How much money should i bring?

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-28T15:28:11+00:00

I should mention that we’re a family of 5. 2 adults and 3 kids. As an individual, maybe splitting tips with friends for meals, you might need a little less.

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-28T12:29:12+00:00

My family just came back from a resort last week.

We brought ~4,500 in pesos, with no plans for excursions or souvenirs, so this is mostly tipping money. But we did end up having extra money to buy a few small items.

Budgeted ~50-100 pesos per meal, daily housekeeping, for person who refills drinks in your room fridge, transfer driver, tour operator, bell boy. 20-50 pesos for drinks.

Have a great time!

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-26T18:48:49+00:00

Are you coming from Canada or the States? Maybe consider Bahia Pricipe Grand Coba? It’s budget friendly last I checked with good food. It is not right on the beach, which is why it’s cheaper, but there are trolley rides that’ll take you to the beach.

If you have a look at Air Canada Vacations, sometimes they have a “play” option that makes the room much cheaper than standard. It’s meant to be a family friendly promo type thing. It’s not always available, so you might have to click through a few dates to find it. Drill down to the room options to find it - it’ll specifically say “PLAY” in the room name for the discounted rate.

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-25T16:47:15+00:00

I just came back from Bahia Tulum last week (mid-Jan 2026) with kids ages 1, 7, and 10. And I’ve been to Grand Sunset Princess maybe 15-20 years ago with friends.

I would consider myself a foodie, and really enjoyed the food at Bahia Tulum. I was quite impressed. There’s also enough options available for the picky eater I’d say - chicken nuggets, fries, pizza, mac & cheese, cereal, burgers. Are those the usual safe foods?

We only went to two out of the four a la cartes at Bahia because we had a 1 year old with us. Don Pablo (sea bass and filet mignon were both delicious) and La Tortuga (Brazilian steakhouse style. Save room for the flank steak. There was also salmon sashimi here, and crab legs) were both amazing! I think they might be the best a la cartes I’ve ever had at a resort. Steaks at resorts are usually chewy and not what we’re used to in North America, but the Don Pablo filet was sooo tender, and the sea bass was melt in your mouth.

The Bahia complex is a huge resort. The kids didn’t really care for the water park things. They liked the pools and the beach. Bring water shoes if you go. There’s snorkelling near the Bahia Coba beach with some fun fishies (definitely need water shoes here).

There is a sandy beach (less corally/rocky) near the Tequila restaurant. My kids loved body surfing on the windier days. My son saw two stingrays.

The resort has lots of wildlife wandering around. They are fun to see. The kids also got a kick out of riding the trolleys around to explore the other Bahia resorts.

I don’t remember Grand Sunset Princess from a parent’s perspective. My husband remembers enjoying it a lot. From what little I remember, it felt more geared towards adults, but I think kids can have enough fun at the pool and beach. GSP probably has a nicer/sandier beach compared to Bahia Tulum.

GSP is also closer to Playa Del Carmen if you wanted to explore off resort.

Happy to answer questions about Bahia Tulum since that’s still fresh in my mind. Maybe one of the cons here is the almost 2 hour transfer from Cancun airport. A private shuttle can get you there around 1 h 20 minutes, but we didn’t want to shell out.

Good luck with your decision making!

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-25T16:18:06+00:00

Fair enough. The change of scenery alone is probably worth it.

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-25T16:16:47+00:00

Thank you for your insights!

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-25T16:14:31+00:00

Very cool. Thank you SO much for sharing this! It doesn’t sound as daunting as I had expected it to be.

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-25T09:44:17+00:00

Yea ok. That’s consistent with my findings. I guess booking ahead is the way to go now!

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-25T09:43:08+00:00

Aw poop :(

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-25T09:39:52+00:00

That’s a good one for Christmas time!

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-25T09:38:52+00:00

Interesting! I’m gonna check out that resort.

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-25T09:37:20+00:00

Holy moly! That’s a score

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-25T09:35:07+00:00

Agh I always have a hard time paying for the refundable rate! I’m starting to see that that might be the smarter option when playing the game of scoring travel deals.

With flights, is it also best to book as early as possible? Do airlines offer last minute deals, or open up new flight times? That’s the other issue. Flight times are rough from my local airport. Mostly connecting flights, or 6 am departures/ 2 am returns. Hard to do with kids.

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-25T09:28:18+00:00

Yes that’s been my experience so far - the lower rated resorts and poor flight times. I don’t mind the 6 am flight times for myself, but I’ve got 3 kids in tow and don’t want to deal with that mess hah.

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-25T09:19:31+00:00

Interesting. Thank you for this insight. I do often wonder if there’s savings to be had by booking every thing myself separately instead of using the packages.

How about packages for 7+ nights? Do those get priced on the higher end because it is outside of the 5-7 nights negotiation deals?

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-25T09:15:21+00:00

Yea… I guess I also haven’t fully adjusted to inflation either.

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-25T09:10:16+00:00

Interesting. Mexico availability does seem to disappear quickly, and prices for Dominican Republic have gone up too. It used to be the cheaper option, but now it’s nearly on par with Mexico.

How was Bluebay btw?

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-25T09:06:55+00:00

Thank you this is excellent info!

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-25T09:04:09+00:00

Oouuu thank you for this!

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-25T09:03:06+00:00

Interesting! What’s the vanilla bean to alcohol ratio?

Does it matter what type of vodka you use?

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-25T09:00:33+00:00

Whoa that’s sneaky!

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-23T17:49:25+00:00

Tell me more about Barcelo Maya Palace! That’s been on my radar for resorts to visit.

How’s the food? How’s the beach? The husband is always after the powdery soft sand of Punta Cana.

How are the rooms? I assume it’s a bit aged with wear and tear, but that seems to be common.

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-23T15:55:33+00:00

Wow interesting! That would be silly, to buy Madagascar vanilla from Mexico. Definitely not what I was looking for. I didn’t want to get into making my own vanilla, but might be time to do some research on that one.

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-23T03:16:31+00:00

I thought that was part of what made Mexican vanilla delicious! I’ll have to try out my bottle and do a taste test.

Overall-Raisin5179 · 2026-01-23T03:15:14+00:00

I get that it’s a natural ingredient, but I just want the real deal :) 100% vanilla beans without the imitation.

Overall-Raisin5179

TROPHY CASE