We were very happy with our week at the Tropical Princess!

We travelled from East Coast Canada via Sunwing, and were impressed with this charter airline and its services. We were offered champagne, a meal with wine, and complimentary drinks (non-alcoholic) and snacks on the outward flight, with the same, sans champagne, on the return to Canada. We had prepaid for seats with extra legroom, and were happy we had done so....loads of room!

Tropical Princess, and its sister resort Caribe Club Princess, function as one large resort, with guests having access to all facilities, although having to pay a little extra, sometimes, if you had not paid for VIP service.

Our room was spotless, and had two double beds - very, very comfortable. Housekeeping service was great.

We used only one of the three large, free form pools at this resort, and found it clean and cool - but not too cool!

The beach is beautiful, and we spent a lot of time floating around in the azure ocean - we were very surprised at the large number of people who don't seem to stick even one toe in the water, at any time!

The resort is lovely, with well landscaped grounds, prowling peacocks and other birds, a few small shops to buy things at greatly inflated prices (by my reckoning, suntan lotion would set you back about $25 or $30 US, so take lots from home!), pretty buildings, friendly staff.

We could always find something good to eat (although we were not brave enough to sample some of the more exotic offerings) and I am still dreaming about the flan available at this resort. La Creperie was great for an afternoon snack of ice cream (try the coconut!) or a sweet or savory crepe offering.

We were also happy with the drinks we were served, whether at the beach or a pool bar. Coco Loco and Pie Pie (I am not sure whether I am spelling that correctly) were my personal favorites!

Even though there are a few glitches in this, as in any, resort, the one thing we'd like to note is that this resort does not seem to have enough beach and pool chairs for the number of guests - either that, or many people are "reserving" chairs at both the beach AND pool. It seemed the whole resort was up and at it early in the morning (prior to 7:00 a.m.) 'reserving' chairs.

The lack of chairs and 'late arrival' of those who thought they had reserved chairs by virtue of placing their towels or other belongings on them - which were subsequently removed by other people - served as a source of entertainment for us as we sat on the beach, sunning ourselves and people watching. Loud arguments ensued........

We are very experienced travellers and love embracing different cultures and languages. This was our second venture to the DR opting not to return for years because of our poor experience years ago in Puerto Plata. I am sad to report the workers of the DR continue to be unappreciative of their surroundings and the employment it brings.

The resort is classified all inclusive, you will find they nickel and dime you to death. Tips tips tips, seems to be the mantra of the island. The resort charges extra for the room safe, it is a tiered all inclusive under the guise of a VIP program. Many on this site recommend it but I submit it is hardly worth the cost asked. In fact I will argue they have set things up to entice you into opting into it, resist the temptation by going elsewhere, assuming you travel to the DR after you've read this. The resort is, at best, a three and a half if that.

The room is standard and access is via a magnetic card. On day two I had made the trek to re-key the card three times, once at the very end of the night....the system was down and we were hostage to having no key! The family suite is an absolute rip off providing nothing like what you expect with the exception of two beds suitable for small children only, if you think this solution will give you and your significant other the privacy you desire then you will be disappointed.

There are seven la carte restauants, you are only permitted to attend two and they are the worst of the bunch, the remainder you pay for, yet another money grab!

This was our first all-inclusive with our two boys, ages 5 and 8. We didn’t think this type of travel would suit us, but we are hooked.

We heeded advice from others and took a cab from the airport to the resort for US$28. This way, we avoided stopping at all the other hotels first. Still took about 40 minutes.

Service:
The people at the front desk were not very friendly, and I started to worry whether we were in for typical bad attitudes that you find in so many American resorts. I had difficulty with 3 different people at 3 different times on 3 different issues. However, when you get past the front desk, it’s a different world. The rest of the employees at this hotel, from the Animacion staff, the waiters at the buffet, maids, to the coconut tree trimmers were extremely polite and friendly. They will all go out of their way to help you with anything you need.

We took alot of coloring books, crayons, pencils and toiletries for the housekeepers...worth the effort. They work 24 days straight and then go home for 6 days.The people who work there are so kind and sweet, they deserve much more than they make, so TIP GENEROUSLY!

Change in US dollars is very difficult to get so we took $100 in ones and $100 in $5 and $10.

I read another person’s comment that she wished she had taken her kids’ used and unused sporting goods and clothes. The Dominicans love baseball and any old equipment, cleats, or clothing would go over great with them. If you took down a suitcase full of stuff to give away, you could then load it up with your souvenirs on the way home and avoid that overweight charge. Each of your bags cannot weigh more than 70 lbs, or you have to pay (around $5US/kg) -

VIP:
If you are staying at this hotel, you MUST go with the VIP package. The extras are sooooo worth it. You get a gourmet dinner at La Cava, massage (20 min. each), turn down service every night, internet usage (1 hour each) and a motorized boat tour.

Food:
The a-la-carte restaurants were great! We personally enjoyed La Cava, Sombrero and El Rodrizzio. If you want an early supper you must book them the day before. If you are vip and want to make reservations for the restaurants you must do this at the vip conceirge stand. NOT AT THE FRONT LOBBY.

We thought the buffet was awesome. Each meal offered at least 30-50 items, and there was a different theme each night. Even my picky kids found a plateful of food each time we ate there.

Sometimes we just ate pizza, fries and burgers at the Brazilian restaurant for lunch, or visited the fabulous Creperie next door. I gained 5 lbs. on this trip!

I took acidophilous for a week before I went and took pepto each day and I still had minor tummy troubles. However, it worked for the rest of my family, so maybe I’m just more sensitive.

The grounds:
Absolutely beautiful. A mangrove swamp lines the walkway from the lobby to the resort area. There are lots of peacocks and waterfowl milling around, and at night, kids can catch toads and frogs in the gazebo area near the restaurants.

The pools were quite lovely. The busy activity pool had a bar and music. The picture takers walk around with parrots and monkeys to take your souvenir photos. The middle pool was more low key, and could have used some music. Other than that, the zero entry warm pool was a hit. The third pool is beautiful, with fountains and jacuzzis all around.

The beach:
Soft, pale sand, clean, perfect. One of the nicest I’ve ever seen. Chairs are pretty easy to come by, but if you want a palapa on the edge of the beach you have to get down before 9:00. There is no snorkeling at this beach, it’s more wave jumping and boogie boarding. $20 will get you a boat ride to a reef closeby.

The room — It was quiet and comfortable, nothing fancy. Lots of hot water, good pressure and clean drinking water. The weirdest thing to me about the whole resort was that there are no dressers! I called and talked to 3 people before a maintenance guy proved to me that there are no dressers in any of the rooms to put away your clothes. Yes, there’s a closet, but I can’t hang up size 5T t-shirts. 2 small desk size drawers under the tv as well.

Bring a candle - rooms are musty. Also no alarm clock in room. Things don’t dry very well but if you hang them up it’s a little better. You can bring dryer sheets to put in the drawers and closet to keep your clothes smelling fresh.

