The alarm went off this morning at 6:15AM and I promptly ignored it until it went off again at 6:20AM. I heard Nóirín getting up, so I decided to stay in bed a while longer. I eventually got up around 6:30AM, and got ready for our day trip to Saona Island. The cruise we booked was Called Caribbean Cruising and we booked it through our Thomson holiday rep.
We walked across to the Palace reception where we were due to be picked up at 7AM. The HotelBeds bus turned up at 6:50AM and us and one other couple boarded. The bus had already been to several other hotels at that point, so we were among the last to get on. The bus left our hotel at about 6:55AM and head out of the resort. On the way, it stopped at the Bavaro resort reception to pick up a few more couples, then we were on our way to Bayahibe, where the boat would leave for Saona Island.
Our tour guides name was Kevin, and he was very knowledgeable about the Island, its population, education system and employment rates. He told us the number one industry on the Island was tourism, and that there was 0% unemployment in the Punta Cana region because of it, compared with 14% in the rest of the country. He also told us the minimum wage which most of the people in the resorts were on was €250 per month. He also told us about the sugar cane which was growing on the way. Every year, thousands of Haitians come down to help harvest the crop, as they only cut it, they don't dig it up. It grows like a grass so they leave it growing for 8 to 9 years, before burning it, and leaving the field empty for a year.
Just before we entered the back road down towards Bayahibe, the bus stopped to pick up another guy. I can't remember his name, but he was introduced to us as our personal paparazzi for the day. He would be taking videos and photos of us a memento's we could buy at the end of the trip.
It took about an hour and 20 minutes to get to Bayahibe village, with a stop on the way at the HotelBeds building for 5 minutes (we didn't get off the bus). It was about 8:20AM when the bus pulled up and let us off. We followed Kevin down to the water, where there was a large twin hulled motorboat waiting for us. I was expecting a single hull speed boat. Some of the tours do use the single hull, but I was quite pleased as I read these can be unconfortable, even though they are faster. I read we would be bothered by loads of merchants when we got to Bayahibe, but there was not a single merchant there when we arrived.
We climbed up a ladder at the back of the boat to board, and found a seat in the middle under the awning. After a short while, everyone had boarded and the boat set off, fairly slowly out of the harbour. We had only gone about 5 minutes, before one of the crew picked up the anchor at the front of the boat, and threw it in. This was where we were going to do the scuba diving section of the tour. Looking over the side of the boat, I could see there were loads of fish. Another crewman started throwing bits of bread over the side of the boat, and the fish were grabbing it really quickly, almost making the water churn.
We were given masks and snorkels, and went down the back of the boat again into the water, which was very calm, very warm and very salty. It's easy to float in the water here, no effort is required. Nóirín didn't come in, as she cannot swim, but I did. Immediately I put my head in the water, I noticed hundreds of fish. It was like I was part of the shoal, none of them shying away from us, I almost had to push them out of the way to move about. At one stage, I just lay in the water with my arms outstretched to the side. After a few seconds, I felt something bite my finger, it must have thought my finger was a piece of bread. Quite a shock. The tour guide when we booked said to take a banana along and break it in half and the fish would eat it out of your hand. I can believe that, but I forgot to take the banana in with me,
The scuba diving lasted about 30 minutes, and 2 other boats also pulled up to do the same thing. No problem really as there was plenty of sea to be able to share. Once everyone was back on board, the anchor was pulled up, and the boat got underway. This time, the captain opened up the throttle and we took off in the direction of Saona Island which is to the South East of the Dominican Republic. Just before we started heading away, the crew brought round a Dominican Breakfast - which consisted of Rum and Coke. Once underway, there was a lot of spray, and we did get very wet, but it was refreshing at the same time, and still very warm. I'm glad I was wearing my sunglasses to protect my eyes from the salty water.
I'm not sure how long we were speeding along for, I'd say probably around 20 to 30 minutes along the coast, before we arrived at the "Natural Pool". This is an area of water which is very shallow, quite a long way out from the shore. Our Paperazzi guy jumped in before the boat had stopped, and went looking for the Starfish we were going to see. As the boat was moving, we could see the Stafish on the bottom. Eventually the boat anchored up again, and we all got off the boat at the back.
The water was so calm, and so warm. We were able to swim and walk around away from the boat for quite a while, looking for Starfish, before the Paperazzi guy started asking people (couples at a time) to come over to him where he had 3 Starfish for people to hold, while he filmed them. At the same time, all the crew joined us in the water with the "Open Bar" which consisted of lots of Rum and Coke (not that I'm complaining). Eventually it was our turn to have our video clips, and we were arranged in a couple of poses, and asked to kiss each other a few times, and to wave at the camera.
This went on for quite a while while everyone had a chance to hold the Starfish. Towards the end they brought everyone together in a group (with more drinks) for a group video clip. Slightly cheesy, but still good fun. We had to repeat some phrases in Spanish, basically saying "To everyone back home, we're here having a great time" or something along those lines.
While we were here, several other boats joined us, but they all spaced out a lot, so no group was on top of another group. The sand bar is huge, so there was no problem, even though there were several trips doing the same thing.
A few more minutes after the group (we were probably there 30 to 40 minutes) we all boarded the boat again. Not so easy as the boat was moving round quite a bit, we had to go chasing the ladder, but it was still pretty easy. Once all were on board, we set off again at speed. It only took about 10 minutes before we arrived near the island. We were told that we would be heading round to the back of the island and 10 minutes after that, the boat anchored off the shore. A smaller speedboat pulled up alongside which we had to get into. This was a little dicey, the larger boat didn't move around much in the waves, but the smaller one did, so you had to time it right to get across. Nóirín hurt her shoulder by twisting her arm a little as the crew helped her aboard.A few others had minor knocks too, but nothing to spoil the day.
Once all were on the small boat, we went into the shore. We all got off the back of the boat onto the beach, and the tour guide Kevin told us our barbeque lunch would be in about an hour, and we were free to do whatever we liked on the beach for that time, but not to wander away too far.
