Elefantes en México - The Activities

It wasn't just sun, sand, food & drinks for the Elephants while on our honeymoon in Mexico.  Excellence Playa Mujeres had several day time activities as well as night time shows. 

  Fire show

Every night when housekeeping would turn down our bed, they left a list of the activities for the next day.  We watched a cooking class, took a tour of the kitchen (where I was spotted by a Weddingbee reader!) and Mr. E tried his hand at rifle shooting.

The targets were so small

This was how far away you had to stand back to aim

Sadly Mr. E didn't win the rifle shooting (and I really could have used another massage!).  Speaking of massages, we had a couples massage by the ocean which was so relaxing.  After the massage we enjoyed champagne with chocolate covered strawberries and watched the waves roll in.

We went off of the property twice during the week.  Once was to take the ferry over to Isla Mujeres for souvenir shopping.

And the second time was for our excursion to the Xcaret ecological park in Playa del Carmen.  

I researched online before our trip and booked something that Mr. E and I have always wanted to do, swim with dolphins!

We got to pose for pictures, and do tricks with the dolphins which included the foot push, having them sing to us and belly rubs.

Once we dried off and paid an arm and a leg for the photos and DVD of the dolphin swim, we headed to the wine cellar caves for a wine tasting.

Our wine tasting ended up being a personal one since the other group of 6 was delayed at the dolphin swim.  We had food pairings with 5 different Mexican wines.

The 5 wines we tasted

The second course included a Carpaccio of Red Snapper and Salmon with Chardonnay

The fourth pairing was duck with mole sauce and Shiraz

Mr. E is a fan of the dry wines

And there you have it.  A honeymoon which was a perfect balance of relaxation and activities.  We really enjoyed getting away for a week, and most of all spending time together as husband and wife.

Are there any activities or excursions that you will be doing on your honeymoon?

Elefantes en México

Hola Hive!!  Mr. E and I just got back from our honeymoon in Mexico and it was AMAZING!!

With all of the anticipation leading up to the honeymoon it was safe to say that I was packed days before we left last Saturday.  Mama E & Daddy E dropped us off bright and early at the airport (and watched little Gypsy for the week, thanks guys!) and after what seemed like forever in the American airlines line (because I needed to change my passport number in their system) we were off!

We arrived at the resort, Excellence Playa Mujeres, before the 3 pm check in time but were happy to kill time  with martinis and lunch above the pool with a view of the ocean.

Mr. E may have had a little bit of jet lag while waiting for our room buzzer to go off, but the room did not disappoint! 

Love that he still has a drink in his hand

We opted for a 2 story room with a roof top terrace, and loved the views from both balconies! 

Second story with private pool

View of spa from the bottom deck

View of the ocean from the back of our second balcony

Our week consisted of a lot of pool time

As well as some time at the beach.

This was our first time at an all inclusive hotel and it was so nice to be able to drink and eat whenever and whatever we liked (of course now that we're back it's time to get back to the gym).

Breakfast on our balcony

Dinner at the Indian restaurant 

Dessert at the Italian restaurant

Dinner at the French restaurant

Hibachi at Spice

We also enjoyed dinner on the beach one night.  It was a little dark by the time the 3rd and 4th courses came out but it was still fun times.

Knowing Mr. E, I knew that he would get just a little bored with a whole week of relaxation so we did do a couple of fun activities, which I'll share with you in the second half of our honeymoon recap!

Are you looking forward to trying new foods on your honeymoon?

Honeymoon Destination

Back in the day, I mean way back in the day well before I met Mr. E, I always dreamed of a honeymoon in Hawaii. I have never been and thought what a way to splurge and enjoy the most tropical state.

Source

Once Mr. E & I got engaged, we talked about the honeymoon, and he was game for anywhere I wanted to go. We didn't do the normal, groom plans the honeymoon thing, because let's face it... I'm a planner. I have planned every vacation that we have gone on together and Mr. E loves not having that responsibility. (This was actually something that was brought up in our premarital counseling and the reason why Mr. E took on the responsibility to plan a trip for us.)  So after we made that decision, I started to actually look into the price of a Hawaiian honeymoon, I thought that we could get more bang for our buck with an all-inclusive.

I was drawn to the Honeymoon all inclusive go-to of Sandals resorts. I did some research (aka lots of reading on the Honeymoon boards and the Sandals website) and decided that St. Lucia was it. You got three resorts for the price of one, or as they liked to put it "stay at one, play at three". Of course I wasn't really looking at the prices (my bad), but figured that we could work it into the wedding fund budget. The room that we want (becuase it has room service included) is more on the pricey side, but they do always seem to be having a 60 or 65% off sale. Too bad the cost of flying to St. Lucia was also on the pricey side.

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We were pretty set on Sandals, without really thinking about the cost, until I started looking into videographers. Wouldn't it be my luck that the videographers I loved the most, were the most expensive? Why can't it ever be the other way around?

To try and work the budget to our advantage (i.e. squeeze in a videographer without having to lose something else, or take on a second job) we really looked at the cost of Sandals, and decided we could go somewhere else, with just as much sun and fun but a smaller price tag.

I had heard a lot about Excellence Playa Mujeres in Mexico on the Honeymoon Knot boards, as well as Mrs. Penguin's 2 part review on Weddingbee. I liked it so much I already had it bookmarked as a place for an anniversary trip.

Living in Texas, the flights to Mexico are shorter and cheaper than it would be to fly all the way to St. Lucia. I read more about the restaurant options, and the suite options and thought "wouldn't this make a great Honeymoon?" The flights would be cheaper and we could afford an extra night or two for the cost we were looking at with Sandals. Since it is our honeymoon, we decided to splurge and get the two story rooftop terrace suite, where we would have our own pool to enjoy away from the crowds (even if it might be too cold to really swim in).

Source for Excellence photos

Doesn't it look amazing?!?!? We worked with a travel agent to get the best deal possible (she will continue to look for a price drop between when we booked and 45 days before our travel dates) as well as any perks they may be able to offer. There is still the possibility to head to Sandals someday as an anniversary trip.

Did you go through several decisions before picking your honeymoon destination?