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Trip Reviews, Ratings and Comments - Trip Review - Club Oasis Akumal, 2000, Part 1b
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OUR AKUMAL ADVENTURE 1b
Sunday, 6/18/00, Day “1”
Okay, the excitement is building, but we still have a lot of waiting time. I was up at 8 a.m., watched the birds, both avian and manmade, from the balcony, and showered. Steve got up and showered, and we went off for breakfast at the S.O.S. Diner (more walking).
After breakfast, we did some more lounging around the room, Steve charged the video camera batteries, and we did some more bird and plane watching. Checked out at noon, went to the S.O.S. Bar and had a couple of beers and people watched. Then we took the shuttle to the terminal a little before 2 p.m. for our 4:30 flight.
There was a big crowd at the terminal, and we found out Adventure Tours had overbooked, so two planes were going to Cancun at the same time. We happened to be in the right line for our flight, but the other group left before we did. We boarded and finally pushed back at 5:05 p.m., taking off at 5:13 p.m. As the wheels thumped into their wells, I finally relaxed. We were on our way, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about anything at this point.
Then a child began crying in the front of the plane. I don’t know what it is about screaming children on flights, but they all seem to have tremendous lungpower and persistence. My Ear Planes blocked some of the noise, but they were getting uncomfortable so I took them out and put up with the racket.
Steve and I each had a bloody mary ($4). We were served a “light snack.” Now, this is where I think charters have gotten cheaper and cheaper. The “snack” was two 1/2-ounce packages of Rold Gold Mini Pretzel Twists. This aspect of charter travel basically sucks. I remember actually getting a halfway decent meal on a charter flight, but times have changed, much to the detriment of any consumer loyalty.
At any rate, the flight was smooth, the pilot made up most of the delay, and we landed in Cancun about 7:15 p.m. We taxied way to the far end of the airport, passing several planes that had already gotten in. In my mind I am reviewing Laura Map Chick’s airport information, reminding myself to be patient. Well, they came with one of those death-defying shuttle buses to the plane, we boarded it and hung on for dear life while being shuttled to Immigration, trying not to get strangled by the various straps around our necks.
I was prepared for a zoo at Immigration, but this was sheer Hell. We waited and waited and waited in lines with 2,000 of our closest friends in a building totally unsuited to holding that many people and keeping them anywhere near cool. One woman fainted and was carried out. At least there was a bathroom (el bańo!, yea!). I went in, only to find a poor woman trying to swab up a leak from one of the toilets and desperately attempting to keep up with the mess left by hundreds of tourists. As I left, I pressed a dollar bill in her hand and said, “Muchas gracias.” Her smile rewarded my spontaneous kindness.
After 2 hours, we finally made it up to the official, who seemed relieved we had passports and properly filled-out papers. (The people before us had not deigned to fill out their forms on the plane. I could say a few words, but the politest would be STUPID!) Anyway, the officials were as happy to get us out of there as we were to leave. One good point, by the time we got to the luggage, there wasn’t much of it left so our two bags were easy to find. We grabbed the bags, wheeled them to the stoplight, handed the official our customs form, and…
GREEN LIGHT! Actually, I don’t think we even needed to push the button. As I said, the people at the airport were just as delighted to see us out of there as we were to be out!
Now, here I will compliment all the Adventure Tours representatives we encountered in Mexico. They were all courteous, efficient, polite, and spoke good English. The Dallas A.T. reps could take a lesson from this…
Anyway, we got out of the building to find not one, but two A.T. reps holding up signs. One of them ran to check on the transfer, then came back and guided us to a van. We got in and off we went. Our driver was named Ricardo. He had taught English for a month at a school and had very good English and was very pleasant. Of course, we immediately all got Coronas for $2 each. When I took my first sip I said, “NOW we are in Cancun!”
On the drive down to Akumal, I practiced my Spanish with Ricardo, asking a lot of “Como se dice ____?” questions (How do you say ____?). We also met Judith and Joe, fourth time visitors to Club Oasis Akumal (hereafter referred to as COA). We stopped at Porto Real to drop off a newlywed couple from, of all places, Tahlequah, OK, which is 23 miles north of us at home! The remaining six of us, including Judith and Joe’s friends, Larry and Tom, proceeded onward to COA.
Oh, by the way, it was raining…
As we continued toward Akumal, Judith remarked, “Why don’t we ever remember this [bad] stuff?” The next morning I knew why, but that is tomorrow.
We finally got to COA at about 11 p.m. The six of us got checked in and set off following the bellboy to our rooms. By the way, the lobby looks exactly as pictured on COA’s Website, http://www.oasishotels.com/oasis/akumal/main.htm. As we checked in, I asked the fellow if we had one of the condos and was told yes. Note: Our travel agent had called and informed them we were long-time clients of Adventure Tours and VIP guests. I guess that helped. Of course, the fact that the new building back from the beach was closed when we arrived probably helped, too.
So, in the now drizzle, we set off following the bellboy, Larry or Tom, I forget which, in the lead through the winding maze of paths, trying to keep the fellow in sight. The rest of us were back a little bit because Joe had recently had hip surgery and we were all helping him with the steps and rougher sections. At one point, Larry (or Tom) lost sight of the bellboy. This is good—pitch black, unfamiliar territory, winding paths, the old “Wherethefokowie” tribe! Aha! Bellboy sighted again, procession moves along.
At last we are delivered to our room, 103A1, on the second floor. I forget if I pressed a tip into the bellboy’s hand, but probably did. Since the restaurants were closed, the hotel had put some snack trays in the room, with sandwiches and fruit and a bottle of water. We looked around, but saw no safe. (Later inquiry revealed a safe deposit box could be had at the front desk for $3/day. We just locked our stuff in one of the suitcases and kept it out of sight.) We opened the slider and stepped out on the balcony. You couldn’t see much because it was dark, but you could sure hear that ocean!
We sat on the balcony for a bit, then I went off in search of beer. I navigated by the noise at the bar and quickly found the Crab Bar and the redoubtable Fernando. I told him I had pics for him and the other bartenders from Sue and Norm Fowler (13 years of COA trips). I then managed to find my way back to our room, which was a minor miracle at this point, grabbed Steve, and we returned to the bar.
At the bar, we drank some Corona and chatted with Fernando and some of the Italian guys. (COA is partly owned by an Italian company, and the Italians mainly stay to themselves, but one of their “animation team” never missed waving and smiling at me while we were there.)
By this time, I am feeling absolutely no pain whatsoever (what airport from Hell?). We closed down the bar at 1 and wended our way back to the room. Being somewhat less coordinated than usual, I managed to misstep and fall on my butt, no real damage. However, back at the room, I managed to smash and cut a finger on the slider (duh!). I couldn’t find my Band-Aids, so wrapped my finger in Kleenex and went to bed.
I might note at this point that our “king-size” bed was two doubles pushed together, but anyway.
As I drifted off to sleep, I was hoping it would not be raining in the morning…
Submitted by: D. Stevens -- dragon5@fullnet.net
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