Vacation Mode | Punta Cana ’19

aformentin 18 Comments Mommy | Lifestyle

We just got back from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic for the first time as a family of 4. We stayed at the Paradisus Palma Real Golf and Spa Resort which was AMAZING. We booked via Expedia, as a package (hotel & flight included) which was super easy & user friendly. Whenever we go back, we will definitely be staying there again because the service was so great. I will say off the bat, that with all the speculation going on the past few months, we had absolutely no issues. We went in a big group of 15 and every one returned safe & sound and sunburned. That should be your main concern, making sure you are applying 100 SPF every 2-3 hours especially if you burn easily. The sun in the Caribbean is just different than it is in the states- it literally burns! With that being said, lets talk about fun!

Upon check-in, we were immediately created with our beverage of choice, 2 Presidentes please! Lord knows we needed those beers after a 3 and a half hour flight and Esme crying for 3 of those hours- talk about frustration. We got to the hotel by 11am but check-in wasn't until 3pm, so we were given our bracelets & a hospitality room to change into our bathing suits & start having fun! Darwin, our personal concierge met us and gave us a tour of the hotel and led us straight to the buffet. Darwin was a gem the whole vacation; he made dinner reservations for us, reserved cabanas early in the morning for us, and even got us complimentary coupons for the hotel & gift shop!

The hotel was equipped with an all you can eat buffet available for all meals as well as a wide variety of a la carte restaurants. The cuisine options range from Mediterranean to Asian and even Italian. Room service is also available 24 hours a day, with only a $5 delivery charge.

We headed to straight to the swim up pool bar after lunch and Max was ready to jump in. Honestly, it was so humid and hot we were all ready to jump in. The pool is huge and features hydromassage areas, a kid's pool as well as an adult only pool for Royal Service guests. They started playing music and we were already enjoying our vacation.

The next few days were spent lounging by the pool, eating, drinking & having fun until the rest of our family arrived. My mom even surprised us on Saturday.. her FOMO was real, LOL! They had plenty of excursions to offer, and some of the group decided to go ATV riding, which everyone loved. It took about 45 minutes to get to their destination and then they were off. They rode the ATVs to a farm where they speak about coffee, tobacco, rum & chocolate and then you can go for a midday swim in the crystal clear spring water cave! Even Max jumped in! Once you start riding again, you are off to Macao Beach- one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. Clear waters, no seaweed or waves! The whole excursion from start to finish was about 7 hours, a long day but well worth it, and the cost was only $45 per person. Make sure to bring cash with you, if you are looking to shop while at the farm- they had plenty of naturally derived stuff as well as bracelets & necklaces that many of the children from the village make on their own to sell to tourists. It's so terribly sad how some of these people live & how young the children start helping out. It was a real eye opener for Max to see how some people live.

We ended the vacation with a BANG, the last night show before we left was MICHAEL JACKSON! If you know my son Max, you know the obsession was real. He could not believe the REAL Michael Jackson was performing on stage and he had front row seats. When all was said & done he asked me why I lied & told him Michael Jackson was in heaven when he was clearly right in front of him. I didn't have the heart to tell the kid he was just an impersonator. Bad mom or Good mom????

To say the least we were very sad to come home, even after 7 days. Max wishes to go back in just a few weeks (lol, notttt!) As much as I'd love to our bank account won't allow it, even though for a family of 4 the all inclusive price was not bad at all. The most expensive part of our package was our flight because we went during high season (almost $800 per person, ouch!)

Paradisus Palma Real, thank you for the memories we were able to create. We hope to be back one day soon.


Until next time,

Alessa