Hello all! This trip report is a combination of our wedding and honeymoon, so it will cover three different islands. In other words, it’s going to be a long trip report, but it’s broken down into three separate forums.

Cozumel!

We stayed in Cozumel from Tuesday, June 24 – Sunday, June 29. Thirty five our closest friends and family joined us there for our wedding, and everyone stayed at the Occidental Grand.

Tuesday: Flew from Newark to Miami, and then connected to Cozumel. Rather uneventful flights. Arrived at the Grand and found the service very friendly and efficient. We were upgraded to a Junior Suite in the Royal Club, which was a very nice surprise. The room was very pretty and extremely spacious. We met up with our other guests and got the party started! We ate at the buffet for dinner (seafood theme that night). It was very good, which was a surprise after reading many mixed reviews (plus, I’m not usually a buffet fan). We then spent the rest of the night watching the outside entertainment. It was a little goofy, but cute.

Wednesday: We rented a jeep with three others and toured the entire island. Stopped at Coconuts for lunch and gigantic drinks. The fish tacos were fantastic! We also went to the lighthouse, which was okay. After getting back to the resort, we ate dinner at the Royal Club restaurant. The portions were small (enough for me, but not for my husband), but the food was delicious. I had the salmon tartar appetizer, goat cheese salad, and sea scallops in coconut cream sauce – all very good. We then met most of our group and partied at the lobby bar.

Thursday: We had a great breakfast at the Royal Club restaurant. It rained most of the day, so we spent most of our time between the pool and room. Ate lunch at the Beach Club (buffet), which was good. They had a nice assortment of food, and of course, great guacamole. Luckily, the rain stopped by the evening, just in time for our sunset catamaran cruise. We booked the cruise through Manta as a “thank you” for our guests. We didn’t get a sunset, but still had a blast. The service was friendly, the drinks were good, and the fire dancer put on a great show. After the cruise, we all went to the disco to present our horrible voices.

Friday: Wedding day! Ate breakfast again at the Royal Club, then spent a few hours at the pool. I was then off to the spa to get my hair and nails done.

The wedding was beautiful! Ricardo, the resort's wedding coordinator, did a fantastic job. The set up was gorgeous, the flowers were beautiful, and everyone had a great time. The ceremony was on the beach, as was the cocktail hour. The reception was at the Beach Club, which they decorated very nicely. It was extremely humid that day, but it didn’t stop us from partying. After the reception, a bunch of us went to the Quiet Pool. Unfortunately, we weren’t very quiet and got kicked out of the pool (it was after hours anyway).

Saturday: Our first full day of sun! We ate at the Royal Club for breakfast, and then hung out on the beach all day. My husband and I had dinner at Los Olivos, which was excellent. Everyone then hung out at the lobby bar that evening for our final night together (some were staying a couple more days). We did head over to the disco, but it was overrun with teens, so we went back to the lobby bar. By the way, the lobby bar has excellent mojitos.

Sunday: Off to our honeymoon in Anguilla and St. Barths! Most of our guests left this day – some transferred in Miami and some in Houston. My husband and I stayed in Miami and spent the night in South Beach (talk about great mojitos!).

Overall: We really enjoyed Cozumel and the Grand, and I think most of our guests did as well. The only complaints I heard was the musty smell in the first floor rooms and some were stuck with two double beds instead of a king-sized bed. Certainly not a big deal. The food was very good and the restaurant seemed to have a nice variety. The service was excellent, especially when dealing with our wedding coordinator, Ricardo.

We would have liked to explore more of Mexico (Cancun, Playa del Carmen, etc.), but because we were with our guests, we decided to stay at the resort most of the time. There’s always next time!

Check out the Anguilla forum for our continued trip report…