Paradisus Punta cana wedding 4/25/08

Otis1230 · 05-13-2008, 02:54 PM

My review - Paradisus Punta cana resort.

Air and airport- arriving: We fly direct from philadelphia by USairways (They are mess) We were suppose to land at 1:45pm but we realy landed @5pm
The planes tow broke and we waited on the runway for 3 hours. We fly first class but so did a family with 4 kids- yelling and complaining... We finally arrived to a extremely bice airport. The airport had no one but our plane so we went through customs with no stops and we had 6 luggages and 2 carryon bags. We arrived at our hotel in 30 mins or less. The ride is crazy!!!! But just like any other carribean country.

RESORT CHECKIN:
We booked royal service so at arriving at the front lobby- we were taken to a separate checkin and it was outstanding. No lines and no waits.. The main lobby check in was a mess!!! The check-in 10 mins or less and off to our room. Which was building 19. This building was in front of the beach- we had the cornor room looking at the beach. It wsa amazing.

ROOMS:
The garden rooms in royal service and beach front rooms really all looked the same. The bathrooms are just ok- it has salloon doors which is weriod but no big deal. Other than that the room is great. we had no complaints. Our butlers for the 8 royal service guests were fantastic. But tip early and they will do what ever you want. drinks, water, extra towels, food, snacks, etc.
WE had one guests are the reserves and they are really nice but very far from everything - they were late to everything. Which is annoying!!! But, very modern rooms, but they got a lot of calls about the timeshares. The royal service people in our group got no calls. Go figure.
Royal service restaurant is where we ate breakfest everyday- they will make you eggs, omletes, etc. Its air conditioned and no smoking verses the buffet with lines and smoking. They wait on you at the royal service restaurant for lunch and breakfest. Well worth the upgrade!!!
Plus the royal service front desk- was easy and no lines ever. The main lobby was crazy all the time.

RESTAURANTS: We ate at all the restaurants but the brazilain restaurant. My favorite was Sakura, chinease, steak house. The other restaurants are great too but those were my top 3. Vento, el romincatco, dol votca are worth going to because they have really good food. The seafood restaurant was a waste of time, and limited choices.

BEACH & POOL: We sat at the royal service pool and beach everyday. Jerima got us 15-20 chairs every day and drinks all day long. We tipped him and he was our best friend for the week. He even came in on his day off before we left. None of our group went to the regular pool or beach.

WEDDING: We had our wedding in the lobby gardens because of rain showers a hour before our ceremony. But, it worked out for the best because the sun was shinning and no one had wet beach sand on them. We got married at 530pm - we had a civil ceremony and sand ceremony together. It was @25 mins total. We used the domincan trio and it was so carribean. I recommend them for the wedding. We took pics before and after to @7pm on the beach and gardens. The reception was at the alberfura restaurant. We closed the restaurant and had a DJ (3hours), firedancers, and a open bar and buffet all night. It was great and we had 25 people and had a great time. Then everyone changed and went to the lobby bar for a while.

We had no problems with viviana- the invoice was the same as before we got there.

DanielleNDerek · 05-13-2008, 03:01 PM

thanks for the review. i'm getting married at the palma real and i hope i have as nice an experience as you had with PPC. Did you surprise your guests with the firedancers or tell them beforehand?

foxytv · 05-14-2008, 04:36 AM

Great to see your review, Lisa!

It's great how we can be at the same place for our weddings and have different experiences. Everything was great for us as well, but since Tom and I were the only ones in Royal Service, we only used that pool and bar one day. Otherwise we all hung out at the main pool -- and enjoyed its liveliness. We never even took advantage of our butlers either (not until out Palma Real honeymoon).

I can't wait to see more pics of the firedancers! How did that work in the restaurant? We saw firedancers on Wednesday, our night of arrival, on the beach in front of the Gabi Beach Bar and they were AMAZING!

LadyCheese · 05-14-2008, 06:20 PM

thanks for the reviews...sounds like everything went without a hitch. :)

FYB87 · 05-15-2008, 07:30 PM

Great to read your review. Did you get a package? If not how much was it to close off the restaurant have the open bar and have the DJ (if you don't mind me asking)? My mom and I were talking today about having it on the beach or the restaurant. She can't understand why if it's all-inclusive why you have to pay for the reception! So it was a hard conversation to have with her!

foxytv · 05-15-2008, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FYB87

Great to read your review. Did you get a package? If not how much was it to close off the restaurant have the open bar and have the DJ (if you don't mind me asking)? My mom and I were talking today about having it on the beach or the restaurant. She can't understand why if it's all-inclusive why you have to pay for the reception! So it was a hard conversation to have with her!