The beach was beautiful, and only one other group of people on that section of the island. It did briefly start to rain while we were there, but that soon went over. Our Paperazzi guy was talking to couples about buying the DVD he was going to produce for the days trip, but we decided that we would go swimming for a bit. Not long after we were called to have lunch.
Lunch consisted of Pasta Salad, Aubergine Salad, Fish, and Bread for starter. There was also a choice of Beer, Wine (red and white) and Rum and Coke to drink. Once these were finished, we had a short wait for the Grill to be ready, so we were chatting to the others in our group. We were then invited up to collect our meat from the Grill. The choice was Lobster, Chicken and Pork, and you could choose more than one. We were also served rice, potatoes and a pesto type sauce. The food was very nice, except there didn't seem to be much meat on the chicken. Neither of us had the Lobster, but others were saying it was nice.
After lunch we went for another dip in the sea. It was very shallow quite a long way out. 100 meters out (approx) and we were only waist deep maximum. It was also very calm, with hardly any waves. When we came back in, we spoke to the Paperazzi guy about the DVD. He said there would be 1 hour of highlights from the day, and 45 minutes of music, and scenes and information about the Dominican Republic, and that the DVD would cost $40 USD. We decided to buy one, and he told us it would be available to collect from our hotel reception the day after the next, after 6PM.
We were on the island for around 1 and a half to 2 hours all in. Then the boat came back to sure to collect us and take us out to the Catamaran back to Bayahibe. We all piled aboard and head out slowly to the Catamaran. Again, it was a little dicey getting onto the Catamaran, but all made it ok with no injuries this time. The Catamaran was quite large, easily enough space for everyone, with nets at the front for some to lay on, and a covered deck area at the back of the boat. We set off, with more Rum and Coke being given to everyone. The crew put up the sails and away we went back towards Bayahibe.
Music was playing, the sun was shining, people were dancing, and the drink was flowing. It was beautiful. Then the sky got very dark, the heavens opened and there was a downpour, and when I say downpour, it was like a cloudburst. It threw it down. With only a small covered area at the back of the boat, everyone crowded together, and threw towels round each other. Water was rolling around the deck within a few minutes, the rain was that heavy. Thankfully the bag with my camera in had a protective waterproof cover, but the other bag got quite wet. Everyone was still laughing, and they poured more drinks for everyone and tried to keep the party mood going.
The crew were running around, trying to get the sails down as quickly as possible. You couldn't see very far in front or to the sides of the boat because the rain was so hard. This went on for about 10 minutes, which all things considered wasn't bad. I'd have been annoyed had it been like that all the way back to the port. Then, the sun came out again. It probably only took about 10 minutes for the boat to be dry, and everyone went back to their sunbathing and dancing.
Myself and Nóirín went to sit at the front of the boat for a while, enjoying the sunshine. It is probably around this time that I burnt my shoulders to a crisp. I didn't notice it at the time (as no one ever does) but this is the only time I can remember, apart from when we were swimming on the beach, that I wasn't wearing my T-Shirt. We had loads of sunscreen on, but we both managed to burn a bit. Oh well, no more farmers tan at least.
The trip on the Catamaran lasted 2 - 2 and a half hours, before we neared the port. The crew were all really friendly and fun. When we got back to the port, and the Catermaran tied up onto its mooring, we had to transfer again into another smaller speedboat to take us back to shore. Again this was a little dicey, but not too bad. The smaller boat took about 5 minutes to get us back to the shore at Bayahibe. We all climbed off the boat again, and made our way back to the bus, to take us back to the resorts, which took another 1 and a half hours. We were back in our hotel around 6:30PM. All in all I loved the trip, and would recommend it to anyone.
We got back and got ready for dinner. This is when we noticed the sunburn, so we loaded up heavily on moisturizer and went out to eat. We tried the Brazillian first, but that was booked up, so we tried the Fish Restaurant, Mare Nostrum, but that too had a waiting list, so we decided just to go into the Buffet. It was oriental night, and the food was pretty good. The Beef in the Tepanyaki was a little tough, but I liked the Chicken Chow Mein. The prawn crackers were also really good.
We went back to the room for around 8:30PM, and we were so tired, I don't think either of us lasted past 9:30PM before we were asleep. That was the end of Day 9 and it was a VERY enjoyable day.
Monday, 7 July 2014
Sunday, 6 July 2014
Our Holiday in the Dominican Republic - Day 8
Finally managed to get a good nights sleep last night, Nóirín was up before me for a change. Woke up around 8:30AM and we went to the Buffet to get breakfast. I had cereal, and chocolate bread (similar to pain-au-chocolat) and Nóirín had her usual selection. I don't like cereal with warm milk I've decided.
A very relaxing do-nothing type of day was had today. We decided to spend the morning by the pool, the plan was to spend the afternoon on the beach. The only problem with the pool, is they play the same music over and over, Nóirín particularly likes one song she calls "Pizza Tayto" as they are the only words we can make out, even though thats definitely not whats being sung.
At one stage I knocked over my drink because a cricket landed on me, and I had no idea what it was. Didn't take long to get it refilled though. Around 1:10PM it started raining out of the blue. It was very soft rain though, and it was finished before 1:15PM.
Nóirín picked me up a Ham and Cheese sandwich from the bar, which was nice, except they forgot the ham! One of the waiters brought round some pizza shortly after which made up for it though. We decided that neither of us was hungry so we skipped lunch and stayed by the pool, instead of going to the beach.
In the end we stayed at the pool until it started getting dark around 7PM. I spent a lot of time in the water today cooling off. It was a very hot day. We went back to the room to shower and get ready to go out for dinner. Nóirín had the shower hose pointing at the shower cubicle door, not realising it wasn't water proofed, and caused a mini-flood. Nothing really to worry about but it took a while to dry everything up.
We went to the French restaurant "Le Chanterelle" again so we could try the Chateaux Briand, and we were really glad we did. It was AMAZING. We could have eaten it on its own with no vegetables or sauces it was so good. It was served with potato wedges (not the fried type, more like boiled and sliced into wedge shapes), some carrot, and some broccoli. Very good food, and we will be going back there again for more before the end of the holiday.
