Punta Cana / Dominican Republic?

[Commander Quan]

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.

[loki]

Originally Posted by shilala

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.

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

[swh127]

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.

[VTDragon]

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)

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by shilala

Moses, I just have Cozumel stuck in my head because I understand the diving is way above par.

Consider going to Belize then

[jkim05]

Originally Posted by shilala

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.

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.

[justonemorestick]

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.

[smitdavi]

Originally Posted by Wanger

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 and

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!!!

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.

[shilala]

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.

[Commander Quan]

Looks nice, Scott. Good Luck with the passports.

[NeuRon]

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..

[swh127]

Originally Posted by shilala

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.

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

[shilala]

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.

[shilala]

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.

[HK3-]

Originally Posted by shilala

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.

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

[VTDragon]

Originally Posted by shilala

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.

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.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by VTDragon

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.

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.

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.