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Cancun Airport Transfers and Tours

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randster2

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I am looking at Thomas Moore Travel or Brant. There are only 2 of us. We need an airport transfer to the Royal Sands, and want to go to Xcaret. What is the advantage of each? Can anyone recommend any additional alternatives or tours? Thanks.
 
If you've looked at both websites it should be fairly easy to deduce the advantages of each company. Both offer good service, so it's really up to what you are looking for exactly.

For 1-2 people I always recommend Thomas Moore because of the price. For larger groups it can be more economical to go with a private transfer such as EP.

Xcaret, you really just need to be dropped off and picked up. It's not like you hang out with everyone that you rode down with, and unlike the ruins you don't need a tour guide to get you around the place.

I use Thomas Moore for most of our excursions because I don't plan things ahead and like the convenience of them being right in our lobbys.
 
I go with Entertainment-plus because of the pvt services, but if its just 2 people and you're going to the Sands I would go with Thomas Moore. Same with Xel-Ha, any savings shopping around might not be worth the time spent for 2 people. As BSQ said since they are in the lobby at the Sands go with conveniance.
 
Definitely use Thomas Moore for airport transfer to the Sands - last time we didn't, and it was a pain and also more expensive to arrange for a van once we were at the airport.
It's also so convenient to just have it appear on your bill at the Sands rather than worry about paying it at the airport.
 
Do you recomend to purchase airport transfers before you depart or can you just pick them up when you arrive?
For someone going to the Royal Mayan, do you need a car at all or can Thomas More cover most travel requests?
Are there cabs?
 
Brant will take us to Walmart for 90 mintues, which costs $30 more. I am trying to decide whether to shop at Walmart or the Royal Sands grocery mart. There are 2 of us, and we do not plan on eating out much.
 
You can save a lot in the Royals stores if you buy Mexican brands instead of US brands....a LOT!!! For example their local crackers vs Ritz, their local cookies vs Oreos, etc.
 
XCaret

We took the XCaret tour and I found it a HUGE waste of time. By the time we got shuttled up to the departing locale, rode the bus, had to wait for all the logistics instructions from the bus driver it was already about 12:30 before we actually were able to do anything in the park.

I say rent a car, take the easy drive. Get there at opening time. Leave at your leisure. You'll be able to see and do a lot more (and there is plenty to see).

There are so many little scheduled shows at particular times -- we basically missed them all because we got there so late. By the time we did the underground snorkel and a few other things all the shows were over. Next time I'll even look into seeing what a cabbie would charge for the drive. The tour was just too much wasted time.

Regarding return airport transfers:
As long as you are at the Royals you can arrange that thru them (and Thomas Moore) a few days before departure.
 
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td0804 said:
Do you recomend to purchase airport transfers before you depart or can you just pick them up when you arrive?
For someone going to the Royal Mayan, do you need a car at all or can Thomas More cover most travel requests?
Are there cabs?
Click to expand...

I'd say to get the airport transfer in advance for sure. You don't need a car at all, unless you want to tour the Yucatan on your own. Public buses run continuously and there is one only road, so all you need to know for the hotel zone is which way north and south are and where your resort stop is. Once into the city of Cancun there are a few bus choices. Yes, there is cab service all over too. There is minimum pick up fee at the resort so for short cab rides it can be cheaper to walk to the street. For two we take cab to the airport for departure, about the same price and more convenient than the mass Sat. van exodus. Since the same cabs are not allowed to pick up at the airport, I then reserve a one way airport transfer to the resort with Thomas Moore via the web in advance (it has to be in advance or they can't give you a ride).
 
td0804 said:
Do you recomend to purchase airport transfers before you depart or can you just pick them up when you arrive?
For someone going to the Royal Mayan, do you need a car at all or can Thomas More cover most travel requests?
Are there cabs?
Click to expand...

In general you need to make your airport transfer arrangements ahead of time. There is a window where you can purchase inexpensive transfers, but it's for a shared ride.

From the Thomas Moore website ...