We tried the ice cream for desert. We chose Strawberry and Orange flavours. I didn't really like either of them, but Nóirín did.
We took a look at the buffet afterwards, as it was Dominican night, but we decided that neither of us would have eaten anything on offer. We went back to the room, set our alarms for 6:15AM ready for the trip we are doing tomorrow to Saona Island. We then settled in for the evening and that is the end of Day 8.
A very relaxing do-nothing type of day was had today. We decided to spend the morning by the pool, the plan was to spend the afternoon on the beach. The only problem with the pool, is they play the same music over and over, Nóirín particularly likes one song she calls "Pizza Tayto" as they are the only words we can make out, even though thats definitely not whats being sung.
At one stage I knocked over my drink because a cricket landed on me, and I had no idea what it was. Didn't take long to get it refilled though. Around 1:10PM it started raining out of the blue. It was very soft rain though, and it was finished before 1:15PM.
Nóirín picked me up a Ham and Cheese sandwich from the bar, which was nice, except they forgot the ham! One of the waiters brought round some pizza shortly after which made up for it though. We decided that neither of us was hungry so we skipped lunch and stayed by the pool, instead of going to the beach.
In the end we stayed at the pool until it started getting dark around 7PM. I spent a lot of time in the water today cooling off. It was a very hot day. We went back to the room to shower and get ready to go out for dinner. Nóirín had the shower hose pointing at the shower cubicle door, not realising it wasn't water proofed, and caused a mini-flood. Nothing really to worry about but it took a while to dry everything up.
We went to the French restaurant "Le Chanterelle" again so we could try the Chateaux Briand, and we were really glad we did. It was AMAZING. We could have eaten it on its own with no vegetables or sauces it was so good. It was served with potato wedges (not the fried type, more like boiled and sliced into wedge shapes), some carrot, and some broccoli. Very good food, and we will be going back there again for more before the end of the holiday.
We tried the ice cream for desert. We chose Strawberry and Orange flavours. I didn't really like either of them, but Nóirín did.
We took a look at the buffet afterwards, as it was Dominican night, but we decided that neither of us would have eaten anything on offer. We went back to the room, set our alarms for 6:15AM ready for the trip we are doing tomorrow to Saona Island. We then settled in for the evening and that is the end of Day 8.
Saturday, 5 July 2014
Our Holiday in the Dominican Republic - Day 7
This morning we managed to have a bit of a lay-in, and didn't wake up until around 8:30AM. This was partly because I managed to get a better nights sleep, although Nóirín (who was up until 3AM reading) said I woke up in the early hours and said "F*£k its still night-time", and promptly fell back asleep. I vaguely remember being very angry that I hadn't managed to sleep right the way through the night. Nóirín couldn't sleep, hence the reading till 3AM. Another reason why we were able to sleep in a bit.
We decided to skip breakfast this morning. I wasn't going to eat, as I didn't want to be be unwell anymore, and Nóirín wasn't hungry, so we set off to spend the morning on the beach. On the way, we stopped to speak to Oscar, our butler, to ask him to book the Brazillian restaurant for us, which he did for 7:30PM. We carried on down to the beach where we managed to get the same chairs as the day before so we had a view of the sea from where we were sitting again. Nóirín was in and out of the sun, to ensure she didn't cook too much. I stayed mainly in the shade, and occasionally we both got up to go down to the waters edge, where it was windier and cooler.
Just before lunch, we decided to take a dip in the sea. We got about waist deep, but the waves were a little large for Nóirín, so she went to sit at the edge and waves were breaking on her. I went for a very quick swim, to cool off, before we went to have lunch. We walked back up to the room to drop off our stuff. Before we did, Nóirín reminded me that we needed to find the Thomson rep to book the Jungle Rally Tour. Nóirín went back to the room, and I went to the "Punta Cana" resort reception where the Thomson Rep is. I booked the tour, and also asked about the Hot Air Balloons. She told me that 8 out of 10 bookings for the Balloons are cancelled due to the weather, so I didn't bother with that. I also asked about the helicopters, and they go every day, so we may do that next week. They are quite expensive for the 15 minutes flying time you get though.
I went back to the room to meet Nóirín and then we went to find a restaurant for lunch. On the way past back to the room, I noticed the main buffet, and the Royal Gourmet both seemed to be closed. Maybe this was due to July 4th, but not sure why. We set off walking looking for a restaurant that was open. This may not have been the smartest idea, as we had just been in the sea not long before, most of the sun screen would have been washed off of us, but we seemed to survive anyway. After walking most of the way across the resort, we found a "Snack Bar" which looked like a Chip Shop back home. The food in there, even though it was probably perfectly fine, didn't look great. We carried on walking and eventually ended up back at the Arrecife restaurant.
They were celebrating the 4th July in there, with lots of American style food. The burger I chose was very pink, and I thought it was undercooked, until I realized it was actually a Hamburger, Nóirín had lots of different things, she is more adventurous with food than I am.
After lunch, we decided to get the land-train back to the room, but after waiting at the covered stopping place for 20 minutes, it appeared one would not be coming, We had seen them running in the morning, so we couldn't understand it. There was a Dad there with a small girl and a slightly older boy. The little girl was asking her Dad everything "Papa, whats that?", "Papa, why is this here?", "Papa, what is that tree for?" (asking about a signpost in the shape of a tree). I don't think she stopped asking questions the entire time we were waiting. The boy hardly said a word.
I went back to the restaurant reception and asked them to call us a buggy, one of the privileges we have of being in the Royal Suites. 10 minutes later it still hadn't arrived. I saw the girl on the reception looking across at us, and then calling again. It seems the buggy had got caught behind the land train, so they arrived together. We got in the buggy so we could go straight back, without having to stop at all the stops on the way.
When we got back to the room, I noticed the TV had no signal at all on any channel while I was waiting for Nóirín to get ready. We spent the afternoon by the pool, taking the occasional dip in the pool, although Nóirín only joined me for the last dip of the day at about 5:30PM, for about half an hour. We then went back to the room to get ready for the evening meal.
