Vacation

[Stussi613]

Ya, that's about how I remember swimming around Punta Cana...  The water conditions weren't great anywhere near shore, but if you paid to go snorkeling, they take you out in a boat to a real reef.  It was much better further out.   I think the reef we went to was about 6 feet deep where we were... There was a big sandbar or something.

How did you like Dreams, by the way? That's the one with the cool kids Pirate ship pool, isn't it?  We looked at that place when the inlaws paid for the whole family to go on a vacation, but *they* decided against going there because it was "too far down the beach from everything else" and "we are not taking a vacation just for the kids, it's for all the adults too"  (cuz I had 2 kids at the time... *shrug*)

Seems like a very nice all-around resort to me, and is on the list of places to go (without the inlaws).

We went once in April to the same resort and that mini-reef was perfectly visible...I think the conditions in the video are because we went in January.

There are two Dreams resorts in Punta Cana, this was the smaller one of the two,  dreams palm Beach. We love it, this was our third time at the same resort.

Dreams in general is amazing, but if you're going without kids check out Secrets...It's their adults only brand.

[Greatwhite]

We went once in April to the same resort and that mini-reef was perfectly visible...I think the conditions in the video are because we went in January.

There are two Dreams resorts in Punta Cana, this was the smaller one of the two,  dreams palm Beach. We love it, this was our third time at the same resort.

Dreams in general is amazing, but if you're going without kids check out Secrets...It's their adults only brand.

Hmmm.. trip without kids.. where can i sign up??    The Dreams Punta Cana resort is the one we wanted to go to.  We got hornschwaggled into another resort mid-beach that was "less kid oriented", but not adult only.  It was January when we went with the whole family, and I had been in late march when the snorkeling was better.. Perhaps that it was just a time of year thing.

[Greatwhite]

Oh, if you want a truly amazing snorkeling experience, go to Varadero Cuba.  The snorkeling excursion I took there started out kind of sucking, because we started at the beach by the resort and swam about 5 miles (with the current) along the shoreline with nothing real interesting to see. We got out at some beach and had a few minute walk to "Cueva de Saturno".

Those are crystal clear, fresh water filled caves, and we swam around in there for a while.  The guide was able to get to the bottom and sit there for a little while before coming back up with a few shrimp in his hand. They were white, and blind...  VERY neat experience.

http://www.cubatechtravel.com/destination/extrahotel/30/cueva-de-saturno

[Stussi613]

Hmmm.. trip without kids.. where can i sign up??    The Dreams Punta Cana resort is the one we wanted to go to.  We got hornschwaggled into another resort mid-beach that was "less kid oriented", but not adult only.  It was January when we went with the whole family, and I had been in late march when the snorkeling was better.. Perhaps that it was just a time of year thing.

We go with the kids to Dreams Palm Beach, it's a small resort compared to Dreams Punta Cana.  You can eat at the a la carte restaurants every night, no reservations required...the have a kids club for smaller kids and the beach is amazing. We get upgraded to preferred every time and got upgraded to premium rooms this time because the airline lost my sisters bag, all three rooms in our group upgraded and for something that had nothing to do with the hotel. Can't recommend the place enough.

[Greatwhite]

Since this is now a vacation thread...

This is where we went in Punta Cana the 2nd time.
http://www.hoteloceanbluesand.net/

One of the main selling features of this place was that they had "only suites" and you could pay for an upgrade that had a separate bedroom and livingroom with a pull out in there...  SO we paid the difference from the standard suite (which the inlaws graciously paid for).  When we arrived, our designated room was blocked off because they wanted to paint the patio.  They offered "the same room" elsewhere in the resort, so we accepted.  Got there, and it was 1 room with 2 beds and a lovely view of a weird parking lot alongside nasty garbage filled jungle.

I went back to complain at the front desk and demand our "garden view" suite that we had reserved with a separate bedroom.  There was 2 couples there complaining that they also didn't get a separate room, and didn't really want to sleep in the same room together.  They had been under the impression that it was a 2 room suite as well.  Talk about awkward...  At least with us, it was just me & wifey - and our 2 kids.

The hotel staff insisted that there was no such thing as a 2 room suite.  I think it was a mix-up on Sun Wing's site or something...

We were given back the room that we were originally given, which at least had a nice patio to sit on when the kids were in bed at 8PM...  It would have been nicer if there was a separate room for them, but I was done talking to the front desk people.

That whole vacation just had a sour start, especially since the kids both had stomach flues leading up to the trip, and wife & I caught it the day before we left.

The resort itself was very nice, after the initial disappointment.  It definitely would have been nicer without the kids though.

[Stussi613]

This was the shower in the room they upgraded us to because my sisters bag got lost by the airline.  It was 10x6 with double shower heads. I've never loved taking a shower as much as I did here.

[Greatwhite]

That showed looks awesome.  We found a 4" long cockroach in ours... Well, our daughter found it.  She just calmly said "hey daddy, come see this thing..."  FORTUNATELY I got to it before wifey saw it.