Aventura Spa Palace, Mexico

People kept suggesting to us that we try an all inclusive resort, so this year we thought we'd go to one instead of taking a cruise. We did a little research, and chose Aventura Spa Palace, in the Mayan Riviera of Mexico. We picked this resort because it got great reviews, had seven a la carte restaurants and no maximum number of reservations (at many resorts, you are only permitted to dine at an a la carte restaurant once or twice and must eat at the buffet the rest of the time), and most importantly, was adults only. We wanted to start a family (and were excited to discover that I was pregnant right before we left!) and figured that this would be one of our last childfree vacations. Aventura also had several little perks like free included excursions, including swimming with the dolphins, exchange privileges with other Palace resorts in the area if we wanted to take day trips, free room service, and free internet and long distance calls to Canada and the USA.

The resort was beautiful, and huge! There was actually a shuttle bus to take you from the North side of the resort to the South side. The North side was quieter and more relaxed, while there were always activities and music playing at the South side. The pools were awesome and there was always a waiter around to take your drink order.





We spent most of our time just relaxing by the pool or on our veranda. This was definitely a more laid back vacation that cruising.



We did take advantage of some of the free excursions, though. I was suffering from the typical exhaustion and morning sickness of early pregnancy, so we tried to avoid the ones that would take all day.

Our favourite excursion was swimming with the dolphins. It was such a neat experience! I wasn't allowed to swim with them because of my pregnancy, but Dan got to be towed by them and lots of neat things. It was a lot of fun! They did allow me to get a kiss from a dolphin, though.



We did take one all day trip to Chichen Itza because we couldn't miss that! I had been on a field trip in middle school, but Dan had never seen the ruins. It always takes my breath away to see the massive pyramids in person.



We thought the acoustics on this playing field were absolutely incredible. How could the Mayans have known how to make sound carry so well that despite the distance and all the noise of the gameplayers, that people sitting at the opposite goal ends of the field could actually hear each other speaking? We tried it out ourselves and it was amazing!



We had a nice relaxing vacation, and it was definitely nice not to get a bill shoved under your door on the last night! Whatever price you paid for the trip, that was all you had to pay. We will probably stick to cruising in the future, though. The food, although plentiful, was not as good as Celebrity's, and Dan missed the wine list. He tried a glass of Mexican wine and it was unbelievably bad. We also missed being able to go to the casino after dinner, which is one of our favourite activities onboard a ship. Unfortunately, casinos are illegal in Mexico.

If you're just looking for a place to relax and decompress without kids running around, and enjoy having a few drinks without reaching into your pocket every time, then I'd definitely recommend Aventura Spa Palace. To view the rest of our photos, visit our photo album.