We got to the restaurant and were shown to our table. I was surprised when the girl only gave us a Wine Menu. She explained to us "There is no menu. Please help yourself to the salad bar, and when you are finished your plate will be changed". We were intrigued so we went to get salad, and when we had finished, we waited for our plates to be changed. From this point on, I thought I had died and gone to food heaven. This place is amazing.
The plate was brought out to us, and on it was a small pile of rice and beans, a piece of carrot, a bit of potato, and a corn on the cob potion. We just looked at each other. Then a minute later, a man gave us 3 sauces, although I couldn't tell you what they were, but they were nice. Then about a minute after that, a girl came to the table with a skewer with Chicken on it, and asked if we wanted some. We both said yes, so she cut some off, and went to the next table.
Then another girl arrived asking if we wanted Turkey,
- then another with Salami sausage,
- then another with Fish,
- then another with Lamb,
- another with Pork,
- another with Beef,
- another with Sirloin,
- another with Pineapple,
- another with Vegetables.
There was a card on the table which was green on one site, and red on the other. The idea was, they would keep coming round until you turned the card to the red side. The food was amazing! The Pork was a little dry, the Sirloin a little rare for my liking, and the Lamb was to tough to try, but everything else tasted wonderful. Amazing restaurant, which I loved. Deserts in this place were not as good, I decided on fruit for desert, so I wasn't disappointed. Noírín had the chocolate truffles, which tasted to me like marzipan, but they were a little heavy.
We started back to the room, but as the TV wasn't working we went to the butler to ask about the DVD's available. He told us everyone had the same problem with the TV and sent us to the main reception to ask the butler there for the DVD's. It seems everyone else had the same idea, so he only had 4 left, Les Miserables, Hairspray, and 2 other not particularly interesting ones. We gave up on the idea. Back in the room, I managed to get Netflix working on my laptop, so we watched "Battleship" instead. Well, I did, Nóirín was asleep within about 30 minutes.
That ended day 7. Half the holiday has gone already....
We decided to skip breakfast this morning. I wasn't going to eat, as I didn't want to be be unwell anymore, and Nóirín wasn't hungry, so we set off to spend the morning on the beach. On the way, we stopped to speak to Oscar, our butler, to ask him to book the Brazillian restaurant for us, which he did for 7:30PM. We carried on down to the beach where we managed to get the same chairs as the day before so we had a view of the sea from where we were sitting again. Nóirín was in and out of the sun, to ensure she didn't cook too much. I stayed mainly in the shade, and occasionally we both got up to go down to the waters edge, where it was windier and cooler.
Just before lunch, we decided to take a dip in the sea. We got about waist deep, but the waves were a little large for Nóirín, so she went to sit at the edge and waves were breaking on her. I went for a very quick swim, to cool off, before we went to have lunch. We walked back up to the room to drop off our stuff. Before we did, Nóirín reminded me that we needed to find the Thomson rep to book the Jungle Rally Tour. Nóirín went back to the room, and I went to the "Punta Cana" resort reception where the Thomson Rep is. I booked the tour, and also asked about the Hot Air Balloons. She told me that 8 out of 10 bookings for the Balloons are cancelled due to the weather, so I didn't bother with that. I also asked about the helicopters, and they go every day, so we may do that next week. They are quite expensive for the 15 minutes flying time you get though.
I went back to the room to meet Nóirín and then we went to find a restaurant for lunch. On the way past back to the room, I noticed the main buffet, and the Royal Gourmet both seemed to be closed. Maybe this was due to July 4th, but not sure why. We set off walking looking for a restaurant that was open. This may not have been the smartest idea, as we had just been in the sea not long before, most of the sun screen would have been washed off of us, but we seemed to survive anyway. After walking most of the way across the resort, we found a "Snack Bar" which looked like a Chip Shop back home. The food in there, even though it was probably perfectly fine, didn't look great. We carried on walking and eventually ended up back at the Arrecife restaurant.
They were celebrating the 4th July in there, with lots of American style food. The burger I chose was very pink, and I thought it was undercooked, until I realized it was actually a Hamburger, Nóirín had lots of different things, she is more adventurous with food than I am.
After lunch, we decided to get the land-train back to the room, but after waiting at the covered stopping place for 20 minutes, it appeared one would not be coming, We had seen them running in the morning, so we couldn't understand it. There was a Dad there with a small girl and a slightly older boy. The little girl was asking her Dad everything "Papa, whats that?", "Papa, why is this here?", "Papa, what is that tree for?" (asking about a signpost in the shape of a tree). I don't think she stopped asking questions the entire time we were waiting. The boy hardly said a word.
I went back to the restaurant reception and asked them to call us a buggy, one of the privileges we have of being in the Royal Suites. 10 minutes later it still hadn't arrived. I saw the girl on the reception looking across at us, and then calling again. It seems the buggy had got caught behind the land train, so they arrived together. We got in the buggy so we could go straight back, without having to stop at all the stops on the way.
When we got back to the room, I noticed the TV had no signal at all on any channel while I was waiting for Nóirín to get ready. We spent the afternoon by the pool, taking the occasional dip in the pool, although Nóirín only joined me for the last dip of the day at about 5:30PM, for about half an hour. We then went back to the room to get ready for the evening meal.
We got to the restaurant and were shown to our table. I was surprised when the girl only gave us a Wine Menu. She explained to us "There is no menu. Please help yourself to the salad bar, and when you are finished your plate will be changed". We were intrigued so we went to get salad, and when we had finished, we waited for our plates to be changed. From this point on, I thought I had died and gone to food heaven. This place is amazing.
The plate was brought out to us, and on it was a small pile of rice and beans, a piece of carrot, a bit of potato, and a corn on the cob potion. We just looked at each other. Then a minute later, a man gave us 3 sauces, although I couldn't tell you what they were, but they were nice. Then about a minute after that, a girl came to the table with a skewer with Chicken on it, and asked if we wanted some. We both said yes, so she cut some off, and went to the next table.
