Hello everyone!
My family and I have a cruise planned from Galveston on the MSC Seascape, and we were wondering if they have Nutella available at the buffet for breakfast.
Does anyone know? Thank you!
Hello everyone!
My husband and I just got back from our vacation in Cancun — our first time there — and we stayed at Live Aqua.
We travel a lot, but we had never stayed at an all-inclusive resort before, except for cruises. I chose Live Aqua after reading hundreds of reviews because I was honestly very conflicted about which resort to pick. Unfortunately, I ended up regretting my decision.
So, I wanted to share my experience for anyone who may be interested in hearing a different point of view rather than just the thousands of overwhelmingly positive reviews.
Before getting into what we didn’t like, I really want to highlight the amazing staff throughout the entire resort. They work incredibly hard and do everything they can to make you feel at home. They are always smiling, kind, accommodating, and genuinely willing to go the extra mile to satisfy every request. They would remember us and greet us by name every time they saw us.
The staff truly was one of the best parts of our stay: the Starbucks bartenders, the beach waiters, all the restaurant servers, Isaia from the excursion desk, the guys assigning the cabanas, all the spa personnel, the bartenders at Egos Bar, the grill chef and his team, and the manager of the little store. It was amazing to have a kind smile everywhere we went.
Our room was a good size. We had two queen beds with an ocean view. The room was extremely clean — the housekeeping staff came three times a day, and every time the room was spotless. Fresh towels were always provided and smelled good, our pajamas were neatly folded, and everything was taken care of. The soaps in the shower and the lotion were useful and good quality.
The bed itself was comfortable, with a good selection and quality of pillows. The sheets were soft and smelled fresh and clean.
That being said, the room definitely showed some wear and tear. The furniture was scratched and worn in several places, and it was clear that the room had been very well used over the years. It is not a brand-new resort, and you can see that in certain details.
The bathroom was large, with two sinks and an overall okay design. However, the lighting was a major downside. The lights were very dim and yellow, and you could barely see anything, especially inside the shower. Getting ready or doing your makeup in the bathroom was basically impossible because there simply wasn’t enough light.
There was a full-length mirror in the room, which was great, but unfortunately it was blocked by a table and chairs placed directly in front of it. So even though you had a full-length mirror, you couldn’t actually stand far enough away from it to see yourself properly from head to toe.
The minibar was another disappointment. It only had beer and soft drinks — no wine or liquor — and just a few snacks that you could literally count on one hand, such as a small bag of chips. For a luxury all-inclusive resort, I expected a little more variety.
One interesting thing about Live Aqua is their signature eucalyptus fragrance. They use it in the room, and honestly, I didn’t mind it at all — I actually liked it. They even leave you a card where you can choose a different fragrance if you prefer. We filled it out and requested a change, but unfortunately our request was completely ignored.
My bigger issue was actually the fragrance in the hallway on our floor. There was an extremely strong chocolate scent that was very sweet and overwhelming, almost like the chocolate fragrance used during chocolate massages. Personally, I found it terrible and way too strong, especially when you had to walk through that hallway several times a day.
The resort shop is actually very cute, especially the clothing and swimwear section. They had some really beautiful pieces and I definitely wanted to buy a few things. Unfortunately, the prices were absolutely insane — honestly, completely out of proportion in my opinion.
One thing I really appreciated, though, is that the staff never expects tips and never treats you differently depending on whether you tip or not. They are genuinely kind regardless. I noticed that surprisingly few guests were tipping, and honestly, I felt a little bad seeing that because the staff works incredibly hard and is constantly trying to be helpful and attentive.
The Starbucks inside the resort was fantastic. The bartenders were very good and made an excellent cappuccino every time, always with a smile and always happy to make a great cappuccino. Thank you so much to the Starbucks team!
I also used the spa for a pedicure with Martha, and she was absolutely amazing. She was precise, careful, and did an incredible job. Honestly, it was one of the best pedicures I’ve ever had. Martha was fantastic!
The drinks were good as well. I don’t drink much alcohol, but everything I tried was very good. I even asked for a Pornstar Martini, which is my absolute favorite cocktail. Unfortunately, over the following days the bartenders at Egos ran out of passion fruit, so they made it with mango instead. Very surprised they were not able to get more passion fruit (??)
The pools are beautiful, especially the infinity pool. There are several pools throughout the resort, so even when the resort was busy, the pools never felt particularly crowded, which I really liked.
However, there is one thing we absolutely did not understand: the pool water was extremely warm. I honestly don’t know how anyone enjoys a pool that is that hot. For my husband and me, the whole point of getting into a pool is to cool down, especially in Cancun’s heat. Instead, the water was so warm that it barely felt refreshing at all.
Now, onto the negative points.
The restaurants and the food were honestly not good at all for us.
