Dominican Ally

I started sending reminder emails one month from our booking deadline....then did it again at one week. I was so stressed because it seemed like for the longest time we only had 10 booked.....and then all of a sudden within a week of the deadline we got up to 47! Don't stress For whatever reason it seems people don't feel like they have to respond, or even let you know that they've booked.....I just kept getting updates from the Travel agent, and the few people that did tell me when they were booking.

Sounds like you've got it It eased my mind so much to have those extra spaces held above and beyond the 30. Yesterday was the deadline, and by end of day we actually had 47 booked! So I'm happy I reserved 50 spots. My TA didn't mention anything about the $500 future travel voucher, or the $300 off if we book over 30 ppl.......maybe I should ask about this. Do you mind me asking what pricing you got per person?

Hey Krysta! How many runners and sashes do you have? I'm in Kingston (well...Howe Island, but work in Kingston) and would consider purchasing them if there are enough for what I need Alicia

Hey Ladies! There is a pretty active thread in this forum for Ocean Blue: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/52713/ocean-blue-sand-punta-cana Check it out, and feel free to chat with your fellow OB brides I'm getting married April 11, 2013 there. We actually have a wedding timeline going on the thread mentioned above Cheers! Alicia

Hey Ladies Just bumping up the wedding date timline - feel free to add yours, if you haven't already! Lozzawatts (Lorraine) Wedding: August 9th, 2012 Travel: Aug 7-12 erinme (Erin) Wedding October 11, 2012 Travel: Oct 9-16 nikkiandrich (Nikki) Wedding: November 10, 2012 Travel: Nov 7-14 SylvieG (Sylvie) Wedding: November 26, 2012 Travel: Nov 22-29 gina24 (Marcia) Wedding: Jan 23, 2013 Travel: Jan 19-26 ntlsnow (Natalie) Wedding: January 25, 2013 Travel: Jan 23- Feb 3 Danimontague (Danielle) Wedding: Feb 20, 2013 Travel: Feb 16-Mar 2 MCathWilde (Mary) Wedding Feb 25,2013 Travel Feb 23-March 3 TraceyJo (Tracey) Wedding: April 9, 2013. Travel Apr.5-12 DominicanAlly (Alicia) Wedding: April 11, 2013 Travel: April 6-20 jlb392 (Jessica) Wedding: April 17, 2013 Travel: April 14-24 KristinaM (Kristina) Wedding: April 18, 2013 Travel April 13-27 missjade (Jade) Wedding: July 11, 2013 Travel: July 6-13

Hey! So here is my understanding of the Transat thing...If you have more than 30 people by the 90 days, anyone over 30 still gets the same price if they book within the 90 days. The only thing is, that it is subject to availability, since only the 30 spaces are actually "held" already. What I did, because I wanted to make sure we had 50 spots, was I had 10 people book right away, and I put 10 spots (200 each) on my credit card to hold an extra 10 (30 original, 10 deposits from guests, and 10 deposits from me). Once the next 10 people booked, I got my deposit back (or I would have gotten it back at the end of 90 days regardless). I'm sorry if that is confusing...lol. The other thing my TA told me, was that after the deadline you can still have people book for the guaranteed price....but only 20% of your total number booked. So, for example with me....I have 40 booked, and 20% of 40 = 8. So....8 people can book after the deadline and still receive the price. Did your TA offer you any concessions with transat? ie: 11th person free? That's too bad that you'll miss my wedding! I should still be around for yours though, as we're there till the 20th so I can give you some tips while I'm down there

Hey Ladies! How is everyone's planning going! Our 90 day deadline with Transat for our guests to get their deposits in, is tomorrow. We have 41 booked right now I'm super excited, as when we started this process, I was anticipating that we may only have 20 or so. We're overwhelmed by the support. I think my TA getting a decent deal def. helped out too, although we do have a few who have to wait until the last minute to book due to their jobs/circumstances. I can finally start looking for OOT supplies, and ordering. I'm thinking if we have 41 booked now, with the possibility of a few more - I'm just going to start ordering everything based on 50 guests. Hopefully it works out

Hey There! Just a suggestion since you are comparing resorts before contacting them I found that the amount of time each resort took to get back to me varied GREATLY when I was shoppingn around. So bear that in mind when considering a resort if it's important to you to hear back from them promptly. Ocean blue always emailed me back the same day, or the next if my email was later in the day...........some resorts I never even heard back from, and some took days. I sort of did the same thing with Travel agents too, and in the end my choices were highly influenced by response time....lol. I can't stand people not getting back to me, so to me, it was important Happy planning!