My Mom could never (and still doesn't) understand that.

I have tried to explain that it's b/c we are having staff work directly for us as opposed to using the general AI facilities which are open to everyone ... and while in a sense it DOESN'T make sense that it is so much extra -- it does when you think about them focusing on YOU and your guests instead of any Joe Schmoe who walks up. Although, the cost is always a bit much. :-)

But, it was definitely worth every penny for us!

LindsayG · 05-15-2008, 10:04 PM

Wow, between the two reviews I got a ton of my questions answered!

Did either of you use the salon for hair/makeup/nails? I'm considering doing it, and am wondering what kind of job they do.

Foxy, I took your suggestion and reserved the area on the beach by the hybiscus bar. Viv told me it would cost $200 for the palm fronds though, so we may just skip that. Is the bar fairly close? I doubt we shell out the three grand for a private bar....lol.

Thanks again for all the good info!

Otis1230 · 05-16-2008, 02:48 PM

I used the salon- I got my hair done in the US and I brought pics. they just had to copy it. I had set by sept pics- It was very easy.
I had 5 others that got their hair done and it was perfect too

FYB87 · 06-05-2008, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otis1230

My review - Paradisus Punta cana resort.

Air and airport- arriving: We fly direct from philadelphia by USairways (They are mess) We were suppose to land at 1:45pm but we realy landed @5pm
The planes tow broke and we waited on the runway for 3 hours. We fly first class but so did a family with 4 kids- yelling and complaining... We finally arrived to a extremely bice airport. The airport had no one but our plane so we went through customs with no stops and we had 6 luggages and 2 carryon bags. We arrived at our hotel in 30 mins or less. The ride is crazy!!!! But just like any other carribean country.

RESORT CHECKIN:
We booked royal service so at arriving at the front lobby- we were taken to a separate checkin and it was outstanding. No lines and no waits.. The main lobby check in was a mess!!! The check-in 10 mins or less and off to our room. Which was building 19. This building was in front of the beach- we had the cornor room looking at the beach. It wsa amazing.

ROOMS:
The garden rooms in royal service and beach front rooms really all looked the same. The bathrooms are just ok- it has salloon doors which is weriod but no big deal. Other than that the room is great. we had no complaints. Our butlers for the 8 royal service guests were fantastic. But tip early and they will do what ever you want. drinks, water, extra towels, food, snacks, etc.
WE had one guests are the reserves and they are really nice but very far from everything - they were late to everything. Which is annoying!!! But, very modern rooms, but they got a lot of calls about the timeshares. The royal service people in our group got no calls. Go figure.
Royal service restaurant is where we ate breakfest everyday- they will make you eggs, omletes, etc. Its air conditioned and no smoking verses the buffet with lines and smoking. They wait on you at the royal service restaurant for lunch and breakfest. Well worth the upgrade!!!
Plus the royal service front desk- was easy and no lines ever. The main lobby was crazy all the time.

RESTAURANTS: We ate at all the restaurants but the brazilain restaurant. My favorite was Sakura, chinease, steak house. The other restaurants are great too but those were my top 3. Vento, el romincatco, dol votca are worth going to because they have really good food. The seafood restaurant was a waste of time, and limited choices.

BEACH & POOL: We sat at the royal service pool and beach everyday. Jerima got us 15-20 chairs every day and drinks all day long. We tipped him and he was our best friend for the week. He even came in on his day off before we left. None of our group went to the regular pool or beach.

WEDDING: We had our wedding in the lobby gardens because of rain showers a hour before our ceremony. But, it worked out for the best because the sun was shinning and no one had wet beach sand on them. We got married at 530pm - we had a civil ceremony and sand ceremony together. It was @25 mins total. We used the domincan trio and it was so carribean. I recommend them for the wedding. We took pics before and after to @7pm on the beach and gardens. The reception was at the alberfura restaurant. We closed the restaurant and had a DJ (3hours), firedancers, and a open bar and buffet all night. It was great and we had 25 people and had a great time. Then everyone changed and went to the lobby bar for a while.

We had no problems with viviana- the invoice was the same as before we got there.

Did you happen to use severine for photos?

cmmdee · 06-05-2008, 08:35 AM

Otis, welcome back! It sounds like you had a lovely time! :)