Dominican Republic - La Romana (Dominicus)
Two posts in a row?!! I know, I'm surprised too. But don't get too excited, this is clearly a rare occurrence.
When summertime roles around, I get excited? Why? I don't know. It is not like I get summers off. I guess the weather is nice and it reminds me of a time when life was carefree.
Our first #furyyumadventures trip of 2017 was to the Grand Canyon - which lives up to its name btw. It truly is GRAND. Will have to write a separate post on that sometime.
My husband has been wanting to go on a trip that involves a whole lot of relaxing. Now that doesn't sound very adventurous and knowing me I wasn't sure how I felt about just hanging out on a resort for a week but decided to give it a try. We've heard great things about the Caribbean and decided to go with the Dominican Republic for our summer destination. The D.R. is probably the most affordable place to visit in the Caribbean and there are many great resorts in the area. Hurricane season starts late in the summer so we were okay with our mid-july trip.
La Romana vs Punta Cana
After doing some research on both areas - La Romana seemed like the best option for us. It is a smaller town facing the Carribean sea vs the Atlantic Ocean. Punta Cana is known for its party atmosphere while La Romana was a bit more laid back with families and couples.
Vacation Express
Vacation Express offers all inclusive vacation deals to the Caribbean. The reviews on this company were all over the place. Either people had a good experience or an absolutely terrible one. Instead of focusing so much on the travel agency, we decided to look into the resorts themselves. The company offers resorts from 1-5 stars and the prices reflect the quality. My brother and his family recommended staying at an Iberostar resort chain because of the great experiences they've had in Punta Cana and Jamaica. After reading recent reviews on Trip Advisor, we decided Iberostar was the best option for us as well.
The All-Inclusive package from Vacation Express included a direct round trip flight from Cleveland to Punta Cana and 6 night (all inclusive) stay at Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus. We paid extra for transportation to/from airport to the resort. Definitely add this extra to your trip to save yourself the hassle of organizing this on your own.
Vacation express uses chartered planes (Swift Air) to be able to provide direct flights to certain destinations. The planes aren't the most comfortable but for the price and short travel time I think it is worth it. 1 carry on bag and personal item is included in the fare. Checked bags are extra. If you have to check in a bag - purchase this option in advance to save yourself some money. Don't read the carry on rules on the swift air website because according to that, you can't take anything with you. Follow the same rules you would when taking a carry on bag on any airline.
When we arrived in Punta Cana we were directed to the Vacation Express desk and received information about our transportation to the resort. We booked a shared transportation service to cut costs. This means you will stop at other resorts before getting to your own and the ride can take up to 1-1.5 hours from the airport. This is through a local tour company called "Nexus Tours". You are also given a contact you can reach out to if you run in to any issues at the resort.
Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus - 4.5 -5 Stars
This resort is located right on the beach (Playa Dominicus/Bayahibe). The water is clean (free of seaweed) and fairly clear. It wasn't too rough to swim in but there are some big waves every now and then. There are plenty of chairs around the pool and beach area. You can reserve a spot for the day by placing your towel on the chair. Unfortunately to get a great spot, you'd have to get there bright and early to reserve it. There is a light house bar on the beach as well that looks great in photos and the closest spot to grab drinks in that area. The grounds of the resort are BEAUTIFUL! So many peacocks, flamingos, birds all around. I really enjoyed this part of it. Surrounded by nature.
Activities
They offer many activities to keep you busy including kayaking, paddle boards, catamarans, snorkeling gear, and other land activities (Archery is the only one we tried). The water activities are free for 1 hour a day per activity. Any additional time you have to pay for. We took advantage of the free hour a day for each activity. You can only reserve a time the day of and the timings for the reservation desk are 9-1130, 1230-330.
Equipment Insurance - 15$/single or 20$/couple. This does not include loss of paddles unfortunately but any other damage you may cause is covered.
Catamaran - If you are not familiar on how to operate one of these, the resort offers an hour training course for 45$. A bit expensive if you ask me. My husband's course was in Spanish so not sure how valuable it really is. He did good though!
