A little background about us so you will know who is writing the review: We are a heterosexual couple in our late 40’s, not big partiers any more and stay at all inclusives in the DR and Mexico. This is our 8th AI stay. We do not have children and come to Punta Cana for rest and relaxation (a world away from everyday US life). My significant other is fluent in Spanish which makes him invaluable on these trips! Much of this review will be based on comparisons to the IB* PC and IB* Dominicana where we have always stayed in the past in PC. We wanted to be adventurous and try a new resort and the Ocean Blue was the same price as the IB* PC when we booked our trip.

We booked through Apple Vacations which we have used several times before and have never experienced anything but professional, friendly assistance, which continued with this trip.

We flew out of Lexington, Kentucky so are always on scheduled airline flights with connections, on Delta and everything went smoothly there.

We arrived at the Punta Cana Airport and were shocked at the growth. It has been 4 years since we were in the DR and needless to day, it’s much bigger and busier now. The Apple Rep was right at our side at the airport and directed us to our shuttle. We arrived quickly to the resort (there were only 4 couples on the shuttle and they dropped us off first). The reception area at the Ocean Blue is in a closed area to the right (we did not choose the Elite Option) and were offered a nice fruity blue drink. We had not requested a specific room although our Apple Rep said he would request a king bed when we booked the trip and were told we would be on the first floor by the pool with double beds. We then asked for a room on the second or third floor with a king bed and they were able to accommodate our request after a short five minute wait as they checked availability for us.

We walked to the room (#5309) which was nice. The room was clean and spacious, the balcony a nice size overlooking the pool (with a little slice of ocean view to the right) and the bathroom had two sinks and Jacuzzi/shower, but only a half shower door on one side of the tub. The bed was definitely the most comfortable in the DR although the pillows were a bit “brickish”. We always had at least warm water and the pressure was questionable during peak shower times. We did replace three light bulbs in the bedroom and 1 in the bath making a considerable difference! I missed having a small upper window in the bathroom for some natural light in the bathroom. I had an issue with there being no chain or slide lock on the door and no peephole. We had a knock on the door once and there was no way to know who was on the other side without opening the door! I was surprised there was no “towel art” or flowers in the room our entire stay. I know that sounds really picky, but it’s a lovely surprise when you walk into at least a flower or two on the bed. First time without it at an AI (even had that in Orlando at a very inexpensive hotel).

Our bags didn’t make it to the room until about three hours after arrival at the resort even after checking on them several times and being told they were on their way. No big deal until it was time to dress for dinner. We had swimsuits in the carry on but didn’t want to change back into travel clothes for dinner. Never run into this problem before and found it rather frustrating.

The pools were a nice size and the depth was good. The pool by the beach had a zero entry side which was very nice. There were tiles missing on the bottom which was surprising considering how new the resort is. The pool by the beach was completely closed the first day we were there – said they were shocking it, although this usually takes place at night since the pools close so early but really not a problem. There weren’t a lot of trash cans around the pool and beach and I thought they were sparse on restrooms too. For such a large area, there were only two locations (5 stalls total for women) for the entire pool, beach area (unless I missed something and I looked for them). There were also just two stations for rinsing off from the beach and they didn’t have the lower faucet for washing off feet, just the full shower effect and they usually didn’t work.

The beach was outstanding as usual and there were lots of lounges. Again, lack of trash cans so there seemed to be more trash around than most resorts we’ve visited.

Food was somewhat varied and usually quite good at the buffet. The lamb was outstanding and we never went hungry. There was not a lot of seafood and the fish was usually very dry and not very flavorful – this seemed unusual too. We enjoyed the food at the beach restaurant at lunch – never went to the buffet for lunch. The beach restaurant had paella, some great cold salads, fresh fruit, beans, rice, pasta, pizza, burgers, hot dogs, etc. We tried two a la carte restaurants – the Dominican (we loved) and the Italian (so-so). The buffet was really the only choice for breakfast since the beach restaurant in the morning was reserved for the Elite members only! We wanted to try the Caribbean Grill but it was closed every night we were there for private functions. Again, I know this sounds ridiculous, but I am comparing to a resort that was the same price that we have been to before and there were never any decorations, food carvings or “special touches” (except the gala night) at the buffet.

My biggest disappointment with this resort was the service, especially in the restaurants. There virtually was none (except at the Dominican a la carte). We literally had to beg for items such as forks, napkins, water…….have never run into this before and it was very aggravating. By time we had what we needed food was cold and we were frustrated. We usually enjoy the wait staff as AI’s as they are very friendly and efficient and they can be a great source of information, but we never really ran into that here. I thought from previous reviewers that they may have had a language barrier problem, but that’s definitely not the case. The staff at the beach restaurant was the worst. I’d go over the bar and get water because no one every came over to us. We also watched them look at and step over trash on the floor.

I also noticed that for such a new resort there were many things in disrepair: sconces missing off walls, light bulbs in public areas burnt out, etc. We never saw anyone painting, polishing, etc – a common sight at other resorts.

Our maid was sweet and when she got to the room did a good job. There were two days that she didn’t get to the room (we came back usually between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.). It seemed there were three maids for our villa and one morning walking through the courtyard of the Elite Club villa I saw four maids on the first floor alone.

An interesting note – my SO ripped his arm band three days before we left and we went up to Reception to get it replaced but there was a large group checking in so we decided to come back later. Well, we never really thought about it again, and he was served everywhere with no questions asked with no arm band at all. Another lack of attention to detail. Makes me think you could just walk in off the beach and be served here!

Don’t take this the wrong way – we had a great vacation, accomplished our de-stressing, were lucky enough to have picture perfect weather, great beach, pretty good food, etc. I just wouldn’t return to this resort for several reasons, lack of service and friendliness being number one. It also seemed the majority of guests were American or Canadian, and we missed the diverse cultures we’ve experienced in PC in the past. I also missed a more “tropical” feel to the resort. There were umbrellas instead of palapas by the pool and shaded frames on the beach. There’s lots of concrete at the Ocean Blue; I think they went for more of an urban, metropolitan feel in the décor – very nice – but I missed the more traditional island feel.

This really is a nice resort for the right guest, but there were tons of families with children who were very conspicuous and I felt we could have had much more “bang for the buck” had we returned to IB*.

My husband and I just arrived back from Ocean Sands Resort. We are approximately 40ish and were wanting a quiet relaxed vacation. We have travelled to Cuba, Jamaica, Hawaii, Mayian Riveria (3 times), and Can Cun. We stayed in villa 9 on the bottom floor right across from the pool.

The flight with Sky Service was fair. We encountered some mechanical difficulties when taking off from Puerto Plata but all was solved. The breakfast that was served was a egg buritto....not everyone likes green peppers or buritto style food. We did not! There were two abnoxious girls travelling together that sat in front of us. Further up the plane was another 2 men that were obnoxious and as the 4 of them drank more beer they became even more unlikeable. They all got cut off alcohol by 11:00 am. We felt sorry for the poor airline attendants that had to babysit these four grown adults. One the way back to Wpg. the plane was an hour late but we did manage to land in Wpg only about 45 minutes late. Once again the meal was terrible..this time supper and it consisted of a cheese buritto that was extremely hot. I cannot eat spicy food. We had only eaten toast at 10:00 am and had to leave the resort by 1:00. Lunch was just being served so we were not able to get anything to eat at the resort. Once we got on the plane they proceeded to serve drinks first, then headphones, then snacks. We did not get the meal until almost 7:30 or 8:00. We were starved!!!

Anyway, the airport was great and the signature representative was right there giving us instructions. We were at the resort within 45 minutes of landing. Check in was fast and efficient. On the way back, same thing, the rep was right there and we were through security within minutes of arriving.

The resort is very nice. The grounds, pool, beach are kept in top notch shape. The buffet served a great variety of food and actually tasted quite good. The other restaurants had good food as well. The ribs at the American restaurant were very good and the cheese cake was excellent. The steak at the Italian was also very tender and tasty. The coffee at Mikes was just like home so that is where we would get our morning coffee and take it with us to breakfast. I had to get some hot water in mine as I did not like as strong as they made it.

Our room was clean but looked in need of some work. The bathroom door didn't close, the tiles above the bath were falling, and the furniture was bashed up. The bed wasn't too bad for comfort but the sheets did not fit so in the night you ended up actually sleeping on the matress. We remedied this by getting another sheet and putting it crooked on the bed so we could tuk it in...the maid could not grasp this concept and just laughed at us. We always had hot water and the pressure was good.

The service varied. Some of the waiters and waitresses were very good. However, we did encounter Johnny at one of the pool bars that would not give us a drink or even make eye contact. We observed for awhile and the only people he would give drinks to were the ones with tips waiting for him. My husband finally went back to the room to get a dollar to tip him. Sure enough, he brought us a drink and even talked to us. There were not many like him but you can tell that they are used to the tips. We did tip all the people that served us but we didn't always have money on us especially when we were around the pool. I also took pens and pencils (that had Canada on them)to give out to the people. Sonia at the lobby bar was by far the best waitress and hardest worker in the resort.

The entertainment at the lobby bar was very good. We especially enjoyed the sax player. We only went to the theatre one night and it was a good show.

I think even when travelling in Canada, you do not leave money, phones, cameras etc laying around your room. That is why they offer the service of the safe. We always kept everthing of value in the safe...day and night. Lots of times the maids come back in the evening to put towels or something that they didn't have when making up your room in the daytime in your room.

Now for the quiet and relaxing part of the holiday. You have to be up by 6am to get a lounge by the pool or on the beach. So much for sleeping in on the holiday! It must have been spring break somewhere as there were many young adults there drinking their faces off being loud and annoying. Many nights they were partying outside our room until the wee hours of the morning. Also, we didn't see this but we heard from a few that there were some 15 and 16 year old boys in the sports bar drinking shots until they could not walk....WHERE WERE THE PARENTS??????? There were also lots of children at this resort. Some very well behaved and others not so good. We are parents of 3 and felt we didn't want to vacation and listen to some mother lecture her kids for hours on end.

We ventured to the golf course which is about a 7 minute walk from the resort. We would have golfed but the rental clubs were terrible. They were all chipped up and bent and there were no ladies clubs. For 9 holes it was $45 US and $30 US to rent clubs.....wouldn't have been worth it with the clubs they had available. The course did look very nice though and we were disappointed that we didn't bring some old clubs from home

The selection of booze was good, but contrary to what everyone is saying about haveing Bacardi Rum....they only had the Limon and the Golden....None of the bars had Barcardi White Rum which is all we drink, so this was disappointing. The Pepsi from the bars seemed to be watered down. We started taking vodka or Domincan Rum back to the room and adding the pepsi from the bottles to our drinks and they were much better. We never did get beer in our room. The only villas that seem to get beer is 7 and 10. My husband ended up giving the maid some money and she gave him 2 beer....we wondered if she had caught on to not leaving beer, people tipping her and then giving the beer. We should have asked at the front desk whether there was to be beer left in the room everyday. I am not sure why she would have it on her cart when she is only cleaning Villa 9 rooms. I think they have all learned how to play the tips game.