Sports:
We thoroughly enjoyed boogie boarding and jumping the waves. The kids got to practice snorkeling in the pool, and we got a free boat ride (vip). We also had a blast learning to shoot bow and arrow in the archery course each day. The teen club has some very worn down pool tables, but it was a welcome diversion during a day long rain storm. The mini golf is worn down as well and looked too hot and depressing.

The Kids’ Club looked like fun, but neither of my kids were buying it because everyone spoke a different language. (English is definitely the minority here.) They were taking the kids out on the banana boat when we saw them one day, and learning archery another time.

Buying/Bringing Stuff:
We heard of someone buying Pringles for 8 US$, so we brought our own. We brought American ketchup packets too, their ketchup is brown and weird. Take insulated mugs as the sand gets hot and so do your drinks.

Try to take everything you think you would ever need. The prices in the gift shop were insane. Disposable camera for $20, sun tan lotion for $25, $15 dollars for immodium. Bring all types of medicine and sun block just in case to prevent from having to pay those ridiculous prices. Use bug spray in the evening to avoid bug bites. Bring TONS of sunblock - we used baby sunblock 45 SPF and still burned!

A lot of humidity, so ladies don’t even think about trying to straighten your hair. I went curly all week with lots of de-frizz. A light sweater was welcomed one night. Guys must wear long dress pants to dinner.

Souvenirs:
When buying souvenirs on the beach, barter low, half the price they ask is what its worth. They know the new people coming in because they are not tanned! They held up a lighter flame to a Larimar stone to prove it was real (that it wouldn’t melt). Don't do that with amber, you'll ruin it. Also, when buying jewelry from vendors, sometimes the bracelets and necklaces don’t come with the clasps. You have to buy them separately.

Age: 20s Travel with Boyfriend

We broke our comments in terms of major categories:

Check In

• We arrived at the hotel, Thursday evening (around 11pm). The check-in guy we had, was not very good because we ordered the VIP package in Canada but he gave us the wrong bracelet so we were denied our VIP privileges on the first day.
• TIP: If you brought the VIP package, make sure you mentioned that when you check in!!
• TIP: ask for TV remote control (there isn’t one in the room!)

• We had the “superior” room which consist of two queen-size bed.
• Our room was nice and it was clean! Having AC in the room definitely made the difference
• The mini-fridge is always stocked with water and bottles of Coke and Sprite
• TIP: bring a bottle opener
• TIP: bring bug spray and spray your window and door every night to prevent bugs from entering your room
• There are many bugs, especially at night so make sure you bring “After Bite”
• Spray your legs at night, especially if you are planning to wear shorts/skirts
• TIP: you can tip the maid either with money ($1/day) or bring small goodies such as (sample make-up, hair accessories, goodies from dollar store), they like that a lot!

• The food was decent and it exceeded our expectations! The buffet was good, especially the fresh juice in the morning. However, make sure you booked the A La Carte restaurants because they are good too and it’s a nice change from having buffet every night.
• TIP: Tip ($1-2) for good service! It’s good because the waiter/waitress remembers you and will give you better service in the future
• Don’t worry about the water as they always give you bottled water, even the ice cubes are made with filtered water. The only water that is undrinkable is from the washroom/bathroom tap.
• TIP: Tip the bartenders ($1-2/day). They will remember you and serve you first!!
• TIP: bring pepacid-C and diarrhea relief medication, just in case the food does not settle well in your stomach.

• The ocean and sand was amazing!! The water is actually blue and the white sand is beautiful!!
• TIP: Bring lots of aloe and sunscreen
• We went during a slow week so there were always lawn chairs available but if you are worried, you may want to go to the beach early to reserve one, especially if you want one that is close to the ocean
• If you go on the banana-boat ride, bring goggles to avoid getting salt water in the eyes! It strings!!
• The pools were amazing!! Especially the main pool with a pool bar and that is where most of the main activities take place
• Spanish classes are offered daily at 10:30am. Great way to learn some quick phrases

General Tips

• Get the VIP package! It’s definitely worth it! You can a free gourmet dinner (My boyfriend had lobster), premium brand drinks, 20 mins massage each, 24hrs room-service, bottle of rum, 3 cigars, 1 hr of Internet, bathrobes, free motorized aquatic sports ride, etc, etc
• If you know Spanish and/or French, it comes in handy!!
• When buying gifts at the market (20 minutes walk. When you face the ocean, turned left), definitely haggle!! Because the vendors tend to overcharge.
• Tip: if the vendors won’t negotiate, walk away! They will come chasing after you AND most of the stores sell the similar things!!

• The trip exceeded our expectations and we will definitely go back to this resort. The people are nice and friendly and there are always activities happening. When we walked to the market, we saw other resorts that have NO ONE on the beach or in their resort!!
• The workers work extremely hard so if you see someone who is going the extra mile to provide you good service, give them a tip! They are much more appreciative of tips than waiters in North America.

We travelled to Punta Cana March 11 to 18th 2006 for the Ontario March Break and stayed at the Tropical Princess / Carib Club Princess. We are 3 adults in their 30s with much travel experience in the Caribbean and with all inclusive resorts. Keep in mind we booked this holiday 3 weeks prior to departure so there was not much to choose from. We were a little concerned that there was so little reviews on the Tropical Princess but upon arrival we discovered why. The Tropical Princess / Carib Club Princess are the same complex that share same facilities. The only difference in the 2 “hotels” is the type of room you receive and where it is in the complex. So if you are looking for Tropical reviews, read also the Carib Club reviews. Furthermore the Punta Cana Princess is in the same complex, a 2 minute walk away. They have their own restaurants but shared in our trolley service, spa, etc. ( a side note I visited the Punta Cana Princess on walks daily and once at night and it is far more quiet, sedate, and smaller than the Tropical and Carib)

Our flight to Punta Cana was uneventful. The drive to the hotel was an hour despite the guides saying 20 min. from airport as they stopped at 5 hotels before ours.

The lobby at the Tropical/Carib is nice. The interesting concept of this resort is the lobby/nightly entertainment/disco/shops/internet/guide tours/theatre are nowhere near the rooms. In fact you have to take a trolley from the above places or walk about 7 minutes to the complex where the room buildings/restaurants/pools are. This has pros and cons. On the one hand the area between the two areas is beautifully manicured/gardened almost with a ‘rainforest’ theme which makes for a wonderful stroll. However there are times when you need to be at the above places i.e. lobby to complain or pick up things or when it is raining that the distance is a pain. Further the trolley is on Dominican time and there are times when the wait is much longer than the 15 min. they promise.

If you book at the Tropical – pay for the VIP program once you arrive. Don’t give your North American travel agent the extra commission. We bought it in the lobby upon arrival and do not regret it all! It goes into effect the next day after arrival. You get the items listed: 1 bottle rum, cigars, bathrobes, night turn down service, premium liquor (Absolut/Bacardi) 1 hour internet service, but most importantly you get a free dinner at La Cava and a free 25 minute massage in the spa!!! Well worth the $90 we spent. All the restaurants are included except La Cava and El S… La Cava is $25 per person for Carib Club and $50 per person for Tropical guests. With the VIP bracelet, you get there for free and the lobster and steak dinner was definitely worth it! Further we all used the spa 2 more times after our free massage as it was at par with most North American spas. Prices were reasonable.