There are land activities every 30 minutes like dancing, yoga, archery, shooting, etc. We tried archery and had a good time. Its harder than you'd expect!
Food
Breakfast - There are only 2 options and both are buffet style. The main buffet is open from 8-1030. This is the one worth waking up early for. They have anything and everything. Fruits, pastries, chefs making eggs just the way you like them, fresh juices, and more. I wish this option was open until later. The second buffet is open later from 9-11 but the options are not as good. Highly recommend going to the main one even if you just get to the tail end of it.
Lunch - Lunch is also served buffet style in the main buffet hall. There are many varieties of foods you can try. The beach will also have cookouts and offer different foods. They had a BBQ one day and seafood paella another. That paella was one of the best I've had! Maybe even better than what we had in Spain.
Dinner - MAKE RESERVATIONS THE DAY YOU ARRIVE for your entire stay. It can be nearly impossible to get reservations at all the restaurants so be sure to have a flexible dinner time so you can try all the restaurants.
Buffet - The food offered at dinner is similar to lunch but they do try to have a theme of foods each night.
Japanese - You can order from the hibachi grill or from the kitchen. I would recommend ordering from the grill! The food is better and you get to see it being made. This was our least favorite out of all the restaurants.
Mexican - The main entrees are taco options and they were pretty good. There is also a mini buffet if you want nachos and more guac or just extra meat. Probably the best service we received. Shout out to our boy Tony!
Steakhouse - It's like being in the south. For the entree you will receive steak and a potato. The steak was pretty good! There are more side options in the appetizer area.
French - So classy and delicious. Our favorite restaurant at the resort.
***Attire - Dress is casual/formal. Shirts with sleeves, shoes or dress sandals for gentlemen. Casual or dress attire for ladies. The only restaurant men have to wear slacks is El Colonial.
Room Service - The food offered by room service is not worth it. They probably do that on purpose to prevent people from using this service. The only thing I enjoyed were the "chicken nuggets" which was more just like fried chicken.
Entertainment
The resort offers entertainment every night starting at 10PM. We attended latin night and didn't really care for the entertainment options. My husband and I opted to walk around the resort and beach in the night instead. You can go sit at the light house bar and look at the stars and listen to the ocean.
Other Random Things:
Tipping: The workers at the resorts do not get paid very much so anything you can leave for a tip I'm sure will go a long way. Leave 5$/day for house keeping and a $1-2 at the buffets and maybe a couple of bucks at dinner. Just a suggestion!
Currency Exchange: DO NOT EXCHANGE AT THE AIRPORT. We made this mistake and were offered a much lower rate. At the time we weren't sure if we would get an option to exchange currency again but the resorts also offer this service and will give you the market rate.
Snorkeling Excursion: Excursions are offered through the resort as well as Nexus (Vacation Express partners). We met with the Nexus representative and decided to book through them for a snorkeling excursion in the Ocean. We were told it was close by but it actually was about an 1 hour or so drive towards Punta Cana. We went snorkeling in the ocean! The water was clear and you could see the ocean floor. We were expecting to see more fish than we did but it was still a cool experience. Folks who are good swimmers get to swim longer out in the open ocean whereas if you are not, you can swim in the enclosed areas. You really don't need to be a good swimmer to be out in the ocean so I would recommend going out into the ocean. We also had the opportunity to swim with sharks and sting rays in an enclosed area which was pretty neat! We had a good time but I don't think this was the best snorkeling option. I would recommend going to Catalina Island instead!
Iberostar Membership - The resort chain would prefer if you booked vacations directly through them instead of third party companies like vacation express. We were invited to have breakfast and learn about the Iberostar Membership on one of our days. In return, we were given one 60 min massage voucher to use at the spa. An hour of our time in exchange for a 80$ spa services? We'll take it! They ask you questions about how often and where you like to travel and show you everything their membership has to offer. By paying a ridiculous fee (and I mean RIDICULOUS..like thousands of dollars,like you would need to take out a loan to pay for it. So ridiculous they offer financing options for it!), you would get access to discounted hotels around the world.
