OT: General Off Topic Thread [NO Politics, Race, Religion, etc.]

[ReasonablySober]

Hey, anyone else having trouble with the realgm app? I cannot open it, and even did the re install.

99% of the time I am on here, I am using my phone, and it has been noticeably slower the past few days.

I've also had pop-up adds with sound.

Not sure if that might be related to app issues.

The site is definitely slower on desktop too.

[MikeIsGood]

It was expected, but I'm still sad. I had the faintest of faint hopes for some type of miracle run out of Nadal. He's done it so many times. But man, he's almost 38, and he was always working against his body. Remarkable career.

[buckboy]

Cabo/Cancun. Looking to do a winter break in February, before spring break craziness. Looking to do an all-inclusive. I've talked to several who have been to both, there are pros and cons to both. Any opinions from anyone who has been to either/both would be great.

Cabo>>>>>>>Cancun imo.

Depends what you're looking for, but Cancun skews pretty young I'd say. Cabo is much more laid back in my experience.

Not to mention that Cabo is one of the most beautiful places on earth and Cancun.........isn't.

I don't know if you want to swim in the ocean, but that's difficult in Cabo.

[MickeyDavis]

Cabo/Cancun. Looking to do a winter break in February, before spring break craziness. Looking to do an all-inclusive. I've talked to several who have been to both, there are pros and cons to both. Any opinions from anyone who has been to either/both would be great.

Cabo>>>>>>>Cancun imo.

Depends what you're looking for, but Cancun skews pretty young I'd say. Cabo is much more laid back in my experience.

Not to mention that Cabo is one of the most beautiful places on earth and Cancun.........isn't.

I don't know if you want to swim in the ocean, but that's difficult in Cabo.

Thank you. I've heard Cancun is more of a party place and we're looking more for relaxation.

[thomchatt3rton]

Hey, anyone else having trouble with the realgm app? I cannot open it, and even did the re install.

As far as I can tell, the app is dead. I haven’t been able to use it for maybe a week. Just says “no forums”.

All my realgm usage is via the app so…

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

Cabo/Cancun. Looking to do a winter break in February, before spring break craziness. Looking to do an all-inclusive. I've talked to several who have been to both, there are pros and cons to both. Any opinions from anyone who has been to either/both would be great.

Cabo>>>>>>>Cancun imo.

Depends what you're looking for, but Cancun skews pretty young I'd say. Cabo is much more laid back in my experience.

Not to mention that Cabo is one of the most beautiful places on earth and Cancun.........isn't.

I don't know if you want to swim in the ocean, but that's difficult in Cabo.

Thank you. I've heard Cancun is more of a party place and we're looking more for relaxation.

It can be but also depends on what you mean by 'Cancun'. Most people when they say Cancun mean the Hotel Zone (The city from what I tell doesn't really have any tourist areas). They have a ton of resorts ranging from family friendly to adults only; very low-end to $Xk a night resorts. I didn't explore the HZ much, but if you left the resort it seemed mostly either bar chains, clubs, or tourist shops where they harass you to buy Chinese antiques.

But other people just call the whole Quintana Roo area 'Cancun'. If you go south or north, there are tons of resorts but those are mostly destination resorts in the jungle with nowhere to go, which could be good or bad. Most of the excursions i saw were more active like cenotes, atv or temple tours. IMHO, Cancun is either for those who want to party in the HZ or not leave the resort. I like to explore a bit so I would be curious if Cabo provides that option.

Cancun also had the seaweed issue. The resort in Rivera Maya I went to did a great job literally bulldozing it every morning and having 10 workers constantly pick it up with rakes but it still was overwhelming in spots.

Side rant: I've been to Cancun AIs the past 3 years, but I think I'm done for a while. Even paying on points, it adds up with a family of 4 where you pay $100X4 on flight taxes, then extra person fees $120 a night x 2 kids x 4 nights, and its suddenly close to $1,500 Mexico/AI tax, which is fine if you really enjoy the food and atmosphere, but the food is.....ok. I'm also not getting money's worth on drinks at my age while watching kids. At that point, just go to Hawaii/Florida/Puerto and go out to a nice dinner every night.