The breakfast buffet was a complete 0 for me. I expected much better pastries, better croissants, and overall something more from a breakfast that, according to so many reviews, is supposed to be amazing. I simply did not find that to be true.
There wasn’t even good-quality fruit or Greek yogurt. Salad ingredients? In the morning at breakfast? I honestly don’t know.
I was expecting a filled croissant, but there were only small croissants, even cold. There was only American coffee that they would pour into your cup, nothing more. There was also a Mexican breakfast section, which I didn’t try because Mexican breakfast isn’t really my taste.
For me, breakfast was completely disappointing.
The dinner buffet at the same restaurant was also a no for me. The food wasn’t particularly high quality and the flavors simply did not suit my taste at all.
The best food in the entire resort, for me, was the grill for lunch! The chef is fantastic and the chicken is SO good! They should just cook food like this: fresh, made right there, delicious and simple! I literally looked forward to lunch just to eat that amazing chicken.
The crepes every day from 4–6 PM were also super good. Perfect!
We went to Sea Corner only once. The food was good and simple, and I really enjoyed the ceviche and the tacos, but not enough to make me want to go back another day.
Dinner was the real problem because the food was simply not that great.
We didn’t try Hidden Garden because, after being disappointed by the other restaurants, I didn’t want to try my luck with Asian fusion, which I don’t normally like anyway.
MB was a huge disappointment for me and, together with Azur, probably the worst restaurant experience of the resort.
At MB, I honestly didn’t like anything — except the bread!
I ordered the tuna tataki, which was nothing special and basically had no flavor.
Then I ordered the quail with cauliflower prepared three ways. For me, a straight zero. Completely flavorless, a dish that made no sense to me. The quail itself tasted like nothing and was extremely dry. Grilled cauliflower, really? Never even thought of such a thing…
Then I ordered the “cappellini.” I’m Italian, so for some reason I thought they were going to be something similar to cappelletti. In reality, they were angel hair pasta, overcooked and basically boiled, with very thinly sliced vegetables and some cheese that had an incredibly strong smell. Completely pointless, completely flavorless — honestly, not even something I would expect in a hospital. What kind of recipe is that? I really don’t know.
My husband ordered shrimp, and there were literally three of them.
Then he ordered the filet, which was wrapped in bacon and tasted like nothing but bacon. It was basically like eating bacon with some meat underneath.
And then there was the famous habanero soup that they advertise so much. Honestly, it was nothing special. It was okay, but definitely not something I would rave about. More bread than actual soup (soggy bread too)
The desserts were also completely disappointing. They basically tasted like nothing except sugar. They felt pointless to me; I honestly would have preferred not to order them. There was no real flavor.
Overall, my rating for this restaurant is very low.
The dress code, the environment, and the way the food is served at the table are clearly designed to make you feel like you’re in a luxury restaurant. But honestly, everything about the food was anything but luxurious. It was a huge disappointment.
Azur was another major disappointment.
The appetizers — at least the tartares that my husband and I ordered — were not bad. But the rest of the food was terrible, in my opinion.
I ordered chicken that tasted like something from a school cafeteria. My husband ordered a hamburger and, according to him, it was one of the worst hamburgers he has ever eaten. The burger didn’t even look good to begin with.
The desserts were also not good.
The Italian restaurant was the only one that really saved us in the evenings.
The Caprese salad was nothing special, with a mozzarella that basically had no flavor (mozzarella worse than Sam’s club one, if you know what I mean) But the pappardelle Bolognese were fantastic — and I’m Italian, so I feel pretty confident saying that! The sauce was perfect, the pasta was properly al dente, and it was genuinely very good.
The tiramisu was also delicious, exactly like something you would eat in Italy.
The pizza wasn’t bad either. It’s definitely not Italian pizza, but overall it was perfectly edible.
Overall the food is flavorless, non fresh, weird recipes and mixtures of ingredients I would never thought existed!
Another problem with the restaurants was the wine situation.
When you ask for wine, they bring you a menu to purchase a bottle. On our first day, we fell for it and bought a bottle because we thought that was the only way to have wine with dinner.
We paid around $70 for a completely unbranded wine that is apparently produced specifically for the resort. So, in my opinion, extremely overpriced, especially for a wine that doesn’t even have a recognizable brand.
Later, we realized that you can obviously get glasses of wine included with the all-inclusive package. However, the staff doesn’t tell you that and instead brings you the bottle menu, which makes you think that buying a bottle is your only option.
So don’t make the same mistake we did!
Room service wasn’t bad. I had a club sandwich that was actually very good. The rest wasn’t anything special, though — especially the pasta from room service, which was very different from the pasta at the Italian restaurant. It was overcooked and tasted like it was probably made with pre-made, non-fresh sauces.
The worst thing about the entire resort, by far, was the absolute boredom from morning until night.
There is basically nothing to do. The only activity they really have is bingo by the pool. The entertainment staff are actually very good, and I honestly don’t understand why they don’t have them do more activities and entertainment because they are genuinely talented, funny, and very nice.
