for your honeymoon or having difficulty with the travel arrangements?
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When we return, I’ll be ready to start blogging all about our incredible wedding day. I will miss all of you, but see you in a couple weeks!

Any last minute Maui and Kauai tips for us?

image from luxurylink
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Things started out the “normal” way. We walked up to the counter, checked our bags, and walked over to the security checkpoint. We put our carry-on bags on the conveyor belt and walked through the metal detector without an issue.

But then, the screener stopped the conveyor belt and started carefully examining the screen. He quickly called others over to get a second opinion on what he was seeing. Another security guard came over, looked at me and said, “uh-oh, that’s YOUR bag.” I thought he was joking around.

But he wasn’t.
Mr. Toucan looked alarmed and quickly asked me, “What do you have in your bag?”
“Nothing,” I replied.

But it wasn’t “nothing.” The security guy pulled me and my bag aside and began rummaging through my stuff. I was so super confident that I wasn’t carrying anything to cause alarm…until he pulled out my keys.

Oh sh!t.

On the end of my cute little monkey-faced keys…

…a kubaton

I had brought a “weapon” to the airport. Since I take my grad courses in the evening, Mr. Toucan has always been worried about my safety. So, I took a self-defense course and carried my kubaton around for protection. I knew that it was illegal to fly with, and in the past usually remembered to take it off my keys before I flew. But this time, I was on my newly-married high. It just slipped my mind. And that’s what I told the security guards.

They still made me wait around. They took copies of my passport, driver’s license and plane ticket. They told me I might have to wait to talk to the state police. They threw out my kubaton. I was crapping my pants… er… dress.

I didn’t end up talking to the state police, but I was given a stern talking to by the security guard and was given this note, essentially telling me not to bring weapons to the airport.

 

Mrs. Toucan was sad and embarrassed.

I was told that “my file” was going to be reviewed and that I might get a fine in the mail in a few weeks (eep!). Additionally, while I was talking to the security guard, I overheard Mr. Toucan chatting with another security guard - he referred to me as his wife for the first time! Unfortunately, the conversation went like this:

Security guard: So, you guys going on vacation?
Mr. Toucan: Honeymoon, actually. We got married yesterday!
Security guard: Yesterday?! Wow, you really had no idea what you were getting yourself into, huh?!
Mr. Toucan: Haha, yeah. That’s my wife - the felon!

Oh yes. The first time Mr. Toucan called me his wife, the word felon followed closely behind.

Lessons learned:

1. Airport security is no laughing matter.
2. Don’t bring weapons to the airport.
3. Don’t forget to check your carry-ons for illegal things. Once you go through the metal detector, you can’t go back and pretend you didn’t have them!
4. If you get caught, your new hubby will make you take sad-face pictures with your warning notice, and later will tell a much more exaggerated story about how you got tackled to the floor, arrested, and held in a holding cell for 48 hours.

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The Lobby

When people had asked us where we were going on our honeymoon, several frowned and said that they loved everything about Mexico but the endless solicitation they encountered on the beach, while eating, and pretty much anywhere they went. This wasn’t the case at all at the resort. Because, at least for now, it is so far away from other resort areas, so no one really has access to the hotel, restaurant and beach areas except hotel staff and guests. There are always plenty of cabanas open to lounge under, and at any time there were maybe only 20 other couples sharing the expanse of beach with us. The seclusion was bliss.

seclusion on the beach

The food was really delicious. The only major complaint that I had were that all salads at all restaurants were consistently less-than-stellar. Main courses were wonderful, but the fresh greens never quite did it for me…the dressings were usually really heavy and a little strange. Vegetarians, beware. Meats were all wonderful, lobster and steak in particular, however, and despite the fact that it was an all-inclusive resort, they never skimped on quality when it came to food. Not surprisingly, the Mexican restaurant and cuisine was the best…the Asian restaurant, my least favorite. I know it sounds silly to eat Asian food in Mexico, but we were intent on eating at every restaurant on the resort at least once.

Clockwise from top left: NY strip steak from The Steak House, Salad Nicoise at Chez Isabella, Lobster at Agave, Duck at Chez Isabella

The resort had an amazing day spa (circular building, below). None of the spa services are free, nor are any of the services cheap…the prices were pretty on par with spa services at a nice spa in the U.S. If you’re a honeymooner, you receive 15% off of any spa services before noon, so Mr. Penguin and I each got a massage. All spa treatments big and small come with a one hour “Marine Circuit” where they guide you through a series of rooms and pools with different stimulating water treatments…very cool! It was a wonderful experience, and if you go as a couple they put you in the same room. Seeing your new hubby in paper panties is quite the hilarious experience!

