Gran Bahia Principe Cayo Levantado Brides?

[LuckyC]

Hello! We are hoping to have our wedding at Cayo Levantado in May 2013.  We are in the very early stages of planning.  I have a travel agent looking into rates for us (coming from Canada) and as long as they fit within our budget (and our 60 guests), we will be on our way.  

 One travel agent told me that all of the standard rooms at the resort have king beds. Is this true as we anticipate several families with children coming along and we would hate for everyone to have to share a bed or sleep on a cot for the week.  From my understanding, the rates are reasonable for the wedding packages, are they not? Any info on extra charges and "surprises" would be greatly appreciated. 

 I am sure i will have a thousand questions in the coming months, but just wanted to get the ball rolling and keep updated on this thread. Any pictures or stories would be greatly appreciated, email is [email protected]

 

 

 

[Peach]

Hi LuckyC! Welcome! Where in Canada are you from? I am in Alberta, and we are looking to book here for July, 2013. We can't yet, but soon, hopefully!

I have some information about the wedding packages from the resort itself. I am not sure if that will help answer your questions about extra costs or not... If it might, let me know and I will pass it on to you. I have been engaged for about 6 months (hard to believe that long already!), and I have been gathering information and making decisions ever since... well, tentative decisions anyway. Now I am just waiting to book, so I can fully decide on everything!

I would recommend checking out the resort website and look at their rooms. That is what we are doing.... http://www.bahia-principe.com/BP/resorts/resort/CayoLevantado

 

Also, normally I hate tripadvisor, but I do check out their Samana forum, since there are quite a few people on there who visit Cayo Levantado regularly. I even think I remember seeing someone ask about the bed situation there.http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g147294-i1628-Samana_Peninsula_Dominican_Republic.html

 

There was a bride on here recently who had just returned from her wedding there, and she was wonderful about answering questions. Check through this thread, and maybe pm her. 

 

Hope all that helps! Welcome, and happy planning!

 

 

Originally Posted by LuckyC 

Hello! We are hoping to have our wedding at Cayo Levantado in May 2013.  We are in the very early stages of planning.  I have a travel agent looking into rates for us (coming from Canada) and as long as they fit within our budget (and our 60 guests), we will be on our way.  

 One travel agent told me that all of the standard rooms at the resort have king beds. Is this true as we anticipate several families with children coming along and we would hate for everyone to have to share a bed or sleep on a cot for the week.  From my understanding, the rates are reasonable for the wedding packages, are they not? Any info on extra charges and "surprises" would be greatly appreciated. 

 I am sure i will have a thousand questions in the coming months, but just wanted to get the ball rolling and keep updated on this thread. Any pictures or stories would be greatly appreciated, email is [email protected]

 

 

 

 

[LaurenP]

There are kings in every room. As for families, they would need to get a junior suite a believe which is a larger room. 

The rates are incredibly reasonable for the wedding packages, much less than you would ever pay for a wedding of the same quality back home.

 

We didn't have any extra charges or surprises other than the surprise at how organized they were. ie. I wanted to walk down the isle to a specific song at a specific time, Angela (wedding coordinator at the resort) timed it perfectly and told each person when to go to make it all happen.

[LuckyC]

Thank you so much for your feedback ladies! Just this morning i received some quotes from a TA and itravel2000 and rates are looking VERY good for May 2013. YAY!!! Peach, i don't know if you have checked with itravel yet, but they are able to obtain rates much earlier than any of the other TA's i have dealt with (not too sure why, but hey, i'll take it!). I am also from Alberta, living in Edmonton. 

 Lauren, how many guests did you have? And would you happen to have any pictures to share? 

 

[LaurenP]

We had 45 guests. We booked through itravel with air canada vacations. We had originally booked with Transat but they cancelled on us last minute (a few weeks before) and we had to scramble to find another travel operator going around the same time period for around the same price.

 

Not sure if you can see these...

This one is from a ceremony on the beach, I liked the gazebo better (where we had ours)

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2799/55/85/511459089/n511459089_1475713_890052.jpg

 

Beach photo: http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v3095/32/56/517987361/n517987361_1763682_5868384.jpg

Wedding dinner: http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2799/55/85/511459089/n511459089_1475561_3673088.jpg

cake in background: http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2799/55/85/511459089/n511459089_1475576_6596224.jpg

flowers and stuff http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2799/55/85/511459089/n511459089_1475492_7932030.jpg

ceremony: http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v3066/226/116/640186570/n640186570_2127974_7473838.jpg

[Peach]

Oh, see, I didn't know that! I do have a local travel agent, though... I would love it if she could get rates as quickly as that!
 

Originally Posted by LuckyC 

Thank you so much for your feedback ladies! Just this morning i received some quotes from a TA and itravel2000 and rates are looking VERY good for May 2013. YAY!!! Peach, i don't know if you have checked with itravel yet, but they are able to obtain rates much earlier than any of the other TA's i have dealt with (not too sure why, but hey, i'll take it!). I am also from Alberta, living in Edmonton. 

 Lauren, how many guests did you have? And would you happen to have any pictures to share? 

 

 

[LaurenP]

Looks like my last post was denied (I think) that included pictures. Will add them back in another post when I have a bit more time.

 

We booked through itravel. We had originally booked Transat through them, but last minute (1 month prior to the wedding) they cancelled completely and the only option we had was move our wedding date (after our 45 guests had already booked the wedding off a year in advance and all invitations, and other items were printed with our wedding date on it) or find a new trip provider. After some pushing with itravel to resolve the issues they came through after I wrote a letter to Jonathan Carrol (President of itravel) and we worked out a deal with Air Canada vacations. Definitely a great trip provider to go through! Lounge access and first class seats, gorgeous rooms. Couldn't have asked for a better provider. They were very helpful on the flight as well with making sure my wedding dress didn't get crushed and let me hang it up in the FA cupboard.

[LuckyC]

Thank you! We are looking to book with Air Canada vacations now, itravel2000 seemed a bit cheaper, but after hearing stories like yours, we are going to book with Air Canada.  The only drawback (and i am still trying to see how everyone feels about this) is that there is an overnight required in Toronto... Not sure if we should be looking at a different destination, or just stick with what we want most! 

[Peach]

Overnight in Toronto? Yikes.... I hope that isn't the case for us too...

I can understand your concern. That does seem like a tough decision. I do not know what we would do if that is the case for us too. I guess I will just cross my fingers that it isn't. Good luck deciding! Let us know!

 

 

Originally Posted by LuckyC 

Thank you! We are looking to book with Air Canada vacations now, itravel2000 seemed a bit cheaper, but after hearing stories like yours, we are going to book with Air Canada.  The only drawback (and i am still trying to see how everyone feels about this) is that there is an overnight required in Toronto... Not sure if we should be looking at a different destination, or just stick with what we want most! 

 

[LaurenP]

Most of my guests were from Toronto so it wasn't as huge of a issue for us. Our guests that came from out of town stayed overnight at one of the nearby hotels. It's something everyone will completely forget about once they get to the resort and see how beautiful it is there.