Grand Sunset Princess Resort

[ccm]

Lynfar,

 

Are wedding is scheduled for April 18 at GSP.  I was wondering if your wedding was also at GSP and when you changed to Punta Cana did you have to pay and difference in your fares or did they do a straight transfer?  Also were you able to get back your deposit from the hotel for the wedding?  Thanks in advance for your answers.

[lynfar]

We were able to do a straight transfer because we booked another Sunwing property. The resort has agreed to refund us our wedding deposit of $200. It was a lot of work, but we are not out any additional money and received all our deposits back.

[lynfar]

Sorry, Yes "CCM" we were booked for the GSP.

[~Melanie~]

Hi everyone,

 

So we had originally planned to stay at the Riviera as we leave on Nov.28 (this Sunday), with a wedding date of Dec.03. The  news that the Riviera closed on Sunday hit me like a ton of bricks. We had originally expected to be moved to the Sunset but Air Canada Vacations did not want to move us there  and I read that Sunwing bought up 425 rooms at the Sunset right now. So I spent two agonizing days wondering if we were going to be cancelled outright, if i would even be able to have a wedding, much less on Dec.03.

 

Today, we found out that ACV is moving us to the Azul Fives Resort, also right by Playa. This is a new resort and part of the Karisma line of hotels. It is a step up from the Riviera and our guests will not have to pay any extra for this. And - they have my wedding date available. So we're both just thrilled.

 

For those that are at the Sunset or waiting to see what happens at the Riviera because you have more time than less than a week - I'm sure the Sunset will be wonderful and from all the great reviews about both resorts, i do hope that the Riviera reopens safer than ever because it is beautiful.

[ScubaBride29]

Hi there. Just wanted to put my input into this as well. Myself and a group of 15 of us were booked for the sunset side and my wedding was going to be on the 4th of December. since we heard the news we became very worried, and decided to move to another resort, our travel agent was very nice she got us a break down of price differences for other Sunwing vacation properties and gave us a day to figure it out together. In the end we decided to move to Riu Carbie in Cancun. I have already called the resort and they do have a wedding date on hold for me and sent me all my paper work and information. If anything the resort is more organized and on the ball then sunset was. I talked to the WC at the Sunset and she was very concerned i was canceling my wedding and wanted a reason (as if its not a question right) and a signature to cancel the wedding and get the deposit back. It was a big nightmare but so far everything is falling back into place. I'm the kind of person to fly by the seat of pants anyways so as long as i see $200 back into my account from sunset and a confirmation Riu that my wedding is booked I'm OK!!! I must say i rather stay with sunset as it seems like a nicer resort but i have a 2 year old at home that i must think about. I hope it works out for everyone else and good luck.

[Margret]

So I have a dilema... Half of my guests are booked at Riviera and half at Sunset. The wedding is January 19th.

I am really worried that Riviera might stay closed for a while...who knows.

I have opportunity to move Riviera side guests to Sunset. That means cancelling with West Jet and moving to Sunwing.

My other option is to move everyone to Bahia Principe Coba which I am not crazy about...i've been there and would like to avoid it.

What do you think I should do? I will try calling the resort tomorrow to see if they have any info and if I can switch my wedding date to Sunset.

Do you think Sunset will be safe, same company, 2 years difference when they were built...

Help

[gujarwala]

Margaret I'm pretty sure the resort itself will move your Riviera guests to the Sunset side if you request so, and especially if their rooms happen to be in those that are closed down I'm sure they would relocate them.

[AlbertaCarrie]

Hi Lynfar,

Were you originally booked on the Riviera side or the Sunset side?  I'm booked on the Sunset side for Feb 2 and my travel agent said they weren't able to do much because the disaster happenned on the Riviera side...

Originally Posted by lynfar 

My wedding date is Jan11th, 2011... My agent was resistant at first to help us switch hotels, but after a few phone calls and a letter I wrote personally to Sunwing… She was willing to help us change hotels.

We are now going to Punta Cana - the Bahia Principe. I won't lie... it was stressful, but my group of 18 is now switched without a penalty (my FI and I made several calls to the resort, travel agent and Sunwing) I believe Sunwing waived the change penalty because we are remaining with a Sunwing property.

I was able to change with less than 2 months before my wedding date… there’s no harm in trying!

[eldiexs]

hooolllaaaa feliz happy planning!!!

[gujarwala]

 

 

Originally Posted by AlbertaCarrie 

 

 

 

Hi Lynfar,

Were you originally booked on the Riviera side or the Sunset side?  I'm booked on the Sunset side for Feb 2 and my travel agent said they weren't able to do much because the disaster happenned on the Riviera side...

Quote:

Originally Posted by lynfar 

 

My wedding date is Jan11th, 2011... My agent was resistant at first to help us switch hotels, but after a few phone calls and a letter I wrote personally to Sunwing… She was willing to help us change hotels.

We are now going to Punta Cana - the Bahia Principe. I won't lie... it was stressful, but my group of 18 is now switched without a penalty (my FI and I made several calls to the resort, travel agent and Sunwing) I believe Sunwing waived the change penalty because we are remaining with a Sunwing property.

I was able to change with less than 2 months before my wedding date… there’s no harm in trying!

 

 

 

If she booked through Sunwing (which she said she did) it has to be on the Sunset side (although correct me if I'm wrong) I'm almost positive Sunwing does not book on the Riviera side.

 

Basically whether you can switch out with a sunwing booking will really depend on how aggressive your travel agent is...mine came back with the simple answer that nothing can be done, and it seems like some other agents are saying the same thing, while other agents were able to get Sunwing to offer other resorts.