Dreams Resort
Punta Cana
Dominican Republic
7/5/08 to 7/12/08
Getting there:
Well we were over-due for another tropical get away. This time we chose the Dominican Republic. The Dreams resort is in Punta Cana on the NE tip of the country. Prices were good and it was a great package. It was all inclusive with air. The Resort is marketed/listed as 5 stars, but I think that is a bit generous. But, overall I would give it a solid 4.
We left our house about 4:30 am and drove to the airport. We dropped the car off at Park and Go and shuttled over for check in. We were flying US Airways and we were dreading it since they have lost so many of our bags in the past. This time- no lost bags. Had to stop for a Cinnbun then off to the gate. We took off at 7:30 am and flew to Charlotte NC for a connection. We had about a 2 ½ hour lay over. It gave Patti time to get her nails done at the airport. I decided not to get my nails done, so I just walked around, and then read my book. Still had some time to kill so we had a sit down lunch at Chilies.
We had an ‘on time’ departure leaving about 11:45 am and landed in Punta Cana about 3:00 PM. It is a fairly small airport with thatched roofs. We cleared customs as a band played. They charge you 10 dollars a person for a tourist card. You get the card, walk 20 feet then give the card back. I guess its one way to make money. I read that the airport has 2 million visitors a year pass through it. Most of those being tourist means that is quit a little money maker. It took a while to get our bags then we were of to the transportation area. Patti found our shuttle company and we left the airport about 4:00 pm.
We had read reviews mentioning how bad the ride was. We knew it was 30 miles and would take about an hour. It did. We were not shocked by the roads or shack houses along the way since we have traveled to the Caribbean before. Most of the area was scrub farm land with small trees. The farms mainly had cows and horses. There were lots of motor scooters. To save money many farmers used limbs from trees as fence posts. The ground is so fertile that the posts start to grow back into trees.
At 5 pm we finally got to the resort. It was very nice. Check in went smooth. After the bags were unloaded and left with the porters we went into the main open air lobby. The lobby has ceiling fans and lots of ceramic and stone. We were given Champaign and cool wash clothes for our faces. The staff greeted us by saying “Welcome home.”
We had requested a regular room, but with an ocean view. The room itself was ok. We give it a ‘3 star’ for the room. We were in an un-renovated room. It was ok, but the air-conditioning was only minimally acceptable as was the cooling of the mini fridge. The fridge was stocked by the maid on an irregular basis with soda, beer and water. The maid service was spotty. Some days she would not leave water, other days no wash cloths. Irritating, but not the end of the world. Since we were on an all inclusive plan all food and drinks including alcohol were included at no extra charge.
We had a balcony with a small table and 2 chairs. We liked to drink our coffee there in the morning and we did have room service on the balcony for breakfast one day.
We had satellite TV. The network shows were relayed from Denver Colorado.
The Resort:
The resort was shaped like a rectangle with the skinny sides to the beach and road. We did lots of walking. Our room was in the middle and it was about a 10 minute walk to the main building or to our favorite pool area. 10 minutes does not sound like a long time but it was very warm and humid. Temps were in the upper 80s every day and humidity probably the same.
The resort was nicely landscaped. The tropical trees, plants, and flowers were well maintained and the grounds were immaculate. The pool is the largest in the country; it is about 1/3 of a mile long and free form in design. The pool ran the length (center) of the resort a series of small bridges connected the buildings to the main path way. It never gets more than waist deep which is convenient when you are walking around with a drink in your hand. There are plenty of lounge chairs. The only place that it was difficult to find chairs would be in the pool bar area (our spot). I would go down on our way to breakfast and place our stuff to save some chairs. The water temperature was refreshing in the morning. But by late afternoon the sun had warmed it to the point where it felt like a heated pool.
The resort had flamingos and peacocks that could walk were ever they wanted. The flamingos would usually stay in their pond but would occasional get out on the walk paths with us tourists. The staff would move a pair of Amazon parrots around between two trees. I also saw a pair of wild Green parrots in the resort also. We had heard stories of and seen pictures of tarantulas. I saw one small one on Tuesday night and took a pic. Some fool stepped on it later because I saw it crushed the next morning. I hope he got bit.