My husband and I just returned from the Ocean Blue/Sand resort and will not return for one reason...annoying time share salesman! They pestered us every time we entered or left the buffet, or walked the grounds, or the beach! They seemed to target us as we had on white wrist bands that identified us as Canadians. Its bad enough that we have to deal with constant telemarketers and door to door salespeople at home, this hotel seems to feel they need to harass its guests while they are on vacation.

We stayed at the Ocean Blue from March 4th -11th, we are in our late 20s and really only need drinks and the beach to have a good time. We have been to Punta Cana before, as well as Cancun, and Riveria Maya. This by far was the WORST experience we have had by FAR. I would highly not recommend this resort to anyone, not even the tax collector!! The only positives we had with this resort were the bartenders, beach, some food, and the weather. But the negatives far outweigh the few positives. I have never wrote a review before but we were so disgusted with the management, apple reps, and guest services that I felt it was my duty to atleast save a few people from this horrible resort. That 4 star rating should not be out of 5, it should be 4 out of 10. So here are a few SURVIVAL TIPS if you dare to try this resort.

1.CARRY YOUR OWN LUGGAGE-to your room. We arrived at 4 pm and my girlfriend and I were sweaty, and very eager to get to the pool bar for a dip and a drink. Check in was fast, we got a drink and a cold facecloth. We then went to get our luggage but were told they would bring it to our room. Simple enough. We were only in villa #3 so it was a 3 minute walk we could of brought our luggage and changed and been in the pool by 4:15. We checked in at 4pm. 5 O'clock came and no luggage. We called the front desk and they told us that they had a lot of people checking in and that it would be there shortly. Fair enough, however we were the last in our group to check in. 6 O'clock rolls around and still no luggage, meanwhile we had made a couple of other calls and visited the Apple rep, all said it will be there shortly. A little after 6:30 my girlfriend walked up to the guest services and complained they finally sent people to each villa looking for the luggage. It was finally found at another room. So by 7 pm, 3hours after check in we got our luggage. The pool closes at 7 pm, so we didnt get a swim. But it was a minor incident we blew it off and went to the lobby bar. So carry your own luggage!!

2.DONT PLAN ON SHOWERING- well atleast washing your hair! We were there for 7 days and I think I used soap 2 times! The water pressure is horrendous. I could not even get under the water to rinse off. My girlfriend could not wash her hair. We talked to a lot of people from other villas that had no hot water. We did have hot water atleast but it did us no good. Forget the jacuzzi it would take about an hour to fill it. What is funny about this is that one day we were in the pool and I stepped on something. We looked down and it was a bar of SOAP! Its funny because one night I joked with my girlfriend that i should just go to the pool with some soap to take a shower. I guess someone got my idea!! Funny though I think we counted 3 bars of soap we found in the pool. Again a minor inconvenience, we survived.

3.NO GRACIAS- say this to the Timeshare people they are extremely annoying. They wear shirts that say ROYAL on them and are everywhere. Reading reviews on here we heard about them, and had our strategy to avoid them. They are very good though, they have a stand when you go into the buffet for breakfast, and once you walk in your first day, they greet you. Now we thought they were the host to seat you, but they are not. And they are everywhere even on the beach at times.

4.USE YOUR SAFE-at all times, daytime, nighttime, when you sleep, AT ALL TIMES!! I cannot stress this enough!! We used the safe during the day, due to the number of people who enter the room during the day like the housekeepers. On our second night, at 8pm we went to get dinner and a drink. We did not think anyone would enter our room at night and did not use the safe. USE THE SAFE at ALL TIMES!! We came back at 11 pm. We were gone for 3 hours. My cellphone was stolen, $100 dollars in one dollar bills(for tips) was taken out of my girlfriends purse, and a 120 dollars was taken from my wallet. YES people enter your room at night when you are gone! It is not a safe feeling. Employees will knock on your door when you are asleep, and enter if you dont answer the door. At all hours of the day and night! BEWARE. I have read other reviews of missing ipods, gucci bags, money, there is definitely a thief working on this resort.

5.YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN- Management, guest services, Apple reps, will not help you if anything is stolen. It is a horrible experience of being violated and helplessness. The resort services, management, apple reps all just say, “sorry for the inconvenience”. Nobody cares and nobody will help you. I knew the money was gone, but I had insurance on my cell phone. To use the insurance I needed a report from the hotel or the police that I had reported it stolen. The hotel would not help us in this regard. I did file a report at the hotel and police station, but neither would give me a copy of this report. The police station said that they would investigate it and send me a report in 45 days. I dont know how they are going to investigate it because they didnt even ask me what type of phone it was!! The hotel manager was extremely rude and uncaring. Remember that you are on your own and NOBODY cares what happens to you. One guest rep seemed sad for us but probably couldnt help us in fear for her job. I will be in contact with Apple and the Resort about this.

We just returned from the Ocean Blue (traveled March 3-10 with Air Transat Vacations out of Toronto). Of the four all-inclusive resorts I have stayed in over the last 4 years (Barcelo Maya in Mayan Riviera, Melia in Varadero, and Riu in Puerto Vallarta, Ocean Blue), I would say this is my favorite. We told our friend, a first-time ‘all-inclusiver’ that he was in trouble for future travels because it was going to be hard to find resorts that compared to this one; especially for the price.

Although the resort is technically two resorts (Ocean Blue and Ocean Sand) it is basically one large resort – everything is shared. The check-in is now centralized – what used to be one of the check ins is now the Club Elite check-in and lobby (with seating, small serve yourself bar, and what appeared to be free internet – we were not Club Elite members – just saw through the window). We were booked with the Ocean Blue but ended up staying in Villa 9, which is technically Ocean Sand.

They want you to leave your bags so that they can take them to the room for you – they were very insistent that they do this. Since we got in at 11 pm we really just wanted to get settled, changed, etc and figured it would take awhile to get the bags to all of the rooms (they use the tram). We just grabbed our bags and went and were thankful we did when we finally saw the tram come around at about midnight to drop off the bags.

Rooms
We traveled with another couple and they had called in advance to ask for side-by-side rooms, near the pool, ground floor, and a crib for their 17 month old daughter. They were told to call back the day before we were to arrive to confirm because they do the room assignments the day before. We were happy to find exactly what we asked for – although we had to call to get them to bring the crib to the room once we got there. The resort is designed with the pools in the centre and the rooms running along either side – which made most of the rooms close to a pool. We were very happy to have a ground floor room, as there are no elevators and lugging a child and gear up and down would have been a pain. Note on the cribs – they are obviously not bound by the same safety standards required in North America – the sides of the crib were very low and our friends worried about their daughter leaning over and falling out or climbing out.

Our regular “Junior Suite” room was fantastic – especially compared to rooms we’ve had before. Thanks to David from Canada for his tip on the light bulbs – they use 25 W high efficiency bulbs in the room which casts an eerie dim blue glow. Replacing one bulb with a 100W that I had brought made a HUGE difference. Unfortunately for some reason the 100W wouldn’t work in the bathroom – putting on makeup, etc was a bit difficult. Our room had 2 beach towels already in it and 2 bath robes, which was a nice luxury. They have Direct TV satellite and get tons of channels, including ABC, CBS, and NBC. Our TV was a little crappy and didn’t have some of the channels programmed in so we had to press the numbers individually to get the channels. Our TV also had the SAP setting on it which we couldn’t turn off, which meant some of the shows had Spanish dubbed over (bummer for us LOST addicts who were hoping to watch it while we were there.)

To be honest, we did have 3 cockroaches in the room. I figured it was normal for the DR and Guest Services confirmed that. They said they’d spray the room (we found one after they were supposed to spray, but it was overturned on the floor, which leads me to believe that they actually did spray).

There aren’t really any rooms that look at the beach (since they buildings run perpendicular to the resort). However I’m sure you can see the beach from the balcony of some of the rooms in the higher number Villas (9, 5)

Drinks
There were two Presidente beers (DR Pilsner) in the fridge when we arrived, along with some Pepsi products and a bunch of water. We stopped the beer stocking guy and got 5 more beers one day with no problem. Our friends left a $10 tip for the maid one day and a note asking for beers and got a different type of beer that we hadn’t seen on the resort (apparently better than Presidente). Note to Coke addicts – the whole resort serves only Pepsi products (although they insist on calling it Coke) – so you’re getting Rum and Pepsi. You can buy Coke products in the hotel shop (and in the small shops in Plaza Bavaro – neither are cheap). Liquor selection at the resort is AMAZING compared to places we’ve been before. They have Malibu Rum (great in a Pina Colada and Strawberry Daquiri), although it often ran out and they just told you they didn’t have anymore for the day. They also have Amaretto (although when Disaronno runs out they’ll substitute for the no-name product that isn’t as good), Johnny Walker Red Label and Black Label, Canadian Club, Bacardi Rum, Bacardi Limon, and a number of other liquors that you would normally find in North America. If you want Bacardi Rum ask specifically for it or else you’ll get the local rum. Beers at the bars seemed to be Presidente on tap and Corona and Bud light in bottles.

Food
Buffets are also fantastic compared with places we’ve been before. Excellent selection and things are not bland – tasty yet not spicy, etc. I’m a picky eater and was always full – pasta bars, stir fry bar, pizza, fries, great burgers (especially on the beach), super-yummy variety of rice. Even the desserts weren’t too bad. You can get crepes for breakfast and dinner dessert – fresh made with lots of toppings – so good! Saturday night they opened the kitchen and the buffet was served out of there – really neat, make sure you go there and not the a la cartes on Saturday. We were set to leave at 6:45 pm for home, which didn’t work out great since you can’t get a real meal between 6 and 6:30 pm. We went to the buffet right at 6:30 and took some food to go. This is one thing that is different than the other resorts I’ve been to – they have styrofoam plates, plastic utensils, etc so that you can take food out of the buffet and to your room, the pool, beach, etc. Really great for late sleepers or people with children who don’t abide by standard restaurant hours. Although they say Continental breakfast at the beach buffet it’s really just a few croissants, some random fruit, and coffee – don’t expect to eat a real meal between 10:30 and 11:30 am. And although they say the buffet opens at 11:30 for lunch, the one day we missed breakfast and were waiting for lunch it didn’t open until 12 pm.

