Cancun, Mexico, During American Spring Break

[mozza21]

I recently travelled out to Cancun in sunny, sunny, Mexico. It was for a work trip, “Which is not a holiday” (as I kept getting told by my boss and the organisers.) It was to familiarise myself with the location, and also the hotels and restaurants. It was mid-march and during the American spring break, which meant lots of drunk Americans under 21, looking to party hard (mainly due to the fact they cannot legally drink back in their own country.)
Worth mentioning again, I was not on holiday.

Day 1
Upon arriving at Gatwick for my departure flight, I was told Club World cabin on board the flight was oversold and I would have to seat in Economy. Not really a fuss for me as I'm used to flying in the cheap seats. However, upon reaching the check-in gate the staff told me they had managed to get me a seat in Club World.
Having never flown this way with BA, I can say, it should be the only way anyone should fly, lie flat beds, personal screens, all the wine and food one can possibly drink or fit into ones gob at once. A good start, but at the prices they charge, only worth it if you can get a good deal.

The flight itself was 10 hours in total. This gave me ample opportunity to sleep off the alcohol consumed on board. Upon landing in Mexico I was surprised at the customs security. It basically consists of pressing a big button and if the light turns green, you're OK. You do not want it to go red as I think this involves some kind of cavity search with an over enthusiastic security guard called Pedro. Luckily my light went green, (see ya Pedro, you're not getting me to squat over a mirror.)
After clearing security with flying colours, we were met by the staff from Amstar, they run tours and transport throughout Cancun, all of the staff look like door staff and I think this has something to do with the security in the country. The army (and their machine guns) are everywhere. I'm handed a beer from a cooler and I board the bus. Cancun, I've arrived.
The journey to the hotel is a short one only taking about 20 minutes to reach, and so I arrived at The Dreams Riveria.
It has a young atmosphere, extremely friendly staff and excellent food, and when I saw their swim up bar, I was happy (I later learnt this is commonplace with resorts in Cancun).


So I see my room, it was a fantastic room with a big double bed (I was one of the only people that didn't have to share … winning!) There was a massive jaccuzi bath in the room and also another one on the balcony, plus a stunning sea view. If you ever visit Cancun, I would recommend this hotel over any other. You might think it was the free champagne they kept feeding me, but you would be wrong.
The first night was spent making use of the free cocktails at the bar, all resorts were all inclusive so I was planning to get my monies worth (hadn't paid for this trip but strange how this concept still applied). Long Island Iced Teas, Chocolate Martinis and Whiskey Sours, as many as you can drink before passing out, it soon becomes a fun game to play to pass the time. Fairly soon jet lag had taken over and I had to hit the hay.

Day 2
Upon awaking I thought someone had poured gasoline in my mouth during the night, so I instantly began trying to hunt down the spring break prankster so I could knock them over the head with a blunt instrument. It was at this point I remembered how many free drinks I had consumed. Hello hangover.
So we go downstairs for breakfast with the director of Amstar Tours, they literally have every type of food you can think of, so I filled myself on Eggs, Bacon, Hash Browns, Orange Juice and a variety of other food and drink. I must of looked like a homeless man who had just walked into a free buffet and could not believe his luck when they had not kicked him out.

We spent the best part of this day looking around various resorts, one thing I can say about Cancun hotels is that if you're staying in a four star or above, they're all pretty similar, swimming pool, beach, drinks and food. So I'm not going to bore you with the details of all the hotels (mainly because I was so hung over I couldn't take them in).
Upon getting back to Dreams about 7PM, we had dinner with the hotel staff in the French restaurant, once again I made good use of the free wine, glug, glug! Dinner was excellent and as I said I really do recommend this hotel.
We then decided to go to the on-site club. It seemed upon entering, we shouldn’t of bothered. The clientel consisted of our group, a man asleep at the bar dribbling into his glass and the bar staff. Excellent.
The group wanted to leave but I suggested we stay and see if it picked up, so we had a few games of pool to fill the time.

After about half an hour, my decision was vindicated, about 20 or so drunk Americans turned up wearing their diapers.
So we started to drink with them and get quite merry, one thing about Americans, they can drink but are a bit lightweight when all is consumed. Cue fight on the dance floor by two jock types, a girl falling down the stairs in her miniskirt and heels and general debauchery on the couches etc. Me and big geordie Alan (not Shearer) started talking to a small group, it was decided at some point during this conversation that my room would be a good party stop seeing I was not sharing it with anyone, OK I thought, why not, I am on holiday after all (Don't tell my boss).

So we go back to my room and one of the girls orders about $200 worth of room service, however, as this was an all inclusive hotel, it was all free. The game then changed, the new game was called hunt down the alchohol. The bars were all closed and the mini fridge was depeleted. So out everyone went to find alchohol, I had persuaded them to look at this like an Easter egg hunt, whoever brings back the most gets the prize.
I then discovered you could order this as room service, I was the winner! Everyone else had gone off and raided their own fridges from the rooms. The rest of the evening started to blur a bit and I've had fragmented memories return.


Day 3
I awoke in the morning to everyone having cleared off, I and very little memory of what had occurred plus I had a monstrous hangover.
I kick them out promptly, both looking like a scene from Day Of the Dead. I had to report for work at 8AM in reception so there was no time to waste, quick shower and I headed downstairs. I only had about an hours sleep from what I can remember so tried my hardest to look enthusiastic in the morning, “Good morning, how is everyone?” The reply from two of the older women who had the room next to mine came back “Tired, someone kept us up with noise” ‘NOISE!!?’ ..I thought, think how I feel, my head is thumping, I've had an hours sleep and I seem to have alcohol pouring out of my skin. Of course I didn't say this, I said “Oh, I'm extremely sorry, it did get a bit messy last night didn't it? Won’t happen again” And to be fair, it didn't, I calmed down after the group tagged me with the nick name Charlie Sheen, and this did continue until the end (and still does to this day.)

Overview
OK, so having told you about the first three days and nights, it's easier from this point to give you an overview of Cancun as a holiday destination. It has something for everyone, whether you like old Mayan archeological sites, or drinking yourself into a coma, you can do it all here. There are fantastic water sports and activities on the sandy white beaches and all of the staff are so friendly and eager to cater for your every need.

Whether you want a couples retreat, party resort or something with good child facilities, it's all here. The locations are mainly resort based and security around them is quite tight being Mexico. There's a strip in the main part of town with all of the local sites and nightlife. The main club here is called Coco Bongo, if you've never been, go. It’s like no other club in the world. With live shows, such as; The Matrix, The Mask and Batman, there’s is always something to occupy your attention. The whole club is pretty much themed around the film, The Mask. However, there is a live circus above you whilst you're dancing and drinking and it really is a club for all ages. This becomes clear when you enter and see the difference in age range of the people around you. It's a very difficult experience to describe and really does need to be seen to be understood.

So for a summary I would say. “Cancun is not just about trying to drink yourself to death because you're trying to get your monies worth, there are some nice beaches too.”