Barcelo Bavaro Palace Deluxe

[MissJali]

Here's my review as promised! We arrived on sat may 4. We were greeted by another huge group checking in also. Check in was fast, we had booked the deluxe room near the golf section. the room was great but they gave us 2double beds and because i'm spoiled, i almost always upgrade oncei get to a resort. That wouldn't happen until monday becuase the club premium rooms were all booked, too mamy large groups. We did upgrade to the jrsuite deluxe for$25/night and reception was really helpful. they made sure to give us aking bed as they knew we were a couple. I didn't do much recon as i was on vacay too. The buffets are huge, lots of food choices, food was good. Although there were large groups checked in, we never had a problem finding chairs at the beach or pool. Animation team was wonderful, there was always some activity you could join, i wasjust too shy. Dance lessions are at thebeach around 4pm. The pool bartenders are a little slow, as they are catering to the people on thebeach, the pool and the swim up bar. I personally am not having my ceremony at the beach gazebo. I chose the pier. We saw a ceremony on that gazebo around 1pm and there were lots of people cheering on the couple as their ceremony took place. No one was really rude and only cheered after the couple kissed. If you really want a private ceremony, choose the garden gazebo. Me, personally i dont mind the extra well wishers. The steak house was really good. Appetizers are buffet style but everything else is served. I had the churrasco and it was sooo good. The servers were great also. My fi had the salmon and loved it as well. The japanese restuarant is always a pleasure. Our cook could've been more funny but it was a good experience overall and the food came out great. What got me really excited was actually running into the photogapher from Tropical pictures who did our engagment session last year at Barcelo Punta Cana on the beach while we took a picture with the monkey and he remembered us before we recognized him!!! Hard to tell if he'll be there in March to do thewedding but hopefully he is. The theatre has changed so much, there are 2 levels and the second level is less crowded and easier to get drinks. It is true that the rooftop deck is right across the theatre. We stopped in and my fi fell in love with it and almost wanted to change the ceremony location but at least at the pier at 5pm, there's a breeze, on the rooftop it was blazing hot, no shade, etc. we figured we'd chill there unofficially with people. The bar carey is beautiful and i will def use that as the location for my welcome drinks. They have lots of sectional sofas which provide that intimate setting. It seems to never be too crowded as you cant smoke in there, i loved that people couldn't. Lol We met with susana for about 30 min as many of myquestions have been answered through thisthread. Thanks girls. She's probably in her early 30s and her english is perfect. She seems to possibly have grown up here in the states and went back to DR. She seems cool but empahized that i don't need to email her with the same questions over and over, as my date gets closer she will def be bothering me regarding details and stuff. I did see a sample of the ceremony script and am overall pleased by it. Also she said for bar higuey 30-40 paper lanterns is sufficient. I completely trust these women to pull off a beautiful wedding so i will try not to be bridezilla and just take care of things on this side. We did see the bar higuey and it is beautiful!!!! So happy we got that location for thr reception. Tamara was worried about the weather but everyday was beautiful out there, it rained wednesday like after 6 and we spent the most of the rsin in the pool until they kicked us out and had a drunken good time trying to find our room. We ended up going to strikers, food was always there and hot. And the bonus for me was the fried calamari!!! They must have known i was coming. The disco is great. Theres a huge screen in the room and as the music plays, you can watch the video. The vip section is on top, not sure how fun that wouldbe. I am missing a million things but if you guys have questions, i can def try to answer. I will also post pictures later of the gaezbo, pier, roof top deck, and bar higuey. this trip just made me more excited for my upcoming wedding and knowing that my guests are going to have a blast! As everyone had been extremely helpful and cordial.

[trivera5521]

Thanks for the great review!! Did you see any beach weddings? Thoughts on that location? Do they serve food or apps at Bar Carey? Did she mention anything about the food options and how they handle that at the reception? Did you have any services done at the spa?

