Cancun 2006?

[Princess Tink]

How likely is it we would be able to get a trade into Royal Sands (1BR) for the first part of July in 2006? Any thoughts (Dean)?

We currently have a 7 day DCL booked, but are still having seconds thoughts because it is so much more than our last ($1500 more same cruise/same cat). We originally was thinking Playa del Carmen or Cancun but, started having seconds thoughts in Feb when we decided we were going to be taking our will be 8 yr old DS. This will be a 10th Anniversary trip, wbut now planning on including our DS. I'm seeing more and more positive feed back on the Royals Resorts in Cancun, and seeing more families going.....so maybe taking my DS(8) won't be as big of an issue as we originally thought.

It also appears most rooms in the RS are ocean view, is that really the case? We plan on spending lots of time lounging on the beach whatever we do!

Any feedback would be great?

 

[Dean]

How likely is it we would be able to get a trade into Royal Sands (1BR) for the first part of July in 2006? Any thoughts (Dean)?

We currently have a 7 day DCL booked, but are still having seconds thoughts because it is so much more than our last ($1500 more same cruise/same cat). We originally was thinking Playa del Carmen or Cancun but, started having seconds thoughts in Feb when we decided we were going to be taking our will be 8 yr old DS. This will be a 10th Anniversary trip, wbut now planning on including our DS. I'm seeing more and more positive feed back on the Royals Resorts in Cancun, and seeing more families going.....so maybe taking my DS(8) won't be as big of an issue as we originally thought.

It also appears most rooms in the RS are ocean view, is that really the case? We plan on spending lots of time lounging on the beach whatever we do!

Any feedback would be great?

For July, I'd think your chances are excellent. You may even get a 2 BR for the cost of a 1 BR, don't do the studio. But the Royals deposit up to 2 years out so a lot of units have already come and gone. Get on the list now then you can decide for sure when they call you with a match. July is a fairly low season for MX and the Caribbean.

The views are mostly ocean view and some OF. The buildings are somewhat stair stepped to allow this but if they are too low, you still won't get a view.

 

[Princess Tink]

Another question............I have seen what seems to be quite a few good things about the R.Sands, and a few about the R.Mayan. What about the the other Royals? Would you recommend any of these to be better than any of the others? Accommodations, location, amenities, choices and options? Just looking for feedback before I call MS.

 

[jade1]

I called about that 1 year out for April (I think 2 years ago) and it was available.
My DD stayed there with friends and loved it (thats why I called)-pics looked great.

 

[kaw1106]

We stayed at the Royal Sands last January and absolutely LOVED IT. Toured a few of the others, We liked the Royal sands best.

 

[Princess Tink]

thanks for the input......I'm calling tomorrow to get my request in. Wish me luck!

 

[Dean]

Another question............I have seen what seems to be quite a few good things about the R.Sands, and a few about the R.Mayan. What about the the other Royals? Would you recommend any of these to be better than any of the others? Accommodations, location, amenities, choices and options? Just looking for feedback before I call MS.

They are all great in their own way. Some like the Tri Royals (Islander, Mayan, Caribbean) best and others like the Sands best. If you can get an exchange that fits your needs, I would not worry too much about which one. I think the others have a little more personality than the Sands and are a little more personable. The Mayan has some units that face the Lagoon so taking an exchange there without knowing the unit number, is a small gamble. Normally I'd say it's no big deal, but when you are trading DVC, that can be the difference between a good exchange or not. While they may not give it to you, MS should be able to find out the unit number for the exchange at the Royals. If they do, then you can check to see what he view is.

 

[Princess Tink]

I'll put in my request and see what I can come up with.

Thanks again Dean.

 

[Cooltrainer]

Princess Tink - We have been on two Disney Cruises, and this past spring break stayed at the Royal Mayan in Cancun. There is NO COMPARISON between the two, especially if you have kids. I say stick with your cruise.. and here this is why... When you exchange into the Royal's, they save all the ocean views for the members, so I was told. Thus we had a unit that faced the lagoon. Yes it was beautiful, but not what I think we should have got, given the cost of our disney points. There are very few organized activities for the kids... so be ready to have them with you all day.. unless you leave the resort and either shop or do a tour. We visited all the different Royals and the Sands was very, very crowded. If you stay at any of the Royals you will be bugged every day you are there to buy a time share. The next time we go to Cancun, we will opt to stay at an all inclusive resort and use our Disney points where they are a better value for what you exchanging into. Your original plan was the best...

