bcwife76
DisneyMomma
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2014
Hi all! I know I was posting about our trip as it happened in the Air travel thread, but thought I would just do a quick separate post as some people might have questions (eventhough we didn't travel to Disney) and I know @hdrolfe was thinking of booking a tropical vacation this coming winter.
The DR does not currently require you to be vaccinated or have a negative covid test when you arrive but you do need to fill out an eticket within 72 hours of arriving and have a QR code to show. There were 4 in our party and only one unvaccinated (our 10yr old). We flew Vancouver-Toronto-Punta Cana and as many have testified recently, Toronto is a nightmare. Our flight to Punta Cana left 2 hours lately, mainly due to passengers NOT having the QR code. As many as 150 people had to step out of line to download the questionnaire, fill it out and show their QR code. Air Canada also requested to see our vaccination cards but this was NOT mandatory. When we landed in Punta Cana they did NOT look at our QR code nor did they request to see our vaccination cards. NO one was selected for a random covid test.
We stayed at Dreams Royal Beach in Bavaro, about 20-30 minutes from the airport. We used AMStar for round trip private transportation. The resort is lovely, the grounds are beautifully landscaped, there is a 'lazy river' running down the middle of the resort which empties into a (small) activities pool. There is also a separate (small) kids pool and then a third pool which is closer to the lobby and has a swim up bar. The swim up bars are currently CLOSED in the DR for social distancing. The drink service around the pool is top notch since you can't order at the swim up bar. Drinks were mostly 'weak' so ask for doubles if you want a buzz
drinks that stood out were the Pina Coladas and a chocolate martini
We had a deluxe pool view room and our location was excellent. Food was definitely hit or miss. The Japanese restaurant was awesome, as was the seafood restaurant. We visited the italian restaurant twice, first time it was great, second time not so much. The steak restaurant was a complete let down, food was awful and wait was horrendous. They closed one restaurant every night and rotated. The Japanese restaurant also offered teppanyaki which was by reservation only. DH and I have done it several times so he made a reservation for himself and our 13yr old DD one night and I took our 10yr old DD to the non-teppanyaki side of the japanese restaurant that night.
We did two excursions, both booked through Amstar as we got a discount but Viator is also in the DR and I would not hesitate to book with them. We went to Saona Island on Wednesday which was heaven on earth. One direction we went over on a speed boat and on the way back was a catamaran. On Thursday afternoon we went to Monkeyland. Tons of tiny little spider monkeys landing on youNot for the squeemish (like my 13yr old who freaked out a few times but my 10yr old LOVED it)
The rest of our days were spent laying by the pool but mostly IN the pool as it was hot and humid. The shows were amazing (though we didn't catch all of them) and one night my husband went up to compete in a dance competition and came in first, winning a bottle of rum! lol
Our PCR tests were done on site at the hotel. When we booked with hotel concierge our first full morning we were told the doctor would be coming to our room, it would be CASH and it was booked for 11am on Thursday (our first flight to Canada was for 2:50pm on Saturday). The next day we were notified it would be moved to the medical centre onsite and would be at 8:30am on Thursday. Ended up we didn't need cash so we took our more money than we needed as we kept the cash for more tips (now I have dominican pesos I need to exchange at my bank) and we paid by Mastercard. Test was super simple. Results were actually processed by 10pm that night though we didn't get the results back until the following afternoon (when WE had to follow up with the medical center despite them saying we would be emailed). The cost was $90US a person.
Coming home we were made aware our flight was delayed by just over an hour at breakfast. We have access to airport lounges with Priority Pass (through our Scotia Visa) so that was nice. Check in took forever, then there was security and then customs (which was odd, we are leaving, why do you care??). Took us an hour to get through all that but we still had 2+ hours to kill so the lounge was a blessing. Flight to TO was uneventful, ended up leaving sooner than the delay so we made up some time. Sat on the tarmac in Pearson for a good 20+ minutes. BOOTED it to customs and got to use a 'shorter' connections line so we were through Customs in about 15 minutes. So here is something interesting. My unvaccinated 10yr old did NOT have to do an arrival test at Pearson, nor was she given a test do to on day 8. We were not given any documentation for her to follow (we KNOW to keep her away from group settings for 2 weeks) and the only paper we got was for US as fully vaccinated CDN's to watch for symptoms. Ok then.....
Booted it to luggage where it was chaos. Didn't find it on the moving belt after a few minutes, then noticed on the other side workers taking luggage off. Turns out both our suitcases were pulled and put in the pile. Luggage acquired we booted it through connections and dropped it with Air Canada with one hour and minutes to spare! PHEW!!! Yes our flight to Vancouver was delayed and didn't take off til 10:30pm (was supposed to be 9:40pm).
Landed at YVR at 12;06am PST, zonked. Luggage took too long, parking shuttle took too long.....hangry (Air Canada pizza should really not be a thing). It was 1:32am when we finally pulled out of the airport parking lot.
Anyway this was a bit longer than I intended, sorry! Bottom line is I'm SO GLAD we went!!!!!!!!!!! We had a wonderful family vacation and after only traveling in BC for the past 18 months it was odd and surreal to actually be out of the country.
If you have any questions, fire away!!