Shopping
The taxi to Plaza Bavaro is $8. We walked back in about 45 minutes. It’s pretty much the same stuff that’s on the beach market beside the resort. The sales guys are very harassing, and with about 30 shops selling the same thing at the plaza you get tired of them telling you to look in their shop. And apparently everyone has a relative in Canada – they’ll say anything to get you in their store. They also have some of the Plaza guys come to the resort on Friday night – mostly just jewellery. Barter like you’ve never bartered before with all of the guys. One guy wanted US$45 for a pair of coconut shell earrings and a little bracelet. I told him I was willing to pay no more than $10 (which was still pretty pricey). After him repeatedly dropping his price I finally paid $10 – have the money in hand and walk away if they won’t take your price. The local rum is a good price in the Plaza – they were starting at US$9 a bottle for the Extra Old (Extra Viejo), which was $13 at the resort shop and a staggering $22 at the airport.

The shop at the resort has the standard high priced medical necessities, etc. A large bottle of Pepto-Bismol is $13 – ouch! The one thing that didn’t seem to badly priced was sunscreen – US$10 for a standard sized bottle.

Airport
A lot of the Plaza / market items are available at the airport for A LOT more money. The airport also has a Duty free with liquor, cigarettes, higher end watches and sunglasses (Fossil, D&G, Prada), and perfume. You can also get a few English magazines (Cosmo, Maxim, Glamour). The stores seemed to close around 10 pm. There’s a bunch of restaurants (Wendy’s, a pizza place, snacks and drinks). Note – you can’t take liquids past security AND you can’t take liquids you buy in the airport on to the plane. Don’t go to the bathroom when you first get past security – huge lines – walk to the air-conditioned section at the back of the airport where there were no lines.

Gym
The gym is quite nice and large. It looks out on to the resort with big windows and is well air-conditioned. They have a couple of treadmills, elliptical machines, and bikes, as well as weights.

Excursions
We did the Bavaro Runners Safari Adventure trip. It was similar to a trip we did in Cuba – sugar cane plantations, a fruit farm, lunch at the beach with horseback riding and other activities, driving through the local small towns, etc. It was interesting and worth the US$80 / person, if only to get off the resort for a day. My friend had a sore back the next day from the bumpy roads, though.

Time Shares
The time share guys hover around the main buffet entrance around breakfast and lunch. They’re wearing “Royal” shirts. They’ll ask you “do you speak English?” We just told them we weren’t interested and they didn’t push it.

Karaoke
We did Karaoke at the Overtime Sports Bar on Wed night. They also have it on Friday night. Not sure what time it started – it went until after 1 am. It was a lot of fun – they have tons of songs (English and Spanish).

Mosquitoes
I was obviously a little concerned about the Malaria outbreak that had occurred at the beginning of the year. We brought Malaria meds, but didn’t take them in advance – had heard stories about friends with really upset stomachs from the meds and decided to take a chance. The meds can be used as treatment if you get malaria, so we figured it was our backup plan. I am usually a mosquito magnet and ended up with only one bite the whole time we were there. I sprayed with bug spray every night before going for dinner. My less diligent friend forgot to spray a couple of times and ended up with 6 bites all week. They do spray for mosquitoes each night – which I think people have complained about on this site. They do it around 6 pm because that’s when the mosquitoes start to come out – they can’t do it at night, it wouldn’t work. They drive around in a pick up and spray out the back. It smells for a few minutes and then goes away – not a big deal.

My husband and I, along with my sister and brother in-law just came back from our first trip ever to Punta Cana, D.R.. We have nothing to say but horrible things about the Ocean Blue Resort. We used Apple Vacation to book our trip and read some of your reviews and that's how we ended up there.

I suggest you'd fair and list some of "not so nice" reviews on your website, because it's not all true...

We stayed on the first floor of Villa 4 (room 4108). At the beginning I couldn't really understand why the strong odor of chemical spray was in our room and in the drawers, but later on we found out the hard way.

Not only little critters with many legs appeared at night but we encountered a "HUGE RAT" at 2:00 a.m. when we arrived to our room one night. We found blood on the bathroom floor and while investigating that the rat just went running to the bedroom. My screams woke several families on the adjacent rooms; the rat ended up running back to the bathroom and disappearing in the vents. They told me that the Rat was either bleeding or was eating something that bled. Disgusting!

I have had bad dreams since that day, and even though our rooms were changed the rest of our vacation was already ruined. Now that we are home I could still see that creature running past me; also, all my clothes and my husband's all had to be washed twice to get the smell of the spray off.

This was our first and last time. Don't deceive people by just showing the nice reviews, there's more to it than meet the eyes.

We stayed at the Ocean Blue from 3/1-3/7/07. I travelled with my husband, his brother and his fiancee.

Upon check in we were offered a cold cloth and there special Ocean Blue drink. It was a nice touch, check in took 5 min. or less. The lobby area is beautiful and open, just like you expect of a tropical location. The bell man took our luggage to our room and told us to take the tram up to meet him, after waiting about 10 min. we decided to walk to our room. The tram only runs occasionally at best, we never rode on it it just wasn't convenient.

Rooms were large and clean. The mini fridge was always stocked well especially when we told her "muy agua and quatro Presidente". The bathroom was also a good size and had a jacuzzi tub. The downfall is it takes about a 1/2 hour to fill so I decided it wasn't worth it. We only had a problem with water temperature or pressure once or twice. I'm not quite sure that this resort qualifys as a 5 star. The paint was chipping in the room and the phone jack didn't fit in the hole in the wall (it gapped on the top). The armoire was quite beat up also. We didn't really mind these things because everything was very clean but again not quite 5 star. We were on the Sands side even though we booked for the Blue. We requested 3rd floor with pool view/side and got it. We also had a limited view of the ocean which was an added bonus.

The food was not spectacular but was good. There is such a variety that you could never go hungry. We mainly ate at the main and beach buffets. But we did try the Mexican Margurita and the American Route 66. They were both good but don't really expect completely American food at Route 66 you are still in the Dominican. The service was just ok in the restaurants, we almost always had to wait for drinks, I ended up bringing my own from our fridge somedays. The desserts look deceivingly good but all seem to have this weird gelatin texture so we steered clear of everything except the ice cream. Mike's coffee house was a daily ritual for me (some days twice) it is wonderful, practically Starbucks!

The Lobby Bar was wonderful, we were there every night. The staff is fabulous! Juan, Jobany, Luis and Sonja will take great care of you. We became friends with all of them and will miss them. The pool bar at the 2nd pool was always hopping, Ramon is the main bartender down there and he is marvelous. He remembered our name everytime we swam up and if we were laying out he'd run over and give us a refill! Try the Coco Loco or the Ramon Special both are wonderful!

The pool area was beautiful and super clean! It seemed that the 1st pool is a little more quiet and had more family's around and the 2nd was a little more rowdy and had activities from time to time. We spent time at both depending on our mood. The waitresses are slow down there but remember you can always go get your own, don't forget things slow way down in the Dominican, no worry's. The beach is also very clean and has plenty of chairs. The water was perfect not too rough.

The grounds were always well maintained. Someone was always sweeping up or trimming plants. The resort is very long so there is alot of walking from your room up to eat or down to the beach. I didn't particularly care for this design but that's just my opinion.

Tipping: We did tip, but not all the time. We tipped when we thought that the service was exceptional. You can tell though that some of them have grown to expect it, those are the ones that aren't as good as they should be and did not get a tip from us.

Overall we had a wonderfully relaxing time and did exactly what we wanted to. Our only problem was that we did have trouble communicating with some of the staff, we only know limited Spanish and they seemed to not know any English.

Once again, we are pleased to submit our review of this terrific resort where we spent 2 tremendous weeks from Jan.31/ to Feb.14/07.

We are a mid-50's couple from Alberta, Canada who have travelled extensively in Mexico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, and who have stayed at many all-inclusive resorts in that time. This was our 4th trip to the DR, and second to Punta Cana, having stayed last year at the Majestic Colonial. This was the best two-week stretch of weather we've ever had, as it rained briefly in the evening on Superbowl Sunday and then for about 2 hours during the following Saturday afternoon. Otherwise, clear blue skies and temps in the high 20's and low 30's!!

The trip down on Air Transat was very comfortable, as I was able to pre-book an emergency exit row seat, which is something Squishservice doesn't permit. The food service left a lot to be desired, being a Harvey's breakfast sandwich followed later by a small wrap thingy. After a brief stop at Puerto Plata, we arrived 20 minutes ahead of schedule at PC. It was about an hour in the airport retrieving luggage and going through customs and we were on the bus for a 40-minute ride to the resort along some extremely bumpy and pot- hole filled roads (memo to the Dominican Highways Minister: take some of the millions of dollars generated by your tourist industry and improve your road-system!!)

There were only six of us going to the OB, so check-in was quick.
The luggage is taken on a golf cart to the room and you could also jump on as well or walk to the room. I had previously emailed the resort requesting a pool-view room in Villa #5 and got exactly that!! The room was located about 2/3 of the way from the lobby to the beach and faced the beginning of the "blue" pool area. As other reviews have noted, there is a lot of walking involved at this resort, as the lobby and restaurants are located at the front of the property and it is about a half-mile walk from there to the beach.

There is a tram that goes around the resort every 10 minutes or so, but the walking is conducive to wearing off all the food and booze consumed during the 2 weeks. The blue pool area is the quieter of the 2, as the "yellow" pool area is where a lot of the games take place in the latter part of the afternoon and it can get quite noisy!! Both pools have swim-up bars and service is excellent at both. There are top-shelf brands of liquor available, as well as Corona, Budweiser, Heineken (all in bottles) and Presidente beer on tap. The "dirty monkey" was our frequent drink of choice and they were superb, even in the big thermal mugs we brought with us. There was a drink waitress at each of the 2 pools---"Nelly" was the girl at the blue pool area and she was excellent!!

The resort is rated as a 4.5 star and deservedly so. It has been open for 2 years now and the landscaping and shrubbery are maturing nicely. The walkways are made of some kind of paving stone/rock and are slippery when they are wet either due to the rain or the regular washing and cleaning of them which goes on on a daily basis. Be careful!! The room (a junior suite) was spacious and nicely decorated and had 2 queen beds and a pull-out sofa couch. (Some of the rooms had a king-sized bed). The closet and dresser were adequate and there was a free in-room safe which you programmed with your own 4-digit code. There was a coffee maker, iron and board, hairdryer and a terrace/patio with a table and 2 chairs. The TV had many channels, including CBS and ABC, but during the second week they mixed the channel #'s up and some disappeared and were replaced by others!! No idea why.