[jschligs]

Marty is right, if you go south to Playa Del Carmen it becomes much quieter at specific resorts. But has a lot of the issues above.

I'd also recommend Puerto Vallarta on the west side of Mexico. We went there twice and it was great.

[MickeyDavis]

Appreciate it guys. I've also heard from others that Puerto Vallarta is nice. We aren't interested in bars or clubs. We want a nice resort with a variety of food options, looking to relax more than anything but also like to do some excursions. We have points to pay for a lot of the flights so we'll be flying Southwest and it looks like they go to Puerto Vallarta, Cabo and Cancun.

[buckboy]

Appreciate it guys. I've also heard from others that Puerto Vallarta is nice. We aren't interested in bars or clubs. We want a nice resort with a variety of food options, looking to relax more than anything but also like to do some excursions. We have points to pay for a lot of the flights so we'll be flying Southwest and it looks like they go to Puerto Vallarta, Cabo and Cancun.

I've been to Puerto Vallarta maybe 10 times. It is by far my favorite destination in Mexico. And for what you want, I think it's by far the best choice. Vibrant city atmosphere with tons of food options. Nuevo Vallarta is also a fun little town with a couple of tremendous options food-wise. It's a beautiful spot on the bay with everything you could want in terms of food, culture, etc.

I can provide you with a ton of recommendations if you do end up in Puerto Vallarta.

[MickeyDavis]

Appreciate it guys. I've also heard from others that Puerto Vallarta is nice. We aren't interested in bars or clubs. We want a nice resort with a variety of food options, looking to relax more than anything but also like to do some excursions. We have points to pay for a lot of the flights so we'll be flying Southwest and it looks like they go to Puerto Vallarta, Cabo and Cancun.

I've been to Puerto Vallarta maybe 10 times. It is by far my favorite destination in Mexico. And for what you want, I think it's by far the best choice. Vibrant city atmosphere with tons of food options. Nuevo Vallarta is also a fun little town with a couple of tremendous options food-wise. It's a beautiful spot on the bay with everything you could want in terms of food, culture, etc.

I can provide you with a ton of recommendations if you do end up in Puerto Vallarta.

Do they have all inclusive resort options? We like doing that, easy to budget. Just want an all inclusive place that has more than one restaurant.

[buckboy]

Appreciate it guys. I've also heard from others that Puerto Vallarta is nice. We aren't interested in bars or clubs. We want a nice resort with a variety of food options, looking to relax more than anything but also like to do some excursions. We have points to pay for a lot of the flights so we'll be flying Southwest and it looks like they go to Puerto Vallarta, Cabo and Cancun.

I've been to Puerto Vallarta maybe 10 times. It is by far my favorite destination in Mexico. And for what you want, I think it's by far the best choice. Vibrant city atmosphere with tons of food options. Nuevo Vallarta is also a fun little town with a couple of tremendous options food-wise. It's a beautiful spot on the bay with everything you could want in terms of food, culture, etc.

I can provide you with a ton of recommendations if you do end up in Puerto Vallarta.

Do they have all inclusive resort options? We like doing that, easy to budget. Just want an all inclusive place that has more than one restaurant.

We had a timeshare at vidanta which was not all-inclusive. They may have all-inclusive options, but that's not what we wanted. We rarely ate at the resort although the food was very good when we did. I believe there are 8 or 10 restaurants there. We found spots in town that we liked and generally ate off-resort. You can eat really good food really cheap if you find the right spots.

I can't comment on any all-inclusive spots in Nayarit because I've never been to one.

I did stay at Dreams Cabo and would give that resort 5* and I'd give it 6* if I could. Fantastic experience. Excellent food. Excellent atmosphere. Typical resort during the day with all kinds of activities, but very quiet at night.

Having said that, that was 15 years ago so I'm not positive it's still the same.

[Ryan5UW]

Do any of you have one of those countertop nugget ice makers (GE or other brand)? Any good or bad experiences would be appreciated, thanks!

