Hey all! I just got back from my first ever FAM Trip. As I mentioned in my first few posts a FAM is short for Familiarization. It’s a way for Travel Agents to get familiar with a certain property or location. Although I’ve been to Cancun before, it was my first time experiencing Palace Resorts. As you may have seen in my previous post, I stayed at Secrets The Vine Cancun for Friday and Saturday before this FAM trip began. I’ll break it down day by day so you can get the inside scoop of what goes on at these events.
SUNDAY:
On Sunday, August 21 all of the US, Canada, and Mexico travel agents (800+ people) checked into the Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort, where we would receive our room numbers and find out where ‘home’ would be for the next 4 days. For such a large number of people, they did a great job getting everyone through in such a timely manner. Check in lasted maybe a total of 15-20 minutes. Then, we were given free goodies like bookbags, and welcome kits with an agenda and daily itinerary. This was also the area everyone signed up for specific tours they wanted to take, like wedding experience etc. So, I got in around check in time in the afternoon and headed straight to my room to check it out. One thing to note is that there’s over 2,500+ rooms at this resort so if you don’t get lost at least twice I’m impressed. It was definitely a 10+ minute walk from the Mango area of the resort where my room is to the convention area located in the Arena. Finally got to my room to put my stuff down and here’s what all of the standard rooms look like:
Considering this is a very family-friendly room, I find it very awkward that there’s a tub in the middle of the room. Not a fan of the placement, but did enjoy it one night to relax. Maybe it’s good for bathing the kiddies idk. It just seems odd to me. Couples only, romantic place I could understand. Anyway, to each his own. There are relaxing hammocks on every balcony for your R&R enjoyment.
I went to go check out the pools since there are 7, yes SEVEN!! on the property.
There were some pools that were a little more calm and quiet. Then, there were a little more populated pools with kids and multi-generational families.
After I walked around checking out some of the amenities like the Wired Teens Lounge for those aged between 13 years old and 18 years old, I went to the Mexican buffet and had dinner. I’d recommend getting there right at 6:00p when they open for dinner to avoid lines. Buffet food was Ok…
They had fish, many different tacos and meats as well as veggies for your fajitas. Lots of different cheeses to snack on. The tres leche cake was pretty good. Overall, it wasn’t a bad selection at all. After dinner, the Travel Agent Convention had an event at 8:00p called ‘Any Given Sunday‘ where everyone rocks their favorite jersey and goes out to one of the sports bar with billiards.
MONDAY:
On Monday, I only had 2 meetings in the afternoon so the eager beaver I was, I wanted to use my time in the morning wisely to check out the property some more. I went to the Nizuc section of the property around 10:00a where the Golf range and Spa were located for guests (at an additional $$)
Alright, in the afternoon after lunch at 1:30p I had my first meeting. It was for the Wedding convention for Travel Agents to take a sneak peek at how Palace Resorts do wedding and my oh my do they DO Weddings. Here’s me at a set up for an Indian wedding and pure white decorations for a more Christian traditional wedding.
We learned about the different properties abilities to do weddings. Please note that currently only their Isla Mujeres property is taking LGBT weddings. I learned a wealth of info regarding weddings, and… wedding cakes. SO many options. Cake tasting was heavenly. Red velvet and cheesecake icing. A little too rich for my blood… Look at those cute wedding chocolate covered strawberries though. How cute for a wedding??
The next meeting was at 3:00p. It was a back site visit to learn how they process all of the food. Remember, there’s 2,500+ rooms. That’s a LOT of people they have to feed. At an all-inclusive no less. We learned how they portion it out which helps with cost savings. Here’s a somewhat blurry pic. Sorry guys, I was taking a pic through glass. Here’s a group shot of some of the travel agents I was in the group with.
After the meeting, I went home and showered got all the stickiness off me and headed to dinner. I wanted to try the Italian a la carte restaurant called Gondola so got there right at 6:00p when dinner started. Began with the beef carpaccio, had duck ravioli for my entree with came w/ slightly sweet chocolate sauce. Sounds gross but was actually good. Finished off with the tiramisu of course. Yum.