Both pool areas had lots of chairs and umbrellas, but you had to be there by 9:00 or so to put your towel down to get a spot. And shade was an absolute necessity at times given the hot sun. The pools were warmer than many we've been in, but refreshingly cool when you jumped in. They were cleaned and vacuumed on a daily basis and there was no problem using floaties and air mattresses which we brought with us. They are very expensive in the resort store, so best to bring your own. The beach was the gorgeous white-sand type that you find in this area and was groomed and cleaned by a machine each morning, and you can walk or jog for several kilometres each way from the resort. There was never a problem getting a lounger there, but the shade structures leave a lot to be desired. They consist of 4 posts with cloth over the top for shade, but I much prefer the usual palapa-type ones that are prevalent at most other resorts. But there are lots of them spread out over the length of the beach in front of the resort. There is a well-equiped beach bar in the middle of the beach area, but it was very busy at times and service was slow.

The make-it or break-it point for us on a holiday is the food and we have absolutely no complaints in this regard. The main buffet was terrific for breakfast, lunch & dinner and if you can't find something to eat there, then you're far too picky!! There is a smaller lunch buffet at the beach restaurant and on one Saturday they set up barbeques at the beach for grilling hamburgers, hotdogs and a variety of sausages. There were various theme nights at the dinner buffet and my favorites were the 2 Gala nights where they served large pieces of grilled lobster one time and tons of grilled shrimp on the other such occasion. Other themes included French, Italian, German, Dominican, Spanish and American.

We ate at all of the 5 included a la cartes and were pleased that no reservations were required. The most we had to wait was at the Italian for about 15 minutes one evening. If you get there right at 6:30 when they open, chances are that you'll get in right away. The tempura shrimp and the salmon were especially good at the Italian and the ribs and steak were OK at Route 66. The Mexican was probably the least impressive of the bunch. The other 3 get a passing grade. Not to be missed is Mike's Coffee & Tea, either in the AM after breakfast or after dinner. There is a terrific selection of coffees (both hot & frozen) and teas, and the desserts (especially the cheescake) are excellent!! We did not go to the other a la cartes as there is a $35.00 per person supplemental charge for each and we felt that we had enough choices as it was. I did sneak a peek at the lobsters being served at the Seafood one at the beach and they were huge!!

They put on a Superbowl party in the conference room and did an excellent job. There was a projection-type TV with a huge screen and the food and drink were plentiful.

The evening entertainment shows in the large Theater building started at 9:30 PM and were somewhat disappointing in my opinion. There were a lot of repetitive musical (lip-synching) and dance-type shows which get old in a hurry. They did have a Mr. Ocean 2007 and Mrs. Ocean 2007 and they were entertaining as audience participation was the key here. The Magic Show was interesting as well. I think this resort needs to spend some $$ in this area to upgrade the entertainment so as to be on a par with the rest of the resort.

We can't comment on any of the many excursions available as we didn't go an any, other than a 10-minute cab ride to Plaza Bavaro for some shopping. Quite frankly, the same stuff can be had at the "Orange Village" on the beach immediately adjacent to our beach. Be prepared to do some hard bartering with the vendors!!

A nice part of any holiday is meeting new people and spending time with them and once again we lucked out, thanks to Jeff & Marilyn from Winnipeg, Paul & Colleen from Vancouver, and Roger & Joanne from Regina!! Many a cocktail was consumed and many lies were told, I'm sure!!

We were at the Ocean Blue resort from Feb 16-23 and all 17 of us ages 51 to 5 had a truly great time!

A lot of what I would say could be repetitive as most was mentioned in the other reviews, i.e. extremely slippery walkways... The property is very clean which was important to us. The property is only two years old so there is no face lift needed yet for the rooms. We had two rooms in Villa 6. We were categorized in the Elite Club which was nice and had some perks but honestly, if we hadn't gotten the category on a special I wouldn't not have paid the extra money for it. The main benefit was being able to get dinner reservations for the group of 17 but other than that it wasn't all that it was advertised to be. It was hard to take advantage of the one hour of motorized sports per STAY not per day as other reviews noted. If the weather is not great and too windy the boats can't go out. The boat for tubing was broken when we were there so we couldn't do tubing or water skiing. Even though I paid full adult price for my two 17.5 year olds they weren't allowed to have the blue elite wrist band so for them to get a beach towel was a challenge every day. The manager at the resort said they didn't give the adult band to those under 18 due to underage drinking but just about any age could have an alcoholic drink down there and the disco even advertised that anyone 16+ in age could attend a beer drinking contest !!

Most of the staff at the hotel were very friendly and accommodating. Service was not slow. They aim to please. The rooms were cleaned thoroughly every day. We did tip the maid daily a few dollars. We also tipped bar tenders that were attentive.

We were pleased with all of the restaurants. The food is good...not quite gourmet but something for everyone. We had some picky eaters and believe me none of us went hungry.

We all really enjoyed Mike's for dessert and coffees every evening after dinner. The kids loved taking the tram from the beach every afternoon for a treat at Mike's. We tried all the restaurants with the exception of Bucanero Grill but heard from other guests that it was great. We also didn't get to try La Brasa (Caribbean beach grill) for dinner as it was closed every night for private parties. We were disappointed about that as it was a lovely setting. We ate all of our lunches there in a more casual setting. They did a beach grill on Saturday of burgers, dogs, steak and chicken which was really good. The stir fry at the main buffet was delicious. You can find just about anything at the main buffet. The antipasto bar at Mascherati di Venezia was awesome!

We had a great times at the pool swim up bars and met lots of new friends and tons of laughs. The lobby bar entertainment was great! The sax player was awesome and we also really enjoyed the vocalist singing Frank Sinatra, etc..

You do need to get up early to claim your pool or beach lounge. Watch out for Francesco an entertainment employee at Ocean Blue who gets paid "on the side" by other guests to save their lounges in the early a.m. He will move your stuff to accommodate his "paying" customers. We found our personal monogrammed towels on the floor in the towel hut. I was not happy about that! He upset other guests by doing the same thing to them too.

We only went off property one day and did the 1/2 day snorkeling tour. It was fun but would have been even better if we weren't in torrential down pours of rain. We were soaked and cold. The wind blew the rain on us most of the time but it let up when it was time to snorkel over the sharks and sting rays. The tour should probably have been canceled but since it wasn't and we paid $80 per adult we went forward...The coco locos were yummy and helped make up for the rain!

Myself and my boyfriend (both 28 years old) stayed at the Ocean Blue from 2/16-2/23/07. This was our 2nd time to Punta Cana and our 3rd all inclusive trip.

This resort was beautiful and extremely clean. The lobby area is really big and has an air-conditioned reception area. Upon check in we were given a great fruity drink and a washcloth to wash our faces. Check in took approximately 5 mins. We were then rode the tram to our room which was in villa 4.

Villa 4 is located right in the middle of the resort. We did email ahead of time and requested a king bed, 3rd floor room, and a pool view. However, none of the requested was available, so we were given a 2nd floor room, 2 double beds, and a view of the resort next door. It was a little disappointing, but not a big deal, as we were never in our room, but to sleep. The rooms were nice, double sinks in the bathroom, and a Jacuzzi tub. The higher the villa number the closer you are to the beach, so villa 10 was right on the beach.

The pools were beautiful and really big, 2 pool bars and several small pools for children.

The grounds were immaculate and always being cleaned. Be careful the walkways get very slippery when it rains. I almost slipped and fell a couple of times and when we were coming out of the bowling alley my boyfriend fell really hard on the steps, causing multiple lacerations to his arms, and large bruises to his backside (no we were not drinking). I am warning you because its really slippery, even with the best shoes on.

The food was great! Probably the best we have had at an all inclusive. No reservations at the restaurants which we liked, just show up and you can usually get in within 30 mins, or if your a group of 2 right away. The Italian rest food was really good. The shrimp and salmon are huge, tenderloin was great, as well as the crab ravioli. The Mexican was good and the Dominican was good as well. We also tried the lobster on the beach and would highly recommend it. It was the largest serving of lobster that I have ever seen, 2 tails at least 8 inches long, plus drinks, soup, appetizers, and desert. The breakfast and lunch buffet were also good. If you can't find something you like on the buffets your a much too picky eater!

The beach is beautiful and really active. Lots going on all of the time. We never had a problem getting chairs on the beach. We did the banana boat and it was a lot of fun.

We didn't use the spa, but it looked really nice and relaxing and the prices weren't too bad either.

The bowling alley was great for our 2 rainy days. You get a free game with your room and every game after that is $15.00 US dollars.

At night the lobby bar has live entertainment, the sax player was really good. The shows were ok, although "Chicago" was great!!!! The casino is small, but serves its purpose.

The resort is really close to a small town, so you can take a 10 min bike ride into town if you want which was fun!

As for excursions this year we did not do any as it was too windy and they were cancelled, it also rained 2 days.

We were at the Ocean Sand/Blue Resort from February 10th - 17th. There were 6 of us, 2 in our early 60's, 2 in the early 50's and their 2 teenage daughters.

Our trip out of Toronto was with Skyservice and we were in line at 1:15 pm for a 4:30 flight; as a consequence, when we snaked our way to the counter, we were first for our flight and got 6 across for the exit row (30 on the 757's). TIP: If you're on that flight, eat at the airport before boarding. The flight didn't get to PC till 10 pm PC time and by the time everybody cleared customs, found the bus, arrived at the resort and checked in, it was after 11 pm. Our bags didn't get to the room till after midnight.

We had emailed the resort earlier to try to get a unit close to the beach and an upper floor. We got unit 9 (the second closest to the beach) on floor 3. The rooms were not adjoining but close.
By the way, all previous reviews for this resort mentioned the fact that beach towels were provided in the room upon arrival. No longer. I guess they must have just switched to the card process. No big deal other than the first morning when you had to exchange the cards for towels. The booth opened at 8 am PC time (meaning about 8:15 am).

There are 2 large pools, the quieter blue pool, the more active, noisier yellow pool and, finally, the large beach area. We used the beach a couple of days and stayed at the blue pool the other days. I refer to the colour because the umbrellas and lounges are either blue or yellow. The blue lounges have mats, the yellow are just the canvas material.

TIP: Want to ensure a location with an umbrella (at this time of year, anyway?) at 7 am--no problem. at 8 am--maybe a few locations left. at 9 am--forget it. (add about 1/2 hour to times for beach).

Not much point repeating everything that many other reviewers have said since I'm sure you're doing as we did .... read a whole bunch of reviews on the site to get a feel for what to expect. I will mention a few things, though.

The rooms ARE dark with their use of those little power saver bulbs. I brought down 2 - 150 watt bulbs for the room but should have brought down 1 more for the bathroom. My wife had a hard time for makeup purposes.

I never smelled a musty odor in the room as others have mentioned. We did fall victim to the lack of hot water/low pressure a couple of times during the week---usually between 4:30 and 5 in the evening.