The Mille Spa

the water circuit **

couples massage rooms**

The public pools are nice, but they’re pretty crowded, especially the one with the swim-up bar. The lazy river is quieter, and great if you just want to float around the resort.

plenty of empty hammocks on the lazy river**

the lazy river that circles the resort**

Our room was spacious and wonderful. Honestly, it was kind of hard to get me to leave. I could only take so much beaching, and reading on one of the three outdoor beds right outside of our room was really comfortable. However, there was obviously no one to make us slushy drinks in our room so we preferred to spend most days at the beach or at the pool. But honestly, if we had a blender or a freezer, we’d have probably stayed in a lot. Junior suites all have their own private rooftop pools, and it was pretty fun to have some alone time up in our own pool, however if I ever visited again, I don’t think I’d pay extra again for the private pool. It was fun to have for our honeymoon, but we didn’t use it every day, and it was just more of a novelty then something that really enhanced our experience. All rooms in the resort include a jacuzzi tub that opens up to the balcony. I really liked that!

our room

bathroom

oversize jacuzzi tub

rooftop private pool

views on both ends on the roof

The property had some sort of leopards or jaguars or scary cats that I wasn’t to thrilled to check out. They looked scary and bitey. All I knew was that I was glad that we did not have a room on the ground floor in case they had gotten out of their habitats. There were some interesting large lizards too, none right on the grounds of the resort, but right outside, near the big cats.

All-in-all, a great time, and a perfect honeymoon for the couple that really doesn’t want to do anything in particular but relax. As far as the “all-inclusive” aspect of the resort, they never failed to deliver. I’m a big skeptic of anything that’s all-inclusive, but Excellence does a beautiful job at providing a great all-inclusive experience. They carried decent, recognizable brands of liquor, and never limited us to how many restaurants or meals we could visit or have in one day.

We admit to visiting one restaurant for drinks and appetizers and then heading to the Lobster House for our main course. Even the nighttime entertainment was really fun. We went to a magic show, got entertained by mariachi bands, and every night there was beautiful live music filling the air. They set up horseshoe games on the beach, and had cooking demos and kitchen tours, even a woman walking through the gym with cold water and cold towels to give to you while you were working out. We could participate in as much or as little as we wanted. We never felt like we needed anything, because it was always right at our fingertips. We consistently tipped the wait staff, maids and bellhops, but we noticed that not too many people did so, and it’s not required. Also, we didn’t get treated differently than those who didn’t tip, which was a little disheartening sometimes when we got a bad table facing the kitchen and little things like that, but whatever. The staff is beyond professional and nice, and the comfort of not having to “watch your pennies” everyday was very relaxing, as Mr. Penguin and I don’t share bank accounts, and so usually we have to decide who pays for what when we go out to dinner…but since everything was paid for beforehand, it was great to just order whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted, and to not have to worry about our wallets.

**starred photos from the Excellence Playa Mujeres website
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We were the most haggard looking couple on the plane. The bags under our eyes were so big from lack of sleep the few weeks leading up to the wedding.

We arrived to some pretty nasty thunderstorms. Cancun weather in June is spotty, at best. But it was always hovering in the mid 80’s, rain or shine, and we only experienced rain a few days out of our 10 day stay, the first big storm being on the day of our arrival, and the second big storm being on the day we left. So that was very fortunate. But, rain or shine, since the weather was warm, it didn’t really put a huge damper on our vacation.

Poppin’ the bubbly upon arrival!

Our first full day there, in the eyes of Mr. Penguin, was a “total mess.” He was poised and ready for vacation. I, on the other hand, was still in fully functioning bridal mode. My brain had yet to wind down, so I woke up at 8AM, went to the gym, returned to the room and shook Mr. Penguin awake, claiming that we’d miss breakfast if he didn’t get up. Nevermind that the resort boasted free room service that included a full breakfast menu, 24 hours a day. He grudgingly got up, and we headed down for breakfast…

…where I decided that I’d be healthy, and ordered oatmeal and coffee. Mr. Penguin wondered how long I would keep this “healthy” crap up. It lasted till lunch that day :). Then we headed to the beach, where after a short hour of lounging with a book, I decided that I couldn’t stand sitting still any longer, and that I wasn’t quite sure that “10 days of doing nothing” was going to work out for me. You could almost see the steam seeping out of poor Mr. Peng’s ears. He distracted me by ushering me to lunch a full 2 hours after we ate breakfast and prayed I would take a nap after being distracted by 700 calories or so. Worked like a charm. I zzzz’ed through the rest of the day until it was time to eat again.

By day two I was getting the hang of doing nothing. The steady stream of alcohol from sunup to sundown killed the adequate amount of brain cells necessary for me to relax. Days two through ten followed an easy-to-follow pattern:

Awaken. Eat. Go to the beach. Drink. Read. Eat again. Go to the pool. Drink. Read. Nap. Drink. Eat Dinner. Drink. Enjoy one of our two balconies. Sleep. Repeat 9 times.

Witness below…

My typical noon view. Staring up at an umbrella on the beach in-between books.

Checking out my battle wounds from the wedding (I am clumsy. Good thing the dress was long.)

Champagne brunch on our balcony

Hanging out in our private pool

A great view from the back of our upper balcony

Our lower balcony during the day…

...and at night.

The mirrors in our bathroom were kind of high for this little Asian. I had to wear high heels to put on my makeup.

