Costa Mujeres (Conclusion)
We started off the next morning with breakfast at the Italian restaurant where we had lunch the previous day. We chose it because it is al la carte as opposed to a buffet. Traci does not like eating from buffets.
yoga class
After breakfast, Traci participated in a 10 AM yoga class under a gazebo at the beach. Traci and I are not people who spend time lounging on a beach or at a pool but we decided to give it a try on this vacation. While Traci was doing yoga, I found two loungers under a palapa on the beach and waited for Traci there. Palapas and canopies were plentiful at the resort. I admit that relaxing in the shade of the palapa with the light breeze and sound the ocean was very nice. I mainly spent time checking my phone at first. The resort's Wi-Fi signal was very strong at the beach. Traci joined me under the palapa after her class. We eventually fell asleep in the tranquil environment. We spent nearly 2-hours relaxing on the beach.
We had lunch at the Italian restaurant again and then stopped by the buffet at the Mar House to get some ice cream. We eventually made our way back to our room to get cleaned up for the evening activities. I decided to take a dip in our private plunge pool but did not stay in there long. There were too many dead insects floating in the pool for my liking. It had Traci and me wondering how often the pool is cleaned.
We got cleaned up and got dressed for the meet-and-greet that my younger sister (mother of the groom) had arranged. It was a casual event that started at 6:15 PM. She asked all the attendees to wear something blue. I think it was to honor the wedding tradition of "...something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue".
The resort reserved a section for our meet-and-greet at the resort's Mexican Night celebration that takes place outside. Mexican Night was my favorite event during our stay. It showcased Mexican culture - old and new. The resort had a humungous buffet with food stations stretching a half a block. There was a mariachi band performance. There were staff dressed in elaborate native costumes. There was a lasso demonstration by a man on horseback. Later that evening, Traci and I attended the show at the theater that featured more Mexican culture through song and dance. It was an awesome night.
The next morning, we had breakfast at the Italian restaurant again. By this time, the staff knew us by name. It was wedding day for my nephew and his fiance. The wedding would take place at the resort at 5 PM. Until then, Traci and I took advantage of the amenities, activities, and relaxation opportunities provided at the resort. Traci participated in the 10 AM stretch class and then participated in a clay art class while I napped on the balcony of our room. We met up at the Bar Infinity pool area where we dipped our feet in the pool. I enjoyed a cheeseburger from the Beach Grill. The smoke from the grill smelled too good for me to pass up that opportunity. Unfortunately, when Traci was ready to have lunch at the Italian restaurant, I was too full to eat anything other than a few fries.
aqua-spinning class
We participated in the pool-side bingo game at 2 PM but did not win. Afterwards, we attended a class on couple massages. Traci and I were the only couple in the class. There were two solo women. The instructors worked with them.
It was soon time to get cleaned up for the wedding. All guests needed to be in their seats by 4:45 PM for the 5 PM wedding. The resort was busy with weddings. There were two or three of them per day during our stay. This was understandable given the beautiful location. Some were at the Beach Gazebo. Some were at the Sky Terrace while others were at the Garden Gazebo. My nephew's wedding took place at the Garden Gazebo which was surrounded by fountains. I was a little worried because the dress-code was cocktail attire. I was wearing a suit in this hot, humid weather. This turned out not to be a major problem because the sun sunk down behide the main building next to the gazebo to create a nice shade before the 30-minute ceremony ended.
The wedding took place at the Garden Gazebo.
Everyone was invited inside the air-conditioned main reception area after the wedding for mixing, mingling, and drinking while the wedding party took pictures. The wedding reception began at 6:30 PM in the ballroom. We partied there until 11 PM.
The day after the wedding was our final full day at the Majestic Elegance Costa Mujeres Resort. Traci and I had entertained the idea of spending that final day by doing an excursion to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza or Tulum. We had visited the resort's excursion desk the previous day but in the end, we decided we were going to use our last full day enjoying the resort instead of touring ruins in the hot sun. This was really a difficult decision for me because of my desire to see the wonders of the world. This relaxing vacation thing was still a challenge for me but I'll admit it was starting to grow on me.
Now is a good time to talk about this bizarre experience I have been teasing throughout this trip report. I had received an email from the resort soliciting feedback on our stay. Traci likes filling out surveys so I forwarded the email to her. We had a fantastic stay but Traci pointed out that our private pool could have been cleaner and that we were unsure of the role of the butler since we did not know how to contact him. None of this ruined our stay.
It could not have been more than 3 minutes after Traci submitted her responses to the survey that our phone rang. It was our butler. He wanted to discuss the responses. Traci explained her comments and then we headed out to breakfast. As we were walking to breakfast, our butler appeared seemingly out of thin air. He wanted to continue discussing the survey responses. We did briefly and then continued to the Italian restaurant thinking everything was resolved.
