Excited_Ottawa

Hey everyone!! Thanks soooo much for all your advise!! Everyone is so helpful on here!!! We're going to do some more research based on some of the helpful hints on this thread and hopefully we'll have a date and resort to share soon!! Thanks again!!

Quote: Originally Posted by cheribeth I know IM a little late to this but here are some things that may help to keep the prices down. Use the cheapers aiport to fly out of. I live closer to the Manchester airport in NH. But it is much cheaper to fly out of the Boston aiport in Mass, that is a little over 1 1/2 hours from us. Also be carefull with the days you pick to fly. Our price quote jumped way up when we picked Saturday to Saturday, So we went with Friday to Friday. Our price including tax, flight, JR suite, transportation to and from resort came to 1250 a person. Thats a great deal!! we booked at Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana ... Suppose to be a 5 Star resort and all rooms are Jr Suites. Cheri Wow, that's a great price!! Thanks for the tips, I'm going to look into that and see if I can get a better quote. Thanks again!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by cmmdee Excited Ottawa, 1200 is about right... BUT it depends on which resort, also. The Majestic is one of the more expensive resorts, so that right there will up the costs. When selecting the resort we were going to get married at, we picked one where that would be a reasonable price for everyne to travel to. As the time gets closer to yoru wedding, the prices will go up in airfare, but since Feb 2009 is so far off, I would DEF be calling other travel agencies (at least ten) cause it sounds as if they are way over-quoting you. That is insane. GOod luck! I thought it was a bit much, esp. when we're probably taking about 50 people with us!! Which is also why I don't want to take too long to book flights, b/c there are so many of us!!! Still searching though, we've talked to 6 TAs so far, and still the same prices...beinging to lose hope!!!! Thanks for your help though!!

All of the quotes that we got were standard rooms, double occupancy. Which site were you on? We've looked at ever site possible and are finding nothing at that price!!!! Hopefully we'll find something soon though!

Quote: Originally Posted by saraece I think I mentioned to you in another post that I recieved a quote for the Riu Bachata in Puerto Plata Jan 09 and the rate I got was $1400 after taxes. One agent told me you can possibly save up to $500/couple by flying out of TO. I am still looking for a TA in Ottawa and would never give a deposit to anyone until I was ready to book! That's good to know. I didn't realize it was that much cheaper to fly out of T.O. rather than Ottawa. That may be something we can look into too. Thanks!

Quote: Originally Posted by Linzibella Hi! I'm in Ottawa too and am thinking about the Dominican for about the same time of year in 2009. I was also hoping for a much lower price than what you've been quoted. Especially if you're having so many guests! I was thinking that $1500 to $1700 max was what I would want to ask my guests to pay. Are you working with a travel agent? Which one? I haven't been to one yet (besides picking up brochures), but am about to start "interviewing" them. I met one TA at the Wedding Palace bridal fair in January that seemed like she would be helpful and knowledgeable, but she's in Gloucester and I'm out in Kanata, so that might be a bit too much travel if I have to meet with her very often. Although I guess a lot of it can be done on the phone or over e-mail. Anyways, maybe we can help each other out on this or share some information. ~Lindsay Hi Lindsay!! Glad to hear I'm not alone on this!! I was starting to think that we were being naive about the cost of all of this!! We would really like to keep the cost at $1500 max including taxes. We did find a travel agent, which for us, was very difficult to do. We too met a TA at a bridal show at Landsdowne and thought she'd be great to work with, but it turned out she was so busy, she kept forgetting to call us back! So we found someone out of Toronto and this is who we got our quotes from. Now, I can understand the prices that we were quoted if it were just him and I going on vacation...but for 60-80 people I was hoping for a better deal than that!! Needless to say, we're going to start looking around for other ways to go about this, and maybe get quotes from some other agencies. It'd be great to work together to find a good agency here in Ottawa that can help us.....how big is your group going to be?? Take good care, -Andrea

Quote: Originally Posted by twinkletoes How many days/nights is your price quote based on? And is it based on double occupancy? All of the quotes were for 7 days, double occupancy.