[Parrish]

My husband and I got married on May 4^th. We arrived on the 30^th and stayed until the 7^th. The first two days were spent at the beach/pool and the lobby meeting our guests as they arrived. We gave all of our guests a welcome bag with personalized itinerary in each one listing times for excursions, dinner reservations that we made for them or where we are eating certain nights, and the wedding day times and places. Also we gave everyone an insulated cup with a cover and straw, we had them personalized with a logo with our names and wedding date on them. They were a huge hit and people used them all week for their drinks, just took them up to the bar and they would fill them with whatever your drink of choice was.  We got them from discount mugs. Also everyone got a toothbrush, hand sanitizer, and medications they may need. A few people did end up getting sick, but it did not seem to last for long.

We did a snorkel excursion on Friday that 35 of our 47 guests went on. We swam with stingrays, sharks, and wadded in chest deep sandbar with drinks. It was a lot of fun and I think everyone that went enjoyed it. A few did not make it due to drinking too much the night before and missing the bus. We used Anders with Group Palmera and he was great. I booked it all before we left. We also used him for a fishing trip for 11 people on Thursday, which they all enjoyed.

I did the facial that was included in the Tangerine package on Wednesday and it was very relaxing and just what I needed to calm down and enjoy! The Spa is great and you get access to the infinity pool and some fun things in the spa, everyone that went there loved it.

We got upgraded from a deluxe room to a jr suite deluxe and it was beautiful. We were in building 6 and everyone there loved their rooms. I did not see the rooms in building 1 and 2 but it seems like people were saying they were not as nice.

The resort is huge! Bring good walking shoes, I did and my feet still wore very sore every night.

Our favorite restaurants were the steak house and the Japanese. The Mexican and the Italian were okay but not as good as the other two. We did not go to the sea food but the people that did loved that one!

I had been talking with Marlene for the last few months. She met us with one of the other newer wedding planners in the lobby on Wednesday afternoon. We then talked with the new planner about some of the details and then went on a tour of where the ceremony and reception would take place. They were all great and everything went smooth.

Saturday the wedding day I met two of my bridesmaids for breakfast and then headed to the Spa. They got their hair done at 9am while I got my nails done. They headed back to their room and my other two bridesmaids got their hair done while I was getting mine done. My mom, mother in law, and aunt also came in and got their hair done as well. Everyone loved their hair besides my aunt. She ended up brushing the curls out and doing it herself, she is the only one that did not get an up-do.  I also got my make up done. I brought my own from home. I went to Sephora before I left and had them do my wedding make up, and then purchased it and brought it with me. The same women from the Spa did everything for me and she was great to work with.

My mom and 4 bridesmaids got ready in the bridal room. Originally they told me that only I got get ready there, but I did not want to be alone so they did make an exception they said and let us all get ready there.

I paid for my photographer to come with us so she was in and out of the Spa all day taking pictures. While my bridesmaids finished getting ready I went outside of the Spa where they do messages and took pictures. They met me out there and we took pictures of the 5 of us. My flowers did not arrive until half way through the pictures so I did not have them for most of the pictures, however it was not a big deal to me. I got a all white bouquet and my bridesmaids had a tropical mix of colors. I brought light blue ribbon with me to have them all wrapped in so they would match the colors and dresses.

The trolley decorated with white balloons picked up all of our guests and the guys and brought them to the garden gazebo for the ceremony that started at 3pm. We were picked up by the wedding planner in a golf cart. She had my step dad and father waiting for me and we got the show on the road. My bridesmaids walked down the sidewalk alone and the guys were already up inside of the gazebo.  The sidewalk us curvy so I was able to stay out of site for the most part until I started walking down the aisle. They had a white runner closer to the gazebo with clear vases filled with water and flowers that matched our light blue color. My father’s walked me to the gazebo where I hugged them and then walking up the stairs and to my husband alone. We had my husband’s brother do the ceremony (symbolic). We did the champagne toast during the ceremony and the staff handed out glasses as we were exchanging rings and then everyone toasted as we kissed.  During the ceremony the peacocks were all around the gazebo and even started squawking right before he announced us husband and wife. When we walked back out of the gazebo they are walking around right next to us. It was very cool! We got a group pictures right after of everyone and then cut the cake. While everyone enjoyed the vanilla and strawberry cake (it was difficult to cut due to the fondant being pretty thick) we did family pictures at the gazebo. We also did out wedding party photos at that time.