The beach looked nice but we did not use it since we were always at the pool. Heather Rich and the kids went to the beach once. Rich had a small cut on his foot from a rock.
Food:
There was the World Buffet restaurant that was open for Breakfast, lunch and dinner. You could get cook to order omelets, most regular breakfast items and some really good fresh fruit and juice. Patti loved the potatoes with onions and green peppers. Lunch options were the buffet and a stand on the beach that served burgers and hot dogs and a restaurant that served sandwiches.
There were about 5 Restaurant choices for dinner. We went to the buffet 4 nights. We also tried the Sea Side grill and it had very good BBQ chicken, ribs and steaks. On 2 nights we went to the Mexican restaurant which was very good.
We usually went to dinner around 6:30 pm and never had to wait for a table. Our last night there Patti and I took Payton, Cody and Alyssa back to the Mexican restaurant. The kids had fun with us and had their pics taken with big Mexican sombreros on. The service that night was outstanding. For that night Patti and I surprised Heather and Rich with a Romantic dinner on the Beach. It was an extra charge and they said they really enjoyed it.
Unusual food items? The juice was great and lots of variety. Patti tried the Watermelon Juice once. There was a coconut dessert that would dissolve in your mouth. I tried a few of the local dishes including goat. They had great chicken stir fry. I had some almost every time we went to the buffet for dinner. Once, it was desert!!
There was a fresh fruit stand that opened after lunch every day. She had watermelon, cantaloupe, papaya, pineapple, bananas, and other tropical fruits. It was very good.
Room service was available 24/7. The variety was ok, and it only took about 30 minutes. When we read the reviews some warned about getting sick. The water was listed as filtered but we mainly stuck with bottled water. But we used the tap water for coffee in the room a few days. We did not get ill.
The people:
The staff was very friendly. If you make an effort about 99% of the time you got a smile and a wave. Lots of “holas”. (hi). The Dominicans call all young girls the age of about 15 and under “Baby”. At dinner they would say, “And what for baby? Since they knew I was there with kids that would address me often as “Daddy” or “Poppy” which is showing respect. Our favorite employee was Willy, a bartender at the Pool bar. He took very good care of us. Some moderate tipping and he got the vacation of to a good start. Patti and I had a wild first day and ended up taking a little snooze in our pool chairs on the first day- hey it was vacation. The rest of the time we went at a slower pace. But the bar did open at 9:30 am!
One morning I asked them to add an extra shot of rum to our Pina Caldas. It wasn’t until drink three that I saw they were already using Bacardi 151 to start with. Two shots of 151 per drink? I guess that’s why my pupils were dilated in the pictures we took then.
The guests were probably about 70 percent American. The rest were mainly from Canada and Europe. Patti and I were adopted by a large group of Canadians from Toronto. Bruce and his family could put away the beer and tequila. I tried to represent my country well. But they could out drink me with ease. They were a great group to hang out with.
Entertainment:
The entertainment staff worked very hard. They not only put on the shows but they led events throughout the day. I played water polo, trivia, and pineapple toss. Patti and Heather did the pool aerobics several times. The evening shows were held at 9:30 and were ok. Not Vegas quality, or Cruise ship level entertainment, but they worked hard, 16 hour days!
I signed up for a 4 wheeler ATV excursion with my grandson Cody. It was a 2 hour ride on the beach and through the countryside. I talked the vendor down from 80 to 70 dollars. Cody was driving when we started out. He kept bumping into people and swerving off the trail. I asked him what was going on and he said, “Grandpa there are no brakes.” He wasn’t exaggerating. No brakes at all.
