A Week at Excellence Riviera Cancun, Mexico

To celebrate our 5th anniversary, John and I spent a week at the all-inclusive Excellence Riviera Cancun. We had previously stayed at an Excellence resort for our honeymoon, and their pricing was hard to beat. If we enjoyed the experience first time around, why not do it again?

As soon as you arrive, you’re greeted with a cold towel and a glass of champagne before going through these giant doors and into the lobby. Not a bad way to start your vacation, eh?

The resort is absolutely gorgeous. Meandering pools and tropical greenery everywhere. If you’re lucky, you might even spot an iguana right away! They’re so still when they’re basking in the sun, but some of them will scurry away quickly if they spot you.

We stayed in a junior swim up suite. It’s a little more expensive than the standard junior suite, but I think it’s well worth it. Saves you the hassle of riding the elevator while you’re dripping wet, and it’s nice to be able to access the pool from your “backyard”.

Lazy days by the pool… what a wonderful way to unwind, especially after the harsh winter on the East Coast. Cancun’s weather in March is perfect. It’s warm and sunny, but not too humid. At times, some of the pools were a bit chilly, but at least there was one heated pool.

The lazy river was one of my favorite features. Grab yourself a drink from the swim up bar, hop onto a floaty (and believe me, there’s no elegant way to do this), and float away…

We brought four disposable water cameras with us. Unfortunately, those cameras failed us and only about 15% of our water photos are visible, and even so, they’re incredibly blurry (noooo!). We did get a few cool shots though. Next time, I’m splurging on a good iPhone case!

We spent some time on the beach too, but you have to go early to grab a good spot. There’s plenty of space for the Excellence Club members, but the non-members section of the beach was crowded. Many people would save a spot by leaving a book or towel on a chair.

I have never seen so much seaweed before. It was ridiculous watching the resort staff clear the seaweed off the beach. Seems like an impossible task! The photo below was taken on a rare day where you could enter the ocean without stepping over giant mounds of seaweed.

When we got tired of playing in the sun, we retreated back to our room for naps. The hammock right outside our room was by far my favorite napping spot.

There are plenty of activities at the resort. Archery was really fun, and so were arts and crafts. We painted an iguana in honor of our new friends. We even visited the fitness center! I never thought I would want to workout while on vacation, but it was quite invigorating.

Spa services are one of the few things that are not included, but we treated ourselves to a very relaxing couples massage on our first day. Every spa visit includes the water therapy circuit, which offers hot and cool pools, water jets, showers, and the sauna, before your treatment.

Every evening, there’s live entertainment and themed events, like Casino Night. The casino uses paper money, and the dealers helps everyone win as much as possible. It’s a fun time and less about gambling. At the end of the night, the paper money can be used in an auction.

Our trip happened to overlap with St. Patrick’s Day, and I happily traded green beer for tasty margaritas. By the way, I did not expect to see a giant leprechaun serving margaritas!