We're a family of 4 (girls are 2.5 yrs and 5.5 yrs), from Vancouver Canada, heading to the Mayan Riviera on Saturday. We're staying at the Grand Gala Esmeralda.

My question is, is it cheaper to buy tickets to the attractions such as Xel Ha online from home, or is it cheaper to buy them when you get there. I DEFINITELY want to "swim with the dolphins" but can't decide whether to do that at Xel Ha or at Puerto Aventuras.

Loved your post!

Nicki

Hi Pastywhite. I was so glad to hear you loved the resort. We are leaving this Thursday for GCB. I was planning on faxing the resort tomorrow to confirm our reservation in hopes of not getting bumped. I know that the resort is full for our days there. I have the fax number, do you know what the general manager's name is? I figured it couldn't hurt. Can't wait for Thursday. Thanks.

Kathy

Hello Zicki, we payed 59 dollars per person(my guess is your kids will pay the kids prices. they have kids prices for ages 12 and under, but if you are a certain hight(forget what that was) you pay adult prices, my 10 and 12 year olds were above the height so had to pay 59dollars. we chose to pay at the gate as we were not certain which day we would go, we wanted to make sure it was a nice day.(I think it was the same on line but you can check.).....we had a blast....the kids did not do the dolphin swim at xelha but on another day at Dolphinous(near xecaret), they had an awsome experience. it looked great at xelha too.......I think wherever you decide to go you'll have an awsome experience. have fun....

Jamaicacathy, yes GCB is a great spot......never met the manager but I do believe his name is Alphonso(sp?)...... We did not try to contact before we got there and had no problems.....You'll love the smallness of the resort......I know the question was asked about rooms......the resort is like a horseshow, so everyone really has a pool/partial ocean view.....we were room 2241(second floor) we faced partial pool, garden, ocean, it was quiet and private.....we were pleased with it.......some people were on ground floor right in front of pool, they liked it too......so it depends on what you want......nice spacious balcony for sitting.......Have an awsome time, write when you get back.

I have been waiting for you to return to see what you thought of this resort. Sounds like you had fun. Can you give me any tips on which rooms are in quieter areas of the resort ? Do they all have views of the pool or beach ? Some people make it sound awful and others love it..Can you go to the resturants as many times as you want too or only 1 time to each. Any tips that you are willing to share will be appreciated. How about water & diet soda in the rooms ? Do they have coffee makers and safes in the room ?

HI tlb, I tried twice to write a review on the Grand Coco Bay review site and would not go through, don't know what I'm doing wrong, I will keep trying. Then I wrote to you a long letter and when I sent it , it got lost, so I am trying again....Ok, yes there is a safe, you punch in a code(that you choose yourself) costs 3 dollars a day, worth it. No there was no coffee pot....I just walked to the buffet(open at 6:30am and got cup of coffee and OJ for my hubby and brought back to our balcony, since a small resort not far to walk, you;'ll like the smallness of it for those reasons.... mini bar fridge only has soft drinks, they had coke and fanty when we arrived, We had to ask for diet coke.....we did ask for water and beer but did not happen....that's ok, the bar was close by to us and we would fill a bubba keg(large thermos) of water from the bars.....though my 10 year old did not like the water too much so we bought from the gift shop for him. The rooms form a horseshoe....so I would say most if not all have a partial to fabulous view of pool and ocean.....We were on a side facing some palm trees and did see some of pool and ocean if you stand a certain way......we liked where we were as it was quiet and private(room 2241 on the second floor).....AS far as the restaurents, we went to both Italian and Mexican once each, I'm sure if you tried to repeat you could,. we just never asked. you book the reservations at the buffett from 7am to 10am.....Some people just showed up and if there was space they can have a table. some booked a reservation and ended up eating elsewhere......so I'm sure you have no problems going more than once. We ate once on 5th ave. a restaurent called Karen's was perfect for us...My son ate pizza, my daughter speghetti, and my husband and I had the best enchilada ever.....and it was happy hour , dos coronas each.....Am I missing anything? I would love to answer more questions......just ask away.

I am glad to hear you enjoyed it. We leave the end of april. I had called my travel agent about switching to a different resort after hearing about dirty rooms, bugs, problems with water pressure, etc. This is our 5th trip to this area and have always stayed at large resorts..This year we were looking to save some money..but still take a vacation. So I hope it all works out for us as it did for you. I plan on going to Puerto Morelos for dinner one night and to 5th Ave too. I don't understand why they don't give you bottled water..that is strange. All the resorts I've been too, it is plentiful. We usually bring crystal light packages to add to the water. Do you know if the water there is filtererd ? All the big resorts were and they still gave you bottled water. I am interested in hearing all about your trip so anything you think of..write it down..any tips that would help get around the resort smoothly, I would appreciate. Thanks again..

Hi tlb, first off I never saw bugs, my husband saw a few in the bathroom but hardly noticable, never had a problem with the water pressure, always had hot water. The toilet did not flush as well as home, needed plunging a couple of times(but same as home too, not a big deal).....about the water thing, yes strange they don't provided the bottled, but the water at the bars is filtered we drank that no problem(like I said, for whatever reason, my son did not like it so much so we bought him the bottle stuff for a buck or two)We too brought Gatorade crystals never ended up using.... Our cleaning lady made swans, bunnies and elephants, and turned down our beds one night and put chocolate on the pillows.....not everyone had this treatment. We spoke to others that have been only used to the bigger resorts and they liked this place for being small and found the people more friendly. Some people did get conned into going to a time share resort but knew what they were getting into and received 100 dollars US, four teeshirts, a bottle of tequila and lunch and a drive to 5th ave. They started to talk to us, and we turned them down flat , then they leave you alone quick. Taxi's were always out in front, one day we had to get one called in took 2 min. we payed 3 dollars to get to 5th ave. When we went to Xel Ha, we payed a taxi 40 dollars one way to get there.(yes expensive, but it was easy and available and gave us the freedom to go when we wanted and leave when we wanted. We tried to rent a car from the hotel, they were charging us 70 dollars + 35 for insurance, so we walked away from that, ...when we went to 5th ave. we dealt with a company called Buster(dealt with Alfredo, very nice guy) and payed 70dollars including insurance for 24 hours. (located by the ferries to Cozumel) They picked us up at the hotel and brought us to their office, then left with an almost brand new standard car(my husband's hightlight to drive stick shift in Mexico)......then they drove us back to the hotel once finished with the car....(we actually turned it in at end of day as we did not need it first thing in morning)......

I'll try to think of more that I can add...must run to guitar lesson,.bye.

I'm bumping this up for you tlb, incase you missed the imfo.

We are a family of 4 going to GCB the first week of May. We have never been to an all-inclusive resort before, so I am not worrying that it won't be as nice as the larger resorts. (we have nothing to compare it to)

My daughters would like to know if they can get smoothies at the resort whenever they want :o)

Thank you for all of the tips!