Hi Everyone, We just received our estimated rates per person for a Punta Cana wedding. There are numerous resort options and prices to choose from but we are honestly extremely surprised at the prices we were quoted. We estimate that we'll have at least 60-80 people that will want to attend and our original estimate is that we could get a quote for about $1200/each after taxes. Unfortunately many of the quotes are close to $1800-$2300!! Are we being unrealistic thinking that we could get a rate of $1200 for each person? What is the average price the other people are paying for the DW? Any insight would be appreciated. (The quotes we received are for Majestic Colonial, Gran Bahia Principe, Ocean Blue, and Dreams) Thanks

Hahah!! That's awesome!! I had no idea that Stag 'n Doe's were just a Canadian event!! And there's a definition for it too?!!! lol We actually get to have 2 of them b/c I'm from Ontario and my fiancee is from Cape Breton!!!! Soooo excited!!

Thank-you so much for letting me know!! I really really like The Majestic, but every time I mention it, someone tells me about the only 2 bad reviews I have found about it. It's comforting to hear that other people are still going there!! It's definitely at the top of my list. Have you seen the facebook group for the resort? If not, check it out, over 500 pictures and lots of members to talk to about their experiences!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by cmmdee Excited Ottawa, Congrats on your pending nuptials! I highly suggest researching resorts on your own because some travel agents will only suggest certain resorts that they get a bigger slice of cake from (i.e. money). I would start by looking up different resorts in Punta Cana, looking at ones you seem interested in, emailing the wedding coordinators for wedding package info/pricing, etc and going from there. THEN, select a travel agent, once you've narrowed that down. am an Iberostar bride myself. Punta Cana is gorgeous! Hi Cmmdee! Thanks for the advice!! We did narrow it down to The Majestic, Dreams and Bahia...our TA is currently looking into prices for us for those 3 and a few more she said we may like. There are just so many resort possibilities, I'm scared of ruling ones out that we may like!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by saraece Hi excited Ottawa!! I jsut went to St.Laurent and hit the three travel agents there and started asking questions. I have been on this site for a while, and have gotten a ton of info. All three directed me towards the Riu's. Mainly because they are located together and priced slitghtly different so if your guests can choose which one they can afford and you can stay at one and play at them all. Also one agent phoned whomever and is getting us a quote for jan 2009, even though the other agents said prices won't be out until april or June. This isn't where I was origanlly looking and got my heart set on a place that none of my guests wil be able to afford. But, really I don't care as long as it is a nice vacation for my guests. Hi Saraece!! We actually went to St. Laurent too, but the guy we talked to wasn't helpful at all, and didn't really seem to know how to go about starting to plan for all of this! So, we found an agent out of Toronto who is looking into a few resorts for pricing. As far as the Riu's...if your guests are at different resorts, does it cost money for them to come to the one where the wedding is going to take place? I read somewhere on here that it was $75US to have someone come onto the resort if they're not actually staying there......

Hi! We just recently found out that the TA that we were going to meet with isn't going to work out (we waited a month to meet with her, and she forgot to call us back, and now it will be another 3 weeks before she can "fit us in"). SO, I am just wondering if we can get some help with how you all went about finding a TA that specializes in DW. We kinda stumbled upon this one, and have done searches for new agents, but in our area (OTTAWA, CANADA) there are a crazy amount of agencies, and I don't know where to begin!! I just want to make sure I find someone who knows what they're talking about when it comes to weddings. Any help would be great!!! Thanks!

Quote: Originally Posted by nat4crim Exited Ottawa Do you have a travel agent? Mine is awesome and she specializes in destination weddings. She's been in the travel industry for over 22 years. She fought tooth and nail with me to get the best deal for me and my guests. Let me know if you want her contact info. Yes, we do have an agent...we actually stumbled upon her at a Bridal show here in Ottawa...she said she specializes in weddings and has been doing it for quite a few years now.... Thanks for the thought though...I may get that info from you if she doesn't work out!!! Thanks again!

Quote: Originally Posted by Debs Travel agents get paid by the resort or carrier, not you I do realized that they get paid by their carrier/resort...but we give them the business, so I would hope they would do all they can to accommodate our needs!!