Barcelo Maya Riviera: Day 5
Good morning. It looks like the wind and waves may be under control today
I’m making coffee in the room this morning. I’ll do a later breakfast and hang around the resort today.
I’m not sure what time the Palace stops serving breakfast but I’m going to try to get there before they do. Hopefully it goes until 10 or something.
Here is a look at the bus route. The Palace is all the way on the left and Riviera is all the way on the right. When they have two buses running they have one that just runs between the Palace and the mall while the other does the full route all the way down to Riviera.
When only one bus is running it does two laps between the mall and Palace before coming down to the Riviera. So your wait for a shuttle can be longer at Riviera. I’ve been pretty lucky most of the time. Today it was only a two minute wait.
Here comes my ride.
Some people are so rude. An older guy was waiting when I got there. I was going to let him on before me. This couple walks up in front of us and tries to get on before the people even get off of the bus.
We are at the Palace now. They have a fenced in play area for kids you can see from up here.
La Hacienda is busy as usual. There’s no sign of shutting down anytime soon. They must have a late breakfast or brunch happening. I got a table. I’m just waiting for someone to take my drink order.
Chilaquiles and Churros
I desired a better view after eating so I moved over to their coral grill. They must be checking for people who are at the resorts who aren’t allowed to come here. She asked my room number. I believe our bracelets are color coded but sometimes it twists around.
I had to switch the chairs around before I sat down because the other side doesn’t have the view and the chair that was on this side had food all in it. It looked like they used the chair as a plate.
The seaweed battle continues. Two big trucks. It looks like they have an area in the middle clear.
They have bird handlers with trained hawks patrolling the outdoor eating areas to keep birds away.
It doesn’t seem like anyone is interested in seeing if I want another drink here so I’m going to move on.
What a mess!
Let’s try coco. It’s a rare bar here that actually has stools you can sit on.
I ordered a spicy Bloody Mary.
Then another.
Then a couple of pina coladas.
Looks like they’ve got some kind of water aerobics going on in the pool.
I am heading to the nearest hotel lobby to use the bathroom. I haven’t yet discovered the bathroom on the other side of coco.
A couple walking behind me “Oh look at the big lizard. Oh look at the big lizard. That’s the one that lives up in the tree.”
I believe I’m walking through the Tropical resort which is next to Palace. These are their restaurants.
They have a premium tequila bar which is not open.
And this is their lobby bar.
It looks like they are practicing for tonight in the theater.
I am back out by the beach looking for more drinks.
I stopped by Captain Morgan’s for a couple of pina coladas.
It sure sounds like thunder. The radar looks good though.
It looks like we got another wedding happening. This one at night I’m guessing
I headed back to La Hacienda for lunch. I was afraid I may have missed it but they still have lunch happening.
Seafood Paella
And a NY Strip from the steak station. That Paella is really good.
White Chocolate cake
I’m out front waiting on a shuttle back over to Riviera.
I’m heading right to the pool bar.
I got a strawberry banana daiquiri but my phone died so I had to get to my charger.
On my way up there was an iguana that looked like he was about to get in a swimout. He was right there on the corner. Of course right when my phone was booting up he started walking away.
I thought about getting in the ocean. It ain’t happening in front of this resort. You have to walk through 10 yards of seaweed first. Nobody is out there in front of this resort. Maybe I’ll try a pool or further down the beach.
He’s just getting some sun.
They have some entertainment happening by the pool bar.
I thought I would get in the vacated pool over at the near empty Beach resort. It seems I wasn’t first to think about it. A few others were in there already. Then I thought I’d grab a couple drinks to bring back to it. By the time I got to the next open bar, it was further away than I thought.
I decided to just go in the ocean. But there were too many people in that area. Then it was too rocky at the next area. Then too many people. Then too mossy. Too rocky. The next thing I know I’m almost to the Palace. But I found a spot. Not too rocky. Not too mossy. Not too many people. And right by coco.
The wedding prep is coming along nicely. I’m just not sure if I’m going to be able to make it because I have dinner at 7:30 and a show at 9:30.
Hey where is that lifeguard going? I’m drinking copious amounts of alcohol and I’m about to get in the ocean. Shouldn’t he be up in that deer stand?
I just had a school of fish swimming around me but I couldn’t unlock the phone and get the camera in time
I saw a stingray on my way out.
You know what now it makes sense. There was a guy screaming at me. I thought he said “there’s seaweed over here.” I thought no crap. There’s seaweed everywhere. I bet he was actually screaming “there’s a stingray over here.”
I’m back at coco for a drink.
Now that’s a spicy Bloody Mary from Julio Santiago.
The wedding party has a mariachi band. That’s who these hats belong to. I should put one on and go back to the bar.
Here is a taste of the mariachi band.
I am heading back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.
I am at the 7:30 Hibachi. I got here right at 7:30. There’s a line of three people at the hostess stand but no hostess. Five minutes go by and finally the hostess shows up. One at a time checks in the other three groups and shows them to their tables.
She leads me to an empty Hibachi table. It’s just me? She says until the others come. I’m thinking she set me up with the 8pm table and I’m going to be sitting here for 20 minutes. The others must have been in line behind me because they all came within five minutes. I was concerned about being late. It looks like late was early in this case.
Ordering was difficult because they had a larger menu than what I’m used to at a resort or cruise ship hibachi.
This is the shrimp roll.
Fried rice and seared tuna salad.
Ribeye and vegetables.
They are using all of the Hibachi tables which I believe is six. Sunday when I ate Italian it looked like they were only using two. Planet Hollywood was only using three or four.
Fried ice cream.
I didn’t expect the 7:30 dinner to take till nearly 9:30. I have 10 minutes until the show. I decided to walk it.
That’s the buffet area.
I go up to the front and the five seats on the end are available again. I grab a chair. The guy at the next table says he’s saving them. I say they’re still coming? He says yes its for my family.
Two minutes later another guy comes over and he lets him have a chair. With 10 minutes left in the show his family finally shows up.
I’m going to try the casino again.
The table I played on the other night is closed. They only have three tables open. All are full. I’m going to have a beer and see if something opens up.
I hung around until 11pm and then headed back to the resort.
I am off to bed for the night. I have a trip in mind for tomorrow.
Continue to Barcelo Maya Riviera: Day 6