We were coming up on a Dominican road that had busses and trucks. I told him to swerve off to the side. The conversation between me and the guide wasn’t pretty. I brought the convoy to a standstill. Abuello (grandpa-- me) was pissed and refused to go any further. The tour guide got on his cell phone and was talking about the old, mad, chubby white guy. He came over after the call and said we were 5 minutes from their ranch and they would give me a new one. It was five ‘Dominican’ minutes, 20 USA minutes. We did get a new ATV and the rest of the ride was fine. We went through farm land and small villages. The little kids were sweet and all waved and wanted to shake/slap your hand. It is a very poor country, but only once did a kid ask me for money.
I have been in 3rd world countries before so I was not shocked by some of the living conditions. Cody is 14, and it was a real world social studies lesson for him. He saw some of the sheds people were living in and told me that people back home have nothing to complain about. You can tell kids things like that, but seeing it for themselves is another thing.
Trip home:
We did not have to check out till noon. We went to breakfast with Heather, Rich, and the kids. Afterwards we said our good byes and Patti and I went down to the pool for the last time. No sense sitting around the lobby all morning. After a 1 hour swim we went back to the room and finished our final packing.
I called for a porter for the bags. Check out went smooth and only took a few minutes. We waited for the shuttle to the airport in the open air lobby. We were sitting next to a bar… so well you know, we had a drink. Never stingy, these drinks were half rum and half coke.
After the 1 hour ride to the airport we did lots of standing in a variety of lines. They scared us at check in. The guy was looking through all his paperwork and finally asked Patti, “When did you make the reservation? Not Good. But he did find our tickets. We stood in line again for immigration, customs, and security. Patti and I bought a couple of sandwiches for lunch.
The flight took off almost on time at about 4:30 pm. There was a “typo’ on the departure board and we thought we were going to be delayed an hour, but it was a false alarm. It was a little over 3 hours to Charlotte, North Carolina. There we had to go through US customs but it went very fast. We had a 2 hour lay over before our connection to Dayton. We were late leaving for Dayton due to:
Late Flight Crew
Humidity in the plan
Paperwork
Fuel
We finally took off about 10:45, 30 minutes late. Thunderstorms slowed us a little and we got in to Dayton about Midnight. Yeah!! Our bags made it too. Picked up the car from storage and got home a little after 1am. Good to be home to sleep in our own beds.
Punta Cana
Dominican Republic
7/5/08 to 7/12/08
Getting there:
Well we were over-due for another tropical get away. This time we chose the Dominican Republic. The Dreams resort is in Punta Cana on the NE tip of the country. Prices were good and it was a great package. It was all inclusive with air. The Resort is marketed/listed as 5 stars, but I think that is a bit generous. But, overall I would give it a solid 4.
We left our house about 4:30 am and drove to the airport. We dropped the car off at Park and Go and shuttled over for check in. We were flying US Airways and we were dreading it since they have lost so many of our bags in the past. This time- no lost bags. Had to stop for a Cinnbun then off to the gate. We took off at 7:30 am and flew to Charlotte NC for a connection. We had about a 2 ½ hour lay over. It gave Patti time to get her nails done at the airport. I decided not to get my nails done, so I just walked around, and then read my book. Still had some time to kill so we had a sit down lunch at Chilies.
We had an ‘on time’ departure leaving about 11:45 am and landed in Punta Cana about 3:00 PM. It is a fairly small airport with thatched roofs. We cleared customs as a band played. They charge you 10 dollars a person for a tourist card. You get the card, walk 20 feet then give the card back. I guess its one way to make money. I read that the airport has 2 million visitors a year pass through it. Most of those being tourist means that is quit a little money maker. It took a while to get our bags then we were of to the transportation area. Patti found our shuttle company and we left the airport about 4:00 pm.
We had read reviews mentioning how bad the ride was. We knew it was 30 miles and would take about an hour. It did. We were not shocked by the roads or shack houses along the way since we have traveled to the Caribbean before. Most of the area was scrub farm land with small trees. The farms mainly had cows and horses. There were lots of motor scooters. To save money many farmers used limbs from trees as fence posts. The ground is so fertile that the posts start to grow back into trees.
At 5 pm we finally got to the resort. It was very nice. Check in went smooth. After the bags were unloaded and left with the porters we went into the main open air lobby. The lobby has ceiling fans and lots of ceramic and stone. We were given Champaign and cool wash clothes for our faces. The staff greeted us by saying “Welcome home.”
