Yesterday our galley crew, Gjalt and Emma, had a day off, which they spent going on a vacation to Mexico...

TripAdvisor Review Lacasadepapel 5* Holiday Resort, Mexico

We have just returned from an incredible surprise vacation at Lacasadepapel resort in Mexico.

A few days ago we received a letter in the post informing us that we had won a luxury all expenses paid holiday, courtesy of our fellow crew members.  After more than two months of solid working, spending 24/7 together, we were overjoyed at the opportunity for some relaxation in the sun.

Our boarding passes and passports were hand-delivered to our cabin 5 home, showing we had seats in BUSINESS class - we were so excited!

On arrival to the airport we were directed to the VIP lounge, a rather cosy room, decked out with green leather seating and wood veneer walls. We joked about whether it would look better with more white.

We were enjoying our complimentary tea and coffee when our airport steward arrived to collect and escort us to our plane. If I recall correctly, I think his name was Jamón - although he looked remarkably similar to our local mailman Mille.

Jamón, bizarrely also turned out to be one of the pilots for the flight – a fantastic door to destination service!

We climbed the stairs to the plane to be greeted by delightful cabin crew who placed fabulous sombreros on our heads and tasty margaritas in our hands. The second pilot looked a bit Canadian.

We showed our tickets and were seated in Business Class. Neither of us had flown business class before but the hard wooden bench with no back seating was true comfort, like being in bed.

The turbulence we experienced during the flight was quite rough, almost like two people were shaking our seats from below. Jamón was kind enough to point out some sights as we flew over the country, the famous Chichen Itza and some enormous cacti that looked straight out of a painting.

When we landed there were photographers everywhere, we even had our photo taken in one of those cut out couple scenes.

We were led off the plane to a secluded area of the 5 star resort, overlooked only by some local Mexicans climbing ropey looking trees. To our delight we spotted two large hammocks suspended amongst floral garlands and colourful bunting. There was even a hedge carved into a Sloopy.

By far the biggest show stopper was the beautiful swimming pool, perfectly designed in grey ceramic tiles to resemble a zodiac boat. The simulated waves were excellent fun also and gave us a huge laugh.

The Head Engineer of the hotel even stopped by to say hello and give us coffee, that’s the calibre of the staff they have there.

A buffet lunch was prepared by two beautiful Mexican women with Danish accents (at first glance I thought one of them was Jamón!) who delivered a delicious spread of tuna salad, Italian pasta’s and an array of different meats. We were a bit worried if there would be any bread and cheese as Gjalt is a bit of a fussy eater, but to my surprise he ate two full plates of lunch, very unlike him.

We lazed the afternoon away, reading books in our hammocks and watching flying fish.

We were already blown away by how good the lunch was but boy were we in for a treat with the dinner. A very sweet chef nicknamed Flaca gave the call for dinnertime, so we queued with the rest of the guests for a plate. The two chefs were dressed head to toe in authentic Mexican regalia, hats and ponchos. We laughed as the ponchos reminded us of some tablecloths we have on the ship.

The scrummy meal of chilli, homemade tortillas, sour cream and coleslaw was followed by a fantastic Pina Colada cocktail to really round of a perfect holiday.

We reluctantly took the plane home again, remembering to pack some souvenirs for the crew - large corona beers and Mexican rye bread. Gjalt also bought me a parrot sarong which I may wear if we run out of laundry detergent and I have no more clean clothes.

Lacasadepapel 5* Resort stole our hearts, gave us sunburn and was the chill out we both greatly needed. We will certainly be recommending it to our two newly engaged friends as the perfect honeymoon spot.

Thank you to all who made it possible.

Emma