Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?

[shilala]

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.