We Three Kings Blog: Cancun Mexico 2025 Day 1

We've been back nearly a week from a fantastic holiday in Cancun, Mexico. Whilst me and Tina have been to Cancun and Cozumel before, the kids had never been to Mexico and wanted to go for the opportunity to swim with dolphins and to see the great Chichinitza temple.

As you can imagine after last years disasterous start to the holiday with the ClouStrike IT outage and recent air disasters - to say I was apprehensive and anxious about this trip was an understatement. Furthermore I had concerns as to whether we would get joining rooms as requested when we booked (or even if our rooms would be in the same block as the resort was huge) and if these were joining would they have an adjoining door etc. Not only that I had been following the Royalton Riviera Facebook site and and read so many bad reviews recently about bed bugs, mosquito's, cold food, no availability in a-la-carte restaurant's, hotel renovation's and on and on. Fortunately all of these turned out to be complete rubbish and and we had an absolutely fantastic holiday as you will see over the coming blog updates.

Anyway day 1 went well. Journey to Gatwick was fine, we got through security and passport control pretty quickly. Then we all managed to settle down and get some breakfast before boarding our plane for the near 10 hour flight which actually took off slightly earlier than planned. In Cancun we had a slight delay in getting our cases which took around 45 mins or so, but then we only had a short 25 min transfer to our hotel. We arrived at the hotel mid afternoon so we had time to check in, have a quick dip in one of the pools and then sit down for our first evening meal.

We were also treated to an amazing sunset over the mangrove forest outside our hotel which was a real treat for the first night. We all tried to stay awake as long as possible but eventually turned in with me sharing a room with the snoring Josh, then Holly sharing a double bed in the second room with Tina and Brandon in the same room with a double bed of his own. So yes I drew the short straw, but luckily I went prepared with ear plugs to mute some of the snoring.

Our Tui flight getting ready to depart at Gatwick.

After grabbing some breakfast it didn't seem like we had long to wait before boarding.

Holly, Brandon and Tina shared the middle block and me and Josh had isle seats on the outside to stretch our legs.

It was along (nearly 10 hour) flight which we had to try and entertain ourselves with movies, games and sleep.

Holly did very well on the flight and allowed Tina to relax a bit.

Josh fully relaxed and treated the rest of the flight to some of his snoring.

After about a 45 min delay we finally got our cases in Cancun.

We had two beautiful sea view rooms right next to each other with a adjoining door. Perfect.

Holly loved the jacuzzi bath and used this pretty much daily.

The rooms were a good size with two double beds, soft, balcony and all the usual stuff including free mini bar as we were all inclusive.

Tina getting unpacked before we head out to explore the resort.

The resort was massive with 9 blocks and probably 7 or so pools.

This picture does not do it justice, but this was the view from our balcony.

And another view from our balcony.

The main lobby area in the hotel. We spent a couple of evenings chilling in those large pods with some drinkies.

More on the really large open plan lobby area.

The grounds of the hotel were just stunning with loads of tropical plants and palm trees.

And of course I had to get a hotel that backs directly on to the sea for my morning "not so" cold plunges.

Me, Josh and Brandon went down to check out the beach on Day 1.

The water along this stretch of Cancun looks dirty, but it is actually the sargasm (seaweed) which gives it this brownie tinge. It may not look the best but feels amazing.

This was my morning cold plunge for the next 12 days.

The beach itself was stunning and stretched for miles either side of us.

And the other direction.

Real coconut's.

Me and B exploring the site.

More pictures of the hotel grounds.

The short bridge from our hotel to our private bit of beach.

A small jacuzzi pool at the end of the infinity pool.

Holly testing out the pool showers.

It was so hot and clammy that Holly and Josh were keen to jump in the water before getting ready to head out for dinner.

On day 1 they mostly played in the infinity pool.

A little pond underneath a structure which the hotel uses for wedding venues.

This is the structure out the back of the hotel where we saw multiple weddings take place during our stay. Of a night it is lit up with LEDs and looks incredible.

More tropical plants, definitely in holiday mode now.

The main theatre pool with pool bar which our room balcony overlooked.

Brandon enjoying some Wifi which was actually very good on resort.

And of course getting some hydration in.

Day 1 and we were amazed to see a wild racoon on the hotel grounds ravaging through the bins for left over food. Amazing to see one in the wild.

Dinner time and wasting no time getting some tequila shots in. When in Rome (well Mexico).

The outside of the hotel as you approach from the airport isn't mind blowing. But it is on the mangrove forest side which you pretty much never look at unless going off resort.

The Royalton Riviera sign.

Massive lobby area for coaches and taxi's etc.

Day 1 greeted us with a stunning sunset over the mangrove forest. That was something else I had read a lot about that there was a sewer type smell on resort from the mangroves. Absolute rubbish, if there was we didn't notice it.