The DR does not currently require you to be vaccinated or have a negative covid test when you arrive but you do need to fill out an eticket within 72 hours of arriving and have a QR code to show. There were 4 in our party and only one unvaccinated (our 10yr old). We flew Vancouver-Toronto-Punta Cana and as many have testified recently, Toronto is a nightmare. Our flight to Punta Cana left 2 hours lately, mainly due to passengers NOT having the QR code. As many as 150 people had to step out of line to download the questionnaire, fill it out and show their QR code. Air Canada also requested to see our vaccination cards but this was NOT mandatory. When we landed in Punta Cana they did NOT look at our QR code nor did they request to see our vaccination cards. NO one was selected for a random covid test.
We stayed at Dreams Royal Beach in Bavaro, about 20-30 minutes from the airport. We used AMStar for round trip private transportation. The resort is lovely, the grounds are beautifully landscaped, there is a 'lazy river' running down the middle of the resort which empties into a (small) activities pool. There is also a separate (small) kids pool and then a third pool which is closer to the lobby and has a swim up bar. The swim up bars are currently CLOSED in the DR for social distancing. The drink service around the pool is top notch since you can't order at the swim up bar. Drinks were mostly 'weak' so ask for doubles if you want a buzz
drinks that stood out were the Pina Coladas and a chocolate martiniWe had a deluxe pool view room and our location was excellent. Food was definitely hit or miss. The Japanese restaurant was awesome, as was the seafood restaurant. We visited the italian restaurant twice, first time it was great, second time not so much. The steak restaurant was a complete let down, food was awful and wait was horrendous. They closed one restaurant every night and rotated. The Japanese restaurant also offered teppanyaki which was by reservation only. DH and I have done it several times so he made a reservation for himself and our 13yr old DD one night and I took our 10yr old DD to the non-teppanyaki side of the japanese restaurant that night.
We did two excursions, both booked through Amstar as we got a discount but Viator is also in the DR and I would not hesitate to book with them. We went to Saona Island on Wednesday which was heaven on earth. One direction we went over on a speed boat and on the way back was a catamaran. On Thursday afternoon we went to Monkeyland. Tons of tiny little spider monkeys landing on you
Not for the squeemish (like my 13yr old who freaked out a few times but my 10yr old LOVED it)The rest of our days were spent laying by the pool but mostly IN the pool as it was hot and humid. The shows were amazing (though we didn't catch all of them) and one night my husband went up to compete in a dance competition and came in first, winning a bottle of rum! lol
Our PCR tests were done on site at the hotel. When we booked with hotel concierge our first full morning we were told the doctor would be coming to our room, it would be CASH and it was booked for 11am on Thursday (our first flight to Canada was for 2:50pm on Saturday). The next day we were notified it would be moved to the medical centre onsite and would be at 8:30am on Thursday. Ended up we didn't need cash so we took our more money than we needed as we kept the cash for more tips (now I have dominican pesos I need to exchange at my bank) and we paid by Mastercard. Test was super simple. Results were actually processed by 10pm that night though we didn't get the results back until the following afternoon (when WE had to follow up with the medical center despite them saying we would be emailed). The cost was $90US a person.
Coming home we were made aware our flight was delayed by just over an hour at breakfast. We have access to airport lounges with Priority Pass (through our Scotia Visa) so that was nice. Check in took forever, then there was security and then customs (which was odd, we are leaving, why do you care??). Took us an hour to get through all that but we still had 2+ hours to kill so the lounge was a blessing. Flight to TO was uneventful, ended up leaving sooner than the delay so we made up some time. Sat on the tarmac in Pearson for a good 20+ minutes. BOOTED it to customs and got to use a 'shorter' connections line so we were through Customs in about 15 minutes. So here is something interesting. My unvaccinated 10yr old did NOT have to do an arrival test at Pearson, nor was she given a test do to on day 8. We were not given any documentation for her to follow (we KNOW to keep her away from group settings for 2 weeks) and the only paper we got was for US as fully vaccinated CDN's to watch for symptoms. Ok then.....
Booted it to luggage where it was chaos. Didn't find it on the moving belt after a few minutes, then noticed on the other side workers taking luggage off. Turns out both our suitcases were pulled and put in the pile. Luggage acquired we booted it through connections and dropped it with Air Canada with one hour and minutes to spare! PHEW!!! Yes our flight to Vancouver was delayed and didn't take off til 10:30pm (was supposed to be 9:40pm).
Landed at YVR at 12;06am PST, zonked. Luggage took too long, parking shuttle took too long.....hangry (Air Canada pizza should really not be a thing). It was 1:32am when we finally pulled out of the airport parking lot.
Anyway this was a bit longer than I intended, sorry! Bottom line is I'm SO GLAD we went!!!!!!!!!!! We had a wonderful family vacation and after only traveling in BC for the past 18 months it was odd and surreal to actually be out of the country.
If you have any questions, fire away!!
So it felt like a bit of a wasted day to us. DH and I went to the pool area and has drinks and read but the girls were bored and ended up back in the room. The teen club was boring for my 13yr old DD (it's just video games mom....) And DD10 refused to go to the 3-12 club because it was mostly younger kids.
I'm glad people found it informative/interesting.