Food: For the most part, the dinners at the specialty restaurants are good. We ate at all of them and were impressed with presentation and choices. Service was slow at most of them but what can you expect? The buffet restaurant was frustrating at breakfast and lunch. You can’t get your own pop/water/coffee so have to constantly be flagging down waiters even though the machines are accessible. Further they usually only have 1 cook for most popular items: omelets, crepes, meat, pasta etc. which generated lineups making most food warm or even cold by time you reach your table. We felt the food at the buffet was mediocre at best when compared to other resorts in Dominican and elsewhere. Where was the fresh orange juice? It was concentrated.

Rooms: On arrival our door lock was broken and we refused to stay in room until it was fixed. Looked like a forced entry had been done. It was around 10:45 p.m. We got the “don’t worry, no problem” line that they would take care of it tomorrow. No way. Not with reports of thefts etc. on previous reviews plus our concerns for our own security. We had also requested a room not on the first floor which it was. Since it was Sat. night there were no other rooms available so we couldn’t leave our room for drinks etc. and had room service. They did temporarily fix it by 1:30 a.m. and promised us a new room on 2nd floor next day. This did happen by 3:00 p.m. next day and we were happy with our new room. Most rooms in the Tropical are Suites – 2 rooms and 2 bathrooms. Perfect for stretching out. Our maid service was not the greatest at all despite leaving many gifts and cash but didn’t feel like complaining about it as yes, you are rarely in room anyway.

Resort: We have been to countless resorts in Caribbean so have much to compare to. We swear people at this resort stayed up all night or get up at 5:00 to reserve beach chairs. This was very frustrating as we are sun-worshippers and were on the beach by 7:30 every single day and never once got seats that we wanted but further back under huts. We know pools were easier but we are not pool people. These resorts need to get more chairs to met demand, it baffles me that this is an issue at most resorts despite people complaining. There were constant chair stealers we saw and battles. Its not worth it. Invest in as many chairs as you have guests. Logic? A majority of the guests were French from France. They had their own French entertainment staff that combined with the Dominican staff who were generally Spanish only with some French and little English made interactions with the English speaking guests fairly limited. We were blatantly ignored most of the time when they were scouring the beach / pool for people for activities. It was only on the 3rd day when we realized that the guests had different wristband colours. All guests who were French had blue so staff would know the French. VIP was orange and everybody else was grey. Interesting dynamics to watch.

I have read many reviews and found them very helpful, I thought I would return the favour by adding a short review about our trip to the Dominican last March 2005. Our tour operator was Transat Holidays, and everything went smooth from booking our vacation (Marlin Travel) to arriving at the resort.

Check In / Lobby
We thought the lobby area was beautiful, it was open air, with a high thatched roof, bar at one end and the front desk at the other. The Saturday night we arrived they were having a party by the bar, it was quite busy and everyone seemed to be having a good time, check in was quite fast maybe 20 minutes and before we knew it, we were being shuttled to our room, there was no waiting for our luggage because it was on the shuttle with us.

Room
We were located on the second floor in one of the smaller buildings, the room was quite adequate, however we felt it could use a freshening up.

Food
Both my wife and I are very picky eaters, but we always found enough food at the buffet to keep from going hungry. I found the quality of the food at the beach side restaurant (lunch) not very appealing, we pretty much ate lunch every day at the crepe's restaurant. Breakfast was always good.

Beach
I can't say enough about the beach, it was amazing,mile after mile of soft white sand, bordered by palm trees on one side and beautiful turquoise water on the other. The water was very warm and the waves were high enough to enjoy body surfing, but not high enough to be concerned about your safety, there was never a day we couldn't swim because the conditions were to rough.

Grounds
The grounds were well maintained and constantly being worked on during our stay. The mini golf definetely needed a major overhaul.

Entertainment
After a full day on the beach we really didn't have the energy for any of the evening shows.

Pools
We spent most of our time on the beach with the exception of the last day when we used the pools, they were all very nice, there was three pools all with different activity levels depending on what you wanted.

Service
All the staff we came in contact with were very friendly.

Weather
Oh yea, how could I almost forget commenting on the weather, pretty boring, hot and sunny everyday, it was beautiful !

Wonderful place to go! My friend, my 14 year old daughter and myself travelled to the Dominican and stayed at the Caribe Club Princess/Tropical Princess. These are two properties in one. This was my 11th time travelling to the Dominican. I have stayed at Puerto Plata several times, Punta Cana and on the Carribean side. I do not know how people can say anything but good things about the Dominican people. The are to me the kindest, friendliest , hard working and most helpful people I have ever come across in my travels. I have also been to Mexico and Cuba . The people in my opinion are the best in the Dominican. I think that people who travel to the Dominican go with very high expectations, you have to remember that this is a third world country, and they work for $5.00 a day, they are poor, but they will bend over backwards for you. The one thing that most Canadians have problems with is that they do have lots of garbage in their streets, so does Mexico.

This resort was rated a 4* hotel, I give it 4+. I thought this hotel was amazing. The grounds were the best. I was so impressed by the long walkway that led to the front lobby, it had ducks, wild birds, fish, tropical flowers and the best of all piped in music. That walkway had the most relaxing atmosphere.

If you have never travelled to the Dominican, the beaches in Punta Cana, are very much compareable to the beaches in Cuba. The sand is white, soft and the water is aqua and clear. The beaches are nice in Puerto Plata but not as nice as Punta Cana.

The food at this resort was " AMAZING", there were 11 buffet stations that you could choose from, that is an incredible amount of food. If anyone complains about the food at this resort, just disregard their comment. There were theme nights each night, Mexican, Dominican, Italian, Seafood etc....There were a-la-carte restaurants but we did not want or desire any other food, there was plenty to choose from right at the buffet restaurant. You did have to pay for some of the a-la-carte restaurants. Two were included, three were $11.00 per person, and two specialty ones were $25.00 per person, one being a seafood restaurant. They not only had wine with dinner but champagne, and that was at the buffet restaurant. That was the first time that has ever been offered at any of the `15 trips I have been on.

My friend and I just got back from Punta Cana after a 9 day visit Just two women on our own (late 40's early 50's). We stayed at the Tropical/Caribe Club Princess two resorts in one. We were on the Tropical Princess side.

I have nothing bad to say about this resort. Everything was great. The rooms are well away from the lobby and theater area with shuttle buses running all the time or you can walk along the well maintained walkways while listening to the ever playing music and see all the birds living in the bushes along the way - ducks, geese, water chickens and even peacocks.

We flew direct from Charlottetown which was even better but unfortunately had to come back by way of Saint John in order to clear customs.