Towel replacement in the room was a bit on the hit and miss at times. One day, the bath towels weren't replaced. Our 2 facecloths on day 1 became 1 after that but no big deal, we brought a couple of our own. One thing I noticed was that this resort only provided 1 wastebasket per room, not two. You don't notice the inconvenience of not having a second one until there isn't one. No show stopper....just an observation.

The food was ok, not terrific. We ate at 3 of the al a cartes, the Mexican (poorest service and food in our collective opinions), Dominican and the Italian. We found it funny seeing all the Americans line up to get into the American every night. No place like home, I guess. The buffets were varied--especially at breakfast. Whatever you could want, including fresh donuts made while you wait, they had. The beach buffet had less choice than the main and was always crowded at lunch, being on the smallish size. I've been to resorts where you had to book dinner times by lining up in the morning. A pain in the you know what. I really like the first come-first serve here, even if it means you lined up for a bit at the al a cartes (remeber, we were a party of 6).

The entertainment....well, they tried. Just consider it about an hour a night to kill some time. Their rendition of "Chicago" (condensed version) was pretty entertaining but the stuff other nights was pretty lame.

My wife needed access to the Internet and it was there in a small building off the main lobby area. $7/30 minutes or $4/15 minutes. All times had to be used in 1 session.

Grounds were terrific looking and clean. Staff were friendly. since we were nearer the beach area rather than closer to the lobby/restaurant area, there was a 6 or 7 minute walk each time from 1 location to the other. Seemed longer in the hot sun (big problem, eh?). There is a shuttle that seemed to circle the grounds every 15 minutes or so, if so inclined.

The weather was great for us all week. Every day in the mid to high 80's and not a drop of rain. Nights were in low 70's I expect.

TIP: Our checkout was 1 pm for a 6:30 pm trip to the airport. Even if we did want to pay for a late checkout, we couldn't as the resort was overbooked for the next week's people coming in.

HERE'S WHAT THEY DON'T PROMOTE but have available. A COURTESY ROOM. Here's how it works. The resort sets aside a block of rooms not available for weekly guests. At checkout, you're entitled to 1/2 hour in one of these rooms per room booked by your group. So, for instance, since there were 6 of us (3 rooms booked), we could have had 1 room for 90 minutes or 3 1/2 hour time slots. We chose the latter. So, at 1 pm, I selected a 4:30 pm slot for myself. That way, we could leave our towels at the pool and still have extra hoursat the pool/etc after checkout time. At 4:30 pm, we showed up at reception, got the key to the assigned room (in a unit close) and had 1/2 hour to shower, clean up, change, etc. into our going home attire. And then we returned the key and the next people would show up. The resort has more than 1 room available so more than 1 group could have the same timeslot but different rooms. Ask for the courtesy room at checkout.

Oh yeah, we thought...based upon reviews here.......that we'd be inundated by the timeshare guys. Either they've been told to tone it down or some people here are somewhat sensitive. We almost couldn't find the guys some days!

Finally, forgot to mention, since our week went over Valentine's, my wife and I had massages in the spa on that day. Hot stones for her ($105 US for 85 min), deep massage for me ($85 for 50 minutes). Somewhat expensive but what the heck.......

My husband, myself, daughter & her partner have just returned from the Ocean Spa. After having read some of the previous reviews I was hesitant. It was great. Do not be put off by some of the previous bad reviews, in our opinion they are totally unwarranted.

The Lobby was light & airy, the grounds are beautifully kept, the food was great - something for everyone, except if you want burger & chips all the time as some do. However these are freely available at several places on the complex.

The beach was fabulous, the weather was fabulous and the speciality restaurants were all extremely good, the poorest one in our opinion was the Brazilian, with the Japanese being an experience to remember. We visited all of them and found something to our taste in each. We did find however that some of the guests, coming from a neighbouring large country, no names, no pack drill, were extremely loud and have no concept of the need to queue sometimes, walking straight up to the front of the queue and demanding to be served, and guess what, they were served first, not a trait I appreciated after waiting some 5 mins or so for a drink. They seem to holiday in droves, armed with their stainless steel pint mugs which they fill with copious amounts of alcohol then proceed to get louder & louder in their conversations, regardless of who they may be disturbing. Anyway, enough of them. Do look out for the little lizards around the music stones, they are really cute, as are the beautiful resident flamingoes and visiting egret.

Our only hiccup was the foisty room we were given on arrival in block 93 which, on complaint was changed to block 100 - room 10206 which was the complete opposite, light airy and with a good view.

We got back from the Dominican Republic staying @ The Ocean Blue Beach & Golf Resort in Punta Cana on Dec.21-06.

The family consists of Monique my wife, my kids, Paige (13), Lance (12) and myself Ron. We also travelled with our friends, Gary and Judy that stayed for a week.

Flight & Bus ride
-We flew with AirTransat, leaving Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) and spent a very smooth flight of 6 hrs going there. After 2 movies, it didn’t seem to long especially since I stretched out and slept for half of the trip. We had to land in Puerto Plata first and let off those going there and pick up those going back to Edmonton, this took about 90 mins.
We then flew to Punta Cana. On the way back it was direct. Flight attendents were great, meal food wasn’t. Recommend that you bring eating snacks with you on the plane.

We arrived at a beautiful outdoor airport, must be fairly new in the dark of nightfall. Went thru customs, got our luggage and right away baggage guys are on you to take your bags to your bus, there goes your first dollar. Bring lots of US $1 bills for tipping! The bus was a newer air conditioned one with a host telling you about Dominican things but every 10 mins. he’s telling you to meet your rep. for a meeting in the morning. Well we will definately miss that meeting. We’re on holidays! The bus ride is like an amusement ride in the dark tunnel of ….., narrow roads, pot holes everywhere and driving flat out. Getting us to the resort in about 45 mins.

The Resort
– You are well received when you get there, a blue drink and wet towel are given to you as you check-in. You’re in a very big nicely marbled lobby w/ comfy seating around a central bar. The lobby also has a cigar shop, convenience & gift store, internet room ($7 for 30 mins), jewellry shop, ATM cash machine (only dominican money) and different guest service areas. You then entered a big central area where all the restaurants and entertainment (rec center, casino and theater) were. Past that you were on the way to the suites, walking towards the beach. The suites were large enough for 4 people w/ a big bathroom of 2 sinks, a whirlpool tub and lots of towels, so we were comfortable and looked forward to the vacation. There was a safe (free), fridge w/ pop, water & beer, and TV w/ a dozen or so stations. Hair dryer, iron and board were also there. The resort was big but not overly huge and very nicely laid out. The layout of the suites surrounded 2 very large pools, and progressed from the Main Buffet Restaurant towards the ocean, I would say 200 yards if not more of a walk, I caught the tram sometimes. But it was always nice to walk. They have music thru out the grounds which are kept very clean. At night, I think weekly, watch out for the bug spray truck, I don’t know why they don’t spray after midnite. They were doing this @ 8pm when everybody was still walking around and left a smell and fog that hovered around for a few hours. Bad taste in the air. Initially our suite faced nothing but trees and the outside property line w/ no view. I talked to a lady @ guest services the next day and then Joel (very good english) set us up in a room on the ground level (no view) so the next day we got a great room in building 5 on the 3rd floor (5323) with a view of the pool and you could see the ocean way ahead, the only drawback was that our balcony had a solid front railing, you saw everthing when you were standing but couldn’t see anything but sky and tree tops when you sat down. There was probably 40 rooms like this. I don’t understand why they would block a balcony view with this concept but we lived w/ it as we weren’t the only ones and we had moved enough. There was also a work-out/ spa building w/ many different spa packages plus massages on the beach. I have the brochure w/ all the prices. Monique had a massage on the beach said it was worth the $70, she also had a spa treatment and loved it too!

The Beach
– I’ve got to say the nicest sand we have been on and we’ve been to Florida, Hawaii, Cuba, Mexico riviera, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas (Virgin Islands), St. Marteens, this sand never burnt or made it hot on your feet, it was like talcom powder. (You will know what I mean when you first set foot on it). They tractor racked it everyday to keep it clean. There were lots of beach chairs and little tables, we always found chairs at any time of day (could be the time of year we went). Beach towels were given to you at the beginning in your rooms so there was no extra charge or ticket req’d, you just change them for clean ones when needed at the beach hut. There were also areas to sit under shade. They have board games if you wanted to play (backgammon, chess, etc.). They have a climbing wall, banana boat rides $7, scuba and snorkel gear, kayak boats, windsurfing (I think you had to pay for this), a beach buffet and 2 beach bars. The torquise clear water with a perfect temperature was awesome. We had 85 degree weather everyday, a couple days it rained for maybe 5 mins. And one night it poured pretty good but most people were sleeping.

You could walk that beach for hours. There were souvenir and other little huts beside the resort on the beach front if you want to haggle and pick up items. Otherwise nobody bothered you on the beach property of the resort. There were trip organizers in the lobbys of the buildings, at the beach scuba hut and Anthony from Buccuneros that went around the pool sometimes. There was security everywhere from day thru the night.

The Food
- They have 8 or 9 different restaurants there of different themes –The main Buffet w/ stir-fry, crepes, pasta and grill areas, the beach buffet, Dominican, Mexican, Italian, American, a sports bar for snacks that stayed open till 6 am, plus 2 extra pay restaurants ( one on the Beach had huge 2 lb lobster and seafood ) for $35. I found it worth every dollar plus we ate by the shore at picnics tables in the sand. The other had Château Briand, lamb, steak and a vast wine reserve. This was more food then we could handle, we ate and drank for around a $100. Please note that these are alternative places and not anything you have to do as the other restaurants are part of the all inclusive package and provide great food we were never disappointed at these. I guess for me, I love seafood and a 2 lb lobster- well could not pass it up! I guess to sum it up, this resort has food everywhere and very good food at that. Our kids even gave it a thumbs up!

The Drinks
– top name brands, no generics. Beer was Presidente everywhere (a nice clear beer), Bud & Heinkens in the lobby. Lobby also had Grand Marnier, Baileys, all sorts of great brands. Even champagne anytime, if you wanted. Of course slushy drinks too. Say hi to Domingo (poolbar) & Jose (sportsbar). They have a coffee shop called Mikes where they made Cappacinos and all the coffees, and teas you could want w/ a little pastry counter. Sort of something like a Second Cup place w/ lots of reading material and photocopied newspapers.

The Entertainment
– Not bad, but lacked a bit for excitement. Except the magic show which I thought was awesome. There was daily activites thru-out the resort that you either wanted to participate in or not (nobody was forced).

Our Recap
-We spent 2 fantastic weeks there. We were treated well. The staff were helpful if you wanted something, they made it happen. We found the staff in good humour for the most part and also very friendly (they all said Olla) some were interested in practising their english, so this was fun as we wanted to try our hand at some spanish also (lots of hand gestures and head nodding).