Overall we had a good experience with Vacation Express and our stay at Iberostar. This trip was very slow paced so if you are looking for a relaxing time, you would enjoy it very much so!
When summertime roles around, I get excited? Why? I don't know. It is not like I get summers off. I guess the weather is nice and it reminds me of a time when life was carefree.
Our first #furyyumadventures trip of 2017 was to the Grand Canyon - which lives up to its name btw. It truly is GRAND. Will have to write a separate post on that sometime.
My husband has been wanting to go on a trip that involves a whole lot of relaxing. Now that doesn't sound very adventurous and knowing me I wasn't sure how I felt about just hanging out on a resort for a week but decided to give it a try. We've heard great things about the Caribbean and decided to go with the Dominican Republic for our summer destination. The D.R. is probably the most affordable place to visit in the Caribbean and there are many great resorts in the area. Hurricane season starts late in the summer so we were okay with our mid-july trip.
La Romana vs Punta Cana
After doing some research on both areas - La Romana seemed like the best option for us. It is a smaller town facing the Carribean sea vs the Atlantic Ocean. Punta Cana is known for its party atmosphere while La Romana was a bit more laid back with families and couples.
Vacation Express
Vacation Express offers all inclusive vacation deals to the Caribbean. The reviews on this company were all over the place. Either people had a good experience or an absolutely terrible one. Instead of focusing so much on the travel agency, we decided to look into the resorts themselves. The company offers resorts from 1-5 stars and the prices reflect the quality. My brother and his family recommended staying at an Iberostar resort chain because of the great experiences they've had in Punta Cana and Jamaica. After reading recent reviews on Trip Advisor, we decided Iberostar was the best option for us as well.
The All-Inclusive package from Vacation Express included a direct round trip flight from Cleveland to Punta Cana and 6 night (all inclusive) stay at Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus. We paid extra for transportation to/from airport to the resort. Definitely add this extra to your trip to save yourself the hassle of organizing this on your own.
Vacation express uses chartered planes (Swift Air) to be able to provide direct flights to certain destinations. The planes aren't the most comfortable but for the price and short travel time I think it is worth it. 1 carry on bag and personal item is included in the fare. Checked bags are extra. If you have to check in a bag - purchase this option in advance to save yourself some money. Don't read the carry on rules on the swift air website because according to that, you can't take anything with you. Follow the same rules you would when taking a carry on bag on any airline.
When we arrived in Punta Cana we were directed to the Vacation Express desk and received information about our transportation to the resort. We booked a shared transportation service to cut costs. This means you will stop at other resorts before getting to your own and the ride can take up to 1-1.5 hours from the airport. This is through a local tour company called "Nexus Tours". You are also given a contact you can reach out to if you run in to any issues at the resort.
Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus - 4.5 -5 Stars
This resort is located right on the beach (Playa Dominicus/Bayahibe). The water is clean (free of seaweed) and fairly clear. It wasn't too rough to swim in but there are some big waves every now and then. There are plenty of chairs around the pool and beach area. You can reserve a spot for the day by placing your towel on the chair. Unfortunately to get a great spot, you'd have to get there bright and early to reserve it. There is a light house bar on the beach as well that looks great in photos and the closest spot to grab drinks in that area. The grounds of the resort are BEAUTIFUL! So many peacocks, flamingos, birds all around. I really enjoyed this part of it. Surrounded by nature.
Activities
They offer many activities to keep you busy including kayaking, paddle boards, catamarans, snorkeling gear, and other land activities (Archery is the only one we tried). The water activities are free for 1 hour a day per activity. Any additional time you have to pay for. We took advantage of the free hour a day for each activity. You can only reserve a time the day of and the timings for the reservation desk are 9-1130, 1230-330.
Equipment Insurance - 15$/single or 20$/couple. This does not include loss of paddles unfortunately but any other damage you may cause is covered.
Catamaran - If you are not familiar on how to operate one of these, the resort offers an hour training course for 45$. A bit expensive if you ask me. My husband's course was in Spanish so not sure how valuable it really is. He did good though!
There are land activities every 30 minutes like dancing, yoga, archery, shooting, etc. We tried archery and had a good time. Its harder than you'd expect!