Then another girl arrived asking if we wanted Turkey,
- then another with Salami sausage,
- then another with Fish,
- then another with Lamb,
- another with Pork,
- another with Beef,
- another with Sirloin,
- another with Pineapple,
- another with Vegetables.
There was a card on the table which was green on one site, and red on the other. The idea was, they would keep coming round until you turned the card to the red side. The food was amazing! The Pork was a little dry, the Sirloin a little rare for my liking, and the Lamb was to tough to try, but everything else tasted wonderful. Amazing restaurant, which I loved. Deserts in this place were not as good, I decided on fruit for desert, so I wasn't disappointed. Noírín had the chocolate truffles, which tasted to me like marzipan, but they were a little heavy.
We started back to the room, but as the TV wasn't working we went to the butler to ask about the DVD's available. He told us everyone had the same problem with the TV and sent us to the main reception to ask the butler there for the DVD's. It seems everyone else had the same idea, so he only had 4 left, Les Miserables, Hairspray, and 2 other not particularly interesting ones. We gave up on the idea. Back in the room, I managed to get Netflix working on my laptop, so we watched "Battleship" instead. Well, I did, Nóirín was asleep within about 30 minutes.
That ended day 7. Half the holiday has gone already....
Our Holiday in the Dominican Republic - Day 6
Overnight it rained very heavily, but I did not notice at all. Nóirín had heard it overnight, but I slept though it. Unusual as its usually me that is the light sleeper. It was still very sunny and hot when we woke up though, which was around 7:30AM. I did wake up several times through the night though so I was very tired.
We went to breakfast in the general Buffet again, but this morning I just had Watermelon and Natural Yoghurt. Nóirín had her usual selection of different things. This morning though, the coffee was awful. I think it was too weak, and I'm not a fan of the hot milk in the coffee anyway.
After breakfast, we went back to the room. Even at 8AM, it was extremely hot. We got ready, sunscreened up, and went down to the pool near the room, where Nóirín read and I caught up writing this blog. I think Nóirin must have got through around 6 books at this stage. Thank god for the Kindle.
Noirin found a new cocktail - Daiquiri (they pronounce it here as Dak-ear-ee) which is really nice and refreshing, and tastes of Lime. Its great to have found this as most of the other cocktails are coconut based, which is a natural laxative, so you need to drink it in moderation.
We went to the Arrecife restaurant for lunch, which is right over the other side of the resort, so we got a buggy to take us across there. The food was pretty good, better than the buffet. I had a freshly cooked burger which I had to wait for, but was well worth the wait. Nóirín tried some of the other bits and pieces (its still a buffet - help yourself - style restaurant). She liked the fish and the pizza here. Up till now, and bits of Pizza we have tried haven't been that good, but she liked it here.
I still wasn't feeling well, so after we went back to the room to re-apply all the sunscreen, we spent the afternoon by the pool near the room. At one point I had to go back to the room, so when I returned, I brought the lifejacket to try in the pool (Nóirín can't swim). We waited until the area was less crowded (not that it was ever crowded, I think there is only every about 10 people around our pool area maximum), then Nóirín put on the jacket and we went into the pool. As we were getting in, we heard a big rumble of thunder, which Nóirín was very excited about. We were in the pool about 5 minutes, before it started raining. It was gentle at first, and then all of a sudden it threw it down. It was great being in the pool with the rain coming down on us. One of those memory moments.
It rained quite hard for about 20 to 30 minutes, and then stopped, and the sun came out almost straight after. We went back to the room and then went to the Buffet for "Mexican" night.
When we got back to the room to settle down for the evening, we noticed that the TV signal was really bad, which I put down to the storm. We had the TV on in the background, but we both read our books until we fell asleep. That was the end of Day 6.
We went to breakfast in the general Buffet again, but this morning I just had Watermelon and Natural Yoghurt. Nóirín had her usual selection of different things. This morning though, the coffee was awful. I think it was too weak, and I'm not a fan of the hot milk in the coffee anyway.
After breakfast, we went back to the room. Even at 8AM, it was extremely hot. We got ready, sunscreened up, and went down to the pool near the room, where Nóirín read and I caught up writing this blog. I think Nóirin must have got through around 6 books at this stage. Thank god for the Kindle.
Noirin found a new cocktail - Daiquiri (they pronounce it here as Dak-ear-ee) which is really nice and refreshing, and tastes of Lime. Its great to have found this as most of the other cocktails are coconut based, which is a natural laxative, so you need to drink it in moderation.
We went to the Arrecife restaurant for lunch, which is right over the other side of the resort, so we got a buggy to take us across there. The food was pretty good, better than the buffet. I had a freshly cooked burger which I had to wait for, but was well worth the wait. Nóirín tried some of the other bits and pieces (its still a buffet - help yourself - style restaurant). She liked the fish and the pizza here. Up till now, and bits of Pizza we have tried haven't been that good, but she liked it here.
I still wasn't feeling well, so after we went back to the room to re-apply all the sunscreen, we spent the afternoon by the pool near the room. At one point I had to go back to the room, so when I returned, I brought the lifejacket to try in the pool (Nóirín can't swim). We waited until the area was less crowded (not that it was ever crowded, I think there is only every about 10 people around our pool area maximum), then Nóirín put on the jacket and we went into the pool. As we were getting in, we heard a big rumble of thunder, which Nóirín was very excited about. We were in the pool about 5 minutes, before it started raining. It was gentle at first, and then all of a sudden it threw it down. It was great being in the pool with the rain coming down on us. One of those memory moments.
It rained quite hard for about 20 to 30 minutes, and then stopped, and the sun came out almost straight after. We went back to the room and then went to the Buffet for "Mexican" night.
When we got back to the room to settle down for the evening, we noticed that the TV signal was really bad, which I put down to the storm. We had the TV on in the background, but we both read our books until we fell asleep. That was the end of Day 6.
Thursday, 3 July 2014
Our Holiday in the Dominican Republic - Day 5
Once again, I hadn't slept very well last night and so I woke up very cranky. The lack of sleep is getting to me. I also still was not feeling well. We went for Breakfast in the General Buffet this morning and again Churros for me and a selection of items for Nóirín. We then went back to the room to get the sunscreen on and get ready for the beach.
