I'm going to try to post this in one blog. There are approximately 340 photos and I hope I don't have to break it up into multiple blogs.
Here we go!
Spring break 2026 in Cancun Mexico at the Hyatt Ziva Cancun all-inclusive again
Our trip started very early for us. Our flight boarded at 4:30am. I think my alarm was set for 1:30am. Ouch. We weren't sure how long security would take. We have flown out of CLE very early on many occasions and it is always weirdly busy but if you go at like 8am, its empty. TSA Precheck only took 10 minutes and I believe its because it just opened up at 3:30am. As we waited to board, the airport got very busy and I'm so happy we arrived when we did. We had empty seats next to us that were not empty in the app - which usually means, people missed their flight!
You may notice Chris and I are wearing coordinated outfits - let's just say I did not notice until the airport.
We couldn't get direct flights this time and flew through Dallas. Not going to lie - it was a very tight connection. We barely made it to the gate, quick bathroom and literally boarded the next plane. We were running. If you haven't been to the Dallas airport - it is huge. We also did not want to check any bags in order to save time once we arrived in Mexico and customs. It is very common now for those in later boarding groups to not be able to bring on their carry-on roller bags because the space fills up. We had purchased our tickets to guarantee overhead space, but if we would have missed our boarding group, we would have had to check bags. Basically, we are all very happy we made it and could bring our bags with us.
We arrived and customs maybe took 5 minutes and we were off to our resort. We always book private transportation through recommended vendors. It helps feel better security wise as well as we don't have to wait for other families before heading to the resort. From the plane landing to us arriving at the resort - it took 30 minutes. Love it! Somewhere there is a video of maybe tequila shots in the van :)
We arrived! We got checked in and headed to our favorite lunch - a diner with great burgers and milkshakes before heading to the pool while we waited for our room to be ready. The resort was completely sold out, but it still doesn't seem crazy busy.
These are "corn ribs" and are the best thing. It is like Mexican street corn but the cobb cut up to make it easier to eat. So good!
First little swim in the quieter pool. We didn't get a cabana for the first day as we are never sure how long traveling can take. We didn't have too much issue finding a place to sit and were in the water quickly. We took this day slow as we were all up SO early and couldn't sleep on the plane too much. It felt nice to swim, relax and get into vacation mode!
The resort surprised us and gave us the SAME room as last time! We were beyond thrilled. We had the same walkout and it is a great location, no elevators needed or anything. They also decorated for our 20 year wedding anniversary and happy graduation for Heidi.
It's our favorite part to be able to just walk out of our room.
We would walk out to this every day and night. Love it.
Day 1 we decided to be chill after the pool. Just eat buffet, explore a little, and honestly get to bed at a decent time.
Damn matching outfits...
The next morning Chris and I were up early. We enjoyed watching a cruise ship pass by and the sunrise before Heidi, Chris, and I went and worked out. Lucy was out cold and more than happy to continue sleeping.
We actually worked out most mornings or at least went for a walk. It was a good way to start each day as well as it allowed Lucy to sleep in more as she definitely needs the most sleep out of all of us.
First full day!
We were ready for a fun day! We decided to "drink the rainbow" aka a drink for each color of the rainbow more or less. Our server got into it once again and was getting us to try all sorts of drinks. Some were great, some, no thanks. We ate, drank, played in the pool and just had a great time!
Yes - I wear SPF shirts where ever I go. My feet got burned with 70 SPF on in 15 minutes. I don't mess with the sun!
Each day, the girls received a massage and facial in the cabana. They always love it. Very luxurious.
Heidi joining water aerobics.
Fresh Watermelon Margarita.
Each day we would also get two coconuts with the cabana and we made friends with Alexis the coconut guy and he started putting rum in them - so good!
Mango Marg
Aperole Spritz or whatever - no thanks
That's a spring roll from the Asian food truck.
Pineapple marg I think...
This one was good but we have no idea what it was - the server just brought it
Something breeze - literally tasted like sugar - no thanks
Purple Rain - surprising really good - though we ordered these on another day and they were not good - so who knows.
Very good - fresh strawberry
Fun finisher drink that was very refreshing!
It was steakhouse tonight!
Special dessert!
Neon party that we watched from afar - too tired to participate.
Happy Easter! We started this day with a lovely family walk and the resort goes all out for the holidays!
Breakfast is one of our favorite meals. Such a variety and we were always horrible about taking photos because we were so hungry!
Off to the pool again!
The resort still has dolphins and they would jump and play and seemed well taken care of. I know they changed the rules in Mexico for wild life and these cannot be released into the wild, but they also will not get any more in the future.
Extra decor for Easter
This cabana was on the second shelf of the main pool. It was nice to be able to people watch the chaos below. The only issue is the ledge is very tempting for all to sit on it, climb on it, jump off of it etc which means you have staff and life guards constantly yelling at kids and adults to knock it off. Add a sprinkle of alcohol and it gets kind of crazy sometimes. The cabana helps us have our space for sure.
Food. Lots of food.
Alexis!
Pretty typical what is like leaving the pool :)
This night was the Italian place and was AMAZING! So so good.
The wood fire pizzas are seriously the best.
Ravioli to lasagna to steak to salmon - A++
After dinner - we hit the golden hour and took lots of photos of the girls. So many photos...
Love it!
Yep.
The water for chilly.
Chris being a good bag handler.
We found someone to take our photo!
