Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

Anyone ever been on that end of the island?
Lisa and I are picking a honeymoon spot, and we're leaning heavily towards one of the all-inclusives. The prices are fabulous and it appears to be absolutely gorgeous. It looks like we'll be going early March, somewhere during the first couple weeks.
Questions I have are on the quality of snorkeling, diving, should we try to get as close to town as possible, do we want/need to rent a car, how's the shopping, are there any particular resorts we should look at, and are there any you've visited? Anything we should avoid? Any "absolutely must while we're there"s?
I know that's a lot of questions, but I'm apprehensive, bordering on scared. This will be the first passport for both of us.
Oh, lastly, neither of us know any Spanish whatsoever. Is that going to be an issue? Should we Rosetta Stone or at least get translators on our phones? There's another question, will our phones even work?
Okay, sorry. I'll shut up. I'm excited about it. :)

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

Some I can answer. Most islands speak English, and your phones will be charged an international rates (vary HIGH). The all inclusives are a good way to go. I dont know about the DR in specific, but hope you have a good time.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

This place is a "for instance", Larry. It's just one that was still on my iPad, it's not among our narrowed down selection.
That page has a map and some general info on what we're thinking about and where, exactly.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

things i looked for when booking a place to spend my honeymoon:
didn't have to pay for drinks/food/ect outside of the fee that was charged in advance...which leaves cruises out
any place not in mexico
no kids
no kids
did i mention no kids?

I'm not sure what your tolerance for kids is or how they impact you enjoyment of activities but for me knowing that the resort had a no one under 18 policy was exactly what i wanted. Most all inclusives include buses that will take you to local attractions, check their web pages to see if that's the case. generally tourist areas will speak english, and trip adviser will be a crap shoot as for usefulness. the wife and i went to Jamaica for our honeymoon and loved it

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

I would not rent a car in DR without being Hispanic or fluent in Spanish. Private driver is much better in your instance. If you have GSM phone, it should work and make sure that your phone is not pulling down data while there. Talk to your cell provider to make sure you are on the right plan while there and your phone is configured correct to save money.

From what I understand of DR, it's a resort only kind of place unless you are visiting someone. I doubt you'll end seeing much of the island outside of "to - from" travel.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

Yup. No kids. I forgot that one.
I think I'd totally love Jamaica, and so would Weeze. We'll definitely go there one day, but we really want to explore this DR thing right now.
I'm very much concerned about the language barrier. I suppose it won't be any worse than Disney World, right?

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

PM my good friend Fissure he has alot of experience in the D.R.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

Thanks about the car, Moses. I kinda guessed that was out. I wasn't even sure if it was possible, not being licensed there, and all.
We do have GSM phones, iPhones. I'll make note to see if I need to change anything. I'm sure I can do a quick search and get a lot more accurate info than calling AT&T.

On the "seeing" part, I understand all of Punta Cana(or nearly all of) is new since 90-91. It's a brand new county. I think "walking distance to town" is part of the beauty of this place. A bit of shopping and junk buying would be fun if it's local craft rather than Chinese junk.

Once I mine all the info I can out of the brothers here, I'll check some vacation message boards and see more about what to expect. :tu

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

You can drive and rent a car with a US license.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

Dominican Republic is awesome!:tu:tu:tu

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

When I visited Punta Cana we stayed at Majestic Elegance http://www.majestic-resorts.com/en/H...unta-Cana.aspx beautiful resort but food was so-so. The dinner restaurants were good (on the resort) but lunch/breakfast was always a bit of a dissapointment. All-inclusive was awesome and there were a ton of bars to get drinks. There is also a really nice golf course fairly close to the resort, can't remember the name. Was a bit pricey but the course was amazing.

We only ventured off the resort one other time besides golf, which was actually for a cigar tour for Don Lucas Cigars. Nothing extravagant but was pretty cool, cigars were good and they had a bunch of different rums as well.

If you do happen to chose majestic elegance I would definatly recommend an ocean front room at the elegance club. Wasn't much more money and was definately worth it, IMO. You get a few other perks with the elegance club, private beach/pool, free internet access and I think access to a few different restaurants for breakfast/lunch.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

Scott,

Stayed here http://www.applevacations.com/hotels...es-resort.html, last march. Sugar sand beach with no rocks or anything in the area you'd swim. Absolutely beautiful. On the way from the airport the bus dropped off at lots of other resorts and there were only a couple that looked like they compared to the one we stayed at. Some looked down right knarly and we were glad we weren't staying there.

We stayed on the resort except for a few excursions. Just like any other tourist trap country it was hard walking in any store. They pestered you to buy stuff and watched you like a hawk. A few stores the owner was sitting at the front step with a shotgun/assault rifle. Kind of turned us away from going shopping on our own.