We found a nice spot on the beach today, with a clear view through to the sea. It was out of the wind, but was shady, and there was an extra lounger that Nóirín could use for her tanning. I actually moved my chair into the sun for a while too, thought it was probably worth getting at least a bit of a tan while I'm here.
We both got up a few times to walk down to the sea front, where there was a nice fresh breeze to help cool us down. I didn't feel like going into the sea today so we both just paddled knee deep at different times, as we had the Kindle and iPad with us, so we couldn't leave them unattended.
At about 12PM, we went back to the room and ordered room service, as Nóirín was desperate to try it out. We ordered Royal Club sandwich, Ceasar wrap, Salmon Fillet and Chicken Burrito. When the food turned up 40 minutes later (we had to chase) it wasn't great. My Royal Club sandwich was missing the backon completely, and hardly had any chicken in it, so really it was a ham and cheese sandwich. The chips were soggy. The Salmon was OK, the rest was not that good.
In the afternoon, we stayed at the pool near to the room, (which I was glad of). We found chairs in a different area to the previous times, near to a jacuzzi (built into the pool, not separate).
We went back to the room at about 6PM today, and then went for a walk along the beach with both camera's. We thought we'd walked the full length of the Hotel beach, but it turns out we only did about 2/3 of it. By the time we reached Chanterelle Restaurant, it was about 7PM.
This is where we discovered there are 2 restaurants in the same place. The Royal Buffet, and the Chanterelle French restaurant. All this time, we were using the Royal Buffet. Nóirín liked the decor in the Chanterelle restaurant. Lots of mirrors and chairs that looked like they would be at home in Versailles.
While we were ordering, several orders of the Chateaux Briand went out, sizzling away. It is served rare, but with a hot stone, so you can cook it to your choosing. It seemed very popular, but as it was for 2 people and I was still not well, I asked Nóirín if we tried it the next time we were in there.
Bad Idea. I had the Chicken Provencal, and Nóirín had Turbot. We waited a long time for the food. The guy topping up our drinks was very good though, we never had an empty glass. When it came, my poor chicken looked like it had been caught in the blast wave of a small nuclear explosion, and there was hardly any meat left on it The rest of the plate was mainly onions. The small amount of potato I had on the plate was nice though. Nóirín's Turbot was OK but not brilliant. Her Hollandaise sauce was more of a Hollandaise Goo, almost like melted cheese in consistency.
For desert, we had some different options. Most of the restaurants share the same deserts and none of them had been that good to this point. No change here then, as I had the profriteroles and Nóirín had the Crémé Brulée. The profriteroles were edible, to be fair, but not really that nice. The Crémé Brulée was runny, and didn't have a crust. We decided to leave both, and went round to the general buffet to see if we could have something just to fill the gap.
It was Spanish night in the General Buffet. In the end we tried some of the Paella, and we had some chips. Both were nice. The Paella was slightly salty, but I would have it again. The chips were fresh and were nice. I'd say its hard to mess up chips, but nothing would surprise me at this point.
After the Buffet, we went back to the room, fairly early, and settled down for the night. That was the end of Day 5.
We found a nice spot on the beach today, with a clear view through to the sea. It was out of the wind, but was shady, and there was an extra lounger that Nóirín could use for her tanning. I actually moved my chair into the sun for a while too, thought it was probably worth getting at least a bit of a tan while I'm here.
We both got up a few times to walk down to the sea front, where there was a nice fresh breeze to help cool us down. I didn't feel like going into the sea today so we both just paddled knee deep at different times, as we had the Kindle and iPad with us, so we couldn't leave them unattended.
At about 12PM, we went back to the room and ordered room service, as Nóirín was desperate to try it out. We ordered Royal Club sandwich, Ceasar wrap, Salmon Fillet and Chicken Burrito. When the food turned up 40 minutes later (we had to chase) it wasn't great. My Royal Club sandwich was missing the backon completely, and hardly had any chicken in it, so really it was a ham and cheese sandwich. The chips were soggy. The Salmon was OK, the rest was not that good.
In the afternoon, we stayed at the pool near to the room, (which I was glad of). We found chairs in a different area to the previous times, near to a jacuzzi (built into the pool, not separate).
We went back to the room at about 6PM today, and then went for a walk along the beach with both camera's. We thought we'd walked the full length of the Hotel beach, but it turns out we only did about 2/3 of it. By the time we reached Chanterelle Restaurant, it was about 7PM.
This is where we discovered there are 2 restaurants in the same place. The Royal Buffet, and the Chanterelle French restaurant. All this time, we were using the Royal Buffet. Nóirín liked the decor in the Chanterelle restaurant. Lots of mirrors and chairs that looked like they would be at home in Versailles.
While we were ordering, several orders of the Chateaux Briand went out, sizzling away. It is served rare, but with a hot stone, so you can cook it to your choosing. It seemed very popular, but as it was for 2 people and I was still not well, I asked Nóirín if we tried it the next time we were in there.
Bad Idea. I had the Chicken Provencal, and Nóirín had Turbot. We waited a long time for the food. The guy topping up our drinks was very good though, we never had an empty glass. When it came, my poor chicken looked like it had been caught in the blast wave of a small nuclear explosion, and there was hardly any meat left on it The rest of the plate was mainly onions. The small amount of potato I had on the plate was nice though. Nóirín's Turbot was OK but not brilliant. Her Hollandaise sauce was more of a Hollandaise Goo, almost like melted cheese in consistency.
For desert, we had some different options. Most of the restaurants share the same deserts and none of them had been that good to this point. No change here then, as I had the profriteroles and Nóirín had the Crémé Brulée. The profriteroles were edible, to be fair, but not really that nice. The Crémé Brulée was runny, and didn't have a crust. We decided to leave both, and went round to the general buffet to see if we could have something just to fill the gap.
