Sunday, December 16, 2007 (Ron)

Today is moving day. I got up before Pat, grabbed my camera, and went to the restaurant to get some coffee. It was a very nice morning and I just walked around the resort enjoying our last morning here.

After a couple cups of coffee I went back to the suite and Pat was up so we started Packing. By 9:30 we had everything packed, so we went for breakfast, then checked out. We left our bags there and sat by the pool, talking, reading, and relaxing until our shuttle arrived at 2pm.

The shuttle driver didn’t speak very good English, but he was very friendly and he helped Pat and me practice our Spanish. The time passed quickly and soon we were at Mayan Palace. It’s a big place – the lobby area is about the size of the whole resort at Laguna Suites. Our driver Beer (When Pat and I first got on the shuttle the driver asked our names. I told him ‘my name is Ron’ which means rum in Spanish. He laughingly said his name was Beer.) so Beer and a bellhop unloaded our bags onto a cart and the bellhop took us to a lady who took us up to the front desk to get checked in. The lady at the front desk said they had a very nice room for us but it wasn’t quite ready. (We were a little early.) She suggested we might want to enjoy the pool area or get something to eat. OK, that sounds good.

We left the front desk and another lady, Michelle, met us and explained all about Mayan Palace. She was very friendly and helpful. We got on the little shuttle and went to the pool area and restaurant where we sat by the pool and had a very nice lunch. We finished eating and took the shuttle back to the lobby where we picked up our key cards. Then I found another nice lady to help us get our bags and find our room. She took us out front to the head bellhop who called another bellhop to help us. He got our bags and took us to our room. Number 1086, again on the ground floor.

Our suite is large and very nice. There is a kitchen/dining/living area, a large bedroom, bathroom, and a separate little area with another bathroom sink and mirror. Cool, separate sinks. There are two closets, a large dresser, and two nightstands so there is plenty of storage.

After getting everything put away we walked down to the resort’s store for some cereal, milk, juice, etc. The store was a big, fancy building – lots of glass and metal and wood. Two stories, big entryway, store on the left has groceries and stuff, store on the right has t-shirts and other apparel. Don’t know what was upstairs – didn’t go up there. The grocery store was big and bright and shiny. We found some bottled water – 47 pesos for a two liter bottle. That’s about $4.70USD! Over $9 a gallon! We got a one liter bottle, I forget how much it was. They didn’t have any Raisin Bran, but we also got a liter of mango juice and some bananas. Only one register was open and there was a long line, but whatta ya gonna do? We waited and waited but the line didn’t seem to be moving so we set our items down and left. I don’t need my mango juice that bad. Got back to the suite, read and worked on the journal, then went to bed.

There is such a contrast between Laguna Suites and Mayan Palace. Laguna suites is very small, quiet, friendly, relaxing. No activities and not as fancy. But we got to know a lot of the staff by name and they knew us. Mayan Palace is very big, lots of people, lots of activities, more impersonal. Pat and I both prefer the smaller, more personal type of resort but Mayan Palace will be fine for a week. We are certainly looking forward to the coming week with the Mayan ruins and diving.