Trip was awesome and went off without a single hitch. @Jimbaround- you were spot on re: TQO. Maybe the smoothest airport experience ever. Only complaint I had was there isn't really anywhere to eat when you're flying out. Carl's Jr. and a Mexican place was pretty much it.
Transfer to Puerto Aventuras was a legit $239 r/t before tip. Canada Transfers. Will use them again.
Really enjoyed our stay at Barcelo Maya Palace. That hotel sits on a fairly rocky cove, but once you get a few feet out into the water it's all soft sand. We got to swim with the sea turtles every day, which made the trip for my wife and kids. So cool. They just swim right up and will eat out of your hand. And if you're staying at the Palace you have access to the other 4 Barcelo resorts, so you can just walk down the beach a bit to get away from the rocks. It wasn't an issue for us.
We made reservations at three different restaurants, and all were really good. Surprisingly good. I'm used to being underwhelmed at AI resort restaurants, to put it lightly. Buffet was decent, with some sleeper dishes (sopes were greatness).
Only a couple of issues, but they were small. No private bar on the beach like you get with Diamond Club at Royalton. No drink service at all on the beach actually. But there were no lines for drinks at all, so no big deal. We didn't even bother upgrading to premium. Only real perk with that was no-charge room service. The other thing we didn't like was there's no poolside grill serving burgers, dogs, etc. To eat pretty much anything you had to go to a buffet and get a table.
Thanks for the tips.