For the most part, we stayed at the resort. We did do a motor boat-snorkel trip for an afternoon (fun trip & lots of fish! $50 ea.) We also used the 9 holegolf facilities another day ($80 for everything- cart, clubs & balls). I think it was $35 if I had my own clubs and balls. Bring lots of balls, there was many areas of water and swamp. I lost 10!

We met many good people there and shared conversations about their trips and experiences, some very fun nights in the lobby! The music was always good by the sax player in the evenings.

Kids enjoyed themselves, met friends and loved the pools. There was always activities for them to do if they chose.

All in all, we had a great vacation here, at a truthfully nice resort and would recommend it to anyone who is thinking of going to the Dominican Republic.

We stayed at the Ocean Blue January 12-18. Overall a great place.

No wait to check-in. However, we were supposed to have a room with two queen beds and a sofa bed, and they had put us in a room with one king and a sofa bed--not ideal for 3 women! But they didn't have another room to offer us that day, but said we could switch the next day. The king bed was huge, and we didn't feel like packing and unpacking again, so we just stayed in the original room and took turns on the sofa bed. The king canopy bed was huge.

We had upgraded to the Elite Club, so we were in Villa 6, closest to the beach. We were on the third floor. Never heard any noise from other rooms, though sometimes smoke from smoking rooms came through into our bathroom.

We were three women friends celebrating a 50th birthday. We didn't really meet a lot of people to hang out with, as it was mostly couples and families with kids (and a lot of people didn't speak English) but that was okay.

Grounds are very nice, and everything is kept immaculately clean.

It was very windy the whole time we were there, so much so that we couldn't take advantage of any of the watersports included (kayaking, snorkeling catamaran, etc), so that was disappointing. Couldn't get a straight answer as to whether it's always like that or just a fluke. I think it rained a bit all but one day, usually just when we had gotten situation on the beach, but you just take cover in the bar for a while till the rain passes! Nice an sunny the rest of the time. The beach is very nice and the water is beautiful. If you got there by 8:30 or 9:00 there was no trouble getting chairs where you wanted.

Food was quite good, better than I've had elsewhere in the Caribbean (though breads and desserts never tasted as good as they looked).We liked the La Cana (Caribbean) and Dominican restaurants the best. Mexican was okay. The Italian not very good--the antipasti buffet was great, but the entrees were pretty bad (I guess we shouldn't expect good Italian food in the D.R.).

Didn't eat at Route 66. If you eat at the Bucanero (seafood restaurant on the beach) be aware that there's not choice in the menu, and it's all fish (though the waiter did let our seafood hater order from the La Cana restaurant, which is right there). We preferred to stay down at the beach end of the resort for lunch, and they did have a continental breakfast buffet later in the morning.

ENTERTAINMENT The casino is tiny and smelly. Sax player in the lobby is very good and that's a nice place to go after dinner. We caught a bit of one of the nightly shows, so-so. There is a small disco, which didn't seem to have anyone in it when we checked (around 9 or 10 o'clock) perhaps it got going later, but after all that all-day all-inclusive drinking and a big dinner, we weren't staying up that late. If you're looking for a big nightlife scene, this is probably not the place for you.

The staff were all very nice and spoke varying degrees of English.

For our return, we got to he airport almost 3 hours ahead of time as instructed, there were no lines at all, we could have spent another couple hours on the beach! This was on a Thursday afternoon.

Just a couple of negatives, which have been mentioned previously:
- The rooms are very dark, don't think I've ever been in such a dark room.
Evenn though there are several lights they provide very little light. You might want to bring a couple higher watt lightbulbs as suggested by others.

We stayed at the Ocean Sands 17-23 December 2006. It is a beautiful resort with many finishing touches that make for a nice vacation. This was our third Punta Cana resort and sixth in the DR.

The property is only two years old, so it is in pristine condition. The resort is spread out over about a half mile between the lobby and the beach. The shops and restaurants are near the lobby; the buffet is about one hundred yards in. There’s a palm-tree lined pathway leading from the buffet toward the pools, with the guest villas along the sides of the pathway and the pools. There are two very large pools, then a very wide stretch of beach. There is a trolley which runs non-stop around the resort, so any guests with mobility problems should be OK with the resort’s size. In fact, there are (steep) wheelchair ramps everywhere as well.

Guest villas – 10 beautiful buildings with between 70-100 rooms in each one. Each has a central courtyard with fountains or sitting areas. There are three floors in each, but only half the rooms face toward the center of the resort and the pools. The others face out towards the LTI resort on the Ocean Blue side and overlook natural growth on the Sands side. The rooms are large and very nice. Ours had two full beds with a nice sitting area, a large bathroom and Jacuzzi tub, and a good-sized balcony. There was a minibar stocked with pop, water and Presidente; we asked for diet pepsi and the maid left a 12 pack for us. There was also a coffee-maker in the room. The TV got the New York local stations and CNN. We were in a ground-floor room and had the occasional musty smell. There was only rarely a problem with lack of hot water and usually only for a few seconds. The power went out almost daily, but since the resort has it’s own generator the power was out very briefly before their own supply kicked in. Remember to reset the room power by pulling the card out of the airconditioner and inserting it again. The room safe is free and incredibly easy to use with your own code.

Lobby area – the reception was always staffed and never had a line up. There is a separate guest services room and another area for the guests in the elite villas. The lobby shops include shops for cigars, jewellery, internet (high speed 4$ per 15 minutes and 7$ for ½ hour), photos and the typical gift shop. The lobby also has an area for all the tour representatives.

A-la-Cartes: Nine altogether, two of which cost extra. Near the lobby are the Dominican (excellent food), the Mexican (good food and awesome margs), Mike’s Coffee Shop (see the other reviews for the raves), the Sports Bar, Route 66 American food, the Italian (excellent steak) and the Wine restaurant (extra $). There’s another at the beach which is also good. It is a snack bar during the day and always had excellent choices (chops, burgers, pasta, fries, desserts and ice cream). There’s another Seafood restaurant right on the beach (extra $) but we did not try it. The “Long Pants” rule for men at the a-la-cartes is STRICTLY enforced.

The main buffet is excellent. There’s plenty of room and the food is terrific. The breakfast is open at 6:00 for coffee/ continental and 7:00 for full-on breakfast food. There was bacon every morning. The staff are always handy with coffee, water or drinks. We did not have any problem with the timeshare salesmen outside the buffet – just look disinterested as you walk by and they’ll leave you alone.

The pools are huge and very well kept. There were always lots of loungers available.

The beach is quite wide and has plenty of loungers also. The palapas are not the typical palm leaf covers, but square shades with cloth covers. There are a few beach vendors selling excursions and tours. There’s also a rock-climbing wall at the beach that seemed to get lots of use. The watersport folks and towel pick-up are on the right side of the beach. To the left, you’ll find several huts where local Dominicans sell anything and everything.

The evening entertainment was well done. Better than most of the resorts I have visited in the DR. The lobby bar has entertainment usually beginning at about 8:00 every night.

There are several bars among the resort. All have efficient service and mix strong drinks. All have top-shelf liquors available, but usually aren’t offered unless requested. The bars can make Bloody Caesars upon request.

The Signature reps (Deborah and Alex) are available between 0900 and 1230 and again between 4:00 and 7:00. We got Deborah to help us with a reservation problem and a room change.

Unlike most resorts, they do not use towel cards. You get a couple of towels in the room to start and can exchange them at the beach. Or you can simply pick up more. I suspect many people just pick up towels every day and leave them on the chairs when they’re done for the day.

We did not use the bowling alley, kids-club, spa or the casino. The gym was fairly well equipped for a resort; it had a universal, weights, a couple of bikes and ellipticals. And it is airconditioned.

Just got back Dec 08 from 2 weeks at this resort. Third time in Punta Cana and 7'th time at an all inclusive (also been to Mayan Riviera). This resort rates high on our list for many reasons, some big, some small. We're married late 40's, no kid with us. We've never stayed at anything but a 4 to 5 star, so keep that in mind. If you have been to all in's before, then you will appreciate some of the little things as we did....

TOP Reasons for liking it

1. Mike's Coffee & Tea, If you like your coffee or tea, this resort has a great air conditioned place to site and relax, enjoy a paper. Indoor & outdoor seating to sip a latte, cappuccino, mochachinno, whatever......
2. No reservattions required at the a la carte restaraunts, just show up and and if they have room, you get a table. We were never turned away but some people had to wait a bit at the Italian.
3. No towel cards required. Those silly plastic cards they usually give you and charge you $25.00 if you lose them do not exist here. Just go get a towel, no hassle.
4. A la carte's are not bad at all. The Italian and Mexican have everything you'd expect including really good appetizers which you can help yourself to. The american diner (Route 66) has chicken wings, chicken fingers, clubhouses, ribs, steaks, shakes, etc. Usually pretty good, kids favorite of course. The Dominican resteraunt is a bit more adventurous but unless you're really fussy you can find something here as well.
5. Good lobby bar with live music at 8pm every night.
6. Good casino with machines that work!
7. Very friendly staff
8. quick check in, they have everything ready for you when you get there, takes a minute per room.
9 Freshness of breads, butter, and availability of condiments such as Heinz ketchup, mustard, mayo, A1 sauce, that sort of thing.
10 Good beach restaraunt, pizza, burgers (build your own with all the trimmings available like lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, etc. Also heavier fare such as pork chops, seafood paella, etc, etc.
11 Nice layout, all the restaraunts, casino, bowling, etc are layed out in a semi circle around a main square with it's own distictive storefronts. This is just behind the lobby/entrance to the hotel. It's an easy walk to the pools/beach or you can cathc the tram which comes avery 10 minutes or so.
12. Rooms have air conditioning that works very well
13. Satellite tv so you can catch some North American (CBS, ABC, CNN) tv if you want to stay in your room and relax.
14. Premium brand alcohol, Tanqueray Gin, CC Whisky, Baccardi Rum, Absolut vodka. Be specific and ask for those brands as they will pour cheaper stuff otherwise.(For Canadians they even make Caesar's at the pool bar and the lobby)
15 Good mix of Canadians, Americans, Brits, French and Germans.