Every night the staff left us a towel animal that I hoarded and refused to use. One night we were low on towels, but I dried off with a wash cloth. I did not want to disassemble my cute-as-pie turkey. The little guy had eyes! Ripping him apart would be tragic!


Floating on the lazy river

Mr. Penguin braving the Mexican waters. I am deathly afraid of sharks, salt water, creatures that swim, seaweed that looks like creatures that swim, foreign waters, jet skiiers, and overly affectionate couples invading my swimming space. Nevermind that there are no sharks in Cancun, or that seaweed is good for your skin.

We dressed up for dinner every night! Look how my posture had gotten so bad over the past few weeks before the wedding, because my back was all knotted up. A quick trip to the resort’s spa for a signature massage fixed it all.

Mr. Peng and I at the bar at night

Mr. Penguin Flambeed!

The fruits of his labor. Bananas Flambee with ice cream…what a man! And now that he’s got the technique down, I hope we’ll be having this at home?

Glorious food. One dish I ate was some manner of lobster covered in cheese. My heart hurt after I ate it.

We ventured out of the resort for one day and headed to Cancun for a day of shopping and a quick drink at Senor Frogs Cancun, where Mr. Penguin had spent many a night on his High School Senior trip. I sipped my Palm Tree drink and smiled and nodded as he relived his trip.

Our sad last morning on the beach. Don’t believe that fake smile. I was crying on the inside.

We flew Frontier airline, and they’re known for having a different animal on the tail of every one of their planes. Believe it or not, we returned home on Frontier’s penguin plane! Mr. Penguin and I got a huge kick out of that. Then he asked me when I was going to retire from blogging. Then I kicked him square in the balls and asked him when he was going to quit watching sports. “Never,” he said. “Ditto,” I said.

Next up, a full review of the resort…stay tuned!
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Months ago, we really wanted to go to Asia (Hong Kong, Mainland China, Japan…). But with the Beijing Olympics happening this summer, airfare there is a biatch! So we had to go back to the drawing board.

Besides our love for Cancun, we love cruising!!!

Bermuda on the Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas- Summer 2005

Western Mediterranean on the Royal Caribbean Splendor of the Seas- Summer 2003

What we love about cruising is that when u go to bed, you are at one port and when you wake up, you are in whole new place! You can hit up multiple countries in the matter of days without the hassle of air travel.

We consider our cruise around the Western Mediterranean our favorite! If you haven’t already been, it would be an excellent vacation or honeymoon. From New York, we stopped over in Paris to spend two nights, then flew to Barcelona to begin our cruise. The ship then sailed to Monte Carlo/Nice, France, to Florence/Pisa, to Rome, to Naples (Pompeii), to Malta (we were there when they were filming “Troy”) and then back to Barcelona. Here are some highlights from that trip.

Since we’ve cruised the Western Mediterranean, it only makes sense that we should cruise the Eastern Mediterranean as well! Here are the ports of call we are hitting up! Venice, Italy; Split, Croatia; Iraklion (Heraklion), Crete; Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey; Santorini, Greece; Corfu, Greece. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I can’t wait! So far I’ve only booked the cruise and the airfare to and from Venice. We are spending about 3 nights in Venice. Any tips on what hotel we should stay at and what we should do?

source

Has anyone ever been to these place? Any tips for a first timer like me?

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What travel agents or travel packages do you recommend, if any? Or should we suck it up and figure it out on our own, without an agent? I just started looking into the Costco “Best of Italy” packages and they’ve gotten mixed reviews, so I’m not sure if I should pursue it or not. I’ve also looked into STA Travel, but haven’t seen reviews from real people who have used their services so I am hesitant to look into it without some initial feedback. Frommers and TripAdvisor are great for browsing their message boards and reading reviews, but I just don’t know how to tackle the honeymoon head-on. I’ve never been on a plane, so my travelling experience is nonexistent.

I own a few highly-recommended Italian guidebooks for us tourist-folk, but I figured I’d ask you readers for your opinions since you’re always pulling through for me I’m absolutely in love with Positano and Cinque Terre, but I’m willing to bet that it would be way less exhausting and stressful to save them for another trip entirely.

Mr. CC and I are looking for an adventurous, yet relaxing vacation where we don’t have to hustle around every day and worry about constantly changing hotels and catching train rides. We’re willing to stay in cute hotel boutiques and smaller b&bs over swanky hotels if it means saving a few bucks here and there. We’re also not really huge on going to really overcrowded tourist destinations when there are so many secret backroads to explore, so the more untraditional recommendations or ideas, the better! Although, I’m the type that gets lost in my own backyard, so I’m a little nervous about trying to figure out the transportation situation. I know this is supposed to be fun to plan and figure out together, but Mr. CC will be busy working full-time and student teaching, so I sort of took this on as my “not-so-little” pet project.

Please offer your well-travelled wisdom and pray to shiny happy Buddha gods that the American dollar will stop sucking soon!

Hugs and honeymoons,
Ms. Candy Corn

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