At 6:45p – I scarfed down the remainder of my food, put a tip down and headed to the Beach! At 7:00p, they had a baby turtle release. And trust me when I say, you want to get here early because there’s one thin strip of line that you’re going to stand on and you have to stay in a straight line (horizontal wise). After everyone is lined up, they talk about the Dos and Donts. No flash on your camera (could blind the turtles!), don’t touch their head or belly. Hold them by their shell only. Take your pictures and then release them at the same time with their friends. I named my little guy ‘Rico.’ It means Rich in Spanish. Wishing Rico well as he sets off on his new adventure into the ‘real world’
At 8:00p, there was a Travel Agent Convention night party. I’m thinking I chose the right career move ha This industry really loves to party. The theme was International/Mediterranean night. And here are two new friends, I made: Kristin and Kristin (super easy to remember!). Food, of course, was more than plentiful
TUESDAY:
My morning started pretty early. At 9:00a, I went to the Playacar Palace site visit. It lasted a few hours and was a great tour of the property. Honestly, this probably my favorite of Palace Resorts. Great location right on the beach and also right in the heart of Playa del Carmen’s 5th Ave. I’ll start with the property.
Beautiful, pristine, white surrounds the property by the decor in the room to the minimalist decor around the communal areas. As you can see in the shot above of one of the pools, it’s such a quick walk to the beach. It’s also a quick walk to Playa del Carmen’s 5th Ave. It’s this fun mixture of casual places like Senor Frog’s and souvenir shops, but also more upscale places that are on par with NYC’s 5th Ave.
I have a quick walk through video on YouTube where you can check it out more in depth. It’s only 7 minutes long because I had to catch the bus at 12:00p.
3:30p – The next group of site visits was on the Hotel Zone – we saw Sun Palace, Beach Palace, and Le Blanc.
First up was Beach Palace. Looked very kid friendly, there’s a little KidZone right on site by the pools for the little ones. There was also a water slide. Great place for families and couples (not so much singles).
Next, we toured the Adults only resort Le Blanc Spa Resort. I now know why it was ranked as the #2 all-inclusive resort in the world by TripAdvisor last year and the #1 all-inclusive resort in Mexico. It is spectacular. It was very quiet though, so not somewhere I’d recommend a large group of friends go. Couples and small group of friends, for sure. Those two heads were the only ones we saw. August is definitely their low season (which is why they allow hoards of travel agents in buses to come check it out then), so in the winter I’m sure this place is more exciting.
Last, but certainly not least we toured Sun Palace. This couples-only resort attracts a younger demographic than Le Blanc Spa Resort. I’m happy to send my younger honeymooner clients looking for some R&R here.
We got home a little after 6:30p, heading straight home for showers. The gala dinner began around 8:00p. Where everyone brings out their black tie dress-to-impress. Overall, a great evening with a 3-course surf and turf dinner.
WEDNESDAY:
Packed up my bags and headed home. Had one last helping of the all-inclusive buffet lifestyle and went back to the good ole’ US of A.
Overall, this was a wonderful FAM trip experience and I’m looking forward to the Sandals FAM trip in Jamaica in October. If anyone has any questions about travel agent life, or has something to add/share, please add your comment and I’m happy to get back to you!
2 COMMENTS
This might be personal, but do you have to pay for FAM trips? Not the transportation, but the room. All of the ones I see or that my agency offers seem to just be reduced. Is that the norm?
Hi Jade! I’m an open book. Ask away. To answer your question… the resort should be covering your stay in full and you pay for the airfare only. In my contract, my boss has included 1 FREE FAM trip per year (meaning she will cover the cost of the flights up to $700). So just check with your agency and see if anything is offered. I would think at least 1 trip per year would be covered by them. It’s essentially in their favor to have you attend because you will come back knowledgeable and able to SELL SELL SELL! There are some opportunities that cover everything so be on the look out for that. I know GAdventures is currently looking for their 2019 Ambassadors of Change so you can apply to go on one of their ‘G for Good’ trips this year for free. I was one of their Ambassadors last year and it was an incredible experience. GAdventures covered the full cost of my land tour + airfare (up to $1000). So you could maybe look into something like that. There are other suppliers that charge a discounted package price for travel agents (like Sunnyland Tours) however for trips to an all inclusive resort, that resort should definitely be taking care of you from start to finish. Check with your agency and see if you can negotiate any help.