We had requested a regular room, but with an ocean view. The room itself was ok. We give it a ‘3 star’ for the room. We were in an un-renovated room. It was ok, but the air-conditioning was only minimally acceptable as was the cooling of the mini fridge. The fridge was stocked by the maid on an irregular basis with soda, beer and water. The maid service was spotty. Some days she would not leave water, other days no wash cloths. Irritating, but not the end of the world. Since we were on an all inclusive plan all food and drinks including alcohol were included at no extra charge.
We had a balcony with a small table and 2 chairs. We liked to drink our coffee there in the morning and we did have room service on the balcony for breakfast one day.
We had satellite TV. The network shows were relayed from Denver Colorado.
The Resort:
The resort was shaped like a rectangle with the skinny sides to the beach and road. We did lots of walking. Our room was in the middle and it was about a 10 minute walk to the main building or to our favorite pool area. 10 minutes does not sound like a long time but it was very warm and humid. Temps were in the upper 80s every day and humidity probably the same.
The resort was nicely landscaped. The tropical trees, plants, and flowers were well maintained and the grounds were immaculate. The pool is the largest in the country; it is about 1/3 of a mile long and free form in design. The pool ran the length (center) of the resort a series of small bridges connected the buildings to the main path way. It never gets more than waist deep which is convenient when you are walking around with a drink in your hand. There are plenty of lounge chairs. The only place that it was difficult to find chairs would be in the pool bar area (our spot). I would go down on our way to breakfast and place our stuff to save some chairs. The water temperature was refreshing in the morning. But by late afternoon the sun had warmed it to the point where it felt like a heated pool.
The resort had flamingos and peacocks that could walk were ever they wanted. The flamingos would usually stay in their pond but would occasional get out on the walk paths with us tourists. The staff would move a pair of Amazon parrots around between two trees. I also saw a pair of wild Green parrots in the resort also. We had heard stories of and seen pictures of tarantulas. I saw one small one on Tuesday night and took a pic. Some fool stepped on it later because I saw it crushed the next morning. I hope he got bit.
The beach looked nice but we did not use it since we were always at the pool. Heather Rich and the kids went to the beach once. Rich had a small cut on his foot from a rock.
Food:
There was the World Buffet restaurant that was open for Breakfast, lunch and dinner. You could get cook to order omelets, most regular breakfast items and some really good fresh fruit and juice. Patti loved the potatoes with onions and green peppers. Lunch options were the buffet and a stand on the beach that served burgers and hot dogs and a restaurant that served sandwiches.
There were about 5 Restaurant choices for dinner. We went to the buffet 4 nights. We also tried the Sea Side grill and it had very good BBQ chicken, ribs and steaks. On 2 nights we went to the Mexican restaurant which was very good.
We usually went to dinner around 6:30 pm and never had to wait for a table. Our last night there Patti and I took Payton, Cody and Alyssa back to the Mexican restaurant. The kids had fun with us and had their pics taken with big Mexican sombreros on. The service that night was outstanding. For that night Patti and I surprised Heather and Rich with a Romantic dinner on the Beach. It was an extra charge and they said they really enjoyed it.
Unusual food items? The juice was great and lots of variety. Patti tried the Watermelon Juice once. There was a coconut dessert that would dissolve in your mouth. I tried a few of the local dishes including goat. They had great chicken stir fry. I had some almost every time we went to the buffet for dinner. Once, it was desert!!
There was a fresh fruit stand that opened after lunch every day. She had watermelon, cantaloupe, papaya, pineapple, bananas, and other tropical fruits. It was very good.
Room service was available 24/7. The variety was ok, and it only took about 30 minutes. When we read the reviews some warned about getting sick. The water was listed as filtered but we mainly stuck with bottled water. But we used the tap water for coffee in the room a few days. We did not get ill.
