TRAVEL THERE: TRAVEL FROM TWO DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
I’m home from Cancun. My friends at CTC Travel gave me a stay at Seadust Cancun Family Resort. Not like they sent me there on an assignment, more like a favor. Someone else had won the trip at the CTC Travel Show in January and had never gone. The trip needed to be used by the end of the year or it would be forfeited. Bill and I are fortunate to have some flexibility in our schedule and our budget, so flying off to Cancun on short notice was not a hardship. After we got there a difference of opinion arose. Let me tell you about it.
How Do You Look at Life?
I believe, sincerely, that how much you enjoy life depends on how you look at it. Do you start at zero and enjoy grading up or do you start at 100% and nitpick your way down? That philosophy extends to travel, but a problem arises, because Bill and I look at travel from opposite ends of the scale.
I want to go anywhere at anytime. For the pleasure of going, seeing and experiencing, I’m perfectly willing to be inconvenienced. I start at zero and am pleasantly surprised by what’s good. Quite frankly, Bill likes the comforts of home. A trip needs to give him a compelling reason to be there. He hates to be captured by mediocrity. He starts with high expectations and grieves over the loss of every point.
We lived through mediocrity in February with the Royal Caribbean Cruise out of Galveston. We were there to have a good time, but everywhere we turned it was like they were trying to keep us from enjoying ourselves. Bad embarkation buffet, bad sail-away, bad internet, bad service, really bad dinner, even worse entertainment and then bad food the entire rest of the trip. We managed to avoid being miserable through our own efforts, but barely. Bill, bless his heart couldn’t keep from pointing out every disappointment, while I tried to ignore them.
Club Med Punta Cana saved us. If it hadn’t been good, Bill might have given up traveling altogether. Punta Cana wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough and Bill had a blast. So, when we had a chance to do another all-inclusive in Cancun. Why not? Bill was ready to re-live the Club Med experience.
How This Trip Played Out
Bill arrived in Cancun happy as a clam at high tide. I had purposely avoided begging him to pack, which meant he’d gotten around to it at about 10 PM the night before we left. Better me crazy than him, right? The whole air travel experience went well. No $120 Spirit surprises at check-in. No hassles at security. Chik-fi-la for breakfast. Comfortable flight. The luggage arrived when we did and customs was a breeze. So far so good. Thank you American Airlines.
Then it started. I’d warned him of the hustlers in the airport. I’d read him the notice from Best Day, which was providing our transportation. Still, the hustlers managed to drag him over to a kiosk and tried to get him to visit a time share. We left the area unscathed, but disgusted.
Due to some misinformation from the “helpful” hustler, we had a little problem finding Best Day, but that was our fault not Best Day’s. They’d warned us. We hadn’t been fed on the plane, so Bill was getting hungry. Standing in the hot sun to get on our shared ride, Mr. Bill was peckish, but cooperative.
We were lucky enough to be some of the first folks out of the van, but then there was the whole tipping thing. The arrival lobby was open-air, making Mr. Bill hotter and hungrier, but he did get a room upgrade, so that made him happy.
He wanted to go directly to the buffet, but I suggested we at least find our room and freshen up. The elevator was a sauna and slower than molasses. I should have let him go to the buffet. The elevator-disguised-as-an-oven dumped us on the 6th floor where the light fixtures, which had the room numbers on them, were so creative was impossible to tell which room was 606. We had to figure it out by a process of elimination.
There was one benefit to waiting on the luggage. Mr. Hot and Hungry was able to change into a cooler outfit. As soon as that happened we were off to the buffet, which unfortunately was about to close. One trip around the buffet restaurant told us everything we needed to know and it wasn’t good news.
The Seadust Cancun Family Resort ain’t no Club Med Punta. I think Bill might have turned around and left right that minute if it weren’t for me. Sure, he would have had to pay a fee for changing his flight, but he could have gone home. However, I was excited about getting to see Chichen Itza the next day – and he loves me. Maybe dinner would be better – right?
Well, come back next week and find out!
jane sadek 