Punta Cana, Dominican Republic - October, 2000
This was our much anticipated first trip to the Islands! We went with close friends of
ours(Rob and Rhonda) to celebrate our Fifth Anniversary and their Tenth Anniversary. After
months of surfing the internet and emails between couples we chose Punta Cana. Why?
Because we wanted beautiful beaches, clear water, snorkeling, an all-inclusive resort and
something a little different. We wanted to feel like we were getting away from it all for
7 days. Not landing at a big airport and staying at a resort with a large city near by.
Punta Cana fit all our demands perfectly.
After choosing Punta Cana we used www.debbiesdominicantravel.com/ to help find the
resort for us. We chose the Barcelo
Bavaro Beach Resort after days of reading all about the different resorts in Punta
Cana. What attracted us to this complex were the great reviews and the fact that it was a
complex. Five Barcelo resorts in one huge complex, all with different themes. They are the
Palace, Beach, Garden, Casino and Golf. The Palace is the newest and most expensive,
so if you stayed there you could eat and drink at any of the other four. If you stayed at
any of the four remaining resorts you could eat and drink at any of the those four. You
could go to the Palace, but not eat or drink without paying extra. With four to choose
from that didn't make much sense, but more on this later.
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Click here for Map of Bavaro Complex |
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Click here for List of included Drinks at Beach Resort |
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Click here for various pictures of the Beach Resort |
We booked our package through World of Vacations on Air Transat out of Toronto, ON. Due to the time of year all-inclusive packages are not available from Atlantic Canada. This was not a problem however, we flew from our home town, Charlottetown, PE, using airmiles and our friends did the same from Ottawa to Toronto. This worked out great. It was our first time redeeming any airmiles and it went very smooth. They sent our tickets to us within a few days for the airmiles portion of the trip. They even sent an updated itinerary when a flight number changed, but it had no effect on our plans or times.
We booked our package and airmile tickets in July and had no problems getting the rooms we wanted at the resort and seats on the planes. The Bavaro resorts don't reserve rooms or allow an extra payment to secure a room, I had read this on the internet different times. But I also read not to wait until you get there because flights come in at different times of the week, etc. and the chance of the rooms that we wanted being available would be slim. So we sent numerous emails to let them know when we were coming and what rooms we wanted. Rob even called to try and verify the rooms, but the language was a barrier and he wasn't sure if he confirmed the rooms or if he had been banned from the Resort. He also wanted to see if they could fax messages home instead of calling, phone calls are a bit pricey. But more on this later.
We were ready to go...............but then we had to wait and wait for the time to come.
Finally we were off on .....................
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Last updated Saturday, February 15, 2003