The people:
The staff was very friendly. If you make an effort about 99% of the time you got a smile and a wave. Lots of “holas”. (hi). The Dominicans call all young girls the age of about 15 and under “Baby”. At dinner they would say, “And what for baby? Since they knew I was there with kids that would address me often as “Daddy” or “Poppy” which is showing respect. Our favorite employee was Willy, a bartender at the Pool bar. He took very good care of us. Some moderate tipping and he got the vacation of to a good start. Patti and I had a wild first day and ended up taking a little snooze in our pool chairs on the first day- hey it was vacation. The rest of the time we went at a slower pace. But the bar did open at 9:30 am!
One morning I asked them to add an extra shot of rum to our Pina Caldas. It wasn’t until drink three that I saw they were already using Bacardi 151 to start with. Two shots of 151 per drink? I guess that’s why my pupils were dilated in the pictures we took then.
The guests were probably about 70 percent American. The rest were mainly from Canada and Europe. Patti and I were adopted by a large group of Canadians from Toronto. Bruce and his family could put away the beer and tequila. I tried to represent my country well. But they could out drink me with ease. They were a great group to hang out with.
Entertainment:
The entertainment staff worked very hard. They not only put on the shows but they led events throughout the day. I played water polo, trivia, and pineapple toss. Patti and Heather did the pool aerobics several times. The evening shows were held at 9:30 and were ok. Not Vegas quality, or Cruise ship level entertainment, but they worked hard, 16 hour days!
I signed up for a 4 wheeler ATV excursion with my grandson Cody. It was a 2 hour ride on the beach and through the countryside. I talked the vendor down from 80 to 70 dollars. Cody was driving when we started out. He kept bumping into people and swerving off the trail. I asked him what was going on and he said, “Grandpa there are no brakes.” He wasn’t exaggerating. No brakes at all.
We were coming up on a Dominican road that had busses and trucks. I told him to swerve off to the side. The conversation between me and the guide wasn’t pretty. I brought the convoy to a standstill. Abuello (grandpa-- me) was pissed and refused to go any further. The tour guide got on his cell phone and was talking about the old, mad, chubby white guy. He came over after the call and said we were 5 minutes from their ranch and they would give me a new one. It was five ‘Dominican’ minutes, 20 USA minutes. We did get a new ATV and the rest of the ride was fine. We went through farm land and small villages. The little kids were sweet and all waved and wanted to shake/slap your hand. It is a very poor country, but only once did a kid ask me for money.
I have been in 3rd world countries before so I was not shocked by some of the living conditions. Cody is 14, and it was a real world social studies lesson for him. He saw some of the sheds people were living in and told me that people back home have nothing to complain about. You can tell kids things like that, but seeing it for themselves is another thing.
Trip home:
We did not have to check out till noon. We went to breakfast with Heather, Rich, and the kids. Afterwards we said our good byes and Patti and I went down to the pool for the last time. No sense sitting around the lobby all morning. After a 1 hour swim we went back to the room and finished our final packing.
I called for a porter for the bags. Check out went smooth and only took a few minutes. We waited for the shuttle to the airport in the open air lobby. We were sitting next to a bar… so well you know, we had a drink. Never stingy, these drinks were half rum and half coke.
After the 1 hour ride to the airport we did lots of standing in a variety of lines. They scared us at check in. The guy was looking through all his paperwork and finally asked Patti, “When did you make the reservation? Not Good. But he did find our tickets. We stood in line again for immigration, customs, and security. Patti and I bought a couple of sandwiches for lunch.
The flight took off almost on time at about 4:30 pm. There was a “typo’ on the departure board and we thought we were going to be delayed an hour, but it was a false alarm. It was a little over 3 hours to Charlotte, North Carolina. There we had to go through US customs but it went very fast. We had a 2 hour lay over before our connection to Dayton. We were late leaving for Dayton due to:
Late Flight Crew
Humidity in the plan
Paperwork
Fuel
We finally took off about 10:45, 30 minutes late. Thunderstorms slowed us a little and we got in to Dayton about Midnight. Yeah!! Our bags made it too. Picked up the car from storage and got home a little after 1am. Good to be home to sleep in our own beds.
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