[jschligs]

Do any of you have one of those countertop nugget ice makers (GE or other brand)? Any good or bad experiences would be appreciated, thanks!

Years ago I used one similar to this. Granted that was over a decade ago but as a recent college grad who had parties in my basement often, it was legit. I'm sure if I was buying one now I'd get a bit bigger capacity.

[buckboy]

Do any of you have one of those countertop nugget ice makers (GE or other brand)? Any good or bad experiences would be appreciated, thanks!

We had one maybe 3 years ago. The ice gets dumped in the tray and immediately starts melting, so if you don't get it in the freezer immediately it just clumps.

Not a fan, but they may make better ones now.

[Ryan5UW]

Do any of you have one of those countertop nugget ice makers (GE or other brand)? Any good or bad experiences would be appreciated, thanks!

We had one maybe 3 years ago. The ice gets dumped in the tray and immediately starts melting, so if you don't get it in the freezer immediately it just clumps.

Not a fan, but they may make better ones now.

It seems like what I would assume are the better designed ones recycle the melted water back into new ice cubes. But yeah, that sounds awful. Part of my reason for thinking about getting one is that I use the spot in my freezer where the ice would go for other stuff.

[buckboy]

Do any of you have one of those countertop nugget ice makers (GE or other brand)? Any good or bad experiences would be appreciated, thanks!

We had one maybe 3 years ago. The ice gets dumped in the tray and immediately starts melting, so if you don't get it in the freezer immediately it just clumps.

Not a fan, but they may make better ones now.

It seems like what I would assume are the better designed ones recycle the melted water back into new ice cubes. But yeah, that sounds awful. Part of my reason for thinking about getting one is that I use the spot in my freezer where the ice would go for other stuff.

I seriously doubt that a countertop model will fit your needs. My brother-in-law has one next to his bar but that's like a true built-in ice machine. He paid like $3000 for it. And even that one the ice comes out almost melty and melts in a drink very quickly.

[drew881]

Here is my Cabo list. Note this is the opposite of all-inclusive. We rented a car and stayed in an airbnb in Pedregal in the hills.
. This was 2 years ago. No clue if it is all still open.

Lands End Boat cruise - 15 bucks each. This can be pretty much arranged on the spot with all the guys in the harbor and all the tour companies are the same.

Things in Cabo De San Jose:

Shopping: we liked shopping for souvenirs and stuff more in Cabo Del San Jose. The town itself is really nice and old too. If you can get out here for a day it might be a good change of pace.

Flora Farms: we went here straight from the airport. It is a farm/shopping complex which is in an oasis. Not authentic at all - pizza and salad but the food was really good - kid friendly. There is another farm to table restaurant in the area called Tamarindo which we didn’t try.

Restaurants in Cabo San Lucas:

Gallo Perdido: amazing seafood tacos. This is a foodtruck run restaurant in the downtown area. Very friendly people too.

Hoja Santa: great breakfast spot.

Container Park: this is a food court made from shipping containers. They serve mexican, italian, middle eastern, burgers out if the 10 different containers. Good if people want different things.

Manta: fancy restaurant in the Thompson Cape Hotel. We booked a reservation here the day before. We booked the earlier dinner on the balcony to match the sunset. Best view in the city and the best food we had on the trip.

Beaches:

Medano: this is the main beach and good for food/drink. The water was pretty strong, but is still a place you can go in.

Cerritos Beach: about an hour northwest of Cabo near Todos Santos. This is a surfers beach. They have lessons and rentals on the spot or organized in advance. Lots of families with dogs and kids too.

Costa Azul: near Cabo Del San Jose. Another surfers beach. Not much else in way of services.

[buckboy]

Just wanted to add that we really enjoyed San Jose as well. More than San Lucas by a fair margin.

[ReginaldDwight]

Speaking of mexico, Im heading to mexico city next week, ive been before but its a really cool place for a city trip and the food is next level.

[KidA24]

I'm off to Puerto Rico for a week today. Staying in the east end of the island, in case anyone has suggestions of things to do or places to hit.