Room: We had a suite with two washrooms which we did not expect. The rooms were clean and well maintained. The maid was very helpful in getting us an extra pillow and extra towels when requested.

Food: There was lots of variety and everything was well presented. Depending on where you started with the buffet, some of the food would be getting cold when you reached your table. Thus, start with the cold and end with the hot. After a couple of days we learnt the trick of getting out table, going for our breakfast and then asking for tea. Other wise, your water would be cold by the time you came back to the table with your plate. We ate at two of the a la carts - Dominican which we just didn't care for the taste of, and Brazilian which was great but was mostly meat. There were three other a la carts which are included for Caribe Club guests but Tropical guests would have to pay extra. These are Chinese, Mexican and Italian.

Beach: The beach area was very nice. White sand, lots of chairs and huts, and well maintained. There were lots of activities that you could take part in. The water was very wavy and hard to actually swim in but great for bogie boards. Besides, there were three pools if you really wanted to swim.

People: All the people working at the resort were very friendly and always willing to help you with any questions. Some of the guys of course were extra friendly to us gals!

Shopping: There is a great little mini mart on the resort with a little bit of everything in it. However, if you want to go to a bigger area $200 pesos for a taxi will take you to Bavaro Shopping Mall where you can spend the day and still not get to all the shops.

Entertainment: The resort has a theme show in the theater every night of which they do a great job. After the show there is a 1/2 of dance lessons in the lobby and then if you like, the disco at the edge of the resort opens at 11:00 p.m. where your drinks are free till 12:00 midnight. If you feel real adventurous, you can go to the Mangu disco which is on another resort but has two levels. You will have to pay $6.00 US admission here but that also includes one drink. Both discos are open to the locals. We even had a beach party one night instead of the theater show.

Excursions: There are many different excursion that you can take. We went on two. Saona Island we felt was not worth the money. It took us over two hours on the bus and then 1 & 1/2 hours on the catamaran to get there. Venders were waiting to pounce on us as soon as we got there. The beach is nice but nothing spectacular - at least not the area where we were taken. Then it was a speedboat trip back to the bus. Manati Park on the otherhand was well worth the money. We spent the day there. Swam with the dolphins, saw all the shows and had lots of time to explore on our own. We also went parasailing at the resort itself which we both loved and were glad we did.

I have traveled extensively over the past 25 years with a special emphasis on beaches. Still, I was a bit concerned when booking this trip because of the wide variety of mixed reviews and because it would be just my 19 year old daughter and I. We had an absolutely wonderful time start to finish. All of the staff was pleasant and friendly and helpful. Both check in and check out were simple and quick. We asked for and received a TV remote control. Our room was spacious and clean and everything in it worked correctly. There are no clocks in the rooms, but the wakeup call service is reliable, with a second call for snoozers.

MEALS - The buffet meals offered an amazing variety of meats, vegetables, fruits, breads, beverages, and sweets. Something was always being offered freshly grilled to order, eggs, burger, fish, pasta, lamb chops, etc. Hot foods were hot, cold foods were cold. (However, it is not the Cheesecake Factory, Cracker Barrel or McDonalds, if you are afraid of new foods or familiar foods cooked new ways, take your vacation in the states). The buffet waiters were always attentive. We never made it to the reservations desk for restaurants before 11:00 am and always had at least 2 to choose from. We also stopped by the buffet each night to see what we were missing and, !surprise!, the buffet offers a different theme each night reflecting the restaurants with the exact same food and a beautiful presentation, in addition to the regular variety. So, while the restaurants offer menus and personal service, the food is the exact same as the corresponding theme night at the fabulous buffet. If you think you are getting a superior meal in the restaurants, that is just an illusion. Based on various reviews we had read, we brought some snack foods from home just in case and never touched them. Between lunch and dinner and late night, beach bar offered nachos and cheese, salad makings, chicken, pasta, etc.

BEACH – The soft white sand beach is deep and wide in front of this resort, spacious even when every chair is filled. Endless walks are available in either direction. We did bring our own beach towels which was nice only because we on the beach well before the beach towel hut opened, and had no trouble finding loungers as we were up for the glorious sunrise each day. I did notice that by 7 AM each day all the shade chairs were taken on the beach. We took our first sailing lesson on the beach from the resort beach/ocean toy guys and then sailed confidently every day on our own. The water was too choppy the day we wanted a windsurfing lesson, but they were great about letting us take one out anyway in the shallows to just get a feel for it. Yes, there is a small bit of seaweed/sea grass, it is an ocean. Volleyball games and soccer were easy to join into, and with the pool right on the beach, we could just lift our heads to see if that was an activity we were interested in as well.

EVENING ENTERTAINMENT - The evening shows, well, ... the choreography lip syncing, and dancing were excellent. Unfortunately, the sound system is just awful, sitting in the very last row made it tolerable. The nightly lobby dances were great, lots of energy, enthusiastic, friendly animation staff. They do enjoy pretty girls and flirt extensively, but will concede to the boundaries set by the guest. They are incredible dancers and happy to gently and patiently teach everyone their steps.

TOUR - We did the Apple safari tour early in the week. It is an excellent tour for seeing the country side, learning a lot about the dr, and seeing a completely different beach. We also met some great people who were with us on the tour and it was fun to run into them throughout the week and learn what they had been up to. We had pencils, crayons, colored pencils for the school children which they were very happy to receive. We also took several recorders (penny flutes) and these really lit up their little faces, wish I had brought lots more!!

SHOPPING – Bargains are to be had. Haggle, and haggle some more. Try to pay 1/3 or less of the asking price. If you pay too much in one shop, you are bound to make up for it in the next. There are shops both to the right and left of the resort on the beach. The ones to the left are closer and a bit more relaxed with a wider variety of goods. They are all open approx 9 – 5. Of course the prices in the resort shops are high for things you could have brought from home; they have to pay shipping and import taxes and make a profit.

TIPPING – We were haphazard about it, didn’t always have a wallet with us. Of course everyone likes and deserves to be rewarded for jobs well done, but whether we had a dollar ready or not, we always had a ready smile, good humor and a kind word and always got good service.

LANGUAGE – Neither of us knew any Spanish beforehand. We did make an effort to learn a few basic travelers’ phrases on the plane ride such as please, thank you, good morning-afternoon-evening, how are you, what is your name, where is, what is, when is, how much is, too expensive, it’s delicious, etc, and picked up more as the week went on. It was fun to surprise the staff with our Spanish; they almost always answered us with a big smile and in English. It appeared that only the maids and a few of the wait staff knew very little if any English, but it was not a problem at all.

MISC - We, nor any of the folks we met were on the VIP plan and did not miss it or feel the least bit slighted. Brought bug spay, didn’t need it, got 3 bites between us all week. Had drinks at various times in all the bars and always found the drinks delicious and bartenders fun and eager to serve.

