A few years back, I learned about a favorite travel destination of my aunt, Kathy.  Kathy, who is fluent in several languages including Spanish, told me about a special place in Mexico called the Palace Resorts.  She had been travelling there since the late 1990’s and had fallen in love with the culture, natural beauty, and the magnificent Palace Resorts Hotels.  My father and sister and cousins have all visited this magical place located on the Yucatan Peninsula, with the gorgeous Caribbean Sea and tropical climate, and amenities like you can only dream about.  So, I took the bait and decided to book a week with Rachel to head down and experience this place with my own senses.

First off, when you are travelling abroad, you need a passport.  Passports can be obtained at a local passport office, like the one in Warwick, RI near our T.F. Green Airport.  If you need a replacement passport because you couldn’t locate yours (yes, this was me), you can travel to the Federal Building in Boston, state your case that you lost your passport, and then apply for a replacement passport which can take several days or weeks.  You can even have it expedited for an additional fee.  I would not recommend doing what I did, which was wait until the very last minute (72 hours before flying) to get your passport in order.  It was an unnecessary stress that could have been avoided if I planned ahead a bit more.  But, then again, I am not perfect.

We had a smooth flight to Mexico via Jet Blue, which flew first into Orlando, and then over to Cancun.  On the plane from Orlando to Cancun, there are immigration papers that we filled out.  These immigration papers have a top and bottom section.  The top section goes to the immigration officer at the airport, then bottom section (which is identical to the top section) stays with you during your stay abroad and must be presented to get your boarding pass when you depart.  Very important piece of documentation that you need to safeguard while you are abroad. Also, we filled out a form for our luggage that we were travelling with.  As I looked out the window upon landing in Mexico, I glanced to my right and saw a tower with Corona Beer’s logo all over it.  I thought that was really cool and a bit cliche but I loved it.  Once inside the airport in Cancun,  we were directed to the Mexican immigration and passport section.  Our passports were stamped, the immigration form (bottom section) was returned to us, then we went to the baggage area.

After we collected our luggage and it was cleared through Mexican customs, we headed to the transportation area of the airport.  There are representatives of the Mexican Department of Tourism that can help direct you to where you need to go and provide you with local maps of other hotels, tours, and attractions.  Our transportation from the airport to the Palace Resorts was already pre-arranged.  One of the incredible perks of the Palace Resorts is free airport transportation to and from the hotel.  The staff at the Palace Resorts had a car waiting for us at the airport because weeks earlier, we emailed them of our arrival.  Our names were on their clipboard, and they escorted us to an air conditioned van while they took care of our luggage.  The transportation staff at the airport was courteous, spoke very good English, and were incredibly welcoming to two people who speak very little Spanish.  It was a great way to start our trip.

This airport transportation service was just incredible.  In the transportation area, there were tons of taxis, buses, private cars, limos all picking up customers.  Having a pre-arranged, free ride from the airport to the hotel was just amazing and our driver spoke great English.  He gave us a brief overview of the area, the businesses, the culture, and most of all, how the staff at the Palace Resorts would be treating us.  He said, “it’s a pleasure to have you stay with us,” something we would soon learn would ring loudly from every staff person we would eventually come in contact with at the Palace Resorts.  It was a short 15 minute ride, with a bit of traffic, to our destination – The Moon Palace Spa and Golf Resort.

The North Kingstown Marketing Company is proud to promote the Palace Resorts.  You can read more about the Palace Resorts in future blog articles.  If you would like to learn more about the Palace Resorts, feel free to contact me through this blog site.

MUSINGS TRAVEL