 

[Dean]

Princess Tink - We have been on two Disney Cruises, and this past spring break stayed at the Royal Mayan in Cancun. There is NO COMPARISON between the two, especially if you have kids. I say stick with your cruise.. and here this is why... When you exchange into the Royal's, they save all the ocean views for the members, so I was told. Thus we had a unit that faced the lagoon. Yes it was beautiful, but not what I think we should have got, given the cost of our disney points. There are very few organized activities for the kids... so be ready to have them with you all day.. unless you leave the resort and either shop or do a tour. We visited all the different Royals and the Sands was very, very crowded. If you stay at any of the Royals you will be bugged every day you are there to buy a time share. The next time we go to Cancun, we will opt to stay at an all inclusive resort and use our Disney points where they are a better value for what you exchanging into. Your original plan was the best...

The Royals are fixed unit, fixed week resorts. So you will get the unit deposited. Obviously there is a lower chance of the best units being deposited but it's not a unit assignment issue. If you read the II rules, you'll see he resort has the option of reassigning you if need be. Why don't you ask if those with an exchange had their unit number on the confirmation, I know mine did when I exchanged through II in 2000.

But the Royals are the exception rather than the rules and the warning rings all too true for most resorts, esp if they have floating units or floating weeks.

 

[Cooltrainer]

Dean, I hear what you are saying. Yes the exchange room was on our confirmation. I tried to get different accomodations, but everyone, told us that the ocean front units are for members. Interesting enough, we ran into two other disney vacation club members and they too had lagoon view rooms and were told the same thing. Maybe it's part of the timeshare push??? This was our first exchange and I can only hope that this isn't true across the board when it comes time to exchange again. In the end.... Disney is just a hard act to follow!

 

[teo403]

We (myself, dh, dd (9), ds (7) and dd (3))just came back from the Royal Mayan a few weeks ago. We had a fantastic time. One of the best vacations we have ever taken. We also had a lagoon view. The unit # was on our reservation. We really didn't care about the view though, we loved the resort and the location with the other two resorts attached to it. We liked the Royal Sands too, it was a beautiful resort. Although during this week, it was much more crowded than we liked. What we really liked about the Mayan was that we could get a nice spot on the beach and still be able to get chairs by the pool in the afternoon (and vice versa).

We didn't have a problem with someone calling us everyday. She left us messages the first two and talked to her the third day, told her we weren't interested in buying anything and she didn't call us again.

We did meet some other DVC members and they did have ocean views. It seems like it is just luck when you get your match. Like I said above, the view wasn't going to ruin our vacation... we weren't really in the room all that much.

You will love any of the Royals. It really was a wonderful place to go.

 

[Princess Tink]

Another question...........I called yesterday to inquire the availbility of the dates we are interested in and nothing was available at this time (as expected). From what the CM said, I have to pay the $75 exchange fee now and then they will start the search, is that correct? Just wanted to make sure. As I was under the impression we wouldn't pay unless a match was found. I'm just concerned if a match is not made in time to book airfair that I will be out of the money. I plan on keeping my DCL reservations until a match is found, as we have the current price locked in and don't want to have to book at a higher price if something don't come through on this. Any thoughts?

 

[Dean]

Another question...........I called yesterday to inquire the availbility of the dates we are interested in and nothing was available at this time (as expected). From what the CM said, I have to pay the $75 exchange fee now and then they will start the search, is that correct? Just wanted to make sure. As I was under the impression we wouldn't pay unless a match was found. I'm just concerned if a match is not made in time to book airfair that I will be out of the money. I plan on keeping my DCL reservations until a match is found, as we have the current price locked in and don't want to have to book at a higher price if something don't come through on this. Any thoughts?

They changed it about a year ago where you pay the fee up front and it's refunded if you don't match. This is consistent with how II does it as well. The only problem should be if you accept a match then cancel later. The wording is unclear, but it appears you only ultimately pay the fee if you actually accept a match.

 

[cymomtx]

If you stay at the Royal Sands, there are no lagoon views. All the units are Ocean/Pool View. We own three weeks there and rarely deposit them. I can get premium money for renting so, I rent my unit out. In five years we have only deposited it one time, and rented it the rest.

 

[Dean]

Dean, I hear what you are saying. Yes the exchange room was on our confirmation. I tried to get different accomodations, but everyone, told us that the ocean front units are for members. Interesting enough, we ran into two other disney vacation club members and they too had lagoon view rooms and were told the same thing. Maybe it's part of the timeshare push??? This was our first exchange and I can only hope that this isn't true across the board when it comes time to exchange again. In the end.... Disney is just a hard act to follow!

