Wednesday 11/24/04
The limo picked us up at 5:00 AM to head to O'hare for our 7:00 AM flight on Ryan International Airlines. When we arrived in Cancun, the bus took us to our hotel in Playa del Carmen - the RIU Palace. The hotel staff immediately made us feel welcome and we were given a "welcome drink" and briefing. We had lunch and looked around before we were able to check in. Everything was All-Inclusive which was awesome. Our rooms had liquor on tap as well as a mini fridge that was stocked daily. Then we walked down to the beach which was absolutely amazing. Hennessy was the first in the ocean and was absolutely loving it! We had some drinks on the beach and then at the pool bar before heading to dinner at Don Julian's. Then we had some drinks in the lobby bar. We headed across the street to check out the discoteca at the RIU Tequila hotel, but it didn't open until 11:00. We were all exhausted from the early flight on a couple hours of sleep, so we went to bed.

Thursday 11/25/04 - Happy Thanksgiving!
We headed down to breakfast which was another display of amazing food including homemade donuts and healthy juice. We stopped by the beach and then hung out at the swim-up bar and played volleyball all day. We even enjoyed a game of flippy cup poolside with some new friends:) It rained a little, but we barely noticed since the pool bar was covered a little bit. Jill enjoyed a foot massage from a nice man in the pool. It was a long day of lots of drinking. Some of us went to eat a snack before napping. We had dinner at a brazilian steakhouse called La Bodega. They kept bringing out different meats for us to try.

Friday 11/26/04
After breakfast, it started raining so we hung out at the pool bar and played some cards. Then we headed down to the beach. Raul offered Craig a free five minute massage which he couldn't pass up. The guys enjoyed the topless beach and frequently went on walks to check out the scenery. We took a taxi into downtown Playa Del Carmen. There were many shops with different trinkets and restaurants. We had some food and drinks at Senor Frogs on the beach and watched the ferry go back and forth to Cozumel. It started pouring on us on our way back to find a taxi and we got soaked! We had dinner at the steakhouse at El Patio where we ordered off the menu instead of a buffett. We then walked on the beach which was just beautiful at night. You could see the lights across the way on Cozumel. We sat at the pool bar at the RIU Yucatan hotel. Then we went to the disco there which was really small, so we headed to RIU Tequila disco which was happening, but we were too tired to enjoy it.

Saturday 11/27/04
After breakfast we headed down to the beach again. It was our last day and by far the most sunny and perfect weather. Then we hung out at the swim-up bar and played some more volleyball. After lunch, Jill and I lay in the hammocks which was extremely relaxing. Gregg went parasailing along the beach while we all tried to spot him in the sky. Then Craig and I walked over to the plaza a few blocks away and went shopping. Before dinner we had some Blue Corrals in the lobby bar of our hotel. We had dinner at Don Julian's and then headed down to the beach again to view the ocean at night. It was awesome with the full moon shining on the water. We went to the pool bar at the RIU Yucatan for awhile and then went to bed.

Sunday 11/28/04
We had breakfast and then were on our way back to Chicago. We had a wonderful experience in Playa Del Carmen. I would highly recommend Apple Vacations as well as the RIU hotels. It was so convenient that everything was all-inclusive and the service and food was outstanding.