DISLIKES

1. Not the best buffet, not horrible, just not up to par with a 5 star Iberostar for example. But much better than the Fiesta, so somewhere in between bad and really good.
2. Not for vegetarians. We aren't, but do like salads and this hotel just doesn't have much in the way of a salad bar... basically iceberg lettuce and chopped cabbage, that's it. As far as cooked vegetables, well, not really much and what there is kinda unappetizing.
3. Lack of shade around pools. Umbrella's poolside are at a premium, grabbed by the early risers. Shade at the beach not a problem though.
4. House wine, just plain putrid. They do serve a drinkanble sparkling wine however, just stay away from the red.
5. Timeshare salesman. Beware overly friendly "Hey how are you" guys at the entrances to the buffet. If you dare show up early before doors open at 6.15 and you stand there you are fair game. They are a pain in the you know what.
6. Mini market in the square. They bring in locals to sell their stuff at tables outside. (If you like that kind of thing, bartering, everyone approaching you at the same time, there is a public beach market next door to the resort where you can do that. Hard to walk anywhere near their tables without every one of them begging you to look at what they have. They just don't give you a chance to look or think. Someone should teach them that most people are avoiding them just because of that. If they just let people shop. Oh well, their loss. Just go a different way as they set up in front of the casino.

one pice of advise, bring enough US cash for tipping, shopping, etc. They have a cash machine on site but it only dispenses Peso's. The only place you can exchange Peso's to US Dollars is at the Casino, at not very favorable exchange rates. There is a safe in your room (free), bring cash baby.

Photos
We’d like to thank everyone at Debbie’s site who helped us and to Debbie for having this fantastic website.

We stayed at Ocean Sand/Blue from October 14th to October 21st 2006.

Our review is broken into sections, so you can pick what you want to read. Some sections will be for those flying out of Toronto. The sections are as follows:

• Executive Summary
• Travel Agent (Durham Region residents)
• Skyparx
• Toronto Airport Security
• Skyservice
• Ocean Sand Review (includes restaurants, bowling, casino, pools, and more)
• Personal Notes

If you have any questions after reading the review, please contact us at jandptaylor@rogers.com.

Executive Summary
In short, this is a fantastic resort. We have been to Allegro and Breezes in Punta Cana, and this resort really blew us away. We have been to 4 star resorts, and this one is listed as 4 and a half, but in our opinion, this is a five star resort. Everything about it was absolutely perfect. The staff was friendly and courteous. The food was great. We tried all the free a la carte restaurants and never had a problem in any of them. To get a drink at any bar was only a matter of a minute, or two. We have never seen champagne flow so freely.

Leaving Punta Cana was the only problem. It’s not the bus ride to the airport, but check-in and security took almost 3 hours to complete. We just got inside the airport to the gate and they were calling our flight.

Travel Agent (Durham Region residents)
Our hats are off to Paula at Breakaway Travel, on Centre Street, in Oshawa. We originally went to see about going away in November. We had a couple of resorts in mind, but after reading the reviews about Ocean Sand/Blue, we were determined to get this hotel. Because of specialist appointments, we had Paula trying different dates, but none were fitting into our schedule. She finally came up with October 14th to Ocean Sand via Signature Vacations for $488 CDN plus tax per person. It was a great deal, and we also spent the extra money $15 CDN per person (each way) to reserve our seats.

Paula gave us our airport voucher and we had ten days to get ready to leave. We highly recommend Paula at Breakaway Travel for those people living in Durham Region.

Skyparx
For parking at Toronto Airport, it’s either ParknFly, or Skyparx. Skyparx had the cheaper price, but was a couple of extra minutes away. We asked on Debbie’s Forums which was better, and we elected to go with Skyparx. We are sure glad we did.

At Skyparx, they gave us valet service at the regular price. The total cost for eight days was under $50 CDN for the valet service. All you have to do, when you return, is call them and they pick you up. It was nice, since we got home late and the car was right there running and warmed up for us.

Toronto Airport Security
We asked on Debbie’s Forums about disposable lighters (since we are smokers) and appreciate all the responses. We had an idea for the lighters. Two lighters were placed in sealed bags in our luggage (no problem). Two lighters were placed in sealed bags in Jo’s purse (no problem). Two lighters were in Jo’s purse without any protection (no problem). Paul had one lighter in a pack of cigarettes (no problem). We figured at this point we could have put a flame thrower through without a problem.

Last year at security, they made us turn on all of our battery operated devices to show that they were working as they are supposed to (camcorder, CD player, etc). This year they didn’t bother.

The problem was Jo’s high heeled boots with a metal buckle. She had to take them off to be x-rayed. Paul had the camcorder, but felt that security may not like him filming Jo taking her boots off to be x-rayed.

Skyservice
We have traveled on Air Transat, and Air Canada to Punta Cana before. This was the first time for Skyservice.

We had also asked questions about Skyservice on Debbie’s Forums. We got answers to Skysquish, or Squishservice. What is funny is that it wasn’t the leg room. We found it ample and Jo has 36 inch long legs (she is an ex-model). The sad part is that we found the airline to be second, or third-class.

Everything is falling apart on the airplane we had. The televisions for the movies were poor. The seats weren’t as comfortable as Air Transat, or Air Canada. The armrests were broken as well. The staff were amazing with what little they had, we must admit that.

The flight took off half an hour late, due to the fact that the other Skyservice flight before us (that was bound for Punta Cana as well) had a delay because of a lizard on board. All we could think of was “Snakes on Planes”.

Ocean Sand Review
Because there is so much to tell about this resort, it is also broken down into sections for ease of use. Just pick the title of what you want to read and enjoy!

• Reception (check-in)
The bus was packed going from the airport to the hotel (40 minute drive). We thought we would have a long wait to check-in, but you don’t worry about your luggage until after you have checked-in.

It was only a matter of about ten minutes to check-in. You get your bracelet, room number, keycard, and map of the resort (that also includes your free bowling game). The reception area is air conditioned and is welcome from that first blast of heat that you get when you step off the plane and bus.

• Bell Boys
After you get your room number, you go back to get your luggage. This is where you will see the bell boys. You can’t miss them. They wear white shorts with white shirts. They have a big blue belt on, and wear hats that look like pith helmets. We thought they were going on safari.

They will mark your luggage with your room number and take it to your room. Because it was raining, they took us in a “train” to our villa.

• Rooms
We were in room 9221. This meant Villa 9, second floor, room 21. Our room had two queen sized beds, an 8 drawer dresser, television cabinet with fridge that included beer, soft drinks and water. There was also a sofa and coffee table. We had a clock/radio beside the bed. The beach towels were already in the room, as was a fresh fruit plate and bottle of red wine. Please note that we did not upgrade to “elite club”. We did email them in advance saying it was our second honeymoon (which it was).

There is a large closet that contains many hangers, the ironing board and iron, an umbrella, and the digital safe. The safe only requires four numbers to be entered to use it. It’s your choice of numbers too.

The bathroom has two sinks and a huge Jacuzzi tub. Be warned about the Jacuzzi. You must fill it up over the holes by over 7 cm (3 inches) or else the bathroom will be soaked all over (we found this out first hand). The water pressure was great and there was plenty of hot water too.

The balcony had a view of the pool and ocean (you just had to turn your head to the left for the ocean view). The balcony had two chairs and a table, where we sat at night with our cigars, champagne, and cognac.

• Grounds
The grounds are beautifully well kept. People are working on them constantly. Even in the lobby, you could probably eat off the floor, it was so clean.

There are fountains everywhere, as well as a small pond around the buffet restaurant. If you look closely enough, you will see fish in the pond around the buffet restaurant. There are also flamingos by the buffet restaurant and the occasional white heron will fly in to be with them.

• Pools
There are two pools at Ocean Sand/Blue. Both seem to be the same size. One has yellow lounge chairs at it, the other has blue lounge chairs at it. Both have swim up bars and Jacuzzis. Because it was the off season, one of the swim up bars was not open and that pool was much quieter, so we spent time there.

The deepest the pools are is about 5 feet, or 1.4 metres. The pool water is as warm as the ocean water. The pools are not spaced far from each other either, so going from one to another is only seconds apart. Some women do go topless at the pools, as well as the beach.

• Beach
We have been to Allegro (south of Ocean Sand) and to Breezes (north of Ocean Sand) and found this beach to be the best there is. The beach is very wide (from the hotel to the ocean itself). In fact, we think it may be one of the widest in Punta Cana. There are plenty of lounge chairs (blue and yellow). We never had a problem getting a chair at the beach any time of the day. Please note that we like to be close to the water and we found that most people liked to be farther away from the ocean.

• Ocean
We can’t say enough about the ocean. The colour of it is perfect. The waves were great to play in (most of the days were red flag days). Try the boogie boards on red flag days – we had a blast with them.

The water is warm as bath water. Even if it rains, stay in the ocean, it really is more fun.

You will also see pelicans flying from time to time. They mainly stay closer to the boats by the LTI resort.

• Beach Vendors
They are located right next door to the resort, so you won’t have far to walk (the LTI resort is on the other side). If haggling over price is the name of your game, you will have fun to get stuff “cheapy cheapy”.

• Mini Market (on-site)
You can find everything in here that you want. You name it and it’ll be here. T-shirts, postcards, souvenirs, first aid medicine, inflatable toys, dresses, bathing suits, etc.

Some sample prices are as follows:
- t- shirts $12 US
- postcards 2 for $1 US
- inflatable toys (small) $15 US
- small can of Pringles $5 US
- small pepto bismol $15 US

• Cigar Shop (on-site)
We did purchase a package of cigars (10 small tequila dipped) for $16 US. The one cigar that Jo wanted (for only one cigar) was $45 US. This wasn’t purchased. They also sell paintings in the store, but we never looked at the prices.

• Harrison’s Jewelers (on-site)
Jo loves diamonds and this place was another paradise to her. She found a ring she liked and it was $1,500 US. The Signature Vacation Rep told us that the prices for the same type of ring would be cheaper in Canada, so we left without anything, but Jo did film the ring.

• Metamorphosis Spa (on-site)
We never tried it out, but got some prices for those who may be interested.
Facial - $80 US and up
Massage - $90 US and up
Couples Special – half hour massage - $180 US

• Ocean Tower Casino (on-site)
We aren’t big on gambling, but we did play the slots and lost. There are lots of card tables, but hardly anyone was at them. Most were on the slots. In case you are wondering how much we lost it was $2 US – we played the five cent slots.

• Strike (bowling and more)
Yes, we did go bowling (10 pin). You must bring socks with you to bowl. You can go upstairs to play pool as well, but the pool tables are not level, but for us it made it all the more fun. We also played foosball there too.

• Mike’s Coffee and Tea
Mike’s opens at 10 in the morning and closes at midnight. The coffee is really good here and reminds us of Starbucks. In the afternoon, when it was hot, we went here for a frozen caramel mocha. It was fantastic. Jo being an ex-model had to count her calories and not drink it all, but Paul did his and what was left of Jo’s.

• Overtime Sports Bar
This is more than a bar. You can order food here as well. The hamburger and fries that we ate here were really good. Large televisions, if you really want to watch sports. Have a drink at the bar and enjoy.

• El Carey/La Tortuga Buffet Restaurant
Even through there are two names, it’s the same buffet in the middle. We ate here for all of our breakfasts and most of our lunches.

