We are at the Moon Palace Casino in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
Sunday, the flight down and arrival
The flight in on Sunday was uneventful. We were upgraded to First class which was awesome. We enjoyed our perks. Brian had 1 Margarita on the flight down. I had 3 Baileys in my coffee. With a direct flight, it was wonderful. The breakfast was actually not too bad. Omelet, potatoes and sausage. The fruit bowl of kiwi, cantaloupe, grapes and pineapple were tasty. Brian gave me his fruit bowl and I gave him my potatoes. The croissants were okay. The 8:43 AM ET Flight landed in Punta Cana at 1:30 PM AT. It was smooth the entire way.
We breezed through customs and found our bags. There were several very annoying baggage hustlers trying to take our bags. They kept saying VIP thinking that they could trick us out of money and take us maybe 300 feet to the real VIP transportation company. We found the VIP rep only to find our names missing. :( But they still put us on a shuttle and we went to our hotel.
Upon arrival, we were quickly ushered into check-in. We were greeted but a harried woman who was dealing with an angry couple ahead of us. The registration desk looked crowded. Surprisingly, there was an opening and we went straight to Maquiel (pronounced Michael). He was a sweet young man and checked us in very quickly. He confirmed we have a 1 king bed with a jacuzzi tub and an OCEAN VIEW! Woohoo! I was happy. Brian was reserved and said we should wait until we get to the room.
We made it to our room, on the 4th floor (several steps) and found a GORGEOUS room with a beautiful view. The white on sand neutral colours were very appealing and soothing to me. I immediately unpacked and settled in. The bathroom is huge and great. We noticed on travel advisor that people nit-picked the place. Upon careful inspection, we noticed that some of the marble counter tops were cracked and the patching was not the best. There were poorly taped drywall seams on the corners where two walls joined. But honestly, who the hell cares? Those who nit-picky like that are either into construction or they are just plain negative people.
Aurora, our "hostess" was pretty cool. She tried to get us to listen to timeshare which would have taken 90 minutes. We said no. The vouchers were not appealing. I wanted a $400 spa voucher. With just 2 $75 ones, that was worthless to me. Unfortunately at 4 PM, my body didn't take well to the change in the climate. I broke out in very painful hives that caused my right eye to swell slightly shut. I looked deformed. The right side of my body was covered in large red welts. Not really itchy, just painful.
We had an early dinner at the Lucca International Buffet. It was French night. No hare or cornish hen. There weren't even French green beans. I didn't think it was particularly French. Still, the food was tasty. Brian loved the potatoes. I liked the wild rice. The mango they have was SOO GOOD. Nectar of the gods! Brian rushed me back to the hotel room trying to convince me to take a pill for my hives. I put it off to take a shower.
This is when we encountered our first problem. No cold water and low hot water pressure. It was difficult to shower. I finally took my pill and rested in bed, reading. At quarter to 9, I was couldn't keep my eyes open and passed out. Brian did the same.
Day two - Bright and early
We woke up at 7 and meandered until we found the Marina Grill. Breakfast was good. It was not 5 star quality, but I'd give it 3 stars. The hash browns were so tasty. The omelet station was good. We experienced good service. I didn't have to do much, the servers kept asking if I wanted something to drink. Brian went to go find another cup of coffee, only to have the server stop by and ask if I wanted coffee. snicker. The couple behind us received poor service. They wanted someone to take their drink orders and they finally gave up (after 5 minutes) and demanded someone serve them.
By 8:30 we were at the first pool we wanted to try. It was the hammock pool. Brian enjoyed the hammock while I did laps at the 25 yard pool. I'm out of shape. 45 minutes later, I left the pool and sat in a lounge chair, reading my PMI magazine. I brought about 20 lbs worth of SHRM and PMI magazines to get through. So far, I finished 1 HR and 1 PM magazine on the plan. I have finished my 2nd PM magazine.
Drink tally for Sunday - Brian 3 Presidente and 1 nasty white one (2 sips). Dorothy - none.
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