COMPLAINTS - #3. We were told by Apple that a hospitality room would be available for us to shower and change after check out on our last day since our flight home was not until 8:00 PM. We went to the desk an hour before our bus to the airport and none were unoccupied, so we had to take our hospitality shower in the open air shower by the pool and change in a nearby restroom. Really, no problem! #2. The maid left no clean towels one day. We called housekeeping mid-morning, but still had no towels in the afternoon. After a second call, we received towels within 30 minutes. We had been tipping her, but stopped after that. #1. Trash left all over the beaches by inconsiderate, lazy resort guest. Yes, there are workers who clean it all up, but why not leave it the way you found it for all to enjoy?

Day 1:
We (eight of us) left the airport on Allegiant Charter out of Milwaukee on time. This is a very noisy plane with a bad PA system. Food was good as well as the drinks. We arrived on time at the Punta Cana Airport, picked up our luggage and saw the Apple rep and boarded a bus. There were only 10 of us on the bus and we made no stops until we got to the resort.

We arrived at the resort around 3:30 and rooms were ready. We asked out Travel Representative to request 3 things for us. 1) The same building, 2) upper floor and travel together group. Well the hotel said there were no more upper floor rooms available. We paid our $24 for our safe key and requested our remote for the TV as we were told. They told us that these were already in the room. The luggage was loaded on the tram and we were taken direct to the room. Porter put luggage in the rooms and left. We fumbled around trying to figure out the light switches, etc. The bulb was out in our hallway outside the closet and we used the bathroom light to see where to put things. One of the people in our group got into their room and after putting everything away decided to take a shower. Opps, not working, so they called the front desk and about 2 hours later someone from maintenance showed up, took a look and left not fixed. They had to call 3 times and finally they cam and completely redid the shower. We went to turn on the TV and guess what, no remote. Another one of the rooms had a refrigerator that heated everything instead of cooling everything in it. They called 3 times and finally 2 days later at 11:00pm they came and put a new refrigerator in.

We decided to go to the beach bar have a few drinks and then go to the buffet, since we had no reservations for any of the restaurants. Walked back to the lobby to get a remote and around the resort and made an early night of it. I figured, I’d get the coffee maker ready, so all I would have to do was plug it in the next morning. Opps, no carafe. So we called the front desk and requested one, housekeeping showed up with coffee instead. My wife showed the gal what we needed and she brought one back. I filled the coffee maker with coffee and water and we went to sleep.

Day 2:
We all got up around 8:00am and I went to the coffee maker to plug it in and Opps, not converter plug on it and mine would not fit this coffee maker. No coffee. We all met for breakfast at the buffet. The food was very good and the variety was fantastic. Anything you wanted for breakfast could be found. We went back to the room got our towel carts and went to the beach. We got towels and walked the entire pool and beach area and not one available chair could be found. We ended up laying on the beach on our towels. As you can imagine, sitting or laying on this for the entire day was not comfortable. I can’t believe the 3 resorts couldn’t have at lease one chair available per person at the resorts. From what we could see no one was using more than one per person or hording them. Lesson learned. We made reservation for the Mexican restaurant for 9:00pm that night, but ended up eating at the buffet instead of eating that late. Left the beach around 4:30, showered and dressed and went to buffet at 6:00pm. After dinner we went back to the lobby met Tony the Apple rep and told him the problems we were running into, he said he was sorry to hear that. Nothing more. We went to the Front Desk and told them about the coffee maker converter plug and they wanted to sell us one, my wife said no, there should have been one in the room on their equipment. They gave us their last one. We caught a show, had a few drinks and went back to the room. Guess what their converter plug would not fit the coffee maker. Okay, I had it and no coffee in the room the rest of the trip.

Day 3:
Two of us guys got up the next morning at 7:00am and went to the beach with towels in hand a reserved 8 chairs under two cabanas, plopped ourselves in the chairs and tried to go back to sleep. Not happening because the beach was very busy with people doing the same thing. We made reservations for the Mexican restaurant for tonight and also Chinese for the next night at 6:00pm. The beach at this resort is some of the best we have ever been on. The drinks good and you never really waited a long time to get them. Sometimes there were 4 bartenders falling over each other and other times there was 1 trying to keep up with the orders. At the Mexican restaurant they put Mexican hats on us after they let us in around 6:30pm. Food was good and the menu choices were many. Again we walked up to the lobby had a few drinks and took in the live entertainment. I don’t think we ever caught the tram up to the lobby even one the first 4 days. It was either full or didn’t show up until we were almost at the Lobby or back near our rooms.

Day 4:
We decided to do a day of shopping. We went for breakfast and then took water bottle from near one of the entrances to our building. They only came to fill up our refrigerator once the entire week, so we helped ourselves. We got to the Lobby and talked to Tony from Apple and he told us we could get a van taxi to take us to Playa Bavaro for shopping. 8 people $11.00, no complaint. Walking would have taken us about 20 minutes and it was hot and no breeze, easy choice. The taxi driver left us off and we went about our shopping. Girls shop, guys follow along. I thing we must have gone into 30 different stores, same stuff different stores. We got a few good bargains, especially coffee. Now, I will tell you, you can find the same stuff a bit cheaper at the shack stores up the beach from the resort and save yourself some money. We were about to head back to the resort and the taxi guy who dropped us off saw us, but we told him 10 more minute, because we wanted to look into some bottle holders at a local bar. He never came back. We got another guy from the same company and he charged us $10 to take us back to the resort. We changed clothes and sat by the pool bubble pool. Not a hot tub, but a cold bubble tub. Again, there were no chairs available. Around 4:30pm, we went to turn in our towels to get new ones for the next day and there were none available, so we kept the wet ones for saving chairs the next morning. We got changed, showered and went to the Chinese restaurant. Again, we waited until 6:15 before they let us in. The food again was good and there were a lot of choices. Sushi was good (I am the only one who ate it), soup and salad came right away and they we waited for almost an hour for the main course, way too long. We again went to the Lobby, had a few drinks went to see the show and left within 10 minutes, not really a show, just a pick on male guest night. We shopped at some of the local vendors who were allowed on the resort to sell their goods and turned in for the night.

Day 5:
Again two of us got up early, this time at 6:00am because we wanted chairs at the pool. Almost all were already taken, but we got the last 8 under two cabanas and across from the swim up bar. Tried to go back to sleep, but nothing doing. Around 9:00am one of the couples went to make reservations for dinner that night and got reservations for the Dominican restaurant for tonight and the Italian for tomorrow night at 6:00pm. We spent the entire day around the pool. This is a real nice pool and there weren’t many people in it and not a lot of noise from kids, etc. BUT, the loudspeaker system at the foot of the pool is used for aerobics, Merengue and Bachata dancing lessons and is extremely loud. Don’t look for a quite relaxing time, it is not to be found. We left the pool around 4:30pm as usual, showered. Changed and went to the Dominican restaurant. We were invited in right away and had a great meal. I will tell you we always found something on the menus that everyone wanted or would eat. We hopped a trolley and went to the casino by the Bavaro Princess All-Suites resort. We lost our money as we expected and left there within an hour. We were taken back to the resort had a drink and called it a night.

