I get that when you use the free shuttle included with your package that it is going to take longer to get to your resort with having to drop off other passengers. What was not acceptable was the almost 1.5 hour wait standing in a line before we even left the airport. You have already had a long day of travel then end up standing around because there is nowhere to sit, with nobody giving updates, while you wait indefinitely for more passengers on later flights that may be delayed or no-shows. It is very poor scheduling trying to maximize profits over passengers. Instead of just filling shuttles and sending them as people arrive for any resorts within a certain area, they prebook people on specific shuttles and you wait around for people who may not even show up, as was our case. It was very frustrating waiting close to an hour and a half and cutting into our vacation time for nobody, then seeing our resort was right next door to a resort whose shuttle had left almost an hour before ours. I don't know why they can't do a better job of grouping resorts by proximity.
The shuttle driver was not great either. Other than confirming our resorts, he didn't say anything to us or make us feel welcomed to Mexico. Other drivers play upbeat latin music and engage with the passengers. His phone kept ringing and he kept texting. Otherwise he just sat quietly and drove, yet there were three big signs asking for tips. For what?
Also, health and safety was a concern. There were no less than a dozen air fresheners in the vehicle, possibly more towards the back. The overpowering fragrance was irritating our throats and sinuses. And the vehicle itself had almost the entire front window, both front side windows, and the passenger door window tinted with a product too dark to see clearly through. It felt like riding in a prison van. Besides looking terrible because it was torn in places and poorly applied, and blocking our view as we drove, there were just cut-outs for the side mirrors and a strip at the driver's eye level varying between 6"-10" wide across the windshield for him to see through, which seems very unsafe, especially given how crazy people drive in Mexico.
We have used dozens of shuttles, including NexusTours a lot, and this was by far the worst. They used to be better, but year after year are getting worse with their shuttles to the resorts. The return shuttles to the airport seem to be more efficiently coordinated, even if they do make you check out early and get you to the airport hours before you need to be there.
casual_adventurer
18 Jan 2026
Our flight landed at the scheduled time on Jan 2 and my wife, daughter and I proceeded to the Nexus shuttle waiting area and signed in with one of the hosts in an orange shirt at 745pm. They stated that there were no shuttle vans available right now, and there would be a delay, but they were arranging a shuttle soon. 30 minutes later, taxi drivers in black shirts then started coming to the line offering private shuttles to the Barcelo Maya for the gathering crowd of people going to that hotel. Rates for taxi started at US$160. A few groups got impatient and went. after 60 minutes, same story, and taxis were now being offered at US$120. No timeline was offered by Nexus agents still, but lots of excuses. As other flights arrived, and at all times while waiting, there was at least 25 people and up to 40 people waiting to go to Barcelo Maya specifically (and another at least 20 people to other hotels waiting in other lines) - so more than enough to fill a 19-person Sprinter van to Barcelo alone. Nexus operators claimed that since the service guarantee period (40 minutes wait I think) had passed, you could just claim that money back from Westjet Vacations if you called when you got back home. After 2 hours, the price quote for taxis went down to $20 per person, then $15, and a few more people gave up and went with a taxi. For our family, we chose to not take the taxi option because we didn't have any USD or pesos with us yet, and out of principle that it was already something we had paid for, and that NexusTours hosts said a shuttle would be there soon. There were dozens of other shuttle vans coming and going, but they were not the right size, or some other excuse. Of the 50-60 people who were waiting for a shuttle to the Barcelo Maya in this period, about 20 remained after 2 hours of waiting for the pre-paid transfer service to be honoured. There was no seating at all, and some of those other people waiting were on crutches. Finally, at 1045pm after several groups became more agitated, only then did a shuttle van arrive to pick up the remaining passengers and drive them to the hotel. While driving to the hotel, our driver was checking texts and using his cell phone every 15 minutes or so. From the time of touchdown at CUN at 620pm to the time of arrival at our hotel lobby at 1220am, it took 6 hours to get to our hotel. Yes, situations do happen that cause delays and patience is needed when travelling, especially in Mexico. But this was unacceptable. Nexus Tours were clearly waiting out guests to reduce the number of shuttle trips they had to make. Orange shirt operators were quite friendly to the black shirt taxi drivers - often chatting between them. It sure felt like there was an arrangement here to direct more people to take the taxis and then have those visitors have to claim back later from Westjet Vacations to get their money back. Double dipping for Nexus Tours and taxi operators! The tone from taxi drivers early on should have been a clue - "well, you might be waiting for 2 or 3 hours, you should take a taxi". Even something as simple as having Nexus Tours hosts have a cooler with bottles of water in the back of one of their vans could have made the wait more human. I was told that the airport authority didn't allow Nexus Tours to do that, so we had to purchase a US$10 small bottle of water for my daughter. Another solution could have been for Nexus Tours to be required to rebook guests on any of the other shuttle companies vans after a certain amount of time, at no extra charge to guests. The onus should not have been on the guest to pay more out of pocket for a taxi with a vague promise that someone else would reimburse them later. After a 7 hour trip to get to CUN, this experience was an extremely poor introduction to travel in the Mayan Riviera. Recommend prebooking Happy Shuttles private transfer ($100 each way) as our friends did, much easier/reliable to work with.
Arrived in Cancun four days late thank you WestJet!!! We went straight to the loading zone. The Rep signed us up and gave us a confirmation for a shuttle at 5:06pm. From that point on we were ingnored, shuttles came and went, and we were told it’s not you. Other flights came and were shuttled out. Female rep said it’s not you and you wait, you haven’t been waiting long, she was rude and snappy. Then we were approached to take a cab, cab driver warned us 15 minutes Mexican would be closer to an hour maybe two. Finally after we pushed the fact that we were standing there for over two hours, we were put on a shuttle, to sit and wait. At 9:00pm we were dropped at our hotel. The hour enroute was expected but waiting three hours at the airport was crap. I found the issue was they were to busy standing around talking to each other and playing on their phone. At the airport we were told we would have a rep Jorge at the hotel, and would be having a welcoming reception. We had nothing, and only seen him at his post once. Return shuttle was not a true Nexus shuttle, and was late. As part of our package felt we were charged for a service we did not get. The same attitude WestJet had on the fact that we were arriving four days late.