The bingo is actually musical bingo, with music playing around the pool, and that would be amazing to have more often! Unfortunately, the only music you hear around the pool is during aqua gym and bingo. Other than that, nothing.
The resort’s clientele is mostly much older. If you are like my husband and me and you’re in your 20s, go somewhere else. You will be incredibly bored.
At night, the only real option is Egos Bar, which has a DJ starting around 10:30 PM. But the playlist is literally the same every single night, and honestly, the music was terrible and seemed to be mainly targeted toward American millennials.
No offense to Americans — my husband is American, and even he thought the music was terrible!
The song “Shots” by LMFAO is something I had literally never heard in my life before this vacation. At Live Aqua, I heard it probably 100 times. It was basically the official anthem of the resort. 😂
One night I asked the DJ if he could play some reggaeton, and he was very nice and did it for me. I’m sure the DJ has a preset playlist that he doesn’t actually choose himself, so I definitely don’t blame him.
On Saturday night they have Circus Night, which was actually very nice. The performers were really talented and the show was entertaining and engaging. Honestly, this was the only truly fun entertainment we experienced during our entire stay.
So if you’re looking for a vacation where you won’t be bored to death, I would seriously recommend avoiding Live Aqua.
One person I absolutely want to mention, though, is Isaia at the excursion desk. He was fantastic, extremely knowledgeable, and really good at his job. He helped us with our tickets for Coco Bongo, and we got amazing seats! He was also excellent at recommending excursions and knew exactly how to advise us based on what we were looking for.
So basically, if you want to have fun while staying at Live Aqua, you need to take your money and go somewhere else in the evenings — and bring quite a bit of money, because you’ll need to leave the resort and go to an actual club!
One last thing: when you arrive, they ask you to take part in a presentation for their rewards program. We did it, but honestly, I would not recommend it if you don’t want to waste your time. They tell you it will take around 45 minutes, but in reality was more than 1h and a lot of headaches.
Overall, I really wanted to love Live Aqua because I had read so many amazing reviews before booking it. Unfortunately, for us, the experience did not live up to those reviews.
The staff was truly wonderful and deserves all the praise in the world. They were probably the best part of the resort. But for us, a luxury vacation is not only about having amazing staff and a clean room. I also want to add that, personally, I did not find this resort luxurious at all. It may be marketed as a luxury all-inclusive, but in my opinion, it simply does not feel luxury.
For example, the concierge service was something I really didn’t understand. When you arrive, they introduce themselves as your concierge and make it seem like they will be there to take care of you during your stay. But after that, we basically never heard from our concierge again for the entire stay. It felt almost like they were just pretending to provide that level of personalized care, without actually doing anything. If you’re going to present yourself as a concierge service, I expect there to be some actual follow-up and assistance throughout the stay. Another thing that felt particularly forced was the whole “concierge” experience upon arrival. The concierge accompanies you to your room with your luggage and proceeds to give you a detailed tour of the room, explaining every feature as if you were entering some extraordinary luxury suite. The problem is that there simply isn’t that much to explain. The room is a fairly standard hotel room—comfortable, yes, but nothing particularly impressive or unique that requires a full presentation.
After traveling by plane, the last thing we wanted was to stand there listening to someone explain the room in detail as if we needed to memorize how everything works. It felt unnecessary, staged, and like an attempt to create the perception of a luxury experience rather than actually delivering one. For us, true luxury would have been a seamless, effortless arrival: bring us to the room, help with the luggage, and let us relax.
Another thing happened during the rewards program presentation. They asked us if we were celebrating a special occasion, and we were actually there for our anniversary. We normally don’t make a big deal about these things or ask for anything special because that’s just not our style.
However, during the presentation, they repeatedly told us that they would have something waiting for us in our room to celebrate our anniversary. They told us this several times.
Of course, nothing was ever there.
Honestly, we didn’t care about getting anything. We weren’t expecting anything and we weren’t asking for anything. But then why say it repeatedly? Why make promises like that if you’re not going to do them?
It’s a small thing, and it didn’t ruin our vacation, but it really added to the feeling that a lot of the “luxury” and personalized attention is more about what they tell you than what they actually deliver.
DISCLAIMER:
If you are not American like me keep this in mind: the entire resort feels overwhelmingly geared toward American guests. English is obviously the main language, but even then, you may occasionally have communication difficulties if your English is not specifically American or if you have a different accent. I experienced situations where it was surprisingly difficult to communicate, despite speaking English fluently.
More generally, the resort feels so heavily centered around the American clientele that, at times, you genuinely forget you are in Mexico. Everything from the atmosphere and entertainment to the overall guest experience seems designed primarily with American guests in mind. If you are looking for a more international or authentically Mexican atmosphere, this is definitely something to consider before booking.