Day 6:
We got up at 5:30am and headed for the beach to reserve chairs and cabanas. We got what we wanted and since it was dark, the light on the beach helped. By 6:30am all chairs we could see were taken. We walked the beach from the resort south to the Occidental Flamenco and also took a walk north to the LTI Punta Cana. My wife and one of the guys went parasailing for about $89 for the two of them together. She really enjoyed the trip and the view. Most of the group went for a walk to the fishing piers where the fishermen come in and they were skinning a shark that was caught and they also got a couple of looks at a whale’s tail off the shore. We left the beach around 4:30pm and showered and dressed for going to the Italian restaurant. I think this one was the favorite for the trip. Food was great. We walked around and again ended up at the Lobby and watched a couple of comic skits, but left early. We went to the beach bar (next to the seafood restaurant) for a couple of drinks, but the fried seafood smell was enough to make you sick so to bed we went.

Day 7:
One of the other guys in our group offered to get up the next morning to get chairs by the pool. We figured since it was our last night at the resort, we wouldn’t make reservations at any of the restaurants and just lounge around the pool late and then hit the buffet. This was Carnival day and they made plenty of noise around the pool. Loud speakers blaring and dancing in costumes, etc. We stayed there until about 5:30pm and turned our towels for the last time and got our towel cards back. We went to shower and get dressed. My wife went into the broken drawer to get some clothes and out popped a roach and she jumped. This was the only one we saw the entire trip. We went to the buffet and skipped the Lobby, show etc. We walked around the resort and ended up at the little bar in back of the buffet (next to the little kid’s theatre. The kids had some program going on and again it was very loud. We called it a night. Went back to the room and did a little pre-packing.

Day 8:
Time to leave. We got up around 8:00am, packed most everything and all left for the buffet around 9:00am. We then went back to the room and finished packing. Once this was done we walked around the Tropical Princess and the Punta Cana Princess resorts taking pictures. Now the Punta Cana Princess has a beautiful pool that is surrounded by trees and has no loud speaker system. Looked like plenty of chairs and room. Wish we would have seen this sooner, we would have gone over there for a day. Went to the room and called the porter for luggage pickup and got someone who did not understand English and hung up on me. A couple minutes later someone who spoke English called us and confirmed the 11:00am pickup and the room numbers. They showed up on time and got us to the Lobby in plenty of time for checkout and bus pick-up. We had a large bus with only 2 other people on it and other than a school bus accident on one of the reads, getting to the airport was no eventful and always interesting viewing the cities and the people along the way.

After 10 guys climbed over each other to remove our luggage from the bus, we took our luggage to the Allegiant Terminal and checked in our luggage, got our seats assigned and went to the customs area. They asked two of our couples to fill out Declaration forms and they next gal got two of us couples and waived us through. This has never happened in 4 years of traveling into this airport. We did some shopping ate some food and went to gate 1 to await our plane. Surprise, it loaded almost 40 minutes early and they were on last call. We ran to get on the plane. Once on the plane (which was very warm as you can imagine, the pilot came on to explain the since there were two flight leaving around the same time our luggage was on the wrong plane and it would be 20 minutes before all of it was switched. The attendants started to serve cool water right away, since the fan above the seats will not really work until the engines are running. They got it all switched and we left within the 20 minutes. Then the pilot said it would be 4 hours and 40 minutes for the trip. This trip has never taken more that 3-1/2 to 4 hours before this, ever. We got outside of Milwaukee by about 100 miles and the pilot told us the airport was closed temporarily and that we were 5th in line for landing in 31 mph cross winds and snow. It was a long and bumpy landing but we made it amen.

General Comments:
Some in our group played miniature golf at the Tropical Princess. Some went for rides on bikes. Two in our group got into the ping-pong ball tournament (one won it). There is always something to do, from Bache ball to archery, etc. The entertainment group was great. Each morning we would be greeted by Victor and Geraldo. The maid service was great. They didn’t always have towels after they cleaned the rooms, but most night we had them before we went to bed. The waiters and waitresses at all of the restaurants always had a smile on their faces and enjoyed joking with us.

This resort was listed as a 4 Apple. I disagree with this assessment. I would put it at more of a 3 Apple. What is needed is for each room to be completely looked over electrically and plumbing wise. Small repairs would remove quite a few of the complaints. Yes, the pillows seemed to be filled with socks or rags and the mattresses were hard, but that never seemed to bother me anywhere else, so I had no complaints here. You get what you pay for. The drinks were good, but I have to admit I prefer premium liquid refreshment. I could have paid for VIP, but really, it isn’t worth it, unless you really need the bathrobes, cigars, bottle of rum and the premium drink brands. Besides, if you want 1 or 2 drinks of premium, you can purchase for $4-$6 each.

We just came back from this hotel, we stayed 2 weeks in February 2007. Very nice hotel.

Check-in : We arrived at 12:00 am and I was preparing to wait for our room until 4:00 pm (normally rooms are not ready until 3:00 pm). Surprise !!! our room was ready. By the way the Lobby is grandiose.

Rooms: We had a very nice room (1259) view on the pool and sea. Superior room, bathroom was very large, king bed, t.v., fridge with Coca, sprite and water. Our maid was Johanny and very nice, our room was always really clean and even with decorations done by the maid. Tip every day, as you would do in North America. At night it's very quiet in the room area because all the nightlife is near the lobby that is not situated near the rooms. Very good thought
It's not true that the shower towels are in the room only at 6:00 pm. It never happen to us and we were there 2 weeks, it's the first thing they put back in the room before even doing the daily cleaning

Beach : Very nice and long beach, water is warm, the sand is pink and the weather was gorgeous. The only things I have to say is that some tourist are very disgusting. They throw their garbage everywhere; they think that if it's all-inclusive, everybody will grab their garbage. Very bad attitude and disrespectful the poor guy cleaning the beach is not a slave. Would you throw away your empty glass everywhere if you were at home ??????? Italian people : can’t you just talk normally between each other or do you always have to yell at each other, respect for other than your own person would be appreciated.

Some people were complaining concerning the beach towels saying that they were out of clean towel 12:00 My question to these people was: did you bring back your towel yesterday at the end of the day or only this morning ?? Answer wasThis morning !!!!, Can't you be logic ??? If everybody only brings back their dirty towels in the morning, when do you think they will wash them ??? On daytime of course, If everybody were bringing their dirty towels at the end of the day instead of the morning, all towel would be cleaned during the night and ready for the day after, it's only LOGIC.

Buffet: Very good food, if you don't find anything you like, just stay home !!!!, Maria is very nice a the buffet entrance, Jose is also very nice, they will go out of their way to make you happy. Just be kind with the staff and they also will

Restaurants: Good too, I have been traveling every year for 15 years and everybody knows that restaurant a la carte are in fact regular foods but with a different service. Don't think you will have a 5 * dinner, you will be disappointed. Just think that you're in Caribbean and not in North America.