After breakfast, Traci hurried to the 10 AM stretch class while I relaxed on the beach. I did not stay on the beach as long as we did before. It was a windy day. The blowing grains of sand were stinging my skin.
Traci and I made a stop at the Mar House for our daily ice cream. It was too bad that we discovered the cook-to-order grill at the Mar House on our last day. Their grilled chicken was scrumptious.
I participated in a competitive game of music trivia by the pool with other guests. I had to listen closely because sometimes there were not more than two notes played before someone guessed the answer. It was a varied range of music that included Sinatra, Bad Bunny, Usher, Abba, Iron Maiden, and others. There was even Spanish language music. I started strong, got into a slump, and then found my mojo near the end of the competition. I finished in third place.
It was during this music trivia contest that our survey response saga continued. As the hostess was preparing to play the next tune, I heard her say, "Uh oh." I looked up to see what provoked her to say this. I saw some people who looked rather official taking a seat with Traci who was seated at a nearby table. Our butler approached me and invited me to discuss our survey comments with his supervisor and others at the table with Traci. I joined the meeting after the trivia game.
After several minutes of going over the two 'needs improvement' comments with management, we finally got to the root of the problem. When the butler asked me if I had downloaded "the app" when he first introduced himself, I assumed he was talking about the app I obtained by scanning the QR code at guest services. We discovered at this meeting that he was referring to a different app. There was a 'butler app' (can't remember the real name of the app) that guests use to communicate with their butler. Our butler had been using it to contact us each day but we never received his messages because we did not have the app. I was glad we got all that cleared up. Traci and I were beginning to fear that the butler's job was in jeopardy because of our survey responses.
After that meeting, Traci and I seemed to get the royal treatment. When I returned to our room, it smelled amazing. Our butler had left us a note letting us know he used white tea aroma therapy on our room. Our private pool was very clean.
I was hoping to take a power nap before dinner but as soon as I got in the bed, there was a knock at our door. It was a technician who was sent to fix the phone in our bathroom. I had mentioned the problem to our butler at the meeting by the pool. It took the technician a while to resolve the problem but I thought I still had time for my power nap after he left - no luck on that front. Once again, as soon as I got into the bed, there was knock at the door. This time it was a man delivering a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries as a gift from management.
Our private pool was cleaned.
chocolate-covered strawberries from management
letter from our butler
By this time, I had given up on the power nap. I got dressed and headed to the resort's Don Jaume Steakhouse. My sister had arranged for remaining wedding guests and the newlyweds to have dinner there. We were a party of 15. Traci would join us later after she finished her sunset yoga class. I enjoyed my ribeye and good conversation with family and friends.
Traci and I finished off the night by attending the show at the theater. The show that night was a really good tribute to the band Queen.
The rest of the night was spent packing our luggage for our departure the next day. Unfortunately, I was awakened in the middle of the night with a case of "Montezuma's Revenge". Something I ate or drank that day caused my stomach to become very angry with me. I admit I had let my guard down that final evening. I knew that it is not recommended to drink tap water in Mexico. Even though it is likely that the tap water at high-end resorts like Majestic Elegance is filtered, I knew that our stomachs my not be used to the water treatment. Up until that final evening, Traci and I only drank bottled water. We even used bottled water to brush our teeth. I was feeling rundown and had a headache at the steakhouse - probably from being in the sun all day. Therefore, when the waiter offered me ice water, instead of declining like I had done previously, I accepted. In fact, I drank two glasses of water. Could this had caused the problem? Also, it was recommended to only eat fruit you can peel. I had three of the chocolate-covered strawberries that were given to us as a gift from management. Could this have been the problem? Was it something I ate at the steakhouse? I will never know. Fortunately, my stomach problems did not hang around for too long. On the bright side, I lost a pound on this vacation.
Our trip back home the next day went smoothly. Amstar DMC picked us up at 12:40 PM as agreed upon. Originally, they had scheduled our pick-up for 11:40 AM. This seemed way too early for a 4:16 PM flight. We visited their office at the resort the previous day to get them to change the time to 12:40. The representative seemed reluctant but eventually agreed.
Our non-stop flight from Cancun to Washington Dulles left on time. There were a lot of storms in the southeastern U.S.. This led to more turbulence than usual during our 3-hour flight. The pilot was constantly ordering the flight attendants and everyone else to take their seats.
The line to get through immigration at Washington Dulles was very long; however, Traci noticed a sign inviting passengers to scan the QR code to download the MPC (Mobile Passport Control) app. We did and answered the questions. Voila! The app told us to proceed to a special booth. We were able to skip the long line and go to a booth where there were no more than seven people in front of us. We made it through the process in less than five minutes! I will definitely be keeping that app! Main Page...
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