Snorkeling/diving is pretty non-existent on the north side of the island. We did a snorkleing tour on the south side of the island one day that was pretty good, but the reefs are pretty algae covered and was more softies and fish, but it was cool. We did do a tour to the local zoo, and to the Don Lucas cigar spot. (http://donlucascigarsoriginal.com/) Cigars are pretty good if you like dominican sticks. I usually don't and I think they were good. They have a small factory and a big store you can buy cigars, rum, local knick knacks in.

Phone wise we just used a calling card that you can pick up just about everywhere down there.

All in all it was a great trip, and I'd go back, but there are a lot of other places I'd like to see. Any questions just ask.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

If you stay at an all inclusive resort, which is my recommendation and pretty much the only option on that part of the island, English is fine. To use your phones, which are ATT I presume, you'll need to activate international calling by calling customer service, but as stated above it is very expensive. Just don't use phones while you're there or use skype if your resort has WiFi. As for specific resort recommendations, it really depends on your expectations, but shoot a star above what you would look for in the US. Their ratings are a bit inflated, IMO.

There are plenty of activities and things to do and your resort or travel agency will have suggestions and schedules. As for the city, Punta Cana is kinda in the middle of nowhere and you'll pretty much be stuck on your resort unless you visit another resort. There's not much shopping in Punta Cana beyond the usual caribbean tourist junk, but it's still fun to look around. I can expound more later if you have any other questions.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

Scott,

As far as calling goes if you have a laptop and internet access, skype is the easiest and by far the cheapest. People won't necessarily be able to call you unless you pay for a skype number but you will be able to call out land lines and cell phones at less than 10 cents a min.
Example I talked to home today from Taiwan for about 30 minutes and it was less than a dollar.

Something to think about and look into. Hope you guys have a good time.

J

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

Wife and I got married at the Paridisus Punta Cana in Nov 2006. We loved it and want to go back again some time. We were looking for somewhere to just go and chill on the beach. It was definitely great for that.

As for the beach, it's a nice stretch to walk up and down and people watch (and SMOKE). We walked up and down quite a bit. There is a small patch of shacks/shops at one end of it that you can get some cheap touristy stuff at. There was a cigar shop in them that was selling glass tops, as well as the guys walking up and down the beach. A decent novelty item if you can get them for ~$50, IMO. I wouldn't walk to town. I'd recommend staying on the beach and just go up and down there. Plenty of exercise and enough to see. There's plenty of European tourists there, as well, and they do "go European" on the beach. Which is both :tu and :td

Food was decent at the resort, and if you want to eat off the resort, there are some decent seafood places to find. One of which I recall walking by had a barbeque where they were grilling some big lobsters (split down the middle), and they looked oh so good!

As for the excursions...the ones we did were meh. Went deep sea fishing on a boat that just SPEWED diesel fumes...enough to make me sick. In the time we were out, we only had 1 bite (for the WHOLE BOAT). Another time, we were supposed to go snorkeling, but the bus never showed up to pick us up at the resort. Some sort of snafu with the booking agency. We got a full refund, at least. At the resort, there was some parasailing. We DID do that, and got some awesome pics from up there. Plenty of beach sports to play, too, and there were actually waves there, since that side of the island faces the open ocean.

I've got pics to share if you'd like, Scott (just none here at work). Have fun!!!

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

Thanks for posting this thread Scott. My fiancee and I are also considering Punta Cana as a honeymoon spot, so all of this information is very useful.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

I stayed at the Iberostar Grand Hotel Bavaro in September and it was awesome. The Grand Hotel property it's self isn't that big but you have access to the 2 other Iberostar properties right beside them, we walked through them once but other than that there was no reason to leave our property. The staff is top notch, speaks English, and will go out of their way to cater to you. We had zero issues with anything that week and if I were going back to the DR I wouldn't look anywhere else.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

We were looking at Iberostar, Derrick. It was right up in the top of hotels we were considering.

I'm really glad I asked all you guys about this stuff. The biggest problem we have is that we have to have good phone/Internet service. We have five kids, and Lisa has to remain available for work. Not having constant contact with, or the ability to have constant contact with home is not an option, and everything I've read leaves that a problem. Funny the things we take for granted, the fact that could be a problem never occurred to me.

We haven't ruled out Punta Cana, but now we're back to looking at Cozumel a little harder. If that doesn't pan out, we may need to end up in the Keys or Sarasota or something and save Punta Cana for a little later in life.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

What about Cancun? It's about as un-Mexico like as it gets, but it offers good value and I know they internet. There's great resorts at all price points.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

Mose, I just have Cozumel stuck in my head because I understand the diving is way above par. I will definitely take a look at Cancun, though. Thanks for the suggestion.
All along, Cozumel was our choice. We just really got excited about DR after hearing so much. I still hope I can make Punta work out, but it doesn't look good.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

The Grand Bavaro has internet access in the rooms but there may be a charge. I also had no problems making calls, but that was with my CDMA phone.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

if the DR doesn't work out, may i suggest http://couples.com/14cs/index.html

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

I have stayed at 3 separate resorts in Punta Cana in the DR. It is a great place to go if you enjoy just relaxing by the beach/pool and enjoying a nice cigar.