We had to checkout all the fun looking desserts!
Fun fact - Chris hates marshmallow - well... when you see cute looking desserts - many times they are made our of marshmallows!
Heidi wanted to try nighttime photos - I think it was just more fun trying to pull them off...
It was Carnival night!
Heidi and Lucy were determined to get a picture with Willy Wonka or whatever he was...
We all slept well that night :)
Up early again for the sunrise!
Beach day with a surprise!
We knew we had a cabana, but we thought we were getting a regular one on the beach. As we were walking up, I saw people in our cabana and got worried - then Chris keeps walking right on up to the pier.
As a surprised for our 20th - he booked the very fun and nice pier cabana. It came with a larger menu (like from the seafood restaurant and wood fire pizzas - which of source I have no pictures of). Great shaded areas and places to chill or to tan as well as a pier to keep people away and our own entry into the ocean, so we could skip walking on the rocks!
Lucy needed this chill day. All of us did!
I have learned, just take lots of photos of Heidi - so she has options!
A pelican joined us for most of the day :)
Tequila shot was not the good kind!
Chris trying to do what Heidi was doing...
Lucy and I could have shade - Heidi could have sun. It was great.
Fresh mangos!
We had the BEST server this day, Luis. He was so kind. He surprised us with these fresh juice shots (ours had tequila) and he brought us all sorts of things to try!
Much needed relaxation.
We got in the ocean often and we also brought a football this time and threw it a LOT.
This is the cabana I thought we were getting and Chris actually surprised us! I usually can figure him out, but he got me with the pier surprise.
The girls force me to pose for pictures...
After a wonderful, relaxing and fun day at the pier - it was time for the Asian restaurant and more photos!
I tried my best at photos!
The food was pretty good - the Sushi was a little funky for my taste and they unfortunately recently changed the menu and removed some of our favorite rolls. The meals we tried were much better. Still not disappointed but we liked the Italian place way better!
What day is it? Tuesday of our trip or technically day 5! At breakfast there was this sweet lady who made all the fresh salsas, fresh tortilla dough and you could get these fresh quesadillas made with whatever you wanted. We got them every day!
Our cabana was back up top on the other side of the main pool. The crowds were much smaller (still never were bad) as we figured most people had left after being there for Easter. We liked this cabana as we had the elongated step for easy entry, easy to claim your area away from people and no one really came by us. We also got lucky and were next to a nice family who left early afternoon.
We decided to dry off and eat in the diner again. The food was great!
Other shenanigans - we noticed people ditching pool floats in this section. I think they keep them and when they go to checkout, they literally put them in the pool. One family gave us this flamingo but by the end of the day - we made a game out of it. How many can we collect?
We also stayed until we could no longer stay (don't worry we got out of the way for staff etc. plus we were of course tipping everywhere - so they all knew us). We had the entire pool to ourselves and just played. It was awesome.
9. I manage to get 9 pool floaties... you give me a challenge, I will succeed. I don't even have a picture of all of them...
We were a little later today since we stayed in the pool so long but we made it to their Mexican brewery restaurant and it was AMAZING! They changed their menu from last time and made it more authentic Mexican and it was perfect. It was my favorite meal.
The girls made us do a photo shoot.
The best food! Lucy didn't enjoy it as much as us as it was maybe a little too adventurous for her. She liked the pretzel she had, but there was plenty of other food around the resort, like tacos or burgers she grabbed instead. No one was going hungry.
Last full day! We were a little slower getting up this morning but still made it to breakfast by 7:45 to avoid any crowds.
Lucy literally consumed at least 20 of these Strawberry yogurt shakes. She would grab 3 or 4 to have in the cabana to help if she got hungry or have one before dinner. She is less picky of an eater, but still picky, so when she finds something she likes, we stock up!
A few more beach photos for the girls...
This was pretty funny - there was a small fish swimming by Lucy and she was so intrigued by it!
Last cabana! We went with the same one from last year #2. We do really like this one as you get your own nook of the pool and majority of people leave you alone.
Life must be rough for these two :)
Oh yeah - the pool floaties... We were like Oprah - we were giving pool floaties away like it was our job! Heidi and Lucy did the best at giving them away.
The resort hires a falconer who helps scare away other birds from the resort. That way you don't have a bunch of birds trying to eat your food or poop on you etc. It is the coolest thing and I watch every time he sends the falcon out.
We really played in the pool this last day and didn't take a ton of pictures, but I don't mind. It was more fun just horsing around.
The last night we all voted and decided to return to the Italian place. We were a little later getting to dinner again as we stayed in the pool as long as possible. We had some luck on our side. It was going to be an hour wait, which wasn't surprising as the Italian place is the most popular if you go at peak times, but our old waiter from LAST year recognized us and got us sat in like 10 minutes! He even watched a photo for himself and he remembered so much from last time.
We had a wonderful dinner, thanks to Cristvol, and then had time to participate in the silent disco. They had staff as dancers who were dancing so hard. It was hilarious to watch, and it was so much fun!
And just like that - we were headed back home...
And Lucy was VERY excited to have a plain turkey and cheese subway sandwich. She said she loved the food, but missed HER food. :)
Such a wonderful vacation! We hope to go back again, though with Heidi going to college, we might have to go at a different time of year. We will see. We made the most of each day. Everyone got to do what they wanted and everyone (except me) is a little more tan! Until next time Cancun!