For breakfast you could get pancakes, yoghurt, French toast, cereal, croissants, omelets and even hamburgers. We would start the day with champagne and orange juice with our breakfast too. It was wonderful. Once you are seated, they will come over and serve you coffee too.

For lunch at this buffet, you could get almost anything going. Pasta at lunch was big on the menu. They had grouper, pork chops, steaks, chicken, ice cream, pastries and more at lunch. Once seated, you could order a drink. We had champagne with lunch.

We sat by a window that gave us a view of the flamingos and the occasional white heron.

• La Cana Beach Restaurant (Buffet)
We ate here for a few lunches. They had great pizza here. Once seated you were served a drink of your choice. This restaurant is right by the beach and always has a nice breeze blowing through it. It is the only “outdoor” restaurant where you can smoke. All other restaurants are indoor and air conditioned, so no smoking is allowed.

• Route 66 – American – a la carte
Imagine “Arnold’s” from Happy Days, and this is what the inside of the restaurant is like. Even Fonzie’s motorcycle is in it. Paul didn’t think he’d like the restaurant, but did. Jo didn’t want to go here at first, since we can get the same at home, but we found this to be the best food of the a la carte restaurants.

Paul had the rib eye steak with Cajun sauce for dinner. The steak was 8 ounces and took up more than half of the plate. He couldn’t believe it, but he did eat the entire steak. The sauce was nice and spicy too.

Jo decided on Cajun shrimp and chicken in pasta. She loved the spicy Cajun sauce. So, if you like spicy food, this is one of the places to be.

• La Casa – Dominican – a la carte
We thought that this restaurant had the best ambience of all of the a la carte restaurants. We loved it so much, we ate here twice.

It was very nice inside with soothing music playing. Jo had shrimp, mussels and fish with rice one night and garlic shrimp another night. Paul had garlic fish (3 fillets) and finely sliced beef in Creole sauce another night.

The hostess was fantastic here. After our meal, she came over each night and did a toast with us. She gave us “Mama Juana”. It’s supposed to be an aphrodisiac, but Paul thinks it’s a date rape drug.

• Margarita – Mexican – a la carte
This restaurant was the most fun. It was very much alive and hopping. Be warned if you don’t like hot spicy food. If you don’t, it may not be the place for you to be.
Jo ate jalapeño peppers and red chili peppers – her mouth was almost burnt off. Paul never saw her eat so many nacho chips to take the heat away, and Jo loves her food hot and spicy.

For dinner we had fajitas and tacos.

• La Brasa – Caribbean – a la carte
This restaurant is the only a la carte that isn’t in the “restaurant strip”. La Cana becomes La Brasa at night.

This restaurant has the best view, since you are right at the beach and ocean.

For dinner we had Jamaican – shrimp with mussels and rice.

Wouldn’t you know it, the hostess from the Dominican restaurant was the hostess at the Caribbean, and so it was another shot of Mama Juana for us.

• I Mascherati – Italian – a la carte
The décor in this restaurant is the best of the a la carte restaurants. It also has the longest lineup to get in. All of the restaurants open at 6:30, but we would arrive at least 20 minutes prior to get in.

For dinner we had crab ravioli and steak with mint juice. Of course dessert was tiramisu.

Since there is the long lineup to get in, we felt a bit rushed in this restaurant.

• Showtime – Entertainment
The shows start at 9:45 pm. This was too late for us, since we are always up before sunrise. However, we did go into the theatre and found tables with chairs and a bar in there, if you want to stay for the performance.

• Kids Club
This was closed while we were there. It has a play area and an enclosed building. It was probably closed, due to off season.

• White Sands Golf Course
We never went golfing, but it is only a matter of minutes away. It’s a par 72 course and costs $90 US per person to play a round.

Personal Notes
We have tried to keep the Ocean Sand review as neutral as possible, but you will find our opinion here.

This resort is absolutely fantastic. We can’t say enough about it. There was a friendly smile and “hola” from every staff member. Even the bartenders would shake your hand and introduce themselves.

We went down with $400 US and came back with $161 US. Most of the money was spent on tipping (it was our third trip to Punta Cana, so we didn’t need much).

We left the maids pens, pantyhose and tips. Bellboys, waiters, waitresses, and bartenders would get tips. For the less fortunate, we left sewing kits, clothing, and sandals.

We had 3 kilos (about 7 pounds) too much in weight going down, but due to what we left, we were 3 kilos light on the return trip. Skyservice did not charge us the excess weight going down to Punta Cana.

They have a daily “newspaper” at the buffet restaurant you pick up each morning. It gives you the daily activities, which restaurant will be closed that night, weather (usually wrong), and announcements. Since it was our second honeymoon, we had our honeymoon announced in the paper.

The food was fantastic at all of the restaurants. Jo mainly drank champagne down there, with each meal. Not that we are big drinkers. About 4 per day each, and that is a lot for us.

People will come around the pool area to take pictures with animals. Depending on the day, you can get your picture taken with either a monkey; iguana; or parrots. Another woman photographer stays by the beach for pictures. You aren’t obliged to purchase the pictures, but if you do they are $8 US each.

We took about 200 pictures ourselves. We had two waterproof cameras, and can’t wait for those to be developed. As for filming, we shot over 3 hours of tape.

They advertise this as a four and a half star, but really it’s a five star hotel for Punta Cana. We met a couple who were at all of the RIUs and other resorts in Punta Cana and they told us that this resort was the best.

Another couple we met, who mainly take cruises, said it was better than most cruise lines.

We made one phone call to Canada for about 3 minutes and the total cost was $6 US.

Please note that security at Punta Cana airport is very intense. Everyone must remove their shoes and have them x-rayed. Also the tourist card has changed from last year. Now you complete one to get in, and a new one to get out. Both are exactly the same.

Jo met every French Canadian down there, and Paul’s sentences were coming out in Spanish, French and English by the end of our trip. A big hola to Vivienne and Gilbert from Quebec.

Boy I have so much to say about Ocean Blue, mostly all positives.

Flight
The flight was GREAT, charter flight straight there and straight back USA3000 through Apple no problems, no cancellations, no delays, no stops. I know we discussed this prior to me leaving that some people had issues with USA3000 canceling flights or changing flights didn’t have a problem with this. When you get to D.R. you will have to pay $10 per person when you get to the airport for a tourist card. Air conditioned buses to and from the hotel to airport were nice and had no problems. If you book through apple you will get this. Otherwise there are plenty of opportunities for transportation to and from airport. One negative that I heard from someone else was guys trying to take your luggage, I did experience this. They take you to the apple rep find out your bus number and take your luggage to the bus, if you don’t want to carry your luggage let them have it, if you do and don’t want to tip them good luck. I told them NO as our luggage rolls and wasn’t a big deal, but he took it right out of my hands even after telling him NO.

Check-in
Because we were not upgraded to an elite room PRIOR to getting to our hotel we checked in at the right side, if you paid for the upgrade prior to getting there you would go to your left into the elite club area and get a private check-in and other options. The basic check-in was nice got a nice cold ocean blue drink (they call it) and a cold towel with a warm welcome. You leave your luggage right at the front entrance until you are done checking in, after you check in you go back to the bell boy and tell them what room you are in and they take your luggage to your room. In the meantime go see the ocean, get a drink at the bar, walk around the resort, go check out your room etc. then when your luggage comes you can change and hit the beach.

Upgrading
This is a huge question and issue with A LOT of people including me, whether or not to upgrade before going or upgrade when you get there. Here is my opinion on it. Depending on what you pay for your trip prior to going it might not cost you much to upgrade as for me it was going to cost $800 to upgrade and it was not worth it and still don’t think it would have been worth it after going for that much. However, some people can get an upgrade for as little as $150 for 2 for 7 days or even $300 to me that would be worth it. To upgrade you get a bigger room and villas closest to the beach, the basic rooms and upgraded rooms actually are VERY similar, the only difference I could see is they might be a little bigger, and Jacuzzi tub and shower are separate. Other then that they are really similar the basic room actually had a MUCH bigger TV then our upgraded room it had like a 27” and our upgraded room had like a 17” or 20” VERY SMALL hard to see from across the room. J but who watches TV…………for us because it wasn’t worth the money to upgrade we took our chances and emailed the manager of the resort told her it was our anniversary and would like to be upgraded if possible. When we arrived because an upgraded room was available she was able to give us the room, however we did not get all the extras that goes with it, just got the room which was completely fine with us, because that’s all we really wanted anyway. So if you are going during a slow time of the year, you probably have a pretty good chance with this, if you email the manager. But if you are going during a peak time when the resort is full your chances of this happening are pretty slim to none. So if you absolutely want the upgrade during peak season you will definitely have to pay for it. You still get the refrig with pop and beer in the basic room as well. One thing I found very interesting from the manager is if you are booking the Ocean Blue through apple and don’t choose to upgrade you will be put in Villa 3,4 or 5 all apple members go to these villas. Villa 5 is the best non-upgraded room; Villa 6 is the upgraded rooms on the Ocean Blue side. Starting from the lobby all the way out to the resort on the Ocean Blue side it’s Villa’s 1-6, 6 being all the way out to the beach. Villa 5 looks right out at the pool the further down you go you just look out at the grass still a pretty view, I personally loved being close to the pool and the beach, however it was a ways down to the lobby, restaurants, and buffet.

Restaurants
All I have to say about the food is you’re not in America, or your home town so don’t expect the food to be like the food you eat at home, because if you EXPECT it then yes you’re going to be disappointed. I consider myself pretty picky eater, I don’t like to try new and different things at all and I was able to find something everywhere I went to fill the void. Not saying is was the best or best tasting, but I was able to find enough to satisfy myself. It’s not that the food was gross I didn’t think it was gross it was just not what I am used to eating and you’re going to get that anywhere you go no matter what. The Steak house and Seafood restaurant are additional fees to eat at we didn’t eat at either one of these, heard good things about the steak house, but didn’t hear anything about the seafood.

American restaurant was probably my favorite and I heard from TONS of reviews that this was peoples least favorite. The ribs WERE THE BEST they fell right off the bone, we went back again the next day to try a ribeye and for the D.R. it was pretty decent it didn’t taste like leather so that was a plus. I think there are definitely some things on there menu I can see not being so good. They have burgers and fries pretty decent as well.

Mexican restaurant was my next favorite, I pretty much ate everything chicken while I was there it was a little dry, but was better then they beef was the beef at the Mexican place was tough. Don’t get the burrito unless it’s chicken I got the fajitas and those were really good the chicken ones.

Dominican restaurant called La Casa I was kind of worried about this place, but my husband had beef tips that were to die for very tender with gravy and mashed potatoes VERY GOOD, I had the chicken of course it was good.

Italian res