It was Spanish night in the General Buffet. In the end we tried some of the Paella, and we had some chips. Both were nice. The Paella was slightly salty, but I would have it again. The chips were fresh and were nice. I'd say its hard to mess up chips, but nothing would surprise me at this point.
After the Buffet, we went back to the room, fairly early, and settled down for the night. That was the end of Day 5.
Our Holiday in the Dominican Republic - Day 4
This morning we had the appointment with the Palladium Travel Club, which to be honest, we only went along to as we wanted to see the other types of room, and to see if we got value for money on the room we currently have. Eciel picked us up from the apartment at 7:45 as arranged and took us the the Travel Club Building where we had to register, and sign a disclaimer stating we were not travel agents, and that we wouldn't post the details of the deal on a travel website.
We met with Karina, who took us to breakfast in the Chanterelle(!!) restaurant. I just had Churros again, and Nóirín had her usual selection of different items. Karina was Mexican, and was fairly new to Palladium. She did 6 months in the Palladium in Cancun, before being sent to this Palladium. In Mexico, she could live on-site and enjoy all the amenities, but on this resort, she had to live off site. She would be sent to another Palladium for 6 months next. I think she said Jamaica...
After breakfast, she took us to see a variety of rooms around the resort, one of the swim up rooms like ours, which seemed slightly smaller than our room, then she took us to the new part of the Resort, which housed the Signiture and the Ambassador rooms. These rooms were HUGE. Each of these rooms had 2 50" Flat screen TV (I'd say ours has 32" maximum), a PlayStation. A huge master bedroom, a smaller bedroom as the guest bedroom. A huge shower / steam room in the master bedroom as en suite and a regular shower in the guest room. The roof terrace had a jacuzzi bath for 6 people at least, with a bar area, and the Ambassador had a separate shower and toilet on the roof terrace. Both rooms had access to an infinity pool (shared between all the Travel Club rooms) with views over the sea. All these rooms were right next to the sea.
We then went back to the Travel Club building where we had the Sales Pitch. A German guy named Sascha gave us the options, and we were considering it. Then a french guy named Tom who was the financial Guy came over and offered us slightly different alternatives. I'm not sure what detail I am allowed to go into due to the NDA we signed, so I'll leave it at that. We said we'd think on it, and that was fine with them. There was no real pressure applied once we said we would think on it, they were fine. They are sales people, so I was expecting the "OK, lets give you some different options" which we got, but once we said "Not today" they were fine.
After the presentation, we went back to the room, got sunscreened up and went to sit by the pool. I was not feeling well, so didn't want to be too far from the room. I decided to take it easy on Alcohol, but Nóirín decided to enjoy the "Champagne" (actually Cava, but they called it Champagne)
The sky clouded over just before lunch, and the temperature dropped dramatically, It got very windy and I thought it may rain. We went back to the room and watched the Germany vs Algeria match on TV. Shortly after the Sun came out again. We went back to the pool, and read and sunbathed again.
When we went back to the room slightly later, Nóirín decided to take a nap for 30 minutes (possibly too much bubbly) before we went to the restaurant. After 30 minutes, I couldn't wake her, without physically shaking her. Even then she just said "15 minutes more". After 15 minutes, I got "10 more minutes". In the end, I just had to say, "Right time to go, come on" and she got up (but still wasn't really awake.
We had a reservation in the Steakhouse, which I had high hopes for. I decided to go for the burger, and wedges, and Nóirín had the Fillet Steak. My burger was tough (overcooked) and again too much cheese. The bacon that was supposed to be there was missing. Nóirín thought the Fillet Steak was OK, but I thought it tasted of washing up liquid, and really didn't like it. One thing we both agreed on was that the wedges were really nice.
After dinner we went for a walk along the beach with Nóiríns camera, before heading back to the room for the night. So ends Day 4
We met with Karina, who took us to breakfast in the Chanterelle(!!) restaurant. I just had Churros again, and Nóirín had her usual selection of different items. Karina was Mexican, and was fairly new to Palladium. She did 6 months in the Palladium in Cancun, before being sent to this Palladium. In Mexico, she could live on-site and enjoy all the amenities, but on this resort, she had to live off site. She would be sent to another Palladium for 6 months next. I think she said Jamaica...
After breakfast, she took us to see a variety of rooms around the resort, one of the swim up rooms like ours, which seemed slightly smaller than our room, then she took us to the new part of the Resort, which housed the Signiture and the Ambassador rooms. These rooms were HUGE. Each of these rooms had 2 50" Flat screen TV (I'd say ours has 32" maximum), a PlayStation. A huge master bedroom, a smaller bedroom as the guest bedroom. A huge shower / steam room in the master bedroom as en suite and a regular shower in the guest room. The roof terrace had a jacuzzi bath for 6 people at least, with a bar area, and the Ambassador had a separate shower and toilet on the roof terrace. Both rooms had access to an infinity pool (shared between all the Travel Club rooms) with views over the sea. All these rooms were right next to the sea.
We then went back to the Travel Club building where we had the Sales Pitch. A German guy named Sascha gave us the options, and we were considering it. Then a french guy named Tom who was the financial Guy came over and offered us slightly different alternatives. I'm not sure what detail I am allowed to go into due to the NDA we signed, so I'll leave it at that. We said we'd think on it, and that was fine with them. There was no real pressure applied once we said we would think on it, they were fine. They are sales people, so I was expecting the "OK, lets give you some different options" which we got, but once we said "Not today" they were fine.
After the presentation, we went back to the room, got sunscreened up and went to sit by the pool. I was not feeling well, so didn't want to be too far from the room. I decided to take it easy on Alcohol, but Nóirín decided to enjoy the "Champagne" (actually Cava, but they called it Champagne)
The sky clouded over just before lunch, and the temperature dropped dramatically, It got very windy and I thought it may rain. We went back to the room and watched the Germany vs Algeria match on TV. Shortly after the Sun came out again. We went back to the pool, and read and sunbathed again.
When we went back to the room slightly later, Nóirín decided to take a nap for 30 minutes (possibly too much bubbly) before we went to the restaurant. After 30 minutes, I couldn't wake her, without physically shaking her. Even then she just said "15 minutes more". After 15 minutes, I got "10 more minutes". In the end, I just had to say, "Right time to go, come on" and she got up (but still wasn't really awake.