I only went on two dives in the DR and they were ok, clear blue water, decent visibility but it was after a storm so wasn't the best.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or want to see some pictures.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

We've stayed at the Iberostar Bavaro twice and Riu Bambu (right next door) once. We have also stayed at Iberostars in Puerto Plata and La Romana. I highly recommend Iberostar, good food, beautiful resort, and terrific staff, -especially the Animation Team, a great value for the money. We chatted with some people at the Grand Bavaro, which is more expensive and offers things like butlers and room service, but felt that the Bavaro All Suites was more to our liking, in fact we met some people from the Grand Bavaro at the Bavaro pool where they came because they said it was more fun then at the Grand. Read some of the reviews at Tripadvisor. I don't think you will be dissapointed.

While there, I recommend taking the Outback Safari tour. You will get a nice overview of the history and culture of the island as well as visiting some different spots. It is a real fun day with them. (Just don't buy the cigars on the tour -all fakes)

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

Consider going to Belize then

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

As long as you find a hotel that has wifi access you should be fine. I know you have an iPhone so with the skype app you can make calls over wifi. Hotel rooms all have phones as well, but they will be pricey for international calls.

As for Cancun vs Cozumel, you can dive Cozumel from Cancun so unless there was a specific dive you wanted to do, it's not thaat much better. Are you a certified diver? I've been to Cancun too many times to count, so I can better recommendations there, but Cozumel is gorgeous as well.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

You are on vacation what do you care about calling home for. If you must buy yourself a prepaid phone over there and use that.

I dont have any Punta Cana experience but If I may suggest Sandals resorts no kids all meals activities and alcohol included in the price of the resort. I would look carefully before buying anything at what is not included Alcohol tips transfers etc may not be covered and/or you might find that there are a lot of Upgrades you must purchase after you arrive. Have fun and good luck.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

This is where we went for our honeymoon in November. We loved it and would highly recommend it. We did not leave the resort, to be honest we were a little afraid to do so. Some things I will mention to keep in mind: DO NOT GIVE IN to their time share/condo presentation. It will take all morning/afternoon and they can be very rude and will guilt you into it. Take lots of small bills for tips and such. Seems like all we had were 20's and we had to keep getting them broken down. I know at the Paradisus if you just gave the bar tender a dollar here and there he will take care of you. You can smoke anywhere.....and I mean ANYWHERE. Hell I lit up during dinner one night. When I asked the concierge where I could smoke a cigar he literally laughed at me and said "you can smoke wherever you like!" Take plenty of cigars! I took about 20 with me and I was there for a full week.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

I think we settled on Excellence Punta Cana.
It's all-inclusive, out of the way, and adults only. We're going to have to get on our passports immediately, but we should be able to get it done.
If we aren't real certain our passports will be here, we'll likely go to St. John's Virgin Islands and go to Punta Cana next year. I'm working on our passports right now. :tu

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

Looks nice, Scott. Good Luck with the passports.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

The Excellence is veryyyy nice and uber classy

i booked a trip to Punta Cana for May. going to try the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro. came recommended from a Dominican fellow who frequents there about 2-3 times a year..

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

Good choice. My wife and I went there about 2 years ago and loved it. Was beautiful.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

We went and applied for our passports today. We paid the extra to have them expedited, and we're planning to go around March 8th.
We're going to book the trip in the next couple days as soon as the boss and I can have a meeting. So Excellence Punta Cana it is. :D

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

The passport people screwed up our passports, fortunately they caught it and called us before they sent them in. We went and repassported, and now we're good.
I booked the trip yesterday, and Punta Cana Excellence it is.
I've read reviews out the wazoo, and it's supposed to be one of the two nicest all-inclusives on the island. I'm sure it'll be nicer than we'd ever imagined.
The whole trip, including transportation to and from the airport, with trip insurance, was 3.6k, which just simply amazes me. It costs us around 5 grand just to go to the Keys, once all the meals and car rental and shopping get added in.
Granted, our schedule was totally flexible, so I was able to pick the best date and the best price, but at worst it'd only be 400 or 500 more.
So if the place comes even close to living up to it's reputation and reviews, it's an incredible deal, as vacations go.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

Awesome Scott! Make sure you take some pictures for us. ;)

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

I predict that this will not be the last time you visit the Dominican. I'm sure you will have a great time. As I said before, think about taking the Outback Safari tour, it's a lot of fun and very educational.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

I'm seriously considering it. Because we're in Macao, the only way they'll come get us is if we take the 8 hour adventure. That might be a bit adventurous, I'm thinking.
I'll look into it more and read up and see what goes on, and run it by the Mrs.

Re: Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?
 

Punta Cana is great! DR is a poor, dirty island. High contrast.
We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana for ten days with a "Club Golden" upgrade that was worth it. Along with other things it put us in a room that opened onto the beach. We are very much looking forward to our next all inclusive vacation.
I'm sure you will have a GREAT time and find lots of glass top premium cigars to buy.