Lobby: The little road to go to the lobby is wonderful, music, exotics birds, fishes, and luxurious vegetation. A very pleasant walk of 5 minutes to go to the lobby, if you don't want to walk you can take the bus. People saying it's a long way (10 minutes walk), I think they have a handicap because it's a maximum 5 minutes walk and it's a really pleasant walk.

TIPS: Bring bugs spray, just in case. I was not disturbed by bugs but some people were, so just be prepare and it's not worst than our summer here, don't think the mosquito are only in Quebec.

Entertainment: We had a wonderful night at St-Valentine day; they have arranged a special show at the pool, with champagne, dancers, etc. Was very nice, the buffet on that night was also very special, shrimps, sushi, etc.... For night shows, I cannot say anything, I am going to sleep too early to see them but I am awake at 6:00 am every morning to see the sunrise.

Bars: Very good service, all staff is very friendly and people who are saying the opposite must probably have a very bad attitude towards them to receive bad service. If you’re polite and smiling to them they will automatically love you. But of course some people think they can have bad attitude because they pay and they want to be serve like king & Queen. Your behavior should be the same on vacation than at home.

Overall: Very large and clean resort, I would recommend this resort to everybody. I still don't understand the negative comments, some people are very difficult and they should just stay home and complaint about themselves in there own mirror. For god sake you're not in Paris as someone mentioned and you're not even if Vegas for spectacular shows

First, a big thank you to Debbie for managing this great site and to everyone who contributes. This is a wonderful resource.

My husband and I, both early 50’s, traveled from Boston to Punta Cana on Feb 2 with TNT Vacations. Some other years we have traveled with other couples but this year we went alone. This was our 5th trip to this great destination and our 3rd time at Caribe Club Princess. We love it, obviously!

We arrived late afternoon after a standard flight…cramped, little food…but who cares – it was safe and priced right! We were pleasantly surprised to see the PC airport less crowded than previous years, probably due to our Friday arrival. I know that Sat and Sun were sold out. I sure do wish that they would add another ladies rest room near baggage claim. The line is out the door even with only a couple of flights arriving near ours. The road leaving the airport is still under construction. I guess government jobs are the same everywhere…we have similar complaints here in Boston.

I’m pausing for a moment now to recall the first deep breath of tropical air, the first warm sunshine on bare skin and the heady excitement of facing a week in paradise….aaahhh. Okay, back to business.

Quick checkin at the CCP. Maybe due to the time of day, no tropical drink on arrival this year but the tram was immediately ready to take us and our luggage to our ocean facing room. We purchased the VIP upgrade last year and again this year, after not having it for the first time at the CCP. We feel it’s worth it for the ocean facing room and premium drinks.

Our room was great, second floor in building 2, facing the ocean, just as we requested via e-mail one week before arrival. We had the third floor last year, but with no elevator we opted for one less flight of stairs. These rooms are large with a king size bed and big double sink bathroom, sunken sitting area leading to the balcony. The safe was included with VIP, otherwise it is definitely worth the money. Large new TV, mini fridge with beer, soda and water. Plenty of closet space, but few hangers. Clean, no odor, and everything worked. Be very careful of the few stairs leading down to the sitting area – specially in the middle of the night!

The CCP resort is not brand new and you can see that the climate is hard on furniture, fixtures and paint. There is ongoing maintenance for upkeep but you will notice things that are not perfect. We noticed new paint, new cushions, new palapas, sidewalk repairs. We also noticed the need for repairs to the doors and sliders in our room, and for the first time ever…mosquitoes in our bathroom.

On our first trip to the lovely lobby bar after dinner, we stopped by the front desk and mentioned the bugs. They sent someone to spray the next day and all was fine until our last night when we noticed them again. I will pack bug spray for our next trip to the CCP.

The beach, the waves, the sand, the breeze, the sunrises, the frozen drinks, the Dominican people…all wonderful and the reasons we keep coming back. It is necessary to get up early to reserve a good spot on the beach, but since I watch the sunrise every day that is no chore for me. Even if you are not a morning person, give yourself the experience of seeing the sunrise from the beach once in your life. It is something you will always remember. On this trip I was blessed to see the elusive green flash one morning, something I had only read about before. Truly amazing.

The food is plentiful if not wonderful. We enjoyed breakfast at the buffet every morning and lunch at either beach grill everyday. Some nights we ate at the buffet. We ate at the seafood restaurant, included in our VIP package. It was good but I would not go if it wasn’t included. We also ate at the Mexican, the Italian and the Brazilian restaurants. Other years we have eaten at the steakhouse (included in VIP but not worth it otherwise), the Chinese and the Dominican. The food is different than what we are used to, but it is nicely presented. If you don’t like something keep looking and you will find something else you do like. My advice – relax and enjoy the experience. The Brazilian is my favorite, my husband likes the buffet best but I think it’s more that he can wear shorts there.

The quiet pool is not always quiet, but when it is - it’s a great place to relax if you are looking for peace! I wish they would remove the animation program from that pool and it was like it had been last year. The animation people are nice and it’s fun to watch or join the activity sometimes, but it’s also important to have a quiet refuge somewhere.

The Superbowl was played on Sunday during our trip. The CCP set up a large projection screen TV and a bar in their function room near the lobby. Even though the Patriots were not contenders this year and even though Indy won, we had fun watching the game with many enthusiastic Canadians. I love Canadians!

We went snorkeling, banana boating and each had a massage. We enjoyed the swim up bar and the shopping evening when the vendors set up inside the resort. Yes, you must bargain with them. We went to the casino 3 nights and actually won a few bucks. In past years we took the Saona Island trip (but would only do that once due to the LONG bus ride), and the Kontiki boat trip (more fun if you are traveling with a group).

Important things to bring: lots of $1 bills for tips, sunscreen, Imodium, wire hangers, bug spray, camera, sunglasses, a good book, but most importantly a smile and good attitude.

We stayed at the Caribe Club in January 2007. Thoroughly enjoyed it! We went the V.I.P way and thought it was worth the extra money- the massages on the beach in itself made the package! Our friends had regular suites and were quite satisfied too. Check in went extremly well and there was beer, coke,sprite and water in our room fridge chilled and waiting for us.

The food was great - the buffet was amazing - always something for even the fussiest of eaters. I think I had seafood every single day and never the same thing twice! We went to a few of the a la cartes, and they were all right, but I actually think the buffet had the best bet for a larger group of people. The bars were great and well located so there was always one nearby.

Plenty of activities to do without even leaving the resort, shopping on site (with actual price tags!) plus just a few minute walk down the beach there was a large market with more tourist shopping than you even want to deal with!

Our only issue is watch out for the time share people! they will look at your VIP bracelet and offer you "special welcome tours". We were taken on a tour and brought to a 5 star and then informed we would be given a short information tour. Great;{ 1 hour later we manage to get out to find out our guide has left us there! Luckily it was only a few minute walk back to our resort!

