?Help with Cancun?

Hello,
I just booked a group of myself and 10 friends for 7 nights at an all
inclusive in Cancun (It's the Oasis Cancun- I'll gladly listen to comments
about the property, but we've decided to take our chances with the place,
there are plenty of positive reviews on tripadvisor and we plan on tipping)

I have some questions though-

1. Where can we go for the best priced shopping for trinkets? More
importantly Liquor (What prices can I expect for bottles? (Bacardi, Jose)?
2. Are any of the excursions worth the money? Or how can I plan it for a
group and save money? (We are interested in seeing some ruins, snorkeling,
and wouldn't mind horseback riding)
3. What will we definitely want to see downtown? Why do we want to leave the
resort? What restaurants are recommended in Cancun (for the food and
ambiance not so much for the sheer party factor)?


Well I guess that's enough to start with-

Thanks a lot...

Dan

(if you want to reply offline remove the "ihatespam-" from my email address)

On 01/04/2004 10:22 PM Dan plucked Senior Frog's Magic Twanger and said:

Hello,
I just booked a group of myself and 10 friends for 7 nights at an all
inclusive in Cancun (It's the Oasis Cancun- I'll gladly listen to comments
about the property, but we've decided to take our chances with the place,
there are plenty of positive reviews on tripadvisor and we plan on tipping)

I have some questions though-

1. Where can we go for the best priced shopping for trinkets? More
importantly Liquor (What prices can I expect for bottles? (Bacardi, Jose)?
2. Are any of the excursions worth the money? Or how can I plan it for a
group and save money? (We are interested in seeing some ruins, snorkeling,
and wouldn't mind horseback riding)
3. What will we definitely want to see downtown? Why do we want to leave the
resort? What restaurants are recommended in Cancun (for the food and
ambiance not so much for the sheer party factor)?


Well I guess that's enough to start with-

Thanks a lot...

Dan

(if you want to reply offline remove the "ihatespam-" from my email address)





Why would you want to leave the resort? Well that all depends. If all
you want is R&R you may not wish to leave the resort. However, if you
want to experience somethings beyond Oasis, going off property is
desirable. What things? The Maya Ruins, everybody has their
favorites but trips to Tulum, Chichen Itza on different days are worth
it. If you want to see smaller resorts than Cancun, you might want to
schedule a day or half day trip to Isla Mujeres or Playa del Carmen.
Isla has some great scuba diving locations. If you tire of Oasis
entertainment you might want to go into town to one of the many dance
clubs. There's also a bullfight ring open one day a week. It doesn't
have the pagentry of Mexico City or the Bull Fights in Madrid. Still
it's an experience.

I have found that some of the vendors in the market have become very
saavy about the plastic bracelets that resorts put on thier guests.
They know if you are staying at an expensive place and will set prices
accordingly. When it comes to jewelry, let the women do their own
bargaining. Vendors tend to be more price flexible with women.

There was a time where you could get better prices for Silver Jewelry in
Playa del Carmen than in Cancun but that's changed. Now "best prices"
are about the same. One tip, you'll get a better deal if you negotiate
with cash then if you use credit cards. Some vendors will be even more
flexible if you bargain with pesos.

I don't drink, so I can't advise as to the best place to buy liquor.

--
________
To email me, Edit "xt" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

Brian K wrote in message thlink.net...
On 01/04/2004 10:22 PM Dan plucked Senior Frog's Magic Twanger and said:

2. Are any of the excursions worth the money? Or how can I plan it for a
group and save money? (We are interested in seeing some ruins, snorkeling,
and wouldn't mind horseback riding)
Why would you want to leave the resort? Well that all depends. If all
you want is R&R you may not wish to leave the resort. However, if you
want to experience somethings beyond Oasis, going off property is
desirable. What things? The Maya Ruins, everybody has their
favorites but trips to Tulum, Chichen Itza on different days are worth
it. If you want to see smaller resorts than Cancun, you might want to
schedule a day or half day trip to Isla Mujeres or Playa del Carmen.
Isla has some great scuba diving locations. If you tire of Oasis
entertainment you might want to go into town to one of the many dance
clubs. There's also a bullfight ring open one day a week. It doesn't
have the pagentry of Mexico City or the Bull Fights in Madrid. Still
it's an experience.

Brian offers some great suggestions. Cancun is very Americanized, but
it can be a great introduction to the country. Definitely get out of
the hotel and go downtown for an afternoon and explore, then have
dinner and drinks down there.
More importantly, get out of Cancun all together and explore. At a
minimum, I'd go see Chichen Itza. With 7 people, I'd try to find a
private driver with a van to take the whole group for a reasonable
ammount, or perhaps rent one yourself. The excursions available
through most resorts have HUGE markups when compared to doing the same
activity independently. A trip down the coast that includes, Playa del
Carmen, Tulum and Xcaret or Xel-Ha can be a lot of fun.