My family made memories that will last a lifetime in Mexico last week, and I wanted to share more about our experience!
Grand Fiesta Americana Coral Beach
When we were planning our trip we knew we wanted an all-inclusive resort with a beautiful beach and swimmable ocean water. It had to have great service and activities to keep the kids busy. I have a long list of family-friendly resorts that I want to try, but we finally narrowed it down to the Grand Fiesta Americana Coral Beach in the Cancun hotel zone.
GFACB is known for its incredible service and has recently transitioned into an all-inclusive resort. It’s in the part of the hotel zone that showcases beautiful white sand beaches and water that’s not as rough as other areas. They also have a HUGE newly renovated state-of-the-art kidz club!
The resort has four pools each with a swim-up bar, private beach access, shows every night, five restaurants, and really fun entertainment staff.
Our Arrival
Arriving at the Cancun airport can be a little intimidating if you’ve never traveled internationally. But with a travel agent who has sent you extensive instructions and guidance, it can be a breeze. (That's me, I'll be your travel agent!) We booked private transportation to the resort (which is surprisingly affordable and something I recommend for all my clients), so as soon as we made it through customs, we were whisked away to our resort – and we even had snacks to enjoy after our long flight.
Upon arrival at the resort we were thrilled and the stellar service was immediately on display. Our bags were whisked away, we were quickly checked in, and before we knew it we were on the balcony of our room enjoying the gorgeous view of the ocean. We got in late on our first night, so we took some time to wander around the resort, check out the ocean, and grab some dinner at the buffet restaurant.
All-Inclusive Beach Life
The next six days were a dream! We’d wake up, hit the breakfast buffet (which the kids couldn’t get enough of), and then enjoy a Bali bed on the beach until it was time for dinner.
The kids bounced back and forth between swimming in the ocean and the pool (which had enough shallow areas that we didn’t have to worry about them – they’re 10 and 7 and fantastic swimmers) and I found myself with moments alone on the beach, a mother’s dream!
 |  |
We spent plenty of time in the ocean together too! The resort had a couple of boogie boards we used to ride the waves, and we also enjoyed just hanging out in the ocean holding on to each other as the waves came into the shore. There were a lot of waves, but the beach was very shallow and there wasn’t much of an undertow. I was very surprised that I was comfortable with the kids being alone in the ocean (closely supervised) because it was so gentle and shallow.
When the salt got to be too much, we headed to the pool where we were constantly entertained by the fabulous staff. My family played water polo every morning and my daughter loved the daily water aerobics and dance lessons. A couple of times during our visit we also enjoyed live cello music, and mermaids joined her one day!
When we were hungry, we either ordered something from our beach server or ordered made-to-order tacos and quesadillas from the poolside lunch stand. The kids always seemed to have a kiddie cocktail or ice cream cone in their hand too – they got very comfortable ordering from the swim-up bar! My stainless-steel tumbler was always filled with a delicious drink that I sipped on throughout the day.
 |  |
We had great family dinners every night too! The first night we had arranged for a private beach dinner, but the weather didn’t cooperate, and we ended up enjoying our food in the beach-side restaurant – which was still delicious. One night my husband and I checked the kids into the kids club and had dinner at the luxury French restaurant where we were entertained by live ballet. I think the dinner highlight of the week was the mariachi band that surrounded our table in the Mexican restaurant, that was quite the treat!
Each night after dinner we’d head to the different shows the resort offered. We saw an urban show with great dancing, a circus show with incredible stunts (some we’d never seen before), the fire show with amazing fire-y talent, and the water show with stunning acrobatic performers. The shows weren’t too long so they kept the kids’ interest (about 45 minutes) and it was so fun to watch the performers, they were all very talented!
Isla Mujeres
On our last full day, we booked a catamaran excursion to Isla Mujeres. We enjoyed a nice boat ride, snorkeling off the shore of the island, a private 3-hour golf cart tour of the island, and another fun cruise back to the mainland. I’d definitely recommend a visit to Isla Mujeres, but it wouldn’t have been as interesting or fun if we hadn’t had our private guide! (Another perk of a travel agent, we know exactly which tours your family will love! If we hadn't booked this tour I can imagine our family driving around the island in our golf cart screaming at each other because we were lost!)
Sadly the day came when it was time to head home, but we came home with memories that will last forever and plans to get there again soon!
Now that we’re home we can’t stop saying “Hola!” and “Gracias” and we’re all waiting for our server to show up at 11 am to offer us our first drink, but it never happens!
Want to plan your own family vacation to Mexico? I can help! I'm a travel agent specializing in vacations to Disney, Universal, Mexico, and travel across the U.S. and Europe! If you work with me I'll take all the stress out of planning, plus I'll help you find the vacation you've been dreaming of! Find out more here: https://susanelitetcagent.com/.
