Dreams Natura - Day 1 - Arrival Day
Oh, Mexico
It sounds so simple I just got to go — Mexico (James Taylor)
For those that are not aware, I’m a Travel Advisor with Key to the World Travel. One of the reasons I love working for this company is that they educate agents at every sales level, this includes multiple events throughout the year including two major events Spring Fling and KeyCon. This past April, Spring Fling was in Cancun, Mexico and as someone who had never been to Mexico, I was thrilled to go and learn all about the All-Inclusive Resorts in the area.
Random fact about me is I’ve never flown to any of the destinations I’ve been to out of the United States. I have always cruised to destinations, so this was a new experience full of learnings for me. I didn’t realize how many times I was going to have to show my passport, which I guess I’m glad for, because if I paid for one, I may as well show it off! When I first showed it at the Orlando airport to check my suitcase it was pointed out by the Southwest agent that my passport wasn’t valid because it wasn’t signed. I was shocked as I’d used it for multiple cruises since I’ve had it, but I signed it at the counter, and all was fine.
TSA Pre Check is a must for my sanity at the Orlando airport. It’s something about the number of families in the line that just makes that line super chaotic. It’s full of people that haven’t travelled before or people that haven’t travelled with their children before and I don’t have a routine established for getting through security. No judgement on them, I just prefer to be away from it if I can. Due to my Pre-check, security was painless, and I went to my gate. It was a VERY light flight. They told us how many people had to sit in each section of the plane to balance it out.
The only thing of note to mention about this flight is they told us to spread out. I got on the plane grabbed a window seat for myself and waited for all to board. I had a group of two girls take the middle and end seat RIGHT NEXT TO ME! Did they not hear the announcement? So, I got up and found another window. The weirdest thing is that is not the first time that has happened to me! Why don’t people want their personal space?
Once we landed at Fort Lauderdale, my co-agent and I went to eat at Margaritaville. I looked at the margarita menu, but knew I’d be getting drinks included at my resort in Mexico, so I decided to wait. It was a little bit of an awkward experience as we waited to be seated and the bartender told us to sit wherever, and we sat a bit and then a server came up to us to tell us the section was closed. She proceeded to play on her phone nearly the entire time we were there. This is interesting to note because my food experience on the way home at this airport was also less than ideal.
We boarded our flight to Cancun, and it was my first experience needing to have my passport in hand to board the flight. Before you know it, we landed in Cancun! Customs was super easy, and I got my first passport stamp ever – I didn’t realize how fun that felt and am sad that they don’t stamp you for cruises at all! Getting my luggage was not easy. Apparently, the airport has been unstaffed. We waited close to an hour for my suitcase. Once we had that, it was time to find our transfer that we had set up by our group.
Since it was my first time in Mexico, I didn’t really know what to expect as far as what everything would look like. We drove up to a security gate for our resort area and it was a little odd to see 2 armed guards also standing there supervising the gate. We were told it’s because the Mexican government wants to keep tourists safe as they rely on that industry and there’s been so many terrible news stories coming out of resorts in Mexico. We drove down a very small road surrounded by lots of greenery and then we saw the line of resorts ahead of us. We stayed at Dreams Natura which is a family-friendly resort. Upon arrival, Bell Services took our luggage, and we went to check in for our event. Because we were a group, they had a separate resort check in for us and then we could check in with our event right next to that. This was also while we were being offered Prosecco and Mimosas. Prosecco is a favorite of mine, so I was not sad about this touch.
After that I went to check out my room, my roommate had not made it to the room yet. I was thrilled to see our ocean view and the light, airy vibe of the room. We also had a bottle of champaign waiting for us which was greatly appreciated (and enjoyed!)
We did a tour of the resort. The highlight for me was the spa. It is hands down the most gorgeous spa I’ve ever seen.
Before we know it, it’s time for us to join our co-agents down on the beach for a welcome ceremony complete with cocktails, appetizers, and live music. It was a nice way to see everyone for the first time in months and in some cases, years!
Our only task for the rest of the night was to go to a “Dine Around”. During check-in we signed up for one of the restaurants at the resort to experience with some of our fellow agents. I chose the hibachi restaurant named “Himitsu” and couldn’t wait to go as I never opt for hibachi in by day-to-day life. Since we had a group and had made a reservation, we had seats right up at one of the grills. While we were there, a table had a birthday, and the servers slammed trays down on the ground to celebrate. Of course, we had to have a birthday also. Turns out, both me and the Senior Manager from the Hyatt Inclusive Collection share a birthday on May 4th and that was the closest birthday, so we both got a bonus dessert and accompanying tray floor slamming. I left feeling full and exhausted and went back to my room and immediately passed out.
If you went to check out Dreams Natura or anywhere else in the world, fill out this link for a quote: https://travefy.com/f/6ws9rqequmpara2uwxzesgnu3gdappcy4a