Hola Fellow Ocean Blue Brides! Just thought I would check in! How is everyone doing with their planning?! Updates please We have about 15 booked right now, and about 25-35 still left to book with only two weeks to go to our 90 day Transat deadline. Everyone keeps saying they are booking, and the travel agent has been super busy and has played phone tag with some.....but I'm getting nervous.....hope that everyone gets it in gear and booked by the deadline, otherwise the price we locked in will no longer be guaranteed and I doubt people will book if they have to pay the higher prices that seem to be out there right now... On the upside, I am also excited the deadline is almost up - because once it expires I should have a MUCH better idea on final numbers so I can FINALLY start OOT bag shopping! Yahoo! 339 days to go!

Great planning thread Krysta Lee Ann! Your day looked amazing, and I'm glad that it all worked out in the end! (Especially the photog situation!)

I saw this - great deal!

Did you happen to find anything out about this? I'll be in the same boat next week - so just wondering

These are gorgeous! Amazing job!

Krysta - your photos are stunning! Looks like you had an amazing day

I'm hoping I can find some this year at Dollarama! They would be perfect! How was your big day!?! Can't wait to see more pics

Thank you so much for looking into this further! I feel much better now! My TA is away this week - so I couldn't ask her...lol! Now I don't have to

NewBride30: What time of year are you getting quotes for? I have recently heard of many brides getting 1600+ quotes for Ocean Blue right now for 2013....hopefully they go down soon! At the time I got pricing - 2013 prices actually weren't out yet. I had several travel agents telling me I HAD to wait....but then the one I ended up going with explained that it was actually sometimes better to get pricing and book before the 2013 rates came out (I got quoted in late Jan and early Feb for April 2013)....as the pricing is most often lower. She explained that when the 2013 pricing first comes out it would tend to be higher...and may or may not go down later on... As far as I know she just got the quote straight from Transat...because at the time they were the only supplier giving pricing, and it sounded good enough to me that we booked. Hope that it all works out for you!

Just signing up for an account sometimes isn't enough to get the emails coming Play around with the site...create a few items....and let them sit in your shopping cart....then the promo emails start rolling! At least this worked for me, and I got that advice on this forum I've gotten hundreds of dollars of free stuff for next to nothing

Thats so strange....the hotel responded on their facebook page saying there were no reno plans at all..... I'm still a little curious...may email the wedding coordinators as well....

I really wonder where the information came from now....I got a response from the Hotel on their facebook page.... I wrote this: "I recently heard Ocean Blue&Sand will be undergoing renovations in 2013 (Jan-March).....is this true, and what impact will this have on vacationers/wedding groups?" And their reply was: Hello Alicia, thanks for your comments, right now there are no plans for any type of renovations at the hotel for 2013, and specially Jan-March which are our busiest months of the year. Hope this is the case Momentary panic has subsided! lol

I've left posts on the H10 Ocean - facebook page, as well as the Ocean Blue Brides - tagging Ada........asking them to confirm if this is happening and what the impact will be on travellers/wedding groups. If that doesn't work out - I totally think we should contact the resort for some answers....this is not the sort of thing you should find out after the fact

Sorry for your change as well Gina! Where did you find out this information? Do you have any more details? Now I'm starting to worry...lol

I wonder if we can find out some more Details of this...has me worried now as well...

I booked shortly after my post - and I actually feel like I got pretty good pricing. We are doing Ocean Blue - Punta Cana April 2013 and our pricing out of Ottawa/Toronto pp for 7 nights is 1350 including taxes.... We used a travel agent, and she ended up booking us with Transat - they will hold 30 spaces for 90 days with no deposit other than the bride and grooms (200 each)......We needed 50 spaces, so I reserved 10 extras and 10 people booked right away and I will get refunded once the next 10 book, or when the 90 days is up. They also offer a one time price drop assurance...... What sort of pricing are you getting right now?

Congratulations Krysta!!!!!!! I'm sure your day was amazing! Can't wait to see pics/read a review!