Aruba or Mexico

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Posted by Flutterbye922

My future sister in law is a travel agent and we are booked with the Occidental in Aruba. Everyone that I have talked to that has gone there is addicted to going back. You are pretty much gauranteed good weather. I think it is the safer choice.

We originally wanted to stay in the US and were considering the Florida Keys but were concerned with Hurricanes. So - I have peace of mind knowing I don't even need to worry about it in Aruba.

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So your FSIL recommended the Occidental in Aruba?

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Posted by amypf07

Our honeymoon will be at the end of August (Aug. 21-28) and we can;t decide between Aruba or Cancun.

We like the Occidental Grand in Aruba and the El Dorado Royale in Cancun.

Has anyone stayed in either of these hotels and can give us advice.

I know hurricane season can start at the end of August but I heard that it peaks in September so that's our concern with Cancun because we know Aruba is out of the hurricane belt.

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We are having this EXACT same problem.

I have fallen IN LOVE LOVE LOVE with El Dorado Royale, but we would be there during hurricane season as well. (Have you noticed the sandbags though??)

Aruba looks beautiful as well but we would want an ALl inclusive and I think there is only one. The OCcidental is an all inclusive right??

ARUBA!!

It's below the hurricane belt so you don't have to worry about that.

There are sandbags that are not too far off the shore to avoid further erosion.

Read some of the reviwes on tripadvisor.com

here are the snadbags. I dont know what to do. Now its either between EDR or Excellence (nicer beach)

what are youthinking??

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Posted by kellygirl

Where is Excellence?

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Riviera Maya

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Posted by SuperFly

I have been to Cancun and it is only ok. It is SO americanized and not really special. That is just my opinion though. It depends on what you like. I just want something that is more 'honeymoon' and less 'spring break'.

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Riviera Maya is part of Cancun, but not where Spring Break happens...It is supposed to be beautiful!

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Posted by Lizzie913

here are the snadbags. I dont know what to do. Now its either between EDR or Excellence (nicer beach)

what are youthinking??

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I just looked at Excellence and I love it!! I agree the beach is nicer, even the reviews say that. I also like it b/c you don't need a reservation at the restaurants.

FYI - Secrets Excellence (if you mean the one in Riviera Maya) is no longer owned by Secrets. They do have a location in the hotel zone at the north end. Trust me, we were there on our HM and sad that it's under new ownership.

El Dorado Royale is not in Cancun proper, (meaning out of the hotel zone & 'touristy' areas) but it is actually if memory serves me right, in Playa Del Carmen, which is about 35 -40 min south of Cancun.

We were trying to make the same decision for our HM, except we were torn between Secrets Excellence in Mexico and Bucuti Beach Resort in Aruba. We ended up with Secrets because we had never been to an all inclusive and it ended up being cheaper overall by about 1K when you factor in the food & transportation while there.

We will probably go to Aruba for our 1st anniversary. Most people say 4-5 days is enough for Aruba.

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Posted by Kris10546

I know I already replied to this and I said Aruba, but I have not stayed at either resort you have named but I was in Cancun a couple of months ago and it is still VERY devistated from the hurricanes. I would say about 50% of the hotels were still destroyed (meaning just frames that construction hasnt started on yet) but it is still a great place to go. It is a very young city. It was great for us, we were able to go out, party and enjoy the city but I think Aruba is wayyy better for a honeymoon. I would love to do ours there but since we have already been we will probably do something different like Turks and Caicos or something else. I highly recommend Aruba and if you do decide to go there, I can recommend some activities to do while being on the island.

Good luck!

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If you like going out then don't go to turks and caicos...Everything closes at 9pm...Not only that but i was in Grand Turk the main island and it was still very underdeveloped...There was alot of construction going on. That was one place I wanted to go to for YEARS, and was a little bit disappointed...The beach is nice and the water was GORGEOUS!!!