Food
Breakfast - There are only 2 options and both are buffet style. The main buffet is open from 8-1030. This is the one worth waking up early for. They have anything and everything. Fruits, pastries, chefs making eggs just the way you like them, fresh juices, and more. I wish this option was open until later. The second buffet is open later from 9-11 but the options are not as good. Highly recommend going to the main one even if you just get to the tail end of it.
Lunch - Lunch is also served buffet style in the main buffet hall. There are many varieties of foods you can try. The beach will also have cookouts and offer different foods. They had a BBQ one day and seafood paella another. That paella was one of the best I've had! Maybe even better than what we had in Spain.
Dinner - MAKE RESERVATIONS THE DAY YOU ARRIVE for your entire stay. It can be nearly impossible to get reservations at all the restaurants so be sure to have a flexible dinner time so you can try all the restaurants.
Buffet - The food offered at dinner is similar to lunch but they do try to have a theme of foods each night.
Japanese - You can order from the hibachi grill or from the kitchen. I would recommend ordering from the grill! The food is better and you get to see it being made. This was our least favorite out of all the restaurants.
Mexican - The main entrees are taco options and they were pretty good. There is also a mini buffet if you want nachos and more guac or just extra meat. Probably the best service we received. Shout out to our boy Tony!
Steakhouse - It's like being in the south. For the entree you will receive steak and a potato. The steak was pretty good! There are more side options in the appetizer area.
French - So classy and delicious. Our favorite restaurant at the resort.
***Attire - Dress is casual/formal. Shirts with sleeves, shoes or dress sandals for gentlemen. Casual or dress attire for ladies. The only restaurant men have to wear slacks is El Colonial.
Room Service - The food offered by room service is not worth it. They probably do that on purpose to prevent people from using this service. The only thing I enjoyed were the "chicken nuggets" which was more just like fried chicken.
The resort offers entertainment every night starting at 10PM. We attended latin night and didn't really care for the entertainment options. My husband and I opted to walk around the resort and beach in the night instead. You can go sit at the light house bar and look at the stars and listen to the ocean.
Other Random Things:
Tipping: The workers at the resorts do not get paid very much so anything you can leave for a tip I'm sure will go a long way. Leave 5$/day for house keeping and a $1-2 at the buffets and maybe a couple of bucks at dinner. Just a suggestion!
Currency Exchange: DO NOT EXCHANGE AT THE AIRPORT. We made this mistake and were offered a much lower rate. At the time we weren't sure if we would get an option to exchange currency again but the resorts also offer this service and will give you the market rate.
Snorkeling Excursion: Excursions are offered through the resort as well as Nexus (Vacation Express partners). We met with the Nexus representative and decided to book through them for a snorkeling excursion in the Ocean. We were told it was close by but it actually was about an 1 hour or so drive towards Punta Cana. We went snorkeling in the ocean! The water was clear and you could see the ocean floor. We were expecting to see more fish than we did but it was still a cool experience. Folks who are good swimmers get to swim longer out in the open ocean whereas if you are not, you can swim in the enclosed areas. You really don't need to be a good swimmer to be out in the ocean so I would recommend going out into the ocean. We also had the opportunity to swim with sharks and sting rays in an enclosed area which was pretty neat! We had a good time but I don't think this was the best snorkeling option. I would recommend going to Catalina Island instead!
Iberostar Membership - The resort chain would prefer if you booked vacations directly through them instead of third party companies like vacation express. We were invited to have breakfast and learn about the Iberostar Membership on one of our days. In return, we were given one 60 min massage voucher to use at the spa. An hour of our time in exchange for a 80$ spa services? We'll take it! They ask you questions about how often and where you like to travel and show you everything their membership has to offer. By paying a ridiculous fee (and I mean RIDICULOUS..like thousands of dollars,like you would need to take out a loan to pay for it. So ridiculous they offer financing options for it!), you would get access to discounted hotels around the world.
Overall we had a good experience with Vacation Express and our stay at Iberostar. This trip was very slow paced so if you are looking for a relaxing time, you would enjoy it very much so!
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