The issue is that those that own the lagoon view units usually trade them while those that own the others usually use or rent them or possibly do a direct exchange. This is only an issue at the RM. Now I'm curious if it's possible to find out the unit through MS prior to accepting the exchange. It is possible through II but highly difficult. I've been successful only once finding out the unit prior to accepting the exchange through II through they obviously have a way to do so.

However, this issue does illustrate one of the problems with timeshare trading. Besides the fact it's hard to get a resort and week that is comparable to DVC, there are negatives even compared to an owner exchanging back in at many resorts. Here's an example. Back in 2003 we had 3 units at Marriott's Grande Ocean which is a floating week/floating unit resort. I requested they all be in the same building and as close to each other as possible. The buildings are 5 story and we had the two units we owned on 3rd floor and the one exchange unit on first floor with no view. Some resorts are notorious for this issue, the ones that come to mind are Cliff's Club and Lawaii Beach both on Kauai. The Embassy's in HI are pretty much that way as well. Some put you in the worst units and offer an upgrade, for a price of course.

All of these factors add complications to trading and frequently reduce the value of an exchange. That's why it's hard to be at the top trading down. I prefer trading mid range resorts that trade fairly well but where many good places to stay can be a mild upgrade. Every exchange I've ever done has been an upgrade in some capacity or the other and usually in several areas. The three main areas to consider are resort quality, week demand and unit size. But you need to consider many things that will include at least the following and I'm sure we could continually add to the list.

• Unit size
• Resort Quality
• Demand of the week.
• Unit assignment methods.
• Any additional costs like extra for parking, airport shuttle and the like.

Then there are factors that might be important to you but not me. How far from civilization, what is there to do, is there a beach or just a view, how variable are the units in quality, etc. I know I've preached it, but it's terribly important that a member research the resorts prior to accepting an exchange. Relying on DVC is not smart, they don't know timeshares. Ask here, ask TUG, search the net, etc.

 

[Dean]

There was a message deleted from someone else, it appears. I'm assuming it was too much like an ad. But it does serve to remind something I said earlier, that for the Royals, this is only a problem at the Mayan and also at VCI.

 

[Synonymous]

When you exchange into the Royal's, they save all the ocean views for the members, so I was told. There are very few organized activities for the kids... so be ready to have them with you all day.. unless you leave the resort and either shop or do a tour. If you stay at any of the Royals you will be bugged every day you are there to buy a time share. ...

Well, I just got back from Royal Mayan 2 weeks ago and I have to disagree with this. When we got our confirmation it had the unit # and the name of the person who owned it. Our room was a pool view (you could see the ocean, but not that much of it) not a lagoon view. But I don't think the lagoon view would be that bad, anyway. You'd get to see the sunsets.

As for kids activities, there was stuff going on every day, different activities covering a good part of the day. You can't just leave your kids, though- they have to be supervised.

We were not bugged at all about buying. Our personal concierge didn't even mention the Sands until a few days into the visit. Then she asked if we wanted a free breakfast at the Sands, followed by a brief tour. We agreed, because we had been planning to visit the Sands anyway to use the heated pools. That night I called and cancelled because my wife wasn't feeling well. She asked if we wanted to re-schedule, I said no, that was the end of it.

I was wary about being pressured to buy, but it just didn't happen. And I did talk to the PC just about every day to get dinner reservations and such. She was very helpful.

I highly recommend any of the Tri-Royals. Didn't see the Sands or VCI, so I can't comment, although I'm sure they are high quality, too, based on our stay at RM.

 

[Princess Tink]

Okay, so MS called today with a match......a 1 BR at the Royal Carribean July 1-8, 2006. It is 160 pts. They can not give me a unit number, that makes me nervous. Considering the time we're looking at, unit size, and points.....not knowing the specifics of the location......is this still a good trade?

Help. I think I need a push. If nothing else, to ease my mind.

TIA,
Micaela

 

[cymomtx]

You need to get more specifics, as a 1Br could mean two different possibilites. The Royal Resorts are set-up as follows:
Villa - 2BR/2BA with murphy beds in living room
Suite - 1BR(king)/1BA with kitchen and living room
Lock-off - 1BR/1BA with small fridge (2 doubles)

They should beable to give you the villa number, as to get an exchange a specific villa had to be deposited by a Royal member. We do not have floating villa assignments.