We had a reservation in the Steakhouse, which I had high hopes for. I decided to go for the burger, and wedges, and Nóirín had the Fillet Steak. My burger was tough (overcooked) and again too much cheese. The bacon that was supposed to be there was missing. Nóirín thought the Fillet Steak was OK, but I thought it tasted of washing up liquid, and really didn't like it. One thing we both agreed on was that the wedges were really nice.
After dinner we went for a walk along the beach with Nóiríns camera, before heading back to the room for the night. So ends Day 4
Our Holiday in the Dominican Republic - Day 3
Today was started early again. I still haven't gotten used to the bed, and although I am sleeping, I keep waking up. Still it meant we could get up early, around 7:30AM and head for breakfast in Chanterelle restaurant (or so we thought - see day 5).
I just had Churros with Nutella, Nóirín had a selection of different things. Churros were good, if not a little soggy. After Breakfast we went back to the room, and got ready for the beach, which included a selection of Factor 30 and Factor 50 sun creams and sprays.
We stayed at the beach all morning, just reading and sunbathing (in Nóiríns case, Sun is too hot for me to stay in for too long), with the occasional dip in the sea for me, until about 1PM. We then went to meet the Thomson rep to pay for the trip to Saona Island on Sunday.
On the way to the restaurant for lunch, we stopped by the butler, to once again ask about fixing the shower door and the chair on the balcony, He seemed shocked that it still hadn't been done, and started calling someone on the radio. He said they were fixing another room, and would be with us after.
We had a quick lunch in the "Chanterelle restaurant" and then went to the room to re-apply sunscreens. In the afternoon, we went to the poolside rather than back down to the beach. The pool is right next to the room. We are on the first floor, with the ground floor being swim up rooms, so all we have to do is go down stairs, walk about 50 feet, and we're at the pool. We found a shady spot with a sunny place for Nóirín to sunbathe in, and stayed there for the afternoon, relaxing and reading.
Around 6:30 PM we went back to the room to prepare for the Italian restaurant. Several of the restaurants have a dress policy of long trousers and no sleeveless shirts for men, although T-Shirts are fine, The only long trousers I brought were my jeans, so I ended up quite warm for the evening.
While we were eating our starters, 3 local singers with guitars and what looked like cheese grater asked us if we wanted them to play for us. I said "Si" and then he asked if we wanted "Romantica or Allegri". from the look on Noirins face I went with Allegri. They were very good, and we gave them a tip, before they went on to play a "Romantica" song for another couple. I'm glad I chose "Allegri", the "Romantica" was very cheesy.
For our mains, I had the Calzone, and Nóirín had the Loin of Pork with Marsala sauce. My Calzone had WAY too much cheese, and Nóiríns Pork was overcooked. They delivered Nóiríns Pork to the table, and then I had to wait about 5 minutes for them to deliver my Calzone. When they did, they didn't warn me the plate was vey hot, so I burnt my fingers.
For desert, Nóirín had the Panna Cotta, and I had a selection of Ice Cream. The Run and Raisin(?) ice cream was nice, and Nóirín said the chocolate Ice Cream was good too, however, her Panna Cotta had no flavour.
We had decided to go and see a show after the meal, but I was too tired, so we decided just to head back to the room. Fell asleep pretty quickly, I'd say the heat and the lack of sleep last night contributed heavily. So ends Day 3
I just had Churros with Nutella, Nóirín had a selection of different things. Churros were good, if not a little soggy. After Breakfast we went back to the room, and got ready for the beach, which included a selection of Factor 30 and Factor 50 sun creams and sprays.
We stayed at the beach all morning, just reading and sunbathing (in Nóiríns case, Sun is too hot for me to stay in for too long), with the occasional dip in the sea for me, until about 1PM. We then went to meet the Thomson rep to pay for the trip to Saona Island on Sunday.
On the way to the restaurant for lunch, we stopped by the butler, to once again ask about fixing the shower door and the chair on the balcony, He seemed shocked that it still hadn't been done, and started calling someone on the radio. He said they were fixing another room, and would be with us after.
We had a quick lunch in the "Chanterelle restaurant" and then went to the room to re-apply sunscreens. In the afternoon, we went to the poolside rather than back down to the beach. The pool is right next to the room. We are on the first floor, with the ground floor being swim up rooms, so all we have to do is go down stairs, walk about 50 feet, and we're at the pool. We found a shady spot with a sunny place for Nóirín to sunbathe in, and stayed there for the afternoon, relaxing and reading.
Around 6:30 PM we went back to the room to prepare for the Italian restaurant. Several of the restaurants have a dress policy of long trousers and no sleeveless shirts for men, although T-Shirts are fine, The only long trousers I brought were my jeans, so I ended up quite warm for the evening.
While we were eating our starters, 3 local singers with guitars and what looked like cheese grater asked us if we wanted them to play for us. I said "Si" and then he asked if we wanted "Romantica or Allegri". from the look on Noirins face I went with Allegri. They were very good, and we gave them a tip, before they went on to play a "Romantica" song for another couple. I'm glad I chose "Allegri", the "Romantica" was very cheesy.
For our mains, I had the Calzone, and Nóirín had the Loin of Pork with Marsala sauce. My Calzone had WAY too much cheese, and Nóiríns Pork was overcooked. They delivered Nóiríns Pork to the table, and then I had to wait about 5 minutes for them to deliver my Calzone. When they did, they didn't warn me the plate was vey hot, so I burnt my fingers.
For desert, Nóirín had the Panna Cotta, and I had a selection of Ice Cream. The Run and Raisin(?) ice cream was nice, and Nóirín said the chocolate Ice Cream was good too, however, her Panna Cotta had no flavour.
We had decided to go and see a show after the meal, but I was too tired, so we decided just to head back to the room. Fell asleep pretty quickly, I'd say the heat and the lack of sleep last night contributed heavily. So ends Day 3
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)