Came to this resort for holidays October 16 to 23, 2012. Upon arrival, the first thing I noticed was that this resort, although nice, was not as nice as pictured on Riu's website. We arrived around 10am, and while checking in we found out our room would not be ready until 3pm and none of our room requests could be fulfilled. Prior to going on this trip, we requested a room on an upper lever facing the inside of the resort. Although when booking this trip we were assured they would do their best to accommodate us (being return Riu guests), this was not the case upon arrival. We got a room on the main floor (side facing) with no view.
The lobby is not air conditioned, and with 40 degree weather, was uncomfortable to spend any time in. The pool and beach area are nice but felt a little cramped, and the buffet was good but lacking in selection. After speaking with the manager about our issues, he recommended that we upgrade to the Riu Peninsula next door as he was unable to do anything for us. After getting a tour from Victor (the manager) with another couple we met at the Caribe, we all decided to move to the Peninsula and it was worth every penny to upgrade (paid $350 more).
Overall, I would give the Riu Caribe an average rating. It's a fairly nice resort with newly renovated rooms, and all of the amenities one would expect.

Our room was comfortable. The staff was very friendly and attentive. The waiter asked if we wanted another drink (at dinner) right before we took our last sip. The food at the buffet and Mexican Restaurant was average and usually salty. That's expected at a three star all inclusive resort. We didn't get to try the Asian and Steakhouse Restaurants. You have to book early...by 8:00am. The live music is good although not our taste. I don't recommend going for the entertainment. The lip sync show was bad. They barely moved their lips and the choreography was off. The fire show by the pool on our first night was awesome but that was about it. We always went downtown for dancing. Check out Mandala!

This was probably our 4th and last time staying at this resort. The renovations were done with quality work, but the euro art deco style doesn't match a building that was designed with a Mayan theme. The grounds are still kept amazingly well. It just didn't seem to be the fun and happy place that it used to be.

Room:
We had a Jr Suite. We were initially given one in the middle. I had asked for one on the end, and had to wait for a couple of hours, but was finally given 608. These are referred to as corner suites. The room is basically the same as the regular room, but the balcony is much larger. Not really sure it is worth the extra expense considering I very rarely saw anyone out on their balconies. The rooms have been remodeled with a very white theme. The safes have been switched to electronic code style instead of key. The Mini bar fridge is bigger and not in a cabinet any longer so the drinks get cool.
There are something really funky about the room. I am not sure who thought it was a great idea to put a window in the bathroom. There is a reason we wall this room off. I have never felt the need to see a silhouette of someone's bathroom activities nor do I need to be blasted with light in the middle of the night if someone needs to go. It is a frosted glass, but glass none the less.

Food:
Less than spectacular. The specialty restaurants are average at best. The steak was probably the best of the 3, but the steak was on the tough side and kink of bland. Pretty much what I would expect out of AI. The buffets were suspect at best. We routinely found the food in the trays cold. I watched the lady making omelets in the morning and she would hand them to people with eggs still running out of them. The one I ordered, the cheese wasn't even melted. The next day I asked her to cook it longer so it would get hot and she got kind of offended. Considering I doubt they are using pasteurized eggs, it isn't exactly safe to eat.

It is Cancun and all the buildings are made of concrete and they do echo. Drunks don't always realize how loud they are. Pretty much every night between 1 and 3am there were loud voices and screams as they stumbled back to their rooms. One of the greatest additions to the rooms are a device on the door that prevent them from being slammed.

Pool:
Still very nice and the added loungers in the pool are a nice touch. There are actually two pools now. One is on the side nearer to the new resort where the diving pool was. It adds a lot more pool space and is described as the quite pool. The activity pool was very low key and almost library quiet around the pool most of the time. It was pretty easy to find a chair, but there was a LOT of towel saving of loungers that you would never see used during the day.

Beach:
Lots of grass washing up as usual, but they did a very poor job of removing it. In the past there was someone out there all day. Now you see a guy make a quick pass with a rake then that is it. There are a lot more palapas on the beach now. Of course like the pool, people stake them out real early and you never see them used. The beach is getting smaller and smaller with no hope of gaining it back. There is hardly enough room for the volleyball court.

Common Areas:
Lots of chair and tables around the lobby bar and they actually added a second bar. Never really had an issue finding a table in the evening. Drink service was kind of slow. It would be nice if they offered snacks instead of just drinks. The sports bar could be called the ghost bar because it always dead. It is a great place to go if you want to get a drink because you will have the place to yourself.


Guests:
This resort had a very diverse group of people. There was a young party crowd. There was an older crowd. There was a family crowd. There were Americans, Canadians, Brits, and lots of South Americans with a large contingent of Brazilians.

We stayed at this place week of Thanks Giving over all it was good view, room facility food etc. . 1st day of our stay our new Tennis shoes were gone from the room we complained but there was no response from management.We even talk to general manager of this resort he said he will look into it but we have not heard from him yet. They didn't seem to care or didn't take any kind of responsibilty. Which was very disappointing. After that we didn't feel safe to leave things with out lock.