Dominican Republic

Jenn Anne

Hi! I've never posted on this board before but I figured if anyone would have any input about our idea I could get it here.

So my FI and I finally started looking into our honeymoon spot (June 18th is our wedding date). I today, before I met him for lunch, I met with a travel agent and she gave me several ideas of tropical places we could go. She then showed me an all inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic, and my FI and I fell in love with it.

Has anyone heard about the Dominican Republic? Any feedback? TIA! Sorry it wouldnt let me type the name of the actual place we're thinking about going. It said it was offensive idk....

hz80408

P!nta Cana?

Lots of girls on this board are going/having been.

FSIL went to the Iberostar Grand Hotel Bavaro for her HM last summer...they loved it so much that my FILs went for spring break this year

Jenn Anne

That's exactly it! lol That's great, that was one of the places that the travel agent mentioned. so that's our second choice thanks!

mehgank

We're planning our honeymoon for the Excellence in PuntaCana, hopefully the first week of June 2011. We haven't booked yet, because we're still saving though.

From what I've heard about DomRep, is that outside the resort is very, very poor, so you're better off sticking to the resort grounds. I'm not sure how accurate that advice is, but there ya go, that's what I've heard.

That's true of pretty much every 3rd world honeymoon destination though. Just keep your guard up.

MyWedding13

We are going to Cap Cana and staying at the Secrets Sanctuary. It is right near PuntaCana. It looks like it will be very nice! Look into it! 

girlinchicago

We stayed at Zoetry in Puunta Cana in March.  For us, it was pretty comparable to Mexico.  The beach was nice as were the people.  There isn't much to do there...overall, we were pretty neutral about PC overall. 

Some islands I really love are St. John and St. Lucia. 

goaliegirl

We stayed at Excellence PC for our anniversary in August and loved it.    There was so much to do and everything about the place was great.    It is one of the furthest resorts for the airport, maybe about 45 minutes by bus.  We didn't mind so much though, we enjoyed seeing the country.    They do have a lot of excursions you can do, but we chose not to do any because we just wanted a relaxong week.   They have shows every night and a casino on site.   I highly recommend Excellence, and we would go back in a heartbeat.

NikkiPSU

We are staying at Secrets Sanctuary Cap Cana as well!  Our wedding date is the same as yours so if you go there we can be Honeymoon buddies... haha

graysquirrel

A friend of mine goes to the Dominican every year and loves it! She's been going most of her life and hasn't tired of it yet, and this is one VERY well traveled woman.

Jenn Anne

This is fantastic My FI really has his heart set on Puunta Cana... we have been looking into the Bavaro Princess and he fell in love with it. So this give me some definate hope thanks ladies

And NikkiPSU if we decide to go to Cap Cana we could totally be honeymoon buddies lol I know I certainly cant wait until June 18th! good luck with planning

amaetom

My FI and I have been going to PuntaCana since we started dating, 5 years ago.  I went for my first time the year before that with a friend and fell in love.  You can't beat most of the prices and if you're looking for a nice, relaxing, vacation that won't have your pockets empty when you get back, it's definitely one of the best places to do it.  We've traveled a lot, and I would have to say that the only place I liked better so far, was Hawaii.  We love PC so much, we're getting married there!!!!  We're planning to do it at the Majestic Colonial.  Although we've never been to that resort, we've heard good things about it.  The other resorts we've stayed at are the Sunscape ones (Which are now Dreams resorts) and the Riu Palace.  My favorite was Sunscape the Beach which is now Dreams PuntaCana.  My FI's was Riu Palace.  The reason we picked the Majestic was because it has everything that we loved from those 2 resorts and combines them into 1.  One tip I can give you is, read reviews but at the same time don't let them freak you out or you'll never go anywhere.  There's always the amazing stories and there's always the nightmares.  A few things that are definitely true are DON'T LEAVE THE RESORT on your own... if you want to do something, the excursions are really fun.  You can't drink their water... your body isn't used to it and WILL react.  The food is different for everyone.  I don't hate it but I don't love it either.  And... watch what you're drinking.  A lot of people go there thinking that it's the food they're eating that is making them run to the bathroom every 10 minutes when in reality, it's what they're drinking.  Coconut milk is a natrual laxative and a lot of those yummy drinks have it in them.