My husband and I stayed at the Carib Club Princess for a week in Nov 2006 after finding out that family members back east had booked there and we thought it would be fun to surprise them and just show up. We had stayed at Secrets Excellence a few years ago for two weeks and had a wonderful time however it was clear that Carib Club Princess would not be in the same league from reading past reviews prior to our holiday.

We were warned that the resort catered to Europeans, especially French and German tourists and although there were many while we stayed there, we did not feel "slighted" except for the concierge girl in our building who all but ignored us until we made it apparent that it was not acceptable. She quickly changed her tune for the remainder of our stay.

The food, as previous reviews have stated, was plentiful and one could always find something to eat. We were not fans of the Beach bar. The hamburgers were an off-white colour, the buns stale and my husband bit into something hard while earting a hotdog. We gave that a pass for the remainder of the week. As VIP members we ate at the Specialty Restaurant (La Cava??) one evening however our dinners were different than those who actually had to pay for their meal. My lobster was one quarter the size and my husband's New York steak had a bone in it!! When we were speaking to the Front Desk staff on another matter, we asked if this was the norm and the response was just a laugh. So apparently it is.

We had a lovely beachfront room (2210) and a sweet efficient maid who we were happy to tip daily. When we checked in, we realized that our shower was broken and had been literally ripped from the wall. Throughout the week, we called the front desk, let our maid know, and finally when down to the lobby with $20.00 in our hands, hoping that it might be incentive to fix the problem or at least come in, look at the problem and see if it could be fixed. Long story short, the shower was still broken when were checked out and chances are, it still is. My mother-in-law's shower did not work either, however with a new $20.00 bill in hand and a trip to the lobby after Day 3 of baths only, the shower wasn't fixed, however a new room was found.

I traveled to the resort with friends for a restful vacation. I originally stayed at this resort when it first opened under the Hodelpa management. At that time, I felt the resort was almost impeccable with the exception of the service in main buffet. Waiters used to walk all around you with coffee pots and not wait on you in a timely fashion. While we noticed this again during this trip, we managed to use some our Spanish and got to know some of the wait staff. We also tipped well. This seemed to remedy the problem for the remainder of the trip as we continued to sit where our favorite wait staff was located in the buffet. We loved the service in all of the ala cartes. Even though the resort is under the Princess chain now, they continue to serve Dominican specialties in the buffets which we loved. Other resorts seem to lack that Dominican flair when you look at their bland or greasy buffets geared toward certain nationalities. The food is still very good with plenty of variety but plan on repetition during the course of the week. Repetition was a good thing in this case. Don’t miss the morning juice bar, the rice and beans, twisted dinner rolls, fried chicken, fried fish, coffee with milk, and lobster night. The two beach snack bars were great. We loved the pizza, crepes and onion rings. The Italian, Dominican and Japanese ala cartes were our favorites. The food was amazing. I would skip the Brazilian which is simply the buffet meats served like appetizers on swords every few minutes. Really strange! We left that one hungry and headed straight for the buffet. We also disliked the Mexican. The sauce tasted like catsup to me.No problems getting reservations each day in our room buildings. We didn’t try the Gourmet La Cava or the Seafood place and chose to repeat our favorites.

BEACH-The beach is still wonderful although the sand seemed tanner than it used to be. The weather was windy and cloudy for the first three days so there was some seagrass in the water. The water is still wavy. The water was great for boogie boarding. Don’t plan to snorkel on the beach. You will have to book a snorkel tour. We took the Marinarium tour with the sharks and stingrays. Warning!! Skip/Reschedule this tour if it is cloudy and or windy. We had a rough time out there in rough water due to weather. Nothing makes you more nervous than swimming with sharks and stingrays in dark water with no sun. There were plenty of beach chairs and palapas on the resort’s beach even when we arrived late.

ROOM -The room was not without issues on the first day. When I arrived they allowed me to check in immediately without waiting around for hours. However, the toilet was not operational. The television remotes are stored at the front desk and so are the safe keys. I had to return to the front desk in the heat, toting my heavy valuables( documents, cd player, jewelry etc) to get the key and remote. After retrieving the needed items, and returning to the room, I discovered that the previous guest left the removable lock in the safe. I needed to have it removed before I could use the safe. I again returned to the front desk in the heat still toting my valuables. The lobby is about ½ mile away from the rooms. They handed me a bag of safe keys and told me to try all of the keys and then return the bag of keys to them which required one more trip to the front desk in the heat. Now this was strange VIP service!! They fixed the toilet problem relatively quickly thank goodness. I thought they were going to hand me a plunger. I still lost a couple of hours on this adventure and lost some of my beach day with my friends. I wasn’t a happy camper on day one. The room was a jr. suite with a view of the pool. It was nice. Maid service was adequate, rum, cigars, fruit platter and VIP nightly turn down mint on the pillow service, which began after day 2 and ended after day 6. I liked the fact that the maids remade the bed and replaced towels when they did the nightly turn down service. I wanted to see them do a better job of getting the sand off of the room floor. It always felt gritty.

Resort Appearance – The resort’s landscaping was better when it first opened. I was shocked to see a wooden bridge over water at the ala cartes blocked off with red danger tape. The resort grass was completely dead/dry in spots and full of debris( paper, cigarette butts) and rocks. This is not the norm for the DR at all. Ponds are unkempt and brown. Fountains are inoperative. The Dominican music that used to play throughout the mangroves is now inoperative in places. A couple of working speakers blared disco tunes. There were groundskeepers working but they really need to clean up. This resort was gorgeous when it first opened. Landscaping generally improves over time but not in this case.

Another Problem- For about 3-4 days of the vacation, the resort which was calm for the first 2 days, filled to capacity with Spanish speaking guests from another single country and locals. These guests took over all three pools and all of the bars. I have heard of this happening at other resorts but never experienced it until this trip. It appeared that entire families with children and extended generations descended upon the resort. We began to wonder what travel deals were available and questioned some of the guests who traveled in large family units. It became a problem because numerous children appeared to be largely unsupervised and continuously jumped into the pools splashing everyone. The also ran, screamed etc. and forced many guests onto the beach. You couldn’t even reach the swim up bar. The pools were full of loud, drunk people. It was like MTV spring break. Loud behavior could be heard in the hallways at night during this period and I even experienced strange knocks on the door late at night. There are no peep holes in the room doors( a safety concern) so I ignored the knocking. After a few days, this large group of rowdy guests, suddenly departed and a calm was experienced for the final two days of our vacation.

ENTERTAINMENT- The entertainment staff is still top notch! They really worked to get everyone involved on the beach and in the available shows. We loved them. The comedy show was hysterical. The dance shows were wonderful and well choreographed. The stage is still the best in Punta Cana with its light and smoke effects. The did preempt shows one night because they brought in a Puerto Rican singing star (coincidentally during the crowded period) in the disco and charged a $10. cover and another night for a disco on the beach. We aren’t disco people and felt cheated out of two shows.

Overall- I had a good vacation with my friends on the beach and enjo