Going to Punta Cana on Friday...

We went to the DR a few years ago. It is beautiful, the resorts are beautiful, the areas outside the resorts are sketchy.

Pro Tip: The Texas Rangers have a huge training facility down there, and the Dominicans love the Rangers. I purchased 2 $20 Texas Ranger caps at Academy before we went, and traded them for 4 boxes of cuban cigars, a Dominican nativity set, 4 beach towels, and 2 bottles of rum. Probably a wash, but the guys started at $125US and we haggled until I proposed the hat trade. I was wearing one, and the other was in our backpack. His eyes lit up like it was Christmas, that made his day. I have a great picture of me smoking a cigar, and him in his new hat in his store.

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things to avoid?

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Donkeys and pot holes on the way to and from the airport

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4 boxes of cuban cigars,

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started at $125US

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Yeah those were fake. The DR is flooded with knock-off cigars. Do not buy any unless they come from a reputable cigar shop. Unless you have a taste for floor sweepings.

[quote]Do NOT go to the scape park or do the ATV rides with the tourist company. We also went to Isla Saona. Crowded, but was still worth it IMO. Bayhibe was a cool port and the view at Isla Saona beat everything we saw in PC

Thanks for the tips. Will check them out.

Have fun. We stayed at the sister property next door (Majestic Colonial) a couple of years ago and had a blast.

We enjoyed the "island tour"' where you go to a school, coffee/chocolate plantation, etc. I took a few gently used baseballs and gave them to the boys at the school, they were like kids at Christmas but I felt awful I didn't have one for everyone.

Buy your tourist cards before you leave, and you'll get to go right to immigration..allow one of the guys to take your luggage (keep your eye on it, of course..especially if you've had a few on the ride down) and they can expedite the trip through customs. I bet we weren't in the airport more than 20-25 minutes total.

Pics for adding new review to sticky?

On my Honeymoon, my wife and I stayed and the Iberostar Grand Bavaro. Went ziplining and had a blast. As soon as we were finished, it came a monsoon. Little did we know the dry creek beds that we drove up the mountain over, were gonna be whitewater rapids on the way down.

One of the few times that I was scared for my life. My wife and I were shitting our pants. How our bus did not get washed away was beyond me. The water was high as hell, not to mention rolling downhill. Needless to say we made it out

I was curious if those two posters' travel plans headed down there were affected.

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Staying at Majestic Excellence. Any suggestions/recommendations/things to avoid?

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I stayed there just last year. It was gorgeous.

1. Have cash to pay the entry fee into PC. The ATM is expensive

2. Allow a skycap/porter to take your bags to your ground transportation. It can save you time waiting in line for the customs agent. Our guy helped us cut passed a line that was 50 ppl deep. We breezed right our of the airport

3. Make sure your bank knows you are traveling abroad. We made this rookie mistake and our bank's security dept locked our card and we almost missed our flight home

4. Avoid AMSTAR excursions such as zipline, atv, and horseback. It is on a boring piece of property and was a huge waste of time.

5. Maj Ele has a beautiful spa. If it's in your budget, I'd highly recommend

6. Do not veer of the property to the right after dark. we got 10 steps and some random guy came running out trying to sell us weed.

7. The hibachi was not all that great but the rest of the food was top notch.

8. Drink the Mama Junas but do not buy a bottle for home. It doesn't taste as good.

9. Buy Cuban cigars and alcohol at the duty free shop in the airport as it was 1/2 the price of what was asked at the hotel.