Our Family Adventure at Nickelodeon Riviera Maya Resort

For Carson's 5th birthday, we decided to celebrate with a family vacation to the Nickelodeon Riviera Maya Resort. My husband, Carson, and I were excited to explore this vibrant and family-friendly destination. Here's a detailed review of our experience, with ratings for various aspects of the resort.

Disclaimer: I love to travel, and I’m not usually one to complain. However, I believe in giving an honest review.

Nickelodeon Resort Initial Hurdles

Our trip began with an unexpected challenge: we missed our initial flight and reservation due to a family emergency. Unfortunately, Nickelodeon showed no flexibility or compassion to reschedule our trip for a week later. We took a financial loss but decided to rebook the trip so that we could still celebrate Carson's birthday.

Activities at the Resort: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

Nickelodeon Riviera Maya Resort offers a plethora of activities that kept us entertained throughout our stay, including nightly shows on stage. Aqua Nick was undoubtedly the highlight of our trip. It was an amazing water park with slides, splash pads, and pools that provided endless fun for Carson. We even got slimed, which was a cool experience!

Dining Experience: ⭐⭐ (2/5)

While the resort boasted an all-inclusive food package, we found the quality of the restaurants to be disappointing. We enjoyed the convenience of ordering food poolside, including pizza and Asian cuisine, which was included in our package. However, the overall dining experience was underwhelming, except for Good Burger. This restaurant had decent burgers and was a nostalgic trip down memory lane for me, but Carson, unfamiliar with the "Good Burger" movie, didn't share the same enthusiasm. I would like to see more themed restaurants geared toward the kiddos' interests.

Another downside was the character breakfast, which required an additional $250 per person—a bit steep for our liking. This is where you had the chance to eat breakfast with mascots like Dora the Explorer, Chase from Paw Patrol, Spongebob and Patrick, and more. Since the food wasn't the best, we decided that the character breakfast wasn't worth it. There were characters around the resort that we took pictures with, and we continued to eat the food included in our all-inclusive package.

One aspect of our dining experience that particularly stood out was the birthday dessert situation. Typically, desserts are complimentary on birthdays, especially at an all-inclusive resort. However, we had to purchase a cake for an additional charge. It was a cute SpongeBob-themed cake with a big sparkler that ended up scaring Carson. Initially, I had requested a simple muffin from the breakfast bar with a candle in it and a happy birthday song, but the resort could not accommodate this request.

Transportation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

Nickelodeon includes round trip transportation between Cancun International Airport and the resort. However, if you miss your flight, they will not accomodate the round trip transportation, not even at a later time in the same day. I found this very frustrating because the Nickelodeon resort is very expensive, and I felt like they weren't very welcoming or accommodating. My family is the vibe, and we always make our own fun in any country, so we made the best of this trip.

One of the best aspects of our stay was the efficient transportation services within the resort. We never had to wait long for shuttles to take us to the restaurants or Aqua Nick. This made navigating the large resort stress-free and convenient, allowing us to make the most of our time there. There were, however, instances when we boarded the shuttle only to sit in wet cloth seats lined with towels. While we understand that people were coming from Aqua Nick, it might be worth considering a different type of seat for the shuttles to avoid this inconvenience.

Overall, our family had a memorable time at Nickelodeon Riviera Maya Resort. While there were some areas that could use major improvement, the activities and transportation services were top-notch, ensuring that Carson had a fantastic 5th birthday celebration. Despite the dining experience falling short of our expectations, the fun we had at Aqua Nick and the ease of getting around the resort made it a trip worth taking. However, I would never book at any Nickelodeon resort again. For our last day, we ended up checking out of the resort and leaving Riviera Maya to check into a resort closer to Cancun to enjoy our last day abroad. We forfeited our included transportation to the airport by relocating, but it was so worth it.

Nickelodeon Riviera Maya Resort is not my first choice for a family vacation—just be prepared for the additional costs for certain experiences and set your dining expectations accordingly.

Be sure to check out my YouTube video to follow us along on our vacation and see our experience in real time at the Nickelodeon Riviera Maya Resort.