We all took the trolley back to the Palace and everyone did their own thing for a little while me and my husband went to the beach for pictures. It was fun to have just the two of us down there. We met everyone at the Carey Bar around 6 for drinks, and then got back on the trolley that brought us to the beach reception that is located at the very end of the adult section of the resort. We added the glowing tables for about $47 per table. We had 4 round glowing tables that sat 10 people and one long glowing table that sat the 10 of us in the bridal party. The tables were set up under a tree and surrounding the light up dance floor ($1,500 expensive but worth it) and was right in front of the bar that is located on the beach. They had the white decorative clothes stretched from the trees with some light and a larger spot light in the corner. It was more beautiful then we even expected. As the sun went down you could really see the tables start to glow!  Dinner included the goat cheese salad that was awesome (presentation was awesome and tasted great and I don’t even love goat cheese) the filet was awesome and everyone said it was the best they ever had. Dessert was the half baked fondant chocolate cake, it was like a mini lava cake and everyone loved it! After eating we went right into our first dance and then started the rest of the reception. We did not do a father daughter dance, bouquet toss, or garter toss.  We brought our own Ipod with all of music on it. We rented the equipment and did not have a DJ. We did not feel like we needed one and it all turned out great. There was a microphone included so we could make a few announcements during the night.

The service for the reception was awesome I think there was two or three bartenders, at least 6 waiters and the kitchen staff that was in the back. It looked the same building the bar was connected to had the kitchen connected behind so all the food was prepared right there and was hot. You could go up to the bar which was 20 feet from the dance floor or the waiters were great at getting people drinks also. We has a reception from 7-11pm. You cannot go past 11 at the beach location because there are some room that are next to this area. It was perfect and the dance floor was filled the entire night! We walked back to the trolley after the reception. We were the last ones to arrive and it was full because a few people not in our party jumped on. The wedding planner took us back on her golf cart and we met them all back at the lobby where we then headed to the disco.

Our room was decorated with roses when we returned and we had a bottle of rum, champagne and a fruit basket waiting for us. The next morning they brought us breakfast to our room. After that we headed down to the beach for a trash the dress session. I wore my aunt’s wedding dress and it was a lot of fun. A little awkward as there was a lot of people watching.

The wedding day was awesome, the only advice I would give is to try to enjoy every moment because it goes by so fast, it already feels like a blur.

While in the Carey Bar after our wedding we watched a wedding on the rooftop. As the setting was beautiful it was at about 5pm and the sun was beating down on them without any shade. We also saw a beach wedding and it was also a beautiful setting but there were people on the beach about 10 feet away. During the ceremony as she walked down the isle a party boat pulled up at the beach and was blaring music, as they kissed at the end it pulled away. I felt bad for them that it was so loud in the background! The security also had to escort this guy in a Speedo away from the ceremony at least two times. There were also kids sitting next to them about 20 feet away watching, so it is NOT private at all. The beach gazebo is very close to the pools and the aisle is really walking between two pools full of people. We were very happy with the garden as it had shade, it was private, the peacocks were a cool addition, and it was beautiful!

The couple’s message was great and it was a nice time to spend some time alone together, we did this on Monday. Tuesday the last guests left around 10am and we had until noon to spend on the beach just the two of us and it was very special.

We loved it and would recommend it to anyone. Try to slow down while you are there and enjoy it as it goes by so fast!

I will try to add some pictures soon! 

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