"All reservations submitted Monday - Friday must be made at least 24 hours prior to arrival. Reservations submitted on Saturday or Sunday must be made at least 48 hours prior to arrival."

We stay next door to the Mayan at the Islander. We use the public bus to get every where. The cost is 7 pesos (about 70 cents), there is a bus stop right out front of the Mayan. The free shuttle will drive you down the hill if you don't feel like walking it. The buses pretty much stop to pick you up anywhere in the general vicinity of the bus stop on the Royals corner. Cabs are at your beckon call. They are lined up 24/7 at the Royals, when ever you need one, they are available.

We seldom use a taxi, and rent a car only if we are planning day trips outside of the hotel zone.
 
td0804 said:
Do you recomend to purchase airport transfers before you depart or can you just pick them up when you arrive?
For someone going to the Royal Mayan, do you need a car at all or can Thomas More cover most travel requests?
Are there cabs?
Click to expand...

Definitely arrange it through royalresorts.com before you depart. It's easy, and less expensive than other services. I contacted Thomas More before our recent trip to the Royals, and they said I couldn't pay them down there but had to pre-arrange it. As you leave the airport, there is a kiosk for transportation - Grey Line, which may be a monopoly - their van service costs more than Thomas More and they also tried to talk us into a pre-paid round-trip taxi which would have cost far more than usual taxi rates. For the way back, we just get a taxi at the front lobby, and usually spend around $20 total for the four of us - cheaper than the van.

Opinions on needing cars vary. We do not need or rent a car, as we spend most of our time enjoying the Tri-Royals. We also don't like the crazy drivers and the number of accidents we see are not appealing.

We use the city busses (cheap and frequent) for an occasional trip into town, to WalMart, to one of the malls, or to wet and wild. We use the free resort shuttle to occasionally go to the Sands. We use the resort shuttle to go to the Haciendas (not normally free to go to the Haciendas, but ask your "private concierge" - AKA salesperson - to send you down and you'll go at no charge, get lunch, and can swim at their beach all day).

I think Thomas More can cover all travel requests. When we go on tours, we have used Thomas More's tour services for a big bus, a van, and once to arrange a private van for a day so we could go wherever we wanted on our own schedule. The private van worked out great - it was around $250/day for the van and driver for ~8-10 hours - went to Tulum, Akumal, the Haciendas, and Playa del Carmen.
 
randster2 said:
Brant will take us to Walmart for 90 mintues, which costs $30 more. I am trying to decide whether to shop at Walmart or the Royal Sands grocery mart. There are 2 of us, and we do not plan on eating out much.
Click to expand...

You can take a bus to WalMart for a few pesos, and then either take the bus back or, if you have a lot, a taxi back for a lot less than $30.00.

The mini markets at the resorts are pretty good for most needs, but not for fresh meats/fish. They're convenient for picking up just about anything for snacks, breakfast, and lunch. The resort mini market prices are very good on Mexican brands and fruits/vegs common to the area (e.g. avocados, limes.)

WalMart has a good and amazingly inexpensive bakery - medium loaves of crusty bread for a peso or two. Most things are cheaper than at the resorts. I'd recommend it if you're doing real cooking for a week (as opposed to take-out, reheating rotisserie chickens, etc).

Another option is all the take-out available at the resort (inside the restaurant near where the omelet chef sets up at brunch). Their ribs are excellent and very low-cost, rotisserie chicken is much larger than we get at the states, excellent salads, guacamole, salsa, lime soup and black bean soups, and even pizza. Get a chicken and salasa and guacamole at the Express, then get an onion and pepper and some tortillas and a can of beans at the mini-market, take the chicken off the bones and saute' it with the onion and pepper, and you've got fajitas and probably leftovers as well. The express will deliver free to your villa.
 
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For two people, I wouldn't spend the extra $30 or lose the couple of hours relaxation/pool/beach time going to Walmart. The Sands grocery store and all the options offered by either the express takeout or ordering in from the menu at La Veranda will definitely offer everything you might need.
 
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