Monday, December 17, 2007 (Pat)

Ron got up and showered close to 6:30am and I fell back asleep until after 7. The bed is a nice king size bed but very firm and we both tossed and turned some. I showered and read a bit, drinking some coffee, then got dressed and ready for our morning Mayan Palace update presentation at 9:30. We walked to the sales building next to the pool. We started in the upstairs area and were told we needed to be downstairs. We checked in, showed our ID’s, confirmed we were members and were doing the presentation for $100USD off and 10% off our Mayan Palace bill. Jeff was introduced as our sales person. He was an American who has lived here for five years. Initially he made some comment that we were in the wrong place since we were members – not renters – but he would see if it was OK with his boss if he showed us around. Okay – sounds good. So he starts asking the usual questions about vacationing, etc. I let Ron so most of the talking since we always seem to tell a new story about how much we own at each presentation. Finally we headed off for breakfast in the big, round, giant palapa. It was the breakfast buffet for the entire place so lots of people all over. It was hard to get breakfast as there was always another body to move around or bump into. The food was good – I had an omelet plus a bunch of fruit and other food on a separate plate. Ron had a big plateful as well. Since we didn’t really have dinner last night we were hungry. We chatted with Jeff while we finished off our food. He gave us the tour of the Grand Mayan pool area, large new pool structure being built and then showed us the suite – a lock-off design. The biggest difference between the two units was a patio and hot-tub vs. what is present in the Mayan Palace suite. Of course with the Grand Mayan you get amenities included such as the fitness center, day beds at the pool, etc. There are fewer Grand Mayan rooms so fewer people in the Grand Mayan only areas. Today our Mayan Palace was worth $29,000USD equity on a one-time chance to trade up for a Grand Mayan ownership worth $69,000USD. So for $40,000 we get a few more amenities and a few less people. I don’t think so!! By now it was almost 11:30am and we told Jeff we really just didn’t like the whole deal – rather than wasting more of anyone’s time it’s a definite no. Jeff got his supervisor who double checked – still no – and signed off our sheet so we were done. Back to the suite. It is a beautiful blue sky day, perfect temperature. Ron wants to go into Playa del Carmen to get the shopping done and check out the city so we head out to the lobby. At the concierge we learn that the shuttle leaves at 9am, 11am, 1pm, and 4pm and the 1pm was already full, next one is at 4pm. Nope! So over to the travel area. We check out the Tulum trip with the nature preserve at Tankah as well and decide that will be a nice excursion for Wednesday and got signed up. The only other way to get into town is taxi. Seventeen dollars US each way. Okay – we decide that’s what we need to do so we get our taxi and head off to the south. The highway is very good. It’s about a twenty to thirty minute drive. Mostly trees along the highway with occasional large fancy entrances for various resorts on the beach side. The driver took us down to the main walkway (5th Avenue) and Constitution. I gave him $20USD and we headed down 5th Ave which was blocked off as a pedestrian walkway. Both sides of the street were lined with nice looking stores of all types, restaurants, etc. We stopped in one tequila store to check prices. Lots of different tequilas. Very crowded though. More walking, picture taking of the colorful buildings and store fronts. We stopped at another Tequilaria. The store guys spoke good English and were very friendly. They had a bunch of flavored tequilas and offered little cups to sample. Ron tasted about each flavor. I liked the chocolate crème and the café the best – they were like liqueurs – so we wanted those two. They also had a number of other tequilas – some in very decorative bottles. Ron started looking at those and I mentioned I liked the one with the iguana if he wasn’t particular so we got a fancy bottle too. $104USD! Then they wanted to wheel and deal – oh, if you want to save money… - and made a presentation offer. I didn’t want to spend more time hearing about another vacation deal that we weren’t going to buy, cash if fine. Ron didn’t have enough so one of the guys escorted us around the corner to the Banamex so we could use the ATM. Back to the store – now with 2.25L of tequila packed in Ron’s backpack. We walked up the street some more then decided it was time to get something to drink so we headed down Calle 4 to the beach. On the corner was a bar/restaurant with tables on the sand. Looked good! So we took our shoes off, ordered some cervezas and enjoyed the beach scene. Some Mexican musicians came and played for some of the other patrons. Kayakers were coming in, fighting the surf. The ferries to Cozumel were coming and going